Question about the voice actors

[on:]

If they decide to make another season or more of futurama after these movies are done.  Up to when Do you think they could do it.  considering the simpsons have been out for so long.  I mean West and Sagal are getting older.  They are almost mid50.  You think theyll keep at it.  Till 60.  I really want Futurama to keep going but can it?

[Reply #1 on:]

 

Originally posted by Profe:
... I really want Futurama to keep going but can it?

Mel Blanc voiced hundreds of characters right up until shortly before he passed away in 1989 at the age of 81.
If Mr. Blanc could do that, why not?

[Reply #2 on:]

The only reason The Simpsons is still on the air is precisely because you can't see the actors aging before your eyes. Why can't Futurama be the same? West may be in his mid-50's, but Fry still sounds like a dimwitted 25-year-old. Sagal is the same age, yet she still sounds youthful enough to play Leela at roughly the same age as Fry. A great voice actor can voice characters at any age (see Tress Macneilie often voicing very young boys and girls).

[Reply #3 on:]

I agree, NITP.  It's not what their actual ages are, it's what they sound like.  Katy Sagal still sounds like Peg Bundy after all...

[Reply #4 on:]

Sounds great.

[Reply #5 on:]

Why not ask Billy West?  He has a website with a forum and he is very active on it.  As long as you treat him with respect, don't spam his board and ask questions in a reasonable way, he'll answer it.

 http://www.billywest.com/forum/


BTW, don't mention Ren and Stimpy or Homer J. Simpson.  Either one will get you a royal flaming and banning from him personally.

[Reply #6 on:]

Really, he'll actually ban you if you mention Ren and Stimpy? I could never stand that show myself, but why?

Anyway, as for the voice actors, it never ceases to astound me how Billy West can sound like so many different characters. In any case, yes, they could theoretically keep doing it into their 70s or so. Why not.

[Reply #7 on:]

Yeah, good question.  Why would Billy West ban someone for mentioning Ren & Stimpy or Homer?  I've heard the dude's kinda touchy about certain things, but that's approaching ridiculous... 

[Reply #8 on:]

No, he won't ban you just for mentioning Ren and Stimpy.  He will ban you if you're an annoying troll like Hojew, but that's to be expected.

[Reply #9 on:]

Hojew...sorry David, I don't get the reference.  HomerJaySimson?

[Reply #10 on:]

Indeed.

[Reply #11 on:]

"What about Homer Jr.? The kids could call you HoJew!"

[Reply #12 on:]

 

Originally posted by seattlejohn01:
Yeah, good question.  Why would Billy West ban someone for mentioning Ren & Stimpy or Homer?  I've heard the dude's kinda touchy about certain things, but that's approaching ridiculous... 

I got paper! It's worse than rock. 

[Reply #13 on:]

Not sure about Homer but apparently he had a bad experience with the Ren and Stimpy thing.

[Reply #14 on:]

I dont mind ren and stimpy. I watched it up to when I was 6.

[Reply #15 on:]

Ren and Stimpy was great until John K left/was sacked and Billy West had to do both voices. Obviously he did a great job on Ren's voice afterwards but nobody could do it like John Kricfalushi.

[Reply #16 on:]

Very true.

[Reply #17 on:]

I refer everyone to "Stimpy's Invention" - when I first watched that, it was the best 12 minutes of TV I'd ever seen.

[Reply #18 on:]

He had a lot of personal problems with the staff while working on the show and a lot of the people at the time wouldn't treat him right, in a professional or otherwise context.  He doesn't like talking about the show, and over the years, the people that generally bring it up have been using it to push his buttons; obviously he doesn't appreciate that, so conciously he's put up a guard against that.  He probably wouldn't outright ban you if you weren't being a prick, but that's not the place to go if you want to discuss Ren & Stimpy.

He will and does ban people himself if they cause problems on his board.  He's pretty close with his friends though, and he'd probably be happy to answer any of your questions about Futurama.

As to the Futurama question this thread was created for, I think all the voice actors are able and willing to be the characters for as long as the show is running.  If one of them were to pass, I'd hope they'd let the show pass away honorably instead of trying to replace one of the voices.  Ultimately, however, I don't think the question of how long the show will be on the air necessarily has to do with the voice actors, although with age it certainly becomes a factor the longer Futurama goes.  I just don't personally see Futurama going on for another 10 years, due to other unforeseen factors.

[Reply #19 on:]

I'd have to agree with you, Winna.  I hope we're both wrong (I hope Futurama keeps going & going, and the voice actors don't disappear on us), but with all the opportunities for voiceover & other work nowadays, it's kinda hard to keep such a talented bunch together. 

[Reply #20 on:]

It certainly wont be the age of it's production team/cast that stops Futurama. But it will have to die one day (and let's face it, we all thought it was dead for a bit).

So I say, let's not worry about the "end" and just enjoy every second.

[Reply #21 on:]

I totally agree Shep. People seem to forget that this time two years ago we thought Futurama was gone for good. They take the fact that we have it back for granted. Like you said, just enjoy what you can get.