I don't know, it seems an awfully broad category to me ... who did you have in mind to win, and for what? (Aw, you must have been thinking something like that. Please just don't tell me it was Glenn Close for GREYSTOKE.)

There's probably enough Oscar categories right now as it is ... the HAIRDRESSERS have been lobbying for an award for YEARS now.

Now that I think of it, there IS a NARRATION award, for documentaries, in the Technical Oscars which are given out before the "main" awards. I don't know if they still hand that one out, but none other than William Shatner was up for it in the early seventies (not sure who he lost to, though.)

NP: The Mummy (Semi-complete. I'm listening to the extra score tracks I recorded from the DVD ISO track earlier today. I'm putting it all together tomorrow.)

NP: nothing (Gotta check the mail. Hard Target should be arriving today! Yippee! FINALLY!!)

My father worked with one guy -- perhaps one of the ones Mr. L already mentioned, I've forgotten his name, but he's still working -- who drove him absolutely nuts, and every time he heard the voice on TV, he'd want to throw things. He did everything from commercials to PBS documentaries, this fellow, and I still know the tone when I hear it (Dad hurling dirty napkins at the screen helped make it indelible), but I can't remember the name.

My favorite Paul Frees performances: a three-way tie between Doctor Who in KING KONG ESCAPES, the Burgermeister Meisterburger in one of the puppetmation Rankin-Bass specials (memory insists it was an Easter special, but it may have been one of the more prevalent Xmas specials), and the evil sorcerer in RUDOLPH & FROSTY'S CHRISTMAS IN JULY, an absolutely enthralling piece of work that probably summed up everything writer Romeo Muller was ever trying to say in his previous scripts. (I am NOT kidding. I still kick myself that I didn't try to track him down before he died. What, he lived maybe half an hour away? If only I'd known. If only I'd checked.)

Mr. Rocco's right, the IMDB solves everything. He played "Voorhees" in The Thing; and sure enough, his was the voice of the talking rings per above. And H, I distinctly remember him in a cameo in War Of The Worlds, which I believe was the first film I ever saw in a movie theatre, a Saturday afternoon matinee circa 1962.

Frees is probably most remembered as the voice behind Boris Badenov. --Oh, and before I forget, I watched the great Fail-Safe (1964) last night and recognized his voice on the phone. What else--another Russian!

Perhaps this belongs in the "quiz" thread, but I think not, since this is not a music question:

Name the cartoon series that Cheryl Ladd did at the beginning of her career. And who did she play?

Josie and the Pussycats - she was the singing voice of Melody.

I think Cheryl Ladd is somewhat underrated as a dramatic actress: she had a fascinating strangeness about her as the time-hopping character in MILLENNIUM (1990) and was absolutely perfect as the woman dying well before her time in the also underrated POISON IVY (1992). Even my mom liked that one. I can't bring myself to see the sequels, however. VERY nice score by David Michael Frank, not normally one of my favorite composers.

Joan: I've heard the ALADDIN/Williams rumor too, but I was sure the nomination would never come about, however deserved.

You mention Kline and Branagh's "repartee" in ROAD TO EL DORADO. What's weird is, I bet those two never even met on that picture -- the appearance of "dialogue" between actors is just the work of masterful sound editors.

For reasons I don't understand, they mostly DON'T allow voice actors to work in the same room together. I think this wasn't true on cheaper dubbing jobs, like those for Japanese and Hong Kong movies, but those were also done much differently -- the English-speakers had to speak in synchronicity with the action, while on American animated pictures, they record the voices first and then animate around them. (And almost always design the characters to look like them -- I was fascinated with Lance Henriksen's gorilla chief in TARZAN. "Yes, that's exactly how Lance would look if born a silverback," I thought.)

NP: THE THREE MUSKETEERS (Michael Kamen) (ending)

However, one unique thing about Road to El Dorado was that
Kline and Branagh were actually together during their dialogue.
I watched them on the Today show, and they discussed
this new unique system. They moved around
physically, pretended to sword fight, etc. They said that the
director/producer used some of their actual expressions and
movements in the movie. And they admitted to ad libing many
times and that those extras were also incorporated into the film.
Their repartee was so perfect that maybe other animated features
will employ this “together” technique.