Ask Futurama Star Billy West About...? 199
In case you haven't heard, Futurama is coming back — in like 2008, so don't go channel-flipping in hope quite yet. This is the first interview Billy West (who voices Fry, Prof. Farnsworth, Zapp Brannigan, Zoidberg, and other Futurama characters) has done since the announcement. Realize, too, that Billy has also been the voices of Ren and Stimpy and hundreds of other animated characters over the years, and old-school Howard Stern fans will remember that part of his career, too. Ask Billy about anything you like; we'll send him 10 top-moderated questions (and maybe he'll answer a few extra ones of his choice, too). We expect to post his answers Wednesday, the day after Freedom Day's 21st Century predecessor, the 4th of July (which, sadly, is not known for nude hot tub parties). Meanwhile, to tide you over, here's a little MP3 voice montage Billy did in his home studio just for Slashdot.
Futurama Flavored Humor (Score:5, Interesting)
First I'll state my question in the form of a question: What do you think it is that gives Futurama such a unique kind of humor? Do you think that only a small part of the population finds Futurama funny?
More specifically, I enjoy the humor in Futurama. Maybe it's because I'm a nerd and appreciate the N-NP references or maybe it's because I read a lot and I like obscure references (or perhaps even the two are inherently married). What I can't seem to understand is why I like Futurama so much.
You do a great job on the voices and the writing is pretty good. But every so often there will just be these little "intellectual" jokes left and right that just make me laugh every time I see them. Some shows try to be scientific and just dribble the facts down the leg of their pants. It annoys me to no end. Futurama seems to manage to make fun of itself and in the process keep me entertained.
I don't want to sound like a snob but I wonder if Futurama suffers from being too genre or personality specific. Does it target only graduate level people with its nerdy humor?
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I'd also like to ask a second question: Do you select what shows you work on by their quality?
You've been in a lot of my favorite shows as a voice actor ever since I was a kid. I've also noticed that from your IMDB entry [imdb.com] that you really stick to some genuinely funny shows. There are some where I've never found the shows funny but that's just me. I've always wondered if you only like to do shows that you yourself find funny. Do you think that many people in your business do this? I mean, assuming you're not starving and dying for work.
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Third question: Why do you think Futurama was cancelled?
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Fourth Question: What were your favorite voices you've done? What were your most hated?
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Fifth Question: When you're approached to do a voice for a show, how is the type of voice (sound, texture, pitch, etc) determined? Is there a line of people ready to do their interpretation of a character? Do you come up with your own idea based on the character's personality and then sit there refining it with the show's creators/writers? What does this process entail? Do you think of someone you know with the same personality and mimic their voice as a base for the character? If not, where do you get your ideas from?
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Sixth Question: What made you want to do voice acting as a profession? It must not be very glamorous if the only way a fan could recognize you is by your voice, why'd you choose it?
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Seventh Question: What exercises (if any) do you use to warm up your voice when you perform? Is it just something you're naturally good at or do you go through daily techniques and practicing like a musician or singer?
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Eighth Question: Have you ever used computer enhancements for your voices? Does this ever occur?
Hey!!! (Score:2)
[Dear Grammar/Spelling Nazis: the above misspelling is intentional and is keeping in the spirit of the article.]
Re:Hey!!! (Score:2)
Re:Futurama Flavored Humor (Score:5, Funny)
Each to their own I suppose. I appreciated the P-NP references.
Re:P-NP Complexity (Typo) (Score:2)
NP is the class of all decision problems that can be solved in non-deterministic polynomial time. NP does not stand for non-polynomial, if it did why would we always ask "is P equal to NP"?
Such a waste (Score:2)
Dude, you're doing it all wrong. You don't put all your good dope in one single post. You gotta spread it out. You've got eight questions? That means you can get eight separately up-modded posts if you play your cards right. It pains me to see someone waste an opportunity to milk their ideas for all the karma/recognition they can get. You've obviously never been a post-doc and been under pressure to churn out N papers each year... :)
GMD
Save Me From Myself (Score:2, Informative)
I would like to omit the fourth question or at least the first half of it as he answers on his FAQ:
And he kind of answers my sixth question:
Re:Save Me From Myself (Score:4, Funny)
My question: Of all the characters you've played, which one do you use the most when sitting on the toilet?
Re:Save Me From Myself (Score:3, Funny)
Zoidberg. There can be no other.
Y'all need to get out more. (Score:3, Funny)
I've heard/seen such references to Futurama before, and I can only wonder, what the heck are you talking about?
I love Futurama; I laugh at Futurama; I'm exciting there will be more Futurama. But I would never describe Futurama as "intellectual" or "graduate level" humor.
Due to the setting--1000 years in the future--Futurama has
Queue the "over-your-head" gesture . . . WHOOOOSH! (Score:3, Interesting)
PS - don't call people idiots, sir. That's really really mean.
Yeah...well... (Score:2)
I guess some heads (and brows) are in different places than others.
Yes, there is a lot of actual science and math thrown into Futurama scripts. But that fact doesn't negate my comments. Simply put, it's not the science and math that make the show funny. Actually, Yocto Yotta's links remind me how unfunny smart people can be. There's nothing wrong with being smart, but smart in-and-of-itself does not a joke make.
For example, they did the actual calculations to compute Fry's bank account balance afte
Re:Yeah...well... (Score:2)
Great literature is referenced, history, religion. It is ripe with it.
Then there is the language puzzle, and the time travel to save the universe for ongoing thought.
Re:Y'all need to get out more. (Score:2)
Copyright permission? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Copyright permission? (Score:2)
another episode of Single White Female Lawyer. You will need to take it
up with Lrrr and tell Lrrr he's possibly violating Earth's circa 2k copyright laws.
Lrrr will be glad to help you sort it all out, hes understanding and compassionate.
If you hear him wanting harvest any of your horns though I would probably drop your
query and hide.
Re:Copyright permission? (Score:5, Informative)
Billy and I had some doubts if you guys would believe it was really him answering the questions or not. So, I got him to call me, record his voice through some Asterisk fun over our T1 PRI, and quickly edited what he did into something that didn't have as many noticeable dropouts or crackles since he had to call me on a cell phone due to the very short notice. (This is why the audio quality is so bad.) I whipped it up, added a few second of the theme, and gave it to Roblimo. So, don't blame Billy for the use of the theme song.
However, I believe this would fall under fair use. And even if it didn't, I think it's unlikely that the company that owns the rights to the theme (which I really doubt is an RIAA member) would go after someone for using a few seconds of a song in connection of directly promoting the show when one of the cast members is directly involved.
Good question, but nothing to do with Billy I'm afraid.
Re:Copyright permission? (Score:2)
Probably yes, Fox has pretty deep pockets and can afford clearence on a sample. The system is set up so that large companies and wealthy individuals can create whatever art they want, but regular musicians are forbidden to use "illegal" sounds unless they sell themselves to a corporation.
Pretty twisted.
Ren and Stimpy (Score:2, Insightful)
When the studio fired the show's creator, sure. That was when it sucked. Hardly his finest hour.
Re:Ren and Stimpy (Score:2)
Re:Ren and Stimpy (Score:2)
Re:Ren and Stimpy (Score:4, Informative)
You obviously didn't see the infamous Son Of Stimpy episode which played some role in the decision to fire the creator. I've never in my life seen a sorrier piece of animation than that episode. The episode was created only to stick it to Nickelodeon. Anyone who thinks this episode has any merit at all is quite blunty an idiot. Had I been an executive at Nickelodeon at the time and seen this episode, I not only would have fired creator John Kricfalusi for it, I would have tried to sue him to recover the costs of making it.
For those unfamilair with Ren And Stimpy you can consider this episode to be the forerunner of Mr. Handy on South Park , but made as devoid of humor and entertainment as possible.
Re:Ren and Stimpy (Score:2)
you mean freedom day (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:you mean freedom day (Score:2)
- Robin
Getting in the Biz (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Getting in the Biz (Score:2)
Another route might to be contact local production companies that do TV and Radio voiceover ads for products. Maybe do a short demo CD of your talents? I know even for a few 30-second radio spots you can make a couple of hundred dollars.
Re:Getting in the Biz (Score:5, Informative)
What advice do you have for someone trying to get into voice acting?
"Have a recording studio do a professional demo tape of straight reads and character voices. They usually have all the stuff for you work with on your demo. Always consider critiques of your performances. You take the demo and try to get an interview with a commercial talent agency for them to listen to. Try everywhere. I started in radio and got a job doing VO's in 1980 after the star of the morning show heard it. I worked for free at first and then it turned into a paying part-time job. Try stations to see if any of the shows need a good voice person. Radio shows are most likely to use a person that can do political figures or celebrities. They mostly rely on their on-air talent to read the straight stuff or let the production director do it. It's a good idea to think about re-locating to where the industry is, namely New York or LA, even though it's frightening.
When I left my hometown there were a few guys that called me after they heard me in a cartoon or saw me on TV or in a commercial doing voices. "Wow man, what's it like to have a job like that? Must be nothin' but tits and ice cream!" All I said was "Hey, I took the risks you guys never did. You got married too early and had kids and got steady jobs and took the safe path of least resistance. I had the balls to get in in a business of 90unemployment and bet on myself. I did real well but there were no guarantees of even a small success. I was a gunslinger that wouldn't listen to advice and got lucky. But so could you."
What he means is (Score:2)
Maybe that's what I mean.
Your projects (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Your projects (Score:2, Informative)
Question number plz99 (Score:5, Interesting)
and what are your favorite moments or stories with them?
Re:Question number plz99 (Score:5, Interesting)
When the cast of the Simpsons did "Inside the Actors Studio" a couple of years ago, they joked that that was one of the few times in the run of the series that the cast was all in the same room together at the same time.
Re:Question number plz99 (Score:2)
Voice acting and real acting are extremely similar in concept. The execution is nothing close though...
Billy West is a scab (Score:2)
This leads to a bigger question: does Billy actually get to work with his castmates?
Interesting that you bring up 'other castmates'. When Futurama was first developed, several other voice actors had created the sound of the different characters' voices. Then they went on strike demanding larger salaries. The producers found Billy West was versatile enough to imitate the other actors' voices for the characters, so they fired the other voice actors and hired Billy West. They had Billy and one of the other
Guidance and Backstory... (Score:5, Interesting)
How much of a role do you like to play in shaping the worlds you play a part in?
Similarly, what level of informational feedback do you think is appropriate from producers?
Ryan Fenton
Well... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Well... (Score:5, Funny)
The correct answer is "1", unless you meant "XOR", in which case the answer is "0", and you can bite my shiny boolean ass.
Amy (Score:2, Informative)
(and Natasja from Rocky & Bullwinkle for some reason)
Re:Well... (Score:2)
Leela AND Amy
Re:Well... (Score:2)
Re:Well... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Well... (Score:2)
That's true unless he's observed. Then its either/or.
Re:Well... (Score:2)
"in like 2008" (Score:2, Funny)
Like really? Like that'd be like cool when it like returns...
oh man Billy West (Score:4, Funny)
Re:oh man Billy West (Score:4, Funny)
Re:oh man Billy West (Score:2, Funny)
PLEASE read his FAQ first (Score:5, Informative)
If you read Billy West's FAQ before asking a question, you won't repeat things that he's been asked before, and make us all look like a bunch of uneducated monkeys without cooling hats!
And that wouldn't be good news at all!
http://www.billywest.com/index4.htm [billywest.com] is where you find his FAQ. I've already seen a post moderated to 5 that asked questions answered there.
Re:PLEASE read his FAQ first (Score:3, Funny)
It's Flash-laden. That's right... it's a suppository.
Al Gore (Score:2)
Someone posted this clip on YouTube of a Futurama promo for Al Gores new movie [youtube.com]. Great stuff
I didn't know this but Al Gores daughter, Kristin Gore [imdb.com] is a writer for Futurama. Fun trivia for the day!
Hank vs. Billy (Score:5, Funny)
Who is returning? (Score:4, Interesting)
New Series: Writers (Score:5, Interesting)
We've heard a lot about the original voice actors who are returning to Futurama. This is great, and I believe it is absolutely essential to the success of the new season. However, what about the other staff? Are the writers of the Fox episodes returning for the new season? Is there anyone who isn't coming back to the show who you'll miss?
Thanks! Can't wait for the new season!! Can I be cryogenically frozen until 2008?
Phil Hartman (Score:5, Interesting)
No, according to Wikipedia (Score:2)
Yes, according to a recent interview. (Score:5, Informative)
Via TV Squad [tvsquad.com]:
Somebody go correct the Wikipedia entry.Re:Phil Hartman (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Phil Hartman (Score:2)
Blasphemy! Long Live the irreplacable Yeardley Smith. (The world needs the wisdom of Herman's Head now, more than ever!)
Other cartoons he watches? (Score:5, Interesting)
And keep up the good work.
Hello Billy (Score:5, Interesting)
Did you get a chance to listen to any international version of Futurama, and what did you think of the performance of the voice actors?
Which brings me to the following question: Did you ever do voiceovers for a foreign production, say, a turkish sitcom , and if so, what kind were the challenges you were faced with?
Cheers,
Palad1,
Foreigner
"Pirates" (Score:5, Interesting)
In particular, I mean those that pay for cable TV, but don't enjoy being bombarded with ads interupting the shows every 5 minutes, and find major network schedules highly restrictive.
Voice alterations (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Voice alterations (Score:2)
In fact, you see the same thing on live-action shows also, where the actors need a season to find the right style of speech. That show where Leela had two eyes and was married to a shoe salesman comes to mind.
Re:Voice alterations (Score:2)
Giordi LaForge: "Hooo-eee!"
Fortunately they fine-turned that little quirk out of the character immediately.
Why not just. . . (Score:2)
Grandma lovin' (Score:2, Funny)
If so, how was it?
Voices (Score:5, Interesting)
Way back when Futurama began in 1999, did the creators and producers specify fairly specifically how they wanted your various parts to sound? Or did you maintain a relative degree of autonomy when coming up with all the great voices we know and love?
Can't wait for the new episodes; if they are nearly as good as the 3rd and 4th seasons we'll all be grateful. The simple, sardonic humor and geek references can draw on so many new phenomena of the past three years. Let's hope the cynicism is utterly dispeled and that Futurama hasn't even thought about the shark, let alone jumped it as some persons say.
My question for Billy (Score:5, Funny)
Writing (Score:5, Interesting)
A question for Billy West. (Score:4, Interesting)
The Web (Score:5, Interesting)
How important do you feel the internet has been in the success of Futurama? I know there are tons references to fan posting's and web sites on the Futurama DVD's. Do you think Futurama episodes online contributed to the continuing success of Futurama after it was cancelled? I'm sure there are plenty of people who weren't significantly exposed to Futurama until the episodes began making their way online...
Production Values (Score:4, Interesting)
P.S. - I don't care if there is - crayon drawings will do if it gets to come back.
P.P.S. - Slashdot hosting an mp3? Can slashdot slashdot itself?
do you take requests? (Score:5, Funny)
Actor vs. Voice Actor ... where's the hipness? (Score:3, Interesting)
Does being a famous, well-known, prolific voice actor get you the kudos, bennies, fame, and fortune being a live-action (TV/Movie) actor does?
You've worked with many, know many (I'm certain), and probably have a lot of exposure to the Hollywood "scene" - and no doubt have an opinion on this. In short, does being Fry get you the babes?
Seriously, that's a little tongue-in-cheek, but do you actually have a similar public life to Katey Sagal? Good - instant recognition, fan mobs, free swag, etc. - and bad - instant recognition, fan mobs, constantly being asked for autographs and free swag, etc.?
Thanks - love your work, especially the way you bring zoidberg's understated, self-deprecating humor to life with your portrayal. Glad to have you back from syndication!
Your voice? (Score:5, Interesting)
Damien
Re:Your voice? (Score:2)
Leave it at the beep (Score:5, Interesting)
What's the message on your answering machine?
speak for yourself! (Score:2)
I have had many nude hot tub parties on the 4th. Well, until I got married.
Q: (Score:2)
Where do voice actors hang out? (Score:5, Interesting)
Personal favor (Score:2)
Sirius (Score:3, Interesting)
Bringing back futurama (Score:2)
you wanted Futurama to be back
the audience wanted Futurama to be back
Yet there is a finite number of TV channels and 24hours per day... so even a profitable show can be voted of screen it there are some more profitable shows... You did consider a DVD release which I think is still on track, but should the opportunity have arisen, would you have considered:
- airing on the internet
- not being financed by a classical production compan
Re:Bringing back futurama (Score:2)
How was the show written? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:How was the show written? (Score:2)
Billy: Responses in character voice! (Score:3)
Loved your slashdot reel.
Please answer our questions in an MP3 using your favorite character voices
Shameless Billy West plug (Score:5, Informative)
We did the last interview [tvsquad.com] before the announcement over on TV Squad.
</shameless plug>
Home Studio? (Score:3, Interesting)
Given the sound quality of that montage, it would appear that your 'home studio' is actually the voice mail on your cell phone.
But seriously. I just watched the documentary "My Date With Drew", and was treated to a nice little segment with an appearance by (I believe) voiceover artist George Del Hoyo. We get to see his home studio: a computer, a microphone, some preamps and compressors. What *is* your home studio like? Do you record at home often, or in roundtables with other actors? What microphone do you find suits your voice best? Do you have a favorite piece of recording equipment?
Character voice ownership? (Score:2, Interesting)
Random, but I'd like to know (Score:2)
Which animated shows do you enjoy? (Score:2)
Evolution (Score:2)
The Secret Life of Honey Bee (Score:2)
Re:What is the next thing that is going to happen? (Score:2)
Re:My question (Score:2)
Actually, though, there's a scene (the big musical production number toward the end) in Cradle Will Rock when (off-camera) Hank Aza
Re:My question (Score:2)
Re:My question (Score:2)
Re:Eek 404! (Score:5, Funny)
- Robin