In the world of animation and video games, Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt are the reigning king and queen of voice overs. (The fact that they’re married in real life lends to the image of VO royalty.) You might not recognize their names, but you’ll definitely recognize their voices. Here’s just a sampling of their credits:

Yuri: Superman on Legion of Super Heroes, the prince in Prince of Persia, Ben Tennyson on Ben 10: Alien Force, Iceman on X-Men, Prince Alexander in Veggie Tales, and dozens of other roles in animation, video games, and anime dubbing.

Tara: Wonder Woman in the Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe video game, the Red Queen in Resident Evil, the narrator in Cinderella III, and numerous characters in the Desperate Housewives video game, along with dozens of roles in anime series.

In the first interview above (courtesy of Backstage), Tara and Yuri share their thoughts on what makes a good demo, and what do you know? They say a lot of the same things we teach here at Voice Coaches! They offer up some terrific thoughts on how to maximize the potential of your demo, as well as adding in some do’s and don’ts that we agree with 100%.

In the second video, we get a really good insight into the recording process for video games and animation, which is a little bit different from your typical commercial copy. We also get to find out a little bit about the unique challenges involved with creating English dubbing for Japanese animation.

Yuri and Tara are luminaries in the world of voice over, and I think they offered up some great insights here for aspiring voice actors. Next time you’re watching an animated series or playing a video game, pay attention; there’s a good chance you’ll hear one of them at work.

For as long as I can remember, Old Navy has always had a unique sensibility to its ads. Their latest campaign, the SuperModelquins, has been running for over a year now, so it must be doing well for them. And while I’ve seen a bunch of them over the past several months, it wasn’t until this most recent batch that I really paid attention to just how much voice over work there is going on in each commercial. Here I’ve spotlighted three of their most recent (and most voice-over-intensive) commercials in the campaign.

The first commercial sets up the latest wave of the campaign: The SuperModelquin Super Search, a clear parody of shows such as Project Runway and America’s Next Top Model. The two main characters in the spot are the American show host, Kelly, and the as-yet unnamed British judge. These two voices do the majority of the work in this commercial, although there are — believe it or not — five (and possibly six, if the giggle and the gasp of the contestant were done by a separate voice talent, which I believe they were) distinct voice actors in this first commercial.

The second commercial also sees five distinct voices at work, including a young sounding voice that simply says, “You blinked.” We also get a new judge in this commercial; another American voice to complement the British judge, who returns here as well. Of course, the announcer voice comes in at the end with a high energy pitch leading you to Old Navy’s website and a chance to win a cash prize.

The final ad is the only one that has a voice in the commercial that was provided by a live actress, and even with that, there are still five separate voice actors at work. Notice that even though the closing announcer’s voice sounds as if it’s just one take repeated three times, he’s actually pitching different sales in each version and in fact, each ad features a different closing narration. Still, we have numerous judges and the host commenting this time around.

It’s amazing how many different voices Old Navy fits into each of these 30-second spots. I had to listen to each one a couple of times to pick them all out. Don’t miss the opening female announcer’s sound-effect-enhanced dialogue, or the little quick asides such as the male SuperModelquin judge shouting, “Call me!” in the first commercial.

And of course, my favorite line of all three commercials comes in this last spot: “Never give up your dreams of being fake.” Thanks for that gem, Old Navy!

The acting world lost another legend on Sunday when Peter Graves, star of the two Mission: Impossible television series and the two Airplane! movies, passed away at the age of 83.

In addition to a film and television career that encompassed over 50 years of acting, Mr. Graves was also a noted voice over talent. He’s most famously known for hosting A&E’s Biography series since 1987, a job that involved narrating the lives of numerous actors, sports figures, scientific pioneers, and notoriously famous personalities. Less known is the fact that Mr. Graves provided voice overs for numerous cartoons and video games, including Mickey Mouse and Looney Tunes projects in the ’90s and The Angry Beavers cartoon series. In fact, the last work he completed before his passing was a voice over as the narrator of the Darkstar video game. And while Mr. Graves spent over half a century in front of the camera, it was his indelible and instantly recognizable voice that helped make him such a popular actor.

Speaking personally, this writer has always been a fan of Mr. Graves’ work, growing up watching reruns of the original Mission: Impossible show and the original run of the remake series that aired in the late ’80s. And of course, the Airplane movies were an unforgettable part of my childhood and teen years. Whether he was starring in The Winds of War or guest-starring on Fantasy Island, I’ve always enjoyed Mr. Graves’ work.

Rest in Peace, Peter. We’ll miss you.