Holiday Voice Over

Some of my fondest childhood memories involve Christmas and the holiday season. These memories have helped fuel my approach to holiday voice over.

Around the first week of December, my mom would pull the Christmas decorations and (fake) Christmas tree down from the attic and begin the process of constructing our family’s holiday motif. Putting the Christmas tree together was fascinating to me, as matching color-coded “tree limbs” for insertion into the “tree trunk” suited my preschool skill set. But the most enjoyable part of the process was listening to Christmas and holiday music. My mom would put on a Christmas record from one of her favorite crooners (Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Andy Williams were all well represented), and we’d be instantly transported to the same festive head space while we decorated.

I loved the sounds on those albums, in particular Perry Como narrating ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. I was just learning to read about the time I discovered this track, and the way the story was told on the album made me strive to be a more fluent reader. It’s a style of narrative I love and I’ve recorded a number of projects with Como’s soft, comforting storytelling style in mind.

A similar narrative style often represented in holiday-themed advertising is a more melodic storytelling style, heard below:

Another wonderful memory from my childhood is the Rankin/Bass production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Featuring stop-motion animation and vibrant characters with a range of voices, Rudolf is burned in my mind. Decades later, I can recall those characters’ voices with almost photographic precision. Check out my voice matches of Santa, Hermie the Elf, and Yukon Cornelius below:

Santa

Hermie

Yukon

Fun Fact: I recorded the stand-in audio for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s official 50th Anniversary DVD toy set. My audio was used as proof of concept for the eventual licensing of the “talking” toys included with the DVD.

Holiday-themed projects often require characters which are familiar, but not specific, so as to avoid likeness or copyright concerns. I’m talking about Santa and elves specifically. Below, you’ll find two different takes on Santa – and another approach to a “typical” elf. Both are great for use in radio and TV advertising.

Santa 1

Santa 2

Elf

Other vocal styles often heard around the holidays include those which appear in seasonal television programs and holiday-themed films. (Yes, even Die Hard.) Below are two such examples:

Ebenezer Scrooge

Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman’s role in Die Hard)

Need a voice actor for holiday-themed projects? Let’s talk! Contact me today.