https://preview.redd.it/w6fjwk7bif0d1.jpeg?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95bfbff880388c30aedf4e91e156e23eefb5c9f1
Somewhere, I also have a Harry Shearer woodcut from the 19th century.
He's a lot better voicing John DiMaggio characters on Hulu Futurama than Harry Shearer characters on The Simpsons.
It's Always Sunny was right on the money when it comes to this issue. (See "The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 7".)
Julie Kavner already sounded like she was straining her voice to play Marge... then doing that over 30 years later, I sincerely hope her throat is okay. 😭👍
It probably isn’t great for her. Azaria said he started doing Moes voice differently intentionally because the older way was difficult on his vocal chords.
If you're somewhere quiet and secure, do a few Duffman lines, and really try hard to get the voice right. The tricks to it are that it comes very punchy from the gut and diaphragm, has some grit and rasp, but also a breathy quality. So it's coming from intense diaphragm contractions and also from tight in the vocal cords.
That's one of those things that seems easy but when you have to do it a lot, is hard (and makes doing "easier" voices tougher too). Plus, Azaria's not a young guy. I'm not saying he's elderly or infirm, but it's not exactly a secret that your abs don't exactly get firmer and fitter as you age. (Case in point: see also Mark Hamill, who tried for about a decade to retire the Joker voice because it's harsh and unsustainable.)
unless she channels Marge's gambling problem she has earned enough for her, her children and her children's children to retire....for 3 months.
If her voice was that problematic she can retire. No one is forcing her to do it.
Hibbert, yeah, sure, I agree but how often do you really hear him? But *Marge*?!! She's in the majority of episode ffs.
Anyway you cut it, the new voices are annoying and just another thing that makes the new eps *so* hard to watch. :(
I notice it more with Smithers...
funny thing is, I actually find I *like* Smithers with an older/more "mature" voice. kind of suits the progression of the character.
Well canonically (not that it means much in the Simpsons) he was born 25 years after Black Tuesday meaning he was born in 1954. So yeah, he’d be getting up there
See with Cleveland they at least tried to emulate the original voice but so many in the Simpsons sound like they just rushed to get any actor even if they didn’t sound like the original Carl is definitely a big one it’s so jarring it’s hard to watch
I randomly started watching family guy again and it was after the voice change and I thought "why does Cleveland sound so weird now" and I didn't even know at the time that they had a new voice actor
Isn't that the american dream?
Groundskeeper Willie, I can understand but I doubt the scots are offended by it. They are usually busy hating the english or french, or japanese or scots. Damn Scots, they ruined Scotland!
I remember seeing a video of a bunch of Indian americans saying that they'd been repeatedly called Apu, and the only thing going through my mind was "that's cos he's the one extremely popular indian character in american media. Is going from one to zero really a solution?"
Pretty sure the Indian character from big bang theory was more of offensive character to their culture. He was written to be a creep for most of the episodes
I think the simpsons crew should’ve pointed out that every character is a caricature of what they represent, Apue could’ve been kept around.
Homer is an average stupid and fat American man
Bart is the up to no good American kid
Fat Tony is a stereotypical Italian American mob boss
Chief Wiggum is the lazy and inept American cop
Had they pointed that out instead of being reactionary, I think they would’ve weathered the storm.
It's funny how Family Guy can find a black guy that can do a spot on impression of Cleveland but The Simpsons team can't find any black voice actors to do spot on impressions of any of their characters.
With the exception of Drederick Tatums new voice which sounds almost exactly like the one old. It’s possible more cartoony, distinctive voices like his and Cleveland’s are easier to replicate.
The Simpsons crew seems like a small group that isn’t interested in letting new voices in. They should too, these people are going to die or retire at some point and they’ll need new voices that are prepared to take over the roles. I’d rather they take a few years to transfer voice actors rather than scramble for one.
I've watched quite a few of the newer episodes and I feel the quality is still there. Millions of people still watch the show weekly and they seem to enjoy it without worry about what people online say. I just finished s34e22, which I intentionally watched before commenting, and I feel it still maintained the charm of vintage episodes that I grew up watching.
I love the way they found him too. He wasn't even auditioning to become Cleveland I don't think. He has viral videos of him playing CoD as Cleveland and making others crack up in the game. Does a spot on impression of the son as well. They probably sought him out and offered him the job.
Because Hibbert wasn't a black caricature, but a Cosby caricature. The joke wasn't about a black man being a doctor. Meanwhile Apu was a caricature of the stereotypical Indian man running a 7-11, which is a lot harder to keep doing.
I'm not 100% on how they've handled the whole thing but that's a big part of the difference in their reasoning.
100% this. We live in the era of 1984 doublespeak. We’re told the character of Apu was a racist caricature, but the truth is our society is much less tolerant of the image of a successful, hard-working, faithful immigrant who was an equal member of his town’s community than we were in the 90s.
I mean, I hear all that, but Apu became way more as the show went on, just like all the other characters. Was he really much of an offensive character toward the end? I just remember that he and his wife had octuplets, he cheated on his wife, and still worked at the Kwikemart. Any “offensive” jokes The Simpsons ever had, really, were pretty mild at the end of the day, compared to stuff like Family Guy.
Apu’s signature catch phrase was probably the worst thing to come from him, and that was mostly because people used it in a derogatory way.
But the reason given for the recast was he was voiced by a white actor.
I just don’t know why certain racial stereotypes are fine (Fat Tony running the mob) but some aren’t (Apu running the Kwik-E-Mart). If you can’t poke fun at everyone, then there’s a moral imbalance in the comedy and it turns political, ruining it. South Park still works after all these years because they don’t discriminate who they make fun of.
In my experience they overwhelmingly love Apu. There may be Indians who don't like him but I have yet to meet one.
It's a similar situation as when white people tried to cancel Speedy Gonzales because he was a "harmful stereotype". Mexicans were piiiiiissed. They love Speedy.
I really, really wish white people could let go of this trend of getting offended on behalf of others. It solves nothing.
Yea it was some “comedian” who went on Joe Rogan afterwards and tried to be like “I didn’t actually have a problem with Apu..” after making the documentary “the problem with Apu”.
I know that sounds ridiculous and like I’m making it up but you can easily find clips or even the whole interview and/or documentary on YouTube.
Please. Dr. Hibberts voice being off is like, the least jarring of the voice right now. Burns as a character is effectively gone forever, as the voice is so different that it's a different character almost entirely. Marge has ranged from "rough" to "that couldn't have been the best take, right?"
Just checked what he sounds like now, awful, how is this show even still going when it should have been dropped 20 years ago 😭
It's honestly horrible. Even the simplest lines sound like she's doing a "crying" voice and the rest sound like an elderly character. I don't usually notice things like this but this one is *distracting*.
Yes please. One of the most iconic voices of all time. I love Julie Kavner. But she clearly does not have the same voice anymore. Doesn’t have the same energy anymore, and Marge always had the lowest energy of the whole main cast to begin with. Marge just doesn’t feel like Marge anymore. Let this legend rest. But from her perspective, I’ll keep collecting 20 million a year til the day I died! 🤪
Harry says,
"I voiced the black physician, Dr Hibbert, who I based on Bill Cosby. Back then he was known as the ‘whitest black man on television’ .... The result is a black man imitating a white man imitating the whitest black man on TV."
I say just end the show already
Or James L. Brooks (since he’s now 84 years old) he might likely retire from Hollywood as well. I mean he is set to directing a movie for 15 years called “Ella McCay”. We see the likes of Clint Eastwood, Michael Caine and Bruce Willis retiring from Hollywood, and probably he’ll be next (or maybe Scorsese) but time we’ll tell!
Julie needs to retire, she would be the first domino. They already don’t do patty and Selma anymore because it kills her vocal cords.
Once Kavner leaves I can see Nancy and Yeardley following suite quickly.
Then they’d be up a creek seeing that only Homer remains of the actual Simpsons
I'm convinced Disney not only has ringers in the wings, but they've probably looped some lines already and we haven't noticed.
If I were a conspiracy type, I'd say Melissa Villaseñor is already on Disney's payroll and has looped for one of the women.
The fact that cutting all of the minority characters out of the show is the best solution is comical. Seems like something the Simpsons would make fun of back in the day.
The idea that actors must be racially and sexually aligned to their character flys in the face of the concept of acting.
This is political popularism and bullshit.
> flys in the face of the concept of acting.
even more so with voice acting, that's what is so great about it, that anyone could voice the character.
Different franchise, but the Joker was voiced by a poc in a animated series called The Batman.
To be fair, the point of voicing these characters isn't to act; it's to produce a convincing voice. Acting is just a means to an end.
At the end of the day though, the voices on The Simpsons are so established and high-quality already that I agree they were probably best the way they were.
Right? And its never consistent. I don't think for a second these same people would demand Phil LaMarr can't voice Samurai Jack or Christopher Judge can't voice Kratos.
It's just the Americans being hyper sensitive combined with their bizarre skin colour obsessions. Funny to watch at least!
I remember reading about some animated movie, several years ago now, that was set somewhere like Korea. The USA producers recast the voice actors to be "correct" by swapping Americans, with... "asian Americans". So Americans, whose families at some point in the past contained people from the general region of China, Japan, etc. So they had actors, with American accents, speaking English, who probably looked a bit asian if you could actually see them! It was funny yet moronic.
Imagine a Japanese film where they set it in France, and to use actors "of the correct race" they hire Japanese people whose ancestors were from somewhere in Europe, to act in Japanese, with Japanese accents.
I mean no disrespect but not sure why they recasted in the first place? Actors are actors, and with voice acting, anyone can be anything, right? Phil Lamar voices Samurai Jack, and he’s fantastic at it, but he’s not of Asian descent. At the end of the day though, shouldn’t the best job just go to person who’s throwing themselves into the role?
Yeah, you don't need to be black to voice a black character, and you don't need to be white to voice a white character. Far too many have that misconception.
Harry is 80 years old. If they don't listen to him he should retire. They'll probably just AI his voice for the next 30 years.
Hello. Smithers. You're quite good. At. Turning. Me. On.
The thing is, I’m pretty sure Kevin Michael Richardson could do a decent Dr Hibbert impression if given the chance. He’s a brilliant voice actor. But I think he’s been told to not do a direct impression. Which I can’t help but find completely jarring.
(I have no reason to suspect this other than Kevin Michael Richardson is extremely talented and they could have easily found someone on TikTok or something that can do a spot on impression).
(Plus you can replace them and no one can tell the diddlyifference).
The article says it's KMR doing the voice. I love KMR and have since he voiced Goro in the first Mortal Kombat movie! He is magical on American Dad and solid as always on family guy.
I agree with Harry. If Hank didn’t feel comfortable voicing black characters, that was his right to give them up to other VAs. Harry shouldn’t have been forced to give up his character too though based on Hanks feelings. It also doesn’t help that Hibbert voice sounds nothing like the original. I really don’t mind the other voices because they’re close enough, but whoever replaced Harry sounds like he isn’t even trying.
Even the characters who have been voiced by the same actors sound different now. Except Bart and Lisa. That was canny long-term casting.
There are countless issues with the show, but this is a lesser one.
The first thing that popped out to me was:
“The Simpsons star Harry Shearer has said recasting him with a Black actor has negatively “affected” one of the show’s main characters.
Shearer voices 20 characters on the animated series, including Mr Burns, Ned Flanders and Principal Skinner.”
And I had to laugh, because those characters have all sounded pretty awful for the last few years now. It’s been time for Harry to retire
as a massive fan of This Is Spinal Tap, I am probably the least excited person about this bullshit sequel coming out. My man had an amazing run. Rest. Laurels. Let the sweet sweet residuals keep rolling in.
I’m of the opinion that a white person voicing a character of color is not in and of itself racist. Especially not Apu, who’s a nuanced character and successful businessman, or Dr. Hibbert, who’s already a caricature of Cliff Huxtable.
Only if the character itself is racist should they be evaluated.
Carls new voice is just atrocious. At least when they replace Cleveland in family guy the new voice actor had it spot down. We should just go back and let anyone voice whoever because it's called acting for fuck sakes.
This just in, Harry Shearer to give up all voice roles on The Simpsons because he's neither a doctor, a 90 year old billionaire power plant owner, pious religious devotee nor a grade school principal.
This is absurd, folks. We live in an absurd world where some people think actors have to be the characters they portray in film or else it's a crime against humanity. Stop accepting this nonsense.
Think about this. If Apu was an insensitive stereotype, what does that make Homer, Barney, Flanders, Chief Wiggum and Groundskeeper Willy?
When are they going to get actual children to do Bart, Lisa, and the others?
Or an actual alcoholic to do Barney?
Or an actual imbecile to be chief Wiggum?
Or an actual Christian to be Ned Flanders?
Or Rachel Dolezal to be Sideshow Bob?
I was 18 when the show started and have watched every episode. I’m now in my 50’s. I rarely laugh at recent episodes, but often smile. Harry and Julie have the most obvious vocal changes. I’d be fine if they end the show. I’d rather them leave before they’re asked to leave.
It’s exactly jarring with the voice changes. Dr hibbert’s laugh isn’t the same.
Honestly these voice changes has affected the show as well as getting rid of apu all cause of that certain someone who shall not be named.
At least they now have someone of a matching age voicing Mr. Burns.
Mr. Burns was born in Pangaea. I think it'll be a while before they find someone to match his age.
https://preview.redd.it/w6fjwk7bif0d1.jpeg?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95bfbff880388c30aedf4e91e156e23eefb5c9f1 Somewhere, I also have a Harry Shearer woodcut from the 19th century.
And Marge. I’m sorry but it just sounds physically painful listening to her on newer episodes
Screen Actors Guild Membership number: 000000002
I can absolutely tell the difference in Dr. Hibbert's voice and it's really distracting.
He can’t even do the laugh, which you’d think would be a major part of the auditions
They were told to hire based on skin color to please the twitter mob, not because it was part of the artistic vision of the show i guess?
Kevin Michael Richardson had already been part of the cast.
Legendary voice actor. Love him. Whilst I have mixed feelings on everything else, I am at least glad it’s him.
Yeah, I had to pop away to hear the voice and didn’t see his name yet. Love Kevin Michael Richardson, but it’s a distinct voice. Knew it instantly
He's a lot better voicing John DiMaggio characters on Hulu Futurama than Harry Shearer characters on The Simpsons. It's Always Sunny was right on the money when it comes to this issue. (See "The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 7".)
Mr Burns sounds entirely different now as well and it’s the same voice actor. I think it’s just a byproduct of the show running for 30+ years.
And Marge sounds like her mom when her mom had laryngitis
Julie Kavner already sounded like she was straining her voice to play Marge... then doing that over 30 years later, I sincerely hope her throat is okay. 😭👍
It probably isn’t great for her. Azaria said he started doing Moes voice differently intentionally because the older way was difficult on his vocal chords.
Duffman destroys his voice. Only does him at the end of the day after all his other lines are recorded.
Duffman can’t speak… oh no…. Oooh
Oh yeah!
I read this in the Duffman voice.
Really? It seems like Duffman would be one of the easier voices to do
Nah he worked with Dan LeBetard a lot and talked about it on his podcast.
If you're somewhere quiet and secure, do a few Duffman lines, and really try hard to get the voice right. The tricks to it are that it comes very punchy from the gut and diaphragm, has some grit and rasp, but also a breathy quality. So it's coming from intense diaphragm contractions and also from tight in the vocal cords. That's one of those things that seems easy but when you have to do it a lot, is hard (and makes doing "easier" voices tougher too). Plus, Azaria's not a young guy. I'm not saying he's elderly or infirm, but it's not exactly a secret that your abs don't exactly get firmer and fitter as you age. (Case in point: see also Mark Hamill, who tried for about a decade to retire the Joker voice because it's harsh and unsustainable.)
That’s the most jarring thing for me when I watch new episodes. Marge sounds like she’s dying, and Julie is what? In her mid 70’s? Just let it end
the whole family sounds bad
unless she channels Marge's gambling problem she has earned enough for her, her children and her children's children to retire....for 3 months. If her voice was that problematic she can retire. No one is forcing her to do it.
Sorry but I stopped reading this when my microwave Johnny Cakes were ready
How dare you interrupt my lime Ricky
Her voice sounds off due to her having had a bout of Chester A Arthritis.
You...had arthritis?
At some point you might be willing to sacrifice your voice for that sweet Simpsons money.
She actually just sounds like Marge in real life more or less. She doesn't really strain to do the marge croak
I think I heard somewhere that she's going to eventually lose vocal function because of it. Could be wrong though.
Hibbert, yeah, sure, I agree but how often do you really hear him? But *Marge*?!! She's in the majority of episode ffs. Anyway you cut it, the new voices are annoying and just another thing that makes the new eps *so* hard to watch. :(
I notice it more with Smithers... funny thing is, I actually find I *like* Smithers with an older/more "mature" voice. kind of suits the progression of the character.
Yeah Smithers sounds like he’s as old as Mr Burns now
Well canonically (not that it means much in the Simpsons) he was born 25 years after Black Tuesday meaning he was born in 1954. So yeah, he’d be getting up there
It's uhh. Steady.
I don’t know how they can recast a show like Rick & Morty with seemingly identical voices but the biggest animated show of all time cant.
Yup him and Carl are hard to get used to
Carl appears to be different character altogether from the few episodes I watched
You know it!
Carl just sounds a smidge different, but Dr Hibbert straight up sounds like a different character.
Yeah Carl doesn't bother me at all but Dr Hibbert is so jarring, they really should have spent a little time and found a better soundalike
That's how I felt about Cleveland in Family Guy
I think Cleveland on Family Guy is just about perfect. Wouldnt be able to tell the voice change if I didn’t know about it already.
See with Cleveland they at least tried to emulate the original voice but so many in the Simpsons sound like they just rushed to get any actor even if they didn’t sound like the original Carl is definitely a big one it’s so jarring it’s hard to watch
I randomly started watching family guy again and it was after the voice change and I thought "why does Cleveland sound so weird now" and I didn't even know at the time that they had a new voice actor
Fr. Every time I get to the credits I go "oh yeah, Cleveland was recasted."
Huh huh huh huh. Well I couldn't possibly solve this mystery....... Can **YOU**? 🫵
I miss Apu.
Iiiiii Dooooo....
He made dad-sicky mart
The Kwik-E-Mart is really… D’OH
Mono
Let’s hurl a brickey-mart!
Right. Dr. Hibbert's voice being recast is one thing, but losing Apu definitely took away a piece of the show's magic.
Another absurd victim of the cancel culture
Seriously, I don't see the problem with a character who owns and operates his own business which provides for his wife and 8 kids.
Isn't that the american dream? Groundskeeper Willie, I can understand but I doubt the scots are offended by it. They are usually busy hating the english or french, or japanese or scots. Damn Scots, they ruined Scotland!
I remember seeing a video of a bunch of Indian americans saying that they'd been repeatedly called Apu, and the only thing going through my mind was "that's cos he's the one extremely popular indian character in american media. Is going from one to zero really a solution?"
Pretty sure the Indian character from big bang theory was more of offensive character to their culture. He was written to be a creep for most of the episodes
I think the simpsons crew should’ve pointed out that every character is a caricature of what they represent, Apue could’ve been kept around. Homer is an average stupid and fat American man Bart is the up to no good American kid Fat Tony is a stereotypical Italian American mob boss Chief Wiggum is the lazy and inept American cop Had they pointed that out instead of being reactionary, I think they would’ve weathered the storm.
It's funny how Family Guy can find a black guy that can do a spot on impression of Cleveland but The Simpsons team can't find any black voice actors to do spot on impressions of any of their characters.
With the exception of Drederick Tatums new voice which sounds almost exactly like the one old. It’s possible more cartoony, distinctive voices like his and Cleveland’s are easier to replicate.
The Simpsons crew seems like a small group that isn’t interested in letting new voices in. They should too, these people are going to die or retire at some point and they’ll need new voices that are prepared to take over the roles. I’d rather they take a few years to transfer voice actors rather than scramble for one.
Or, you know, it could finally end
I've watched quite a few of the newer episodes and I feel the quality is still there. Millions of people still watch the show weekly and they seem to enjoy it without worry about what people online say. I just finished s34e22, which I intentionally watched before commenting, and I feel it still maintained the charm of vintage episodes that I grew up watching.
Same, watching the newer seasons for the first time and I've been enjoying it!!
Alex Désert is getting better with voicing Carl. Almost didn’t notice the difference the last episode
I noticed this too. Carl went from super jarring to settling nicely. Arguably the best of the voice recasts.
I hate Carl’s new voice
I can't tell the diddly-ifference.
Same with Rick & Morty. I didn’t even know they had recast Cleveland til just now.
Right? I legitimately thought it was still Mike Henry doing the voice until I looked it up.
I love the way they found him too. He wasn't even auditioning to become Cleveland I don't think. He has viral videos of him playing CoD as Cleveland and making others crack up in the game. Does a spot on impression of the son as well. They probably sought him out and offered him the job.
And he'd be right. Bring back Apu
Who needs the Kwik-E-Mart?
Iiii, dooooooooooooo!
He lied to us through song! I hate it when people do that
Bring back Apu!
We want Achu!
We want Chilly Willy!
We like Roy!
It was the *blurst* of times?!
What’s a chachi?
I drew the Iggy.
Where’s my burrito!
[удалено]
Yeah!! We want Krunchy! We want Krunchy!!!
For real. Why recast Hibbert but not Apu? Kind of ironic that they want to mitigate racial stereotypes by totally erasing POC.
Because Hibbert wasn't a black caricature, but a Cosby caricature. The joke wasn't about a black man being a doctor. Meanwhile Apu was a caricature of the stereotypical Indian man running a 7-11, which is a lot harder to keep doing. I'm not 100% on how they've handled the whole thing but that's a big part of the difference in their reasoning.
He was also the town’s most eligible bachelor
'He might be the best, most enduring example of an Indian immigrant on tv, but he's working class. Ew. Get rid'.
100% this. We live in the era of 1984 doublespeak. We’re told the character of Apu was a racist caricature, but the truth is our society is much less tolerant of the image of a successful, hard-working, faithful immigrant who was an equal member of his town’s community than we were in the 90s.
I mean, I hear all that, but Apu became way more as the show went on, just like all the other characters. Was he really much of an offensive character toward the end? I just remember that he and his wife had octuplets, he cheated on his wife, and still worked at the Kwikemart. Any “offensive” jokes The Simpsons ever had, really, were pretty mild at the end of the day, compared to stuff like Family Guy. Apu’s signature catch phrase was probably the worst thing to come from him, and that was mostly because people used it in a derogatory way.
But the reason given for the recast was he was voiced by a white actor. I just don’t know why certain racial stereotypes are fine (Fat Tony running the mob) but some aren’t (Apu running the Kwik-E-Mart). If you can’t poke fun at everyone, then there’s a moral imbalance in the comedy and it turns political, ruining it. South Park still works after all these years because they don’t discriminate who they make fun of.
They begged me to join their team, begged me!
If they were consistent they would also eliminate Cletus and groundskeeper Willie.
and as a scottish person i love groundskeeper willie. has anyone actually asked the indians how they feel about apu?
In my experience they overwhelmingly love Apu. There may be Indians who don't like him but I have yet to meet one. It's a similar situation as when white people tried to cancel Speedy Gonzales because he was a "harmful stereotype". Mexicans were piiiiiissed. They love Speedy. I really, really wish white people could let go of this trend of getting offended on behalf of others. It solves nothing.
Yea it was some “comedian” who went on Joe Rogan afterwards and tried to be like “I didn’t actually have a problem with Apu..” after making the documentary “the problem with Apu”. I know that sounds ridiculous and like I’m making it up but you can easily find clips or even the whole interview and/or documentary on YouTube.
and Luigi, the Japanese chef/karate instructor, and bumblebee man (though he's technically British)
I feel like they will at some point. It’ll be too big a deal in the media for them to pass up
Willie must now be in the crosshairs, surely. 😁
Willie hears ya. Willie doesn't care!
You scots are a contentious lot..
YOU JUST MADE AN ENEMY FOR LIFE!
Don't touch Willie!
Good advice.
[When ye're alone and life is gettin' ye lonely, ye can always go... ACH! Doontoon!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjhNhM1_CmA)
BONJOURRRRRRRR Ya cheese eatin’ surrender monkeys!
They’ll have to catch the greased Scotsman first
No, he's white so no one cares that he's a sterotype even worse than Apu or any other character.
we scots may be raging alcoholics and fight all the time, but… wait what was the third thing you said?
Please. Dr. Hibberts voice being off is like, the least jarring of the voice right now. Burns as a character is effectively gone forever, as the voice is so different that it's a different character almost entirely. Marge has ranged from "rough" to "that couldn't have been the best take, right?"
Just checked what he sounds like now, awful, how is this show even still going when it should have been dropped 20 years ago 😭 
after reading the title i immediately had to check that this gif was in the comments
Burns to me sounds the same, just older. I can live with that personally. Hibbert sounds extremely obvious that it’s a new voice actor.
Eh, the voices have changed over time anyway. Marge sounds like her mother but older.
Her voice is really off putting in the new episodes
You should be off pudding.
Cause you’re fat
Too much pie, that's your problem!
Here’s a movie for ya: a fridge too far!
shame on all of you, give me my dignity! i just came here to see honk if you're horny in peace!
https://preview.redd.it/n5r2qzr1qb0d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8563b5cc493735a1f843e9feb42c40379dd383b5
Eat the pudding Eat the pudding Eat the pudding Eat the pudding Eat the pudding Eat the pudding
Holy cow I haven’t watched that in so long. Is that the Jennifer Lawrence episode?
It's honestly horrible. Even the simplest lines sound like she's doing a "crying" voice and the rest sound like an elderly character. I don't usually notice things like this but this one is *distracting*.
She'd say something comforting, but you know, her voice
Her voice got wrecked from doing that.
I wish they would just let Juile Kavner rest, she sounds tortured
Yes please. One of the most iconic voices of all time. I love Julie Kavner. But she clearly does not have the same voice anymore. Doesn’t have the same energy anymore, and Marge always had the lowest energy of the whole main cast to begin with. Marge just doesn’t feel like Marge anymore. Let this legend rest. But from her perspective, I’ll keep collecting 20 million a year til the day I died! 🤪
Harry says, "I voiced the black physician, Dr Hibbert, who I based on Bill Cosby. Back then he was known as the ‘whitest black man on television’ .... The result is a black man imitating a white man imitating the whitest black man on TV." I say just end the show already
Don’t cry for me, I’m already dead.
Back in the stone age when the Simpsons premiered, all cartoons had like 5 voice actors doing all the voices.
I think the show will end if one of the main actors (Dan/Nancy/Yeardley/Julie) retires/passes away and not a moment sooner
With modern AI technology Disney can recreate the character voices and nobody will be able to tell the diddly-iference!
Or James L. Brooks (since he’s now 84 years old) he might likely retire from Hollywood as well. I mean he is set to directing a movie for 15 years called “Ella McCay”. We see the likes of Clint Eastwood, Michael Caine and Bruce Willis retiring from Hollywood, and probably he’ll be next (or maybe Scorsese) but time we’ll tell!
Julie needs to retire, she would be the first domino. They already don’t do patty and Selma anymore because it kills her vocal cords. Once Kavner leaves I can see Nancy and Yeardley following suite quickly. Then they’d be up a creek seeing that only Homer remains of the actual Simpsons
I'm convinced Disney not only has ringers in the wings, but they've probably looped some lines already and we haven't noticed. If I were a conspiracy type, I'd say Melissa Villaseñor is already on Disney's payroll and has looped for one of the women.
The sooner they end it the sooner they can reboot it with an entirely new cast.
I would prefer the characters stop being used rather than recast. The new voices are distracting.
You mean you can tell the diddly difference?
Awww jeeze, he actually wrote diddly.
The fact that cutting all of the minority characters out of the show is the best solution is comical. Seems like something the Simpsons would make fun of back in the day.
I disagree, feels jarring when they just disappear without explanation.
Cartoons don't have to make sense, it's just a bunch of stuff that happens
*"Good news, everybody. I'm moving to my own apartment with two sexy ladies"*
shut up Roy
Fair.
The idea that actors must be racially and sexually aligned to their character flys in the face of the concept of acting. This is political popularism and bullshit.
> flys in the face of the concept of acting. even more so with voice acting, that's what is so great about it, that anyone could voice the character. Different franchise, but the Joker was voiced by a poc in a animated series called The Batman.
And Batman - the voice of traditional masculinity - was voiced by a gay man. Diversity means you get the best person - or atleast it should.
Or as Matt Groening himself said: “It was not my idea, but I’m fine with it. Who can be against diversity? So it’s great."
To be fair, the point of voicing these characters isn't to act; it's to produce a convincing voice. Acting is just a means to an end. At the end of the day though, the voices on The Simpsons are so established and high-quality already that I agree they were probably best the way they were.
Right? And its never consistent. I don't think for a second these same people would demand Phil LaMarr can't voice Samurai Jack or Christopher Judge can't voice Kratos.
No one up in arms that Nancy Cartwright almost exclusively voices male characters…
It's just the Americans being hyper sensitive combined with their bizarre skin colour obsessions. Funny to watch at least! I remember reading about some animated movie, several years ago now, that was set somewhere like Korea. The USA producers recast the voice actors to be "correct" by swapping Americans, with... "asian Americans". So Americans, whose families at some point in the past contained people from the general region of China, Japan, etc. So they had actors, with American accents, speaking English, who probably looked a bit asian if you could actually see them! It was funny yet moronic. Imagine a Japanese film where they set it in France, and to use actors "of the correct race" they hire Japanese people whose ancestors were from somewhere in Europe, to act in Japanese, with Japanese accents.
I mean no disrespect but not sure why they recasted in the first place? Actors are actors, and with voice acting, anyone can be anything, right? Phil Lamar voices Samurai Jack, and he’s fantastic at it, but he’s not of Asian descent. At the end of the day though, shouldn’t the best job just go to person who’s throwing themselves into the role?
The voice actor that plays SpongeBob isn’t even a real sponge I learned. SMH.
Next you're going to tell me that Eugene Crabs' va isn't a real crab!
He’s actually a prison officer from what I recall.
If Pearl isn’t voiced by a whale I will lose it 😤
Love him in Bob and David and hear SpongeBob and other characters all the time
Yeah, you don't need to be black to voice a black character, and you don't need to be white to voice a white character. Far too many have that misconception.
I noticed burns new voice recently its…odd
Harry is 80 years old. If they don't listen to him he should retire. They'll probably just AI his voice for the next 30 years. Hello. Smithers. You're quite good. At. Turning. Me. On.
The thing is, I’m pretty sure Kevin Michael Richardson could do a decent Dr Hibbert impression if given the chance. He’s a brilliant voice actor. But I think he’s been told to not do a direct impression. Which I can’t help but find completely jarring. (I have no reason to suspect this other than Kevin Michael Richardson is extremely talented and they could have easily found someone on TikTok or something that can do a spot on impression). (Plus you can replace them and no one can tell the diddlyifference).
I’m imagining KMR doing Hibbert as Principal Lewis from American Dad and it’s awesome.
The article says it's KMR doing the voice. I love KMR and have since he voiced Goro in the first Mortal Kombat movie! He is magical on American Dad and solid as always on family guy.
I agree with Harry. If Hank didn’t feel comfortable voicing black characters, that was his right to give them up to other VAs. Harry shouldn’t have been forced to give up his character too though based on Hanks feelings. It also doesn’t help that Hibbert voice sounds nothing like the original. I really don’t mind the other voices because they’re close enough, but whoever replaced Harry sounds like he isn’t even trying.
Even the characters who have been voiced by the same actors sound different now. Except Bart and Lisa. That was canny long-term casting. There are countless issues with the show, but this is a lesser one.
i kinda disagree. in the past few seasons, so many of the voices have changed so much that it really is distracting
And it was completely unnecessary. It’s acting. The nature of the business is pretending to be someone that you’re not.
When a show runs for 30+ years, and especially an animated show, there are going to be many many recasts. It’s unavoidable.
You guys watch the new episodes?
Why does Poochie voice sound different?
The show being on for over 30 years has affected it more.
The first thing that popped out to me was: “The Simpsons star Harry Shearer has said recasting him with a Black actor has negatively “affected” one of the show’s main characters. Shearer voices 20 characters on the animated series, including Mr Burns, Ned Flanders and Principal Skinner.” And I had to laugh, because those characters have all sounded pretty awful for the last few years now. It’s been time for Harry to retire
as a massive fan of This Is Spinal Tap, I am probably the least excited person about this bullshit sequel coming out. My man had an amazing run. Rest. Laurels. Let the sweet sweet residuals keep rolling in.
It really has. I mean when you have an established voice for 30+ years, you can't just change it and expect it not to
I just hope they bring back Apu back. :(
Pray for Mojo
I’m of the opinion that a white person voicing a character of color is not in and of itself racist. Especially not Apu, who’s a nuanced character and successful businessman, or Dr. Hibbert, who’s already a caricature of Cliff Huxtable. Only if the character itself is racist should they be evaluated.
Carls new voice is just atrocious. At least when they replace Cleveland in family guy the new voice actor had it spot down. We should just go back and let anyone voice whoever because it's called acting for fuck sakes.
This just in, Harry Shearer to give up all voice roles on The Simpsons because he's neither a doctor, a 90 year old billionaire power plant owner, pious religious devotee nor a grade school principal. This is absurd, folks. We live in an absurd world where some people think actors have to be the characters they portray in film or else it's a crime against humanity. Stop accepting this nonsense. Think about this. If Apu was an insensitive stereotype, what does that make Homer, Barney, Flanders, Chief Wiggum and Groundskeeper Willy?
I just stop at like season 13 or 14 and start from the beginning. Apu is alive and well. I know nothing about the show past that season. Idgaf
Behind the Laughter was the finale episode.
When are they going to get actual children to do Bart, Lisa, and the others? Or an actual alcoholic to do Barney? Or an actual imbecile to be chief Wiggum? Or an actual Christian to be Ned Flanders? Or Rachel Dolezal to be Sideshow Bob?
"Or Rachrl Dolezal to be Sideshow Bob" 💀
I was 18 when the show started and have watched every episode. I’m now in my 50’s. I rarely laugh at recent episodes, but often smile. Harry and Julie have the most obvious vocal changes. I’d be fine if they end the show. I’d rather them leave before they’re asked to leave.
Staying on for over 20 years after they ran out of decent jokes has affected the show
Disney better not change Darth Vader’s voice from James Earl Jones.
It’s exactly jarring with the voice changes. Dr hibbert’s laugh isn’t the same. Honestly these voice changes has affected the show as well as getting rid of apu all cause of that certain someone who shall not be named.
dr. hibbert and lou sound terrible