We Want More D’ough

‘WE can all talk in funny voices with the aid of a comedy moustache and a helium balloon, but the best most of us will ever get in return is a slightly forced laugh from those around us.

Keeping mum?

But talking in silly voices, if those voices happen to belong to the likes of Homer and Bart Simpson, is big business.

And the actors who do the voiceovers on the hit show clearly have no doubt about their worth, with the six core cast members going on strike unless they receive $360,000 (£194,000) an episode.

At the moment, says the Times, they are paid $125,000 for voicing each 30-minute show (which apparently takes between six and seven hours to do).

But, says the paper, the six could be in for a shock if they think that they are irreplaceable – when there was a similar pay dispute in 1998, Fox TV hired casting directors to look out for replacements for the voice talent.

All of which could be good news for every Simpsons fan who reckons they can do a good impression of their favourite character.

But whether it comes to that could depend on whether or not the cast do as the Times suggests and take heed of Homer’s advice.

‘If you don’t like your job, you don’t strike,’ he told Lisa. ‘You just go in every day and do it really half-assed. It’s the American way.’

It’s also, as Beverley Hughes proves, the British way.’

Posted: 2nd, April 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink