I didn't post much yesterday because I was in a recording studio, directing voice tracks for The Garfield Show, a new animated series starring everyone's favorite lasagna-guzzling feline. It debuts in Europe later this year (I think) and on the Cartoon Network in '09 (I'm told).
The folks in the above photo are as follows: The guy on the left is Frank Welker, the new voice of Garfield and, I believe, the "workingest" voice actor in the history of the business. To the right of Frank is Gregg Berger, the voice of Odie the Dog and hundreds of other characters on this show and others. Just to the right of Gregg is Andy Morris, the best danged audio engineer in the business. The man in the checked shirt is comedy legend Stan Freberg, who was playing a guest star role as a really snotty villain. The other guy with facial hair is the brilliant Wally Wingert, the new voice of Garfield's "owner," Jon. The lady is Audrey Wasilewski who, when she's not doing on-camera work, speaks for Garfield's lady love, Arlene. And the fellow in the green shirt is me.
It was a long day's work but I had the easy job. The other folks had to squeak and grunt and scream and make dog sounds and interpret all manner of silly dialogue. I just had to sit there, enjoy their performances and occasionally push a button and say, "Let's try that line again." Someone wrote to ask me recently what the secret is to directing the voices for a cartoon show. It's very simple, really. You hire the right actors, hand them their scripts, then get the hell out of the way.