My Disney Voiceover Experience.

Man standing in a recording studio with audio equipment and monitors.

Meet Gabrial Guy. He has a really cool job. This is where it all happens. In this little room, Gabe captures the voices of amazing actors and actresses like Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, and Josh Gad. And behind that glass, is where those actors and actresses stand to do their lines over and over again. It really is intriguing to stand it that room and see exactly how the behind the scenes of voice overs are actually done.

A woman in a recording studio preparing to speak into a microphone.

I will be completely honest with you about my Disney Voiceover experience.. When I got the itinerary for the trip and found out that we were doing voice overs, this was the thing that I was most terrified about doing! I was nervous from the moment I found out, up until the moment that I found out that we would be going alphabetically in our group. Having the last name "Au", I got to be first. I was SO nervous because not only was I trying something new, but I didn't get to watch anyone first to get a better idea of the process.

Two people working in a sound recording studio with audio equipment and multiple computer screens.

Its funny how these things work, though. The moment I got into the room, put on my headphones and started I had a blast. My fears went away. Probably because I was so focused on making sure I was following the on screen hints to help me say the words when I was supposed to. It went really fast, and I was bummed when I was finished! The scene that we did was when Olaf is meeting Anna, Kristoff and Sven for the first time. I was the voice of Olaf.

A person recording in a radio station studio with a sound engineer at the control panel.

I laughed when I saw the photos of me, because I was fully into the whole experience. Hand motions and all. Haha.

A person recording voice-over in a soundproof studio, with animation screens and sound equipment visible in the foreground.

So what is it like to do Voice Over? I couldn't imagine doing it for a job. It is NOT easy. You have to be on your toes, paying attention and it goes fast. I followed along what I felt like was perfectly, and got to the end of my scene and was talking longer than Olaf's mouth was moving.

A television screen displaying an animated movie scene with a girl, a reindeer, and a snowman character, with subtitles visible on the screen.

Photo Credit: Suburbancouponmom.com

When I went into the room where I was being recording, I had my headphones on, so I could hear the other lines. I could also communicate with Gabe Guy so he could give me the directions I needed. We watched the scene on the screen shown above. The screen also showed a 3-2-1 count down so we knew when we were to start our lines. We had the choice of doing the scene featured above, or doing part of Olaf's Summer song. Haha. I chose the speaking lines because I can't carry a tune. 🙂

Group of people in a sound mixing room with recording equipment.

One nice thing about going first, I got to relax and really enjoy watching everyone after me.

Man operating audio mixing console in a studio with onlookers in the background.

Cool Fact that I mentioned from my Exclusive Interview with the Filmmakers of Disney's Frozen. I assumed that when they recorded the voice overs that everyone from the scene is in the room recording at the same time. But this is not the case. We learned from my interview that, "We were never able to get Kristoff and Anna together and in that scene when they are in the sled and they are going back and forth at each other, we did something different where she would improv and just throw stuff out there and then he heard her responses and was jumping back at it. We had never done that before where they were listening to their voice but we wanted that banter to be like it was really happening. That was so hard because the literally had to go at each other but were never together."

I had to do a voice over by myself and it was hard, I can't imagine voicing entire scenes without the other actors in the scene. This experience has shown me not only how incredible the whole process is, but how very talented the actors and actresses are. This was truly an amazing once in a life time experience and I had so much fun! Here I am as Olaf:

Thank you Disney for this incredible opportunity. Disney provided me with the most incredible trip to Los Angeles for a behind the scenes experience with Frozen. All opinions are my own.

Melissa Au

Hi, my name is Melissa! I live in Spanish Fork, Utah. I'm happily married to Rob, and together we have five wonderful kids. Our family loves to embark on adventures, often in our RV, exploring the great outdoors. I'm an avid reader and a big fan of Hallmark movies – they always have a way of lifting my spirits. Hiking is another passion of mine; there's nothing like the tranquility of nature. I have a sweet tooth for chocolate and a love for Mexican food, both of which make life a little more delicious. In my downtime, I enjoy playing games with my family, creating memories and sharing laughter. Life is an adventure, and I'm here to enjoy every moment of it! I'm the blogger and creative mind behind the blog A Sparkle of Genius! Check out our posts on recipes, crafts, kid stuff, printables, travel and more!