Curious George Season 14 and the film Curious George: Cape Ahoy is currently streaming on Peacock. As a result, ComingSoon was able to catch up with the legendary voice actor Frank Welker about the role, getting to voice so many animals, and his work on the English dub of the beloved anime film My Neighbor Totoro.
Tyler Treese: You’ve voiced Curious George for 15 years at this point. Has your approach changed any during this time span?
Frank Welker: No not really. I might be a little more facile now with getting to a certain sound or attitude, but I have tried to be consistent as possible with the character. In the feature, the sound editors let me have free reign… they were hard-pressed to tell me how to do what sounds, etc. and they totally trusted me. I came in with quite a background in creating sound for critters in features so I think they were hoping I would just jump in headfirst and start swimming or would that be swinging? I love that and it is so much fun working in that kind of environment. As for the actual work, when you see the (ADR) the film up on the screen the art is already there so you just need to finish what the artists had in mind and hopefully add a little magic. In the television versions, I find there is a lot more direction and controls. This tends to be necessary as there is a lot more shows and a production team is required. It tends to be a little more confining but necessary to keep everyone on the same page and get us to a certain consistency show after show.
What are the challenges that come with portraying a character that is verbal but doesn’t use words? You still manage to portray so much emotion through your inclinations.
As I mentioned earlier, we now have a team that spends a lot of time and effort creating stories and hovering over George to make sure we stay within tolerances… meaning we want George to be anthropomorphic for sure but still believable as a real ( well animated of course) monkey. It is a fun challenge trying to keep that line. My tendency is to get lost in the character and just do what feels natural (as in the original feature) but now we have the team to change what they feel may be getting to close to George speaking English. We all will have a laugh now as Ellen Cockrill our executive producer speaks pretty darn good monkey in fact so does the rest of the team. I think I should get an additional language teaching credit!
Curious George: Cape Ahoy recently released. Did you have a favorite scene to record for that film?
Well, there were lots of fun and touching scenes, I must be honest, I really like the softer scenes where George shows emotion and can use smaller sounds and not the usual chitters. Also, it was great having George get out of his house and comfort zones to take to the sea and meet new friends and have new adventures. I liked the little seal…
You’ve done so many animal voices over the years. When did you first realize you had this knack for sounding like creatures both real and fictional?
I am glad you toned it down to having a knack instead of aberration [laughs] but you know it started quite early. I remember every morning when I was very young, I would let my oatmeal get cold as I stared out the French door windows and watched the sparrows eat and chirp delighting in the breadcrumbs my mother had given them. I was in voice school. To this day, I think I speak perfect and fluent “sparrow.”
What have you found most rewarding about working on Curious George and the great lessons it teaches children?
As in most shows for me personally, it is working with the cast and production crew. I have been doing this work for a long while but still every time I walk into a studio and see all that goes into these shows from showrunners, assistants, directors, producers, writers and the engineers and techs it is amazing. And of course, my friends, my fellow actors that really make working fun. I truly marvel at the talents like Jeff Bennett, Jim Cummings, Kath Soucie, and on and on. All these people coming together to tell an animated story. Sometimes you forget there is someone out there who is watching and listening and appreciates what we do.
George is such a sweet show. I think for the young ones it is magic… they are seeing a monkey that thinks like they do, gets in trouble like they do, cares, and has feelings like they do… and he is curious. That is what I think H.A. and Margaret Rey were intending, to entertain while gently teaching… to see George make friends with all kinds of other creatures to experience life and travel together in search of fun and adventure.
You’ve played a part in the childhoods of families across generations. A child might know you from Curious George, while their parents recognize you from Transformers or Futurama. What’s it like to be synonymous with all these beloved franchises?
Two things come immediately to mind, I’m lucky and I’m old!
This has been such a great ride. I have been fortunate to wear many hats, standup comedy, TV and movies both voice and on camera acting, producer/writer and then be part of legacy shows and franchises like the ones you mentioned it is amazing. It’s fun when I go to cons, I am asked to sign so many different photos and comics and action figures… it certainly keeps it interesting. I often meet three generations and as I said before, makes me feel old and lucky!
You’ve gotten to contribute to several dubs of Studio Ghibli films and even voiced Totoro in Disney’s dub of My Neighbor Totoro. What did you like most about the role of Totoro and that performance?
Wow, thank you for asking about Totoro. What a great project and fun character to do. I knew of Totoro through a Japanese exchange student who was at college with my niece. She barely spoke English but tried to tell me about this artist/director Hayao Miyazaki and his work. She went home and then came back a couple of years later and far before the Disney version came a long, she introduced me to this wonderful, beautiful, and powerful world. The animation was stunning, and I remember the lumbering Totoro but to this day I don’t remember if in the Japanese version he had a voice or sound.
But when the folks at Disney asked me to do the role I was at their door before the light went out. I loved the subtlety of this gentle giant forest creature. I really got into it and the recording was done against picture ADR, which means I was watching Totoro and just became one with him. Okay I know that sounds a little “incense and tea” but it is true I loved getting lost in the forest and spending time with Totoro. Now the Catbus, that was more typical of the crazy things I do all the time… but Totoro… he was a deep and truly joyful spirit.