How Do These Characters Sound Like In Your Head?

[Jack Napier]

Split from: Why+So+Serious+

I thought of replying in the "Why So Serious- My Hero" thread, but figured it'd be better to fork it. Also, now as a separate thread, this could apply to Superman characters as well.

So, how do these characters sound like in your head?
How do the animated/live action versions of these characters compare?
You can give examples of actors who nailed it or you can give descriptions.

I'll start-
Batman- Batman has always had a "dark voice" in my head- usually a raspy voice that one would associate with Eastwood.
I love Kevin Conroy's voice for the role. In my head, Batman sounds similar, but probably not as low of a register. I thought Keaton and Kilmer's light rasps were appropriate. Christian Bale's, at times, has too much growl for my taste.

Superman- Superman should sound strong and authoritative. While I think Tom Welling works as a young Clark Kent, one of the drawbacks of the Smallville fancasting of him as Superman is that he just does not sound like Superman to me. Then again, he could change his voice- he was able to drop his voice pretty low as Bizarro, but that's besides the point.
Brandon Routh's voice sounds better for the role, but I still think that he looks and sounds a bit too young for an established Superman like the one he played.
I think that, as the first actor to voice Superman, Budd Collyer nailed it. I don't really have complaints towards any of the voices for the animated Superman incarnations, at least not for the ones I've seen.

Alfred- To me, Alfred always sounded like a stiff-upper-lip English gent. Sure, it seems stereotypical, but it just fits so well in head in contrast to the darker comic book characters. Since his voice is so distinctive, Michael Caine's voice is the only one that doesn't quite fit for me. Of course, it fits HIM when I'm watching him play the role, but outside of the Nolan films, it's not how I hear Alfred at all.

James Gordon- Bob Hastings from BTAS was perfect, in my opinion. He had the gruff, tough voice of authority, but it also had a weariness to it that I associate with the character. Gary Oldman is one of the most versatile actors around, especially with voices. His Gordon voice does have the weary feeling to it, but not quite the toughness.

Joker- Quite simply, the Joker has to sound like a nut and range from playful to dangerous. Hamill nailed it and it seems that Ledger managed to nail it and do something entirely different from Hamill.

[Timothy]

Great thread idea! Karma for the topic and for using the fork, Jack ;D

Batman
There are two actors that come to mind for me. Olan Soule from the 1968 Batman/Superman Hour cartoon series is the voice I use for comics up until 1989. I think of Kevin Conroy for comics after the aforementioned date because his voice was deep and commanding so that it not only demanded respect but scared you at the same time.

Harley Quinn
Nancy Kovack from the 1960's Batman TV series (she played "Queenie" in the Joker episode "The Joker Is Wild/Batman Is Riled") is a lot less annoying (IMO anyway) than Arleen Sorkin, despite the fact that I do enjoy elements of Sorkin's work.

The Mad Hatter
Gene Wilder's subdued but unmistakable insanity in Willy Wonka usually comes to my mind for one of the craziest inmates of Arkham.

Ratcatcher
Roddy McDowell's musical English accent, to me, befits this otherwise diminutive man.

Alfred
To me, there is only one voice that comes to mind; Efrem Zimbalest Jr., from Batman: The Animated Series. No other actor has come close IMO to how subtle yet warm and caring he was, especially at the end of Mask of the Phantasm.

Joker
Because the Joker has no one distinct characterization, my mind mixes both Mark Hamill and Cesar Romero for his voice. Elements such as Hamill's laugh can sometimes come out of Romero's voice when I read, but it usually fluctuates between these two. Elements of Ledger's sing-song type of voice have started to emerge as well.

[Jack Napier]

Jun 26, 2008 14:24:55 GMT -5 Timothy said:

Great thread idea! Karma for the topic and for using the fork, Jack ;D

No problem.

Olan Soule from the 1968 Batman/Superman Hour cartoon series is the voice I use for comics up until 1989.

That raises a good issue.
The voices of these characters in my head do change depending on the era. I'd say Soule is probably the voice of the lighter Batman in my head, though I don't know how that happened since I haven't really watched those cartoons a lot. Yet when I read from that era, I find myself hearing the Superfriends Batman rather than Adam West.

The one I have trouble discerning in my head is the 1970s O'Neill Batman. He was lighter and more talky than today's Batman- so the rasp I hear in the later comics like Year One doesn't seem entirely appropriate-, yet he is also more grim than the 1940s-1960s Batman.

[Timothy]

Jun 26, 2008 15:44:31 GMT -5 Jack Napier said:

Olan Soule from the 1968 Batman/Superman Hour cartoon series is the voice I use for comics up until 1989.

That raises a good issue.
The voices of these characters in my head do change depending on the era. I'd say Soule is probably the voice of the lighter Batman in my head, though I don't know how that happened since I haven't really watched those cartoons a lot.

God bless Youtube ;D

Yet when I read from that era, I find myself hearing the Superfriends Batman rather than Adam West.

Just found out that the "Batman/Superman Hour" and Superfriends Batman were one in the same!

The one I have trouble discerning in my head is the 1970s O'Neill Batman. He was lighter and more talky than today's Batman- so the rasp I hear in the later comics like Year One doesn't seem entirely appropriate-, yet he is also more grim than the 1940s-1960s Batman.

For the most part, Soule is my 70's Batman. When it comes to the grim stories of the 70's, I just lower the pitch of his voice.

[Jack Napier]

If this is Soule, then the glory of YouTube video users were the first to introduce me to him in this clip:

[Timothy]

God, I love that "un-aired" clip Thanks for posting that; karma for you ;D

[Jack Napier]

Ra's Al Ghul: A chilling voice with a British accent. Honestly, I can't imagine hearing Ra's with any other accent (thus my satisfaction with the twist in Begins that Neeson was playing the real Ra's and Ken Watanabe was a decoy).

Lex Luthor: Like with Conroy, I love Clancy Brown's voice for the role. The voice of Lex when I read doesn't have as low of a voice, but still has a similar bitter, condescending quality to it.

Bruce Wayne: Something a friend pointed out to me is how he always thought that the distinction between Bruce and Batman's voices weren't big enough until Bale came along and really changed his voice from Batman to Bruce Wayne so that one was not recognizable as the other.
Obviously, Bruce's voice- mainly in the playboy act- would be different from Batman's. Ironically, a voice similar to the one I read in the comics is the one Bale used as Patrick Bateman-in-public in American Psycho. It's like a happy-go-lucky voice with a hint of insincerity.

Two-Face: I guess this is the Batman- The Animated Series influence with the great Richard Moll, but I always heard Two-Face as a raspy voice, but even raspier than Batman's. I grew up watching the cartoons and hearing the rasp of Batman against the even raspier voice of Two-Face. RASP POWER!
Tommy Lee Jones's voice wasn't bad. The lines he had to say are another story, but the voice itself was fine.
I like what I heard from Eckhart in that one clip, but I'll bring in the final verdict when the movie comes out.

[Timothy]

Jun 29, 2008 19:51:01 GMT -5 Jack Napier said:

Ra's Al Ghul: A chilling voice with a British accent. Honestly, I can't imagine hearing Ra's with any other accent (thus my satisfaction with the twist in Begins that Neeson was playing the real Ra's and Ken Watanabe was a decoy).

That was one of the clues that helped me determine at the beginning of the film that Neeson was Ra's; that, and his goatee ;D

Lex Luthor: Like with Conroy, I love Clancy Brown's voice for the role. The voice of Lex when I read doesn't have as low of a voice, but still has a similar bitter, condescending quality to it.

I have to have Clancy Brown because of a memory from when I watched The Shawshank Redemption with my sister. Every time Clancy Brown's prison guard character vehemently swore, she picked up on the fact that he played Lex Luthor and started saying "SURE THING MISTUH LOOTHOR!" like Otis would in the first Superman movie

Black Mask

I would love for Richard Moll to "return" to the Batman universe by vocally playing Black Mask in a film someday. His voice is very gravelly, deep and disturbing if combine it with Black Mask's appearance. With a voice this scary, his face is bound to be even more terrifying...

[Jack Napier]

I have to have Clancy Brown because of a memory from when I watched The Shawshank Redemption with my sister. Every time Clancy Brown's prison guard character vehemently swore, she picked up on the fact that he played Lex Luthor and started saying "SURE THING MISTUH LOOTHOR!" like Otis would in the first Superman movie

Karma for you for sharing that story.

Regarding Black Mask, I'm curious, if you've heard it, what you thought of James Remar's voice on The Batman since I know you're a Black Mask fan. I can't find anything on YouTube, but it was a pretty gravelly voice that I thought was appropriate.

The Penguin: Paul Williams's voice on the cartoon is definitely the closest. A sophisticated, snobbish I'm-better-than-you tone of voice.

[Timothy]

Jun 30, 2008 22:30:01 GMT -5 Jack Napier said:

I have to have Clancy Brown because of a memory from when I watched The Shawshank Redemption with my sister. Every time Clancy Brown's prison guard character vehemently swore, she picked up on the fact that he played Lex Luthor and started saying "SURE THING MISTUH LOOTHOR!" like Otis would in the first Superman movie

Karma for you for sharing that story.

;D It's what I do

Regarding Black Mask, I'm curious, if you've heard it, what you thought of James Remar's voice on The Batman since I know you're a Black Mask fan. I can't find anything on YouTube, but it was a pretty gravelly voice that I thought was appropriate.

For the show, I thought it worked, although I wish it were a little bit more commanding; I didn't really get the sense that this psychopath could gain any type of following in Gotham.

The Penguin: Paul Williams's voice on the cartoon is definitely the closest. A sophisticated, snobbish I'm-better-than-you tone of voice.

Definitely; if I had to do a storyline where Penguin degenerated into a nightmarish monster, I'd have him begin sounding like Williams, before getting gravelly like Meredith while ultimately sounding like DeVito.