Animation sound has evolved with the digital revolution, but despite sweeping advances in technical production, the vocal performance remains at the heart of animation audio.

Animation is one of the most popular and profitable genres in entertainment. Animated films have been among the top grossing films in the last five years. Television animation has been a mainstay of children’s programmers pretty much since the advent of the tube. In animation all the sound is completely invented in post — a synthetic creation, manufactured out of raw materials. The best sound design is a hidden art, a seamless integration with the moving image, existing in support of the story.

Like many film and television techniques, the creation of animation sound has evolved with the digital revolution of the last 20 years. Paul Vitello of Vitello Prods. in Burbank, California, first started working in animation in 1984 on the animated television series, Voltron. It was the first television cartoon produced in stereo — even before the FCC approved the technical format that we now take for granted. In their excitement over the use of that “innovative” technique, Vitello admits, “We panned everything. You could get whiplash listening to the shows. We wanted to get movement in the shows, but it only really worked if it was motivated.”

The control booth for Studio A at L.A. Studios Group’s facility. The company specializes in anything audio, especially voice recording on big budget animation features and television series.

But despite sweeping advances in the technical production, the vocal performance remains at the heart of animation audio. “The human aspect of these films is the voice... People believe that voice,” says Carlos Sotolongo, dialog mixer at the L.A. Studios Group, which specializes in anything audio, especially voice recording on big budget animation features and television series. Sotolongo has credits on just about every DreamWorks animated project, including the Shrek movies, Shark Tale, Prince of Egypt and Madagascar, plus work for other studios on films such as Nickelodeon’s Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Universal’s Curious George.

In feature animation, the audience expects the high quality vocal performances that A-list stars bring to the film. One of the most difficult things for Sotolongo is being prepared because every session is different and when you are working with stars, “You have to be ready to go and right.” Animated feature film projects can take three to four years and require several passes on the vocal recordings. The process is an elaborate one.