My "Superior Duck" re-voicing!

[Matthew Hunter]

Watching "Superior Duck" on the Quackbusters DVD reminded me how grating Frank Gorshin's voice for Daffy in that cartoon was. It just didn't sound like Daffy, and the performance didn't match the energy of the animation.

As many of you have heard, I do a pretty passable Daffy Duck. So I decided to take an old Youtube file I had of the cartoon into Adobe Soundbooth and replace Gorshin's dialogue with my own. I left the other characters' voices alone.

Opinions?

"Superior Duck: Redubbed" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42tAVGX2Luo)

[Brandon Panther]

Kinda sounds like Jeff Bennett's Daffy (when not sped up). I say decent job.

[The "Chase"]

I agree with the decent comment, Few problems, but I bet it was circumstances beyond your control.

As for the cartoon (since the whole cartoon is there, why not), man. It's pretty sad where everything BUT the story and gags is actually good. I mean, Chuck was captivate of making above average cartoons after his original WB career (Chariots Of Fur), but man, what was he thinking with this one? Just becuase he loved Daffy didn't mean he had to shoehorn in Superman gags and cameos for a cartoon meant for him for no reason. I mean, come on.

[Matthew Hunter]

I just think the cartoon is a snooze because nothing really HAPPENS. The cameos are funny (Especially the Roadrunner/Coyote and Taz), but they're wasted because there is no real plot other than the Thurl Ravenscroft narrator screwing up and Daffy calling him on it. I don't presume to say my Daffy Duck voice is perfect, but I always thought that even I could do a better Daffy than Frank Gorshin did, and I hope this proves it. :daffy:

[nickramer]

I agree with the decent comment, Few problems, but I bet it was circumstances beyond your control.

As for the cartoon (since the whole cartoon is there, why not), man. It's pretty sad where everything BUT the story and gags is actually good. I mean, Chuck was captivate of making above average cartoons after his original WB career (Chariots Of Fur), but man, what was he thinking with this one? Just becuase he loved Daffy didn't mean he had to shoehorn in Superman gags and cameos for a cartoon meant for him for no reason. I mean, come on.
I still blame Warners for meddling on this cartoon. I wish I can see
Chuck's original outline and storyboards before Warners chimed in.

Anyway, good job Matthew. You preetty much improved the film a little more.

[jonmayo15]

You did a fine job Matt, it's just that I agree, the cartoon really doesn't have a point.

[Matthew Hunter]

I'd never attempt to re-voice a GOOD cartoon. What would be the point of competing with Mel Blanc, or Joe Alaskey for that matter?;)

[Brandon Panther]

I'd never attempt to re-voice a GOOD cartoon. What would be the point of competing with Mel Blanc, or Joe Alaskey for that matter?;)
Does that mean you'd be up for the "Generation G-G-Gap" challenge?

[Matthew Hunter]

I don't think my Porky is good enough. But I could try, if I had a copy of the cartoon.

[Brandon Panther]

I don't think my Porky is good enough. But I could try, if I had a copy of the cartoon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWw56ajKIhk

If you have Free Studio, you should be able to download the video onto your computer.

You know while I absolutely hate this cartoon, I do have to admit, the talking Lincoln bill is kinda funny.

[Matthew Hunter]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWw56ajKIhk

If you have Free Studio, you should be able to download the video onto your computer.

You know while I absolutely hate this cartoon, I do have to admit, the talking Lincoln bill is kinda funny.

Viewing it again, I shall have to decline your request. Actually, the Porky voice (which I'm assuming is Billy West) isn't too bad...just sped up too much. But I could'nt do any better, and the cartoon is so bad as a whole, I wouldn't want to try!

[Mr. Semaj]

I felt Daffy needed more infliction. It might've been the audio equipment you were using, but his lisping was too soft.

The cartoon itself was boring. It was interesting to see Jones use McKimson characters, but these random cameos only distracted from telling the story.

[Marty26]

I just think the cartoon is a snooze because nothing really HAPPENS. The cameos are funny (Especially the Roadrunner/Coyote and Taz), but they're wasted because there is no real plot other than the Thurl Ravenscroft narrator screwing up and Daffy calling him on it. I don't presume to say my Daffy Duck voice is perfect, but I always thought that even I could do a better Daffy than Frank Gorshin did, and I hope this proves it. :daffy:

You did a great job as Daffy. Although the low sound quality of your microphone was fairly obvious (no offense).

Your description of the cartoon is precisely how I feel about it. In fact, based on this cartoon, it seems Jones never picked up on everybody's complaints about his last few Bugs Bunny cartoons: It's WAY TOO TALKY!!!! And the whole cartoon is basically a slow-paced one-joke affair. Which wouldn't be so bad except that the joke (Ravenscroft constantly screwing up his intro for Daffy), while funny for may be the first minute or so, gets old quickly. Admittedly, the "faster than a speeding snail" line made me laugh. But then Daffy ruined it by analyzing it to death. Also, for the Tweety cameo, couldn't they have come up with something a little more creative than "I tawt I taw a puddy duck"? :rolleyes:

On the bright side, the cartoon is well animated. And it certainly had the potential to wash away the sour aftertaste of Duck Dodgers And The Return Of The 24th And A Half Century from 16 years prior. It's just a shame that potential was never even approached.

[Marty26]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWw56ajKIhk

Post that again and you're banned!

[Richie]

First time I watch all of Superior Duck in English, so I can't really compare your voice against the original VA, Matthew. It was an enjoyable Daffy to listen to, nonetheless.

They aired it here in Mexico once, IIRC, but I only had vague memories of it. Darn. Now watching it with a better judgement, ugh, it hurts to see this is what Jones was churning out in those years. Was this released theathrically? I feel bad for the audience forced to watch this. Bonus points if the movie after the short was equally bad.

Makes you wonder if Jones would have made a good, witty sitcom, where his talkiness could have been better appreciated.

In a completely unrelated note, the Donald Duck fan within me smiled when search results for "Superior Duck" on Youtube came with Toy Tinkers and Donald's Better Self on the top =D

[Philo & Gunge]

Was this released theathrically? I feel bad for the audience forced to watch this. Bonus points if the movie after the short was equally bad.

Superior Duck was released with the Tom Arnold/David Paymer dud Carpool, apparently one of the worst films of '96. I haven't seen it but I've heard nothing but negative things.

[quack-up]

(Especially the Roadrunner/Coyote and Taz)

I can't stand the Taz cameo. "Duck Burger."






......

[Ray Pointer]

I listened to your dub with great interest. Here is my evaluation. First, I believe the quality of your microphone compromised the tone of your performance, as it is a bit muffled. Overall, your DAFFY voice sounds as if you had a slight cold. While you are capturing the basic essence of DAFFY, your delivery lacks the range that Mel Blanc hit when emphasizing certain phrases, especially in the ends of sentences. There tends to be only two tones to your delivery as if this was a first trial table read without inflection or acting put into the reading. There are places where you needed to go a bit further, altering the pitch inflection to accent certain words which is how Blanc created the sense of self-centeredness.

But the basic problem is rooted in the cartoon itself, which has entirely too much unfunny dialog that really needed to be edit. While some bits are funny, those are lost in the rest of the unnecessary babbling that DAFFY goes through. This is ironic considering that Chuck Jones made the critical statement about Hanna-Barbera being "illustrated radio." Perhaps he forgot his own criticism. Lastly, the opening them was adapted from the SUPERMAN serial produced by Columbia Studios in 1948.

[Brandon Panther]

I listened to your dub with great interest. Here is my evaluation. First, I believe the quality of your microphone compromised the tone of your performance, as it is a bit muffled. Overall, your DAFFY voice sounds as if you had a slight cold. While you are capturing the basic essence of DAFFY, your delivery lacks the range that Mel Blanc hit when emphasizing certain phrases, especially in the ends of sentences. There tends to be only two tones to your delivery as if this was a first trial table read without inflection or acting put into the reading. There are places where you needed to go a bit further, altering the pitch inflection to accent certain words which is how Blanc created the sense of self-centeredness.
PLUS Matthew is trying to have his dubs match the animation, and the length of Frank Gorshin's perfomrance.

As Richard Horvitz once said, dubbing over someone else's work is HARD!

[Jack G.]

I'd never attempt to re-voice a GOOD cartoon. What would be the point of competing with Mel Blanc, or Joe Alaskey for that matter?;)The challenge of stretching your skills?

Pretty bad cartoon with lots of usless cameos.

Doesn't generate any humor or entertainment for me.

[Ray Pointer]

Bringing the thread back into perspective, Matthew is serious about honing his skills with voices. Accordingly, I have offered "serious" evaluations on both occasions he has asked for them. Again Matthew, I say, you need to continue working, and at the same time, concentrate on creating original voices, which might be much easier for you. An icon such as Mel Blanc is a tough act to follow. While much can be learned by imitating him, trying slavishly to do it can be self-defeating on several levels. This is especially the case when there is already a core of people accepted within the "inner circle" who are deemed "qualitied." The question is whether you did this dubbing experiement for your own personal satisfaction, or whether you did it as an exercise to prove to
protential producers at Time-Warner that you can imitate this voice better than the people they already have. Even so, I don't think you could expect much of a career of it since they are not making that many new cartoons with DAFFY DUCK the last time I checked.

Last year, you posted a sampling of voices you do. I offered several specific suggestions to help guide you in your efforts that included vocal technique, pitch, etc. as well as suggesting that you consider assembling a sample reel and shop it around to radio stations and ad agencies. If you are ready to share your talents in forums and YouTube, perhaps your next phase is to go for the sample reel and try to do it for real. Are you taking any acting courses? This would be beneficial as well. The door is open for you, but you must make the effort to step forward in order to pass through.

[cpdavison]

Also, don't underestimate the value of a good director in the recording booth.

(Disclaimer: I haven't been able to watch this, Matt, as I have a dial-up connection, so streaming stuff is O-W-T.:o

Craig D.