You may not recognize him by name or even my face, but you are almost certainly familiar with his voice and vocal stylings.
Dee Bradley Baker is most known for his roles as Klaus the Fish on American Dad!, Squilliam Fancyson on Spongebob Squarepants, Perry the Platypus on Phineas and Ferb, Bagheera on Jungle Cubs, Daffy Duck, Tazmanian Devil, and Toro The Bull on Space Jam, and the parrot in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Isn’t it impressive?
You might be wondering how he creates all of these classic sounds and voices without using any musical instruments or anything.
Lorraine Cink of Marvel Entertainment’s YouTube show This Week In Marvel spoke with the voice acting veteran about his different voices and how he goes about creating fresh sounds for his animal personas.
Baker claimed that he first became acquainted with animal sounds and the environment through listening to animal soundtracks and CDs. He then created his version of the animal sound language in his thoughts.
When I first moved to Los Angeles, I focused solely on animals and critters, and I’d drive around making sounds in the car. I’d listen to animal soundtracks or purchase animal CDs and start making up a mental language of squeaks, roars, growls, and chambers.
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He also said that he treats his sense organs as if they were an entire orchestra and that he imagines himself playing instruments like the bassoon, kettle drum, or piccolo trumpet. “It’s like you have the full Orchestra around you,” he explains, “and you can pick up the bassoon, the kettle drum, the piccolo trumpet, and simply utilize that, but it’s all in here (points to his face).”
Many people do not consider the role of a voice actor in the first place, and even if they do, they do not experiment with their voices because they are frightened of looking stupid, according to the Star Wars: The Clone Wars voice actor. But it is not his viewpoint.
In a cheerful tone, he indicated that he doesn’t mind seeming foolish. “You can’t just damage me because I’ve done children’s theatre and comedy,” the actor added. All of that training [children’s theatre and standup comedy] was quite beneficial to me in terms of simply being open to trying and then expanding and pushing a sound or a character notion.
Baker has over 620 acting credits to his name, most of which are voice acting ventures, because of his bold approach and passion for his craft. His first voice-acting role, according to IMDb, was as a Tolmekian soldier in the movie Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in 1984.
Porco Rosso, Space Jam, The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Jungle Cubs are just a few of his early voice-acting credits.
