AT THE MOVIES

GIVING VOICE TO ANIMATION: LIVELY VOCAL PERFORMANCES ADD LUSTER TO KUNG FU PANDA

By G. Arnold, Bread and Circus editor

Computer-generated animated films are now one of the staples of the movie business. Pixar was the first Hollywood studio to draw worldwide attention to animation’s new look, courtesy of movies such as Toy Story and a string of titles. Other studios also got into the act, and now such movies appear with great regularity. Considering that the feature-length animated film was once all but relegated to the dustbin of history, the popularity of new-generation animated movies is an interesting story by itself.

A new title in the animation arena is Kung Fu Panda, from Dreamworks Animation, creators of the hugely popular Shrek franchise. Early reviews, such as one by Elizabeth Weitzman in The New York Post, are generally favorable.

The look — especially the three dimensional appearance of images — in most current computer-generated is one of the features that draws viewer attention. Starkly different from earlier incarnations of animated film, the new “look” can be a visual treat. The rendering, full range of motion, and visual depth allow visions of extreme fantasy and imagination to take on an almost tangible look and feel.

But the novelty of this look has worn off somewhat. The large crop of films has partially contributed to this, but perhaps more importantly, the ubiquity of computer and video games makes this sort of imagery and animation available on a daily basis to a worldwide audience. To really succeed in this environment, the new animated movies need more than a great look and state-of-the-art animation.

And that means compelling stories and on-target casting decisions in casting the actors who provide voices for the animated characters. The studios still have trouble with the story part, which is much harder to pull off than most people imagine. Like writing for children’s or youth-oriented books, many people wrongly assume that anyone could write the story or script for an animated film. (Read about misconceptions in writing for young audiences here.) Yet, it is plainly true that writing these films, like writing for for any audience, is much more difficult than it may seem. Hollywood does not usually deal in perfection, of course, and so most productions, animated or otherwise, go ahead even when scripts still have flaws.

This makes the voice casting even more crucial. Obviously, the actual animation in a film such as Shrek (Dreamworks) or Ice Age (Twentieth Century Fox Animation) or Finding Nemo (Pixar) is critically important. Yet, the voice performances can almost make or break a film. A great voice performance may not be able to salvage a movie with a bad script and lackluster animation, but it can make it better. And similarly, poor voice casting and performance can dampen the success of an otherwise solid animated movie.

This brings me to Kung Fu Panda, which seems to have made a number of right moves in the voice talent department. There are many actors who have contributed their talent to the film, including Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Ian McShane (Deadwood), and many others. It is an impressive cast, indeed. There are two other casting decisions, however, that caught my attention.

The first of these is the casting of Jack Black, currently my favorite film actor, as the voice of Po, the lead character. Already, Black’s performance in Kung Fu Panda is getting attention. I’m not surprised. Black is a force of nature, it seems to me. Even in roles that seem fairly ridiculous, he somehow manages to provide superbly entertaining over-the-top performances that are also oddly authentic. The seeming ease with which he does this, combined with the apparent light-weight nature of the films in which he appears, may obscure how good many of these performances are. But he’s a comic actor, and like the many fine comic actors before him, it is unlikely that his performances will get the same sort of respect that an actor of similar ability would get for work in dramatic roles. Still, the casting of Black in Kung Fu Panda will certainly increase the odds for the movie’s ultimate success.

The other casting decision that caught my attentions perhaps more personal. I refer to the casting of veteran actor James Hong in the supporting role of Mr. Ping. As a student of and fan of both film and television, I find the appearance of James Hong in yet another production a pleasing development. I suspect that the name James Hong may not mean much to many people, but if you’ve seen a lot of film and television since the 1950s, you know his work. Indeed, Hong is surely one of the hardest working, least appreciated, most satisfying actors in the business. I, for one, am very happy to have the opportunity to encounter him in another new production.

James Hong is one of those actors who have often been cast in so-called “ethnic” roles, a fate that many actors of non-European ancestry faced since the beginning of the movie business. He was born in Minneapolis in 1929, but was often cast to play Chinese or other Asian characters. Hong did appear in many television series and films that are very admirable, but I remember his performances even in those instances in which the material was sub-par.

And it is true that some of the roles have perpetuated ethnic stereotypes. In many of his performances, however, Hong’s acting has transcended these stereotypes. This is a significant accomplishment that deserves recognition. To me — and I am a product of the so-called television generation — he seemed to add an air of dignity and intelligence that was often not apparent in the actual scripts. He has always been, in my opinion, better than much of the material he had to work with.

And we should not fault him for the material. After all, it is an actor’s job to act, and one can only act in those parts for which one is given the role. An actor also has little control over the messages that films and television show convey. I give Hong a lot of credit for rising above the material in the cases where the writing was less than ideal. Indeed, his understated performances often showed up inferior material.

James Hong has appeared in over 300 television shows and movies, according to the useful Imdb.com. website. Among his credits are Chinatown, Kung Fu , Seinfeld, Blade Runner, Bound for Glory, The Sand Pebbles, The X-Files, Perry Mason, Hawaiian Eye, The Outer Limits, and many, many more. I literally grew up watching James Hong, and over the years my appreciation for his performances, as well as for the performances of other unsung actors and actresses, has deepened. I’m happy to encounter his work once again.

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G. Arnold is an editor of Bread and Circus. His writing about film and television includes the books The Afterlife of America’s War in Vietnam (McFarland 2006) and Conspiracy Theory in Film, Television, and Politics, coming this fall from Praeger Publishers.