i worked on naruto today

So I worked on Naruto today. I don’t think I can say what character I voiced, or what the story was about, but I’m going to be in more than one episode, and it’ll start in about a month. I’m recording again on Friday, and I’ll ask then if I’m allowed to give up any details.

I had to get up much earlier than usual to make it to the studio on time this morning, and my brain, as it so often does, decided that the best way to ensure I got a good night’s sleep was to sing songs, make me too hot then too cold then too hot then too cold all fucking night long. I think I slept for 3 hours, and I’ve felt a little blurry all day.

Naruto is originally in Japanese, so I was dubbing this character for the English broadcast. It was really different from working on Legion or Ben 10, and was more like looping live action. It was a lot of fun, though, and the episodes I saw while I worked today were much darker than the stuff I’ve seen Nolan watch. I think the damn kids today will dig the story arc that I’m part of, but when I tried to tell Nolan what the story was about while I drove him home from school today, he was adamant that I not give him any spoilers, so my one opportunity to actually check in with a reliable representative of the damn kids today was cut off.

I had a lot of fun, though, and it was really satisfying to work in a genre that I’ve wanted to be a part of for a long time. If you count Macross, Robotech, and Battle of the Planets, I’ve been watching Anime since I was a little kid. If you’re more of a purist, I’ve been watching since I got Akira on a fifth-generation VHS bootleg at a con when I was 14. (Funny-but-true story: my friends and I watched that tape over and over again, but since the original Japanese dialog wasn’t subtitled, we had no idea what the story was. We built one of our own that we thought was pretty good, but turns out was completely wrong.)

I’m not super hardcore or anything, but I enjoy anime and manga, and I was awfully excited every time I got to do all the traditional anime sounds, like the various gasps, and the occasionally-awkward translations and bits of dialog we had to add to match the mouth movements (which were originally animated to go with Japanese. Mostly, though, I felt the tremendous satisfaction that comes with bringing a character to life and making him my own.

I always tell people who want to be actors that they have to need it, the way we all need to eat or sleep. It’s a long hard road, fraught with uncertainty and more defeats than victories, and if you don’t have a visceral, primal, almost supernatural need to do it (that is deeper than “I want to be rich and famous”) it’s just not worth it.

Bringing a character to life is how I chase the dragon. Whether it’s writing, acting on camera, or acting with my voice, I need that fix, man. For a few hours today, I got it, and it felt so good.

Maybe that’s why my brain was so worked up last night. Maybe I was subconsciously shivering with antici . . . pation.

I wonder how I’ll sleep tonight?

44 thoughts on “i worked on naruto today”

  1. If I would have known and told my boy that you voiced for Ben 10 and Naruto on Sunday he would have wanted to see you more than Billy West. Funny.

  2. Considering they’re in the last 3 story arcs before Naruto jumps into Shippuuden, I can only guess you’re going to play one of the characters in the arc with the 4 rogue ninja who steal those ridiculous blue chakra-conductive weapons. Eh?

  5. @Aerik: I can’t comment. Hopefully, I’ll have something more definitive to share on Friday.
    @Mr. Person: It’s called “looping” because way back in the old days, they’d put the scene you were re-recording on a film loop, and just play it over and over again while actors dubbed the dialog.
    It’s changed a lot in my lifetime. There were still tape loops when I was a kid, and there were very long waits during the video tape days, while we waited for the tapes to fast-forward and rewind to get to the appropriate portion of the scene.
    Today, it’s as simple as playing it off a harddrive, and a line that takes 3 seconds to deliver can be done several times in just 30 seconds. I did more than one episode today in just a few hours; twenty years ago, that would have been impossible.

  6. I know what you mean.
    For me, I NEED to work on remote productions. Trucks, studio… doesn’t really matter, as long as there’s a remote angle to it. Of course, I’d rather be on location 😉
    As much as I love expressing myself through writing or filming, nothing compares to working a broadcast on location – the more live, the better.
    All that to say – yes.

  9. Wow. You’ve made me want to pull out our old (and inherited) “Neon Genesis Evangelion” videotapes and re-watch them. Haven’t done that since freshman or sophomore year of college, I think. I think I’ve only seen a couple of episodes of “Naruto”, so I’m not sure if I’d be able to get into it, even with you voicing it. Although, you never know. I’m usually not into the ultra-violent stuff, but I absolutely love “Hellsing”, “Ninja Scroll”, and “Ghost in the Shell”. Yeah, I really need to start watching again.

  10. If you had the opportunity to work with Sam Riegel or Liam Obrien – they were two of our guests at the SacAnime show in August. Once your Naruto work hits the air, you’ll definitely have a new dearth of young fans incoming.
    And the obsessive ones will know everything you’ve ever done.

  11. I totally didn’t follow Akira the first time I saw it and for the longest time thought Tetsuo was the hero. 🙂
    But Battle of the Planets brought a smile to my face. I tried to watch it again and it totally doesn’t hold up but damn. Anyone who grew up with it and isn’t still moved by the opening notes of that orchestral score has no soul.

  13. Wil- didn’t know where else to post this, it has nothing to do with this entry…
    …but I was just channel surfing when I tuned to SciFi just in time to get the line “Then you shall have no treaty, no vaccine, and no Tasha Yar!”
    And I just about died laughing. 😀

  14. *sigh* I so miss Robotech. Love the Rocky reference. Not much a fan of anime these days but the boys (fiance and 13 year old and 9 year old) that is what Saturday mornings in the home consists of.
    I will perhaps check this out just cause and include it in my geeky pleasures show.

  16. Wil, did your process include reviewing the original voicing of these episodes?
    Since the “subs vs dubs” debate is strong with a few of my friends I’d be glad to get a sense of how it’s done on modern anime.

  17. I am such a tard these days. Also mean to say I totally understand that need. I am currently doing vocal (radio), voice over work and writing which kinda scratches the itch, but I really miss being on stage in front of a live audience. Without the arts, I would be sooooo lost.

  18. Hmm, Naruto…that’s the one with the seven tailed fox, no? I only ever watched Lupin the 3rd, Evangelion, and some Dragonball Z. Even then, it was kind of a phase…the fact that the women were always drawn so, how do I say this, lusty? It always got under my skin a little. You may now proceed to lob insults at me. haha! But I do LOVE voice-over acting. Corey Burton and Jon DiMaggio are the BEST, especially when Jon beat-boxes in the commentary on Futurama’s, “Luck of the Fryrish”. But that’s not anime, so, I guess I’m talking nonsense.

  19. If you count Speed Racer, I’ve been watching anime since I was three. Although there was nearly a decade before I watched it again (when Voltron started airing when I was 11).

  21. naruto is good fun. waiting for you to share which character you get to voice with anticipation… even tho as a general rule i don’t watch dubs.
    you bring up a good point about the need to act. voice acting must be cool because you can become someone else (which i always imagined would be loads of fun) and still be invisible in teh real world (how my true self likes to be best).

  22. Man, I’ve wanted to act since I was little. Never really had the opportunity to get out and do it (whether it was because I lived in Massachusetts most of my life, or because I didn’t need it bad enough). I still practice various voices all the time and act dramatically in practically any circumstance, so maybe some day I will need it enough. Maybe some day I’ll be able to get that same sense of achievement. Until then, we’ll see.

  23. Dubs/Subs/clean..
    I would LOVE to understand Japanese and other languages but I just can’t grasp it (if they WERE…TO…SPEAK…SLOWLY)
    And I took a few years I MIGHT have a chance.
    I kind of prefer Dubs as long as they are done right, same inflections,tones etc)
    I do wish that once someone buys a series that they work through them as fast as possible.
    Bleach seemed to have had the first 40 done then CN repeated them all up to what seemed to be 45 again and NOW is running past the 60s’
    Of course now CN only runs the good stuff (for me) on Sat..

  24. So jealous, so jealous. You must post when the episode is going to air. I’ll sit and watch it with my Leaf Village headband on. I’m trying to get my cat, Neko, used to wearing it as a scarf/collar. Okay, that was TMI. Are you a good guy or a bad guy? Can you at least share that much info? Two of my favorite things combined, Naruto and Wil Wheaton, fanboy overload.
    –JacqueChadall

  25. (Not really on this particular blog post)
    I haven’t been a regular reader of your blog, but over the years I’ve many times wandered in to check what’s going on and read the latest news in your world. And it’s been very entertaining, so Thank You for it 🙂 I really like your style of writing and you seem to have an excellent sense of humour. And of course the topics interest a partial geekette like me! So why haven’t I become a regular already? Hmmm… Maybe I’ve subconsciously tried to border my internet addiction to only some sites per day. But I think I will pop in more often from now on. Now that I’ve signed in and all!
    Anyway – all the best to you from Kirkkonummi.

  28. Cool…I like Naruto and will be watching. It’s funny, I know we’ve never met but hearing about you playing the part gives me the feeling of finding out that a “friend” will be on something I watch.

  29. Hey Wil, missed the blog entry where you said you were going to be on Ben 10. So there I was, watching with my son, enjoying the episode and thinking “oo, new guy”.
    It wasn’t until I walked out of the room and heard it (without watching) that I started thinking, I know that voice!
    I ran back into the room and went all fan-girl, much to my five-year old’s bemusement (and husband’s amusement).
    But just thought you’d like to know that I didn’t know it was you while I was WATCHING, so you must have been doing a good job!

  30. The only anime that I’ve ever paid a lot of attention to was Ranma 1/2 because that’s what my anime friend in highschool was into. However, I’m kind of familiar with the concept of Naruto so maybe I’ll go check it out. I wish I could watch Ben 10 but I have no cable access to Cartoon Network. 🙁

  33. Hi Wil,
    I actually am one of the regulars on the dub of “Naruto”. I voice Kiba (the ninja kid with the dog). Wanted to say congrats on getting to work on the show. Mary McGlynn is a great director!
    Been checking out your blog and podcast off and on for the past few years and truly enjoy the fellow geekiness. I’m hoping to cross over into cartoon voice gigs (constantly auditioning at least, thanks to my agent).
    I look forward to hearing your work on the show.
    Rock on!
    Kyle Hebert
    http://www.kylehebert.com
    http://www.myspace.com/kylehebert

  35. About making up your own story lines…
    When I first saw Akira and Ghost in the Shell and Tonari no Totoro I too had to make up my own story line for the same reason, I don’t speak Japanese. For the first two, my own was better than the actual story line though the actual story is quite good. And I suspect this makes sense since you are invariably going to make up a story you like best yourself. This also provided a good source of conversation between me and my friends, discussing what we thought was actually happening.
    However, with My Neighbor Totoro, the actual story was better. I think the story was so good and simplistic that anything I could come up with on my own was bound to worse than the original. (If you get a voiced over copy, get the one with Angela Landsbury – the gradma – if you can find it.)
    You don’t want to know what I came up with for the Cream Lemons. 8^>

  36. Battle Of The Planets! I lived in Japan and taught English for about two years. One day, one of my lessons was about TV and everyone talked about their favorite TV show as a kid. On a whim, I mentioned “Battle Of The Planets” and then explained the premise: five heroes are members of something called G-Force. Oh, how excited these housewife/office lady students all became! “Gatchaman! Gatchaman!” they cried. So great how anime can bring people together despite cultural/language differences. Imagine, Wil–the work you’re doing today at Naruto will do the same for younger generations.

  37. I am so elated by the fact that you diversify your work so much – it not only keeps it exciting for you, I am sure, but it’s a really good example to those pursuing careers in the arts about maximizing the entire skillset radius. So awesome!!
    I hope you sleep better. Getting the brain to chill out is so tough sometimes. Soemtimes it’s as simple as the weight of the blankets that can keep me up at night – if they are too lightweight I cannot sleep as well. Weird. @ Wil’s brain: NO songs and the temperature in the house is FINE!

  38. Congrats! I’ve never really enjoyed Naruto, but I’ll try to pop in for your episode(s)! I think making up a plot to an unsubtitled foreign movie sounds like a heck of a lot of fun! I’m curious what it was you guys came up with though! 🙂

  40. I used to spend more hours than I want to admit drawing from taped episodes of Robotech that I’d put on pause. Grainy, fuzzy, with those horrible black wavy lines running through the screen when you paused the tape — but I drew those characters and scenes slavishly anyway.
    Looking back, my artistic career is very likely entirely Carl Macek’s fault. 😉

  41. Wow..i found this site bout Will..gotta love him also..and it’s funy cuz the guy dosen’t look old..it seems he still that Stand By Me’s lil boy…I love that quartet(Wheaton,Phoenix,Feldman n O’Conneell)my fav movie(Stand By Me)

  44. I’m so excited to hear that. I can’t wait to tell my nephew (who is 27 heh heh) about this, as he is a Naruto fan and a WW fan as well.
    You’re so damned accomplished. You know, you’re a great role model. Yay you.
    Damnit I want to do voice overs. 25 years of classical opera training should get me something you’d think.
    WW lights a fire under JustDoshia’s ass once again.
    Yay you again.

Comments are closed.

Related Posts

Recent Posts