James Avery as Shredder.

[Cropsy]

Isn't it odd that a black man is being the voice of a Japanese character?

[Dejablue]

Not really. He gave Shredder the voice he needed for that cartoon and thats all that mattered. I mean besides Mako...how many of the Voice actors of Splinter were actually Japanese?

[discordiatookie]

As long as the voice fits, who gives a sh*t about race, skin colour, appearances, etc?

Did you know that Bart Simpson is voiced by a woman? The shock! The horror!

[Dejablue]

Yeah I mean its not like you ever see who these people are. At least most of the time you don't.

[Cropsy]

So it doesn't matter about race or gender on characters.

He was even the voice of Fang the giant from the 1986 anime feature "Fist of the North Star".

[ToTheNines]

Isn't it odd that a black man is being the voice of a Japanese character?

What the **** is wrong with you?

Inter-racial voice acting (how stupid does that sound?) happens all the time....

I'd like to go off on you, but you're either a racist or just painfully retarded. Either way I'd be wasting my time.

[Dejablue]

Geeze dude, I don't think he meant any harm. I've actually wondered stuff like this myself. Say for instance when a Japanese character speaks I rate it on a meter of how fake I think the accent sounds. Its just that in the instance of the OT show it really didn't matter in the slightest. And you know what? I for the longest time didn't know that Shredder was voiced by this guy. And when I did, it friggin blew my mind. Uncle Phil as the Shredder? No way!

His question is strange and easy to explain, yes but I don't think you should jump the gun and call him racist or retarded.

[Cropsy]

No i'm not an ignorant racist, i'm just weirded out that a black man voiced a Japanese character. And i believe race isn't important, like Cree Summer who is a black voice actress is the voice of Dulcy on Sonic SatAM and Penny on Inspector Gadget.

[Dejablue]

and the weird Elmyra chick from Tiny Tunes

[XERO]

Isn't it odd that a black man is being the voice of a Japanese character?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Satoshidp.png

"Veronica Taylor, I CHOOSE YOU!!!!"

[Dejablue]

See? well wait. I always knew Ash's VA was female from the start lol

[Luke795]

Jaleel White who played Steve Urkel on Family Matters is black and he voices Sonic in all 3 American Sonic cartoons Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Sonic Underground.

[Dejablue]

Lawl that doesn't count. Sonic is an animal (technically)

[MorganaV]

Ok one thing I'm confused about, what did this James Avery guy voice the Shredder in?? I honestly don't know.

[Dejablue]

The old 1980's cartoon

[MorganaV]

Oh s**t! Just looked him up, I honestly would of never guessed Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince of Bel Air was the Shredder. Wow.

[Dejablue]

Oh s**t! Just looked him up, I honestly would of never guessed Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince of Bel Air was the Shredder. Wow.

Hahaha thats just how I felt.

[ToTheNines]

No i'm not an ignorant racist, i'm just weirded out that a black man voiced a Japanese character.

Oh my god. You're talking about the OT... it's not like they made Shredder particularly Japanese.

Sure it's an amusing factoid for like one second, but I don't see why you made a thread about it, or why you're "weirded out" by anything.

[Icebot]

James Avery didn't do the voice of Shredder in every episode. He consistently had substitute voice actors and he didn't voice Shredder at all in the red sky episodes. I would've loved to see him voice Shredder in Turtles Forever but that didn't happen.

[Blade Raider]

If actors could only play characters of their race, then all Transformers would have the voice of a MAC. It doesn't matter and has nothing to do with race. It is, however, surpising at first that Shredder and Uncle Phil are the same guy. Now that's just fun trivia.

Something that's actually odd is Playmates turned Bebop into a white guy even though he was black in the show. Make of that what you would.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Satoshidp.png


"Veronica Taylor, I CHOOSE YOU!!!!"
She also voiced May, which makes any love scenario between them really funny. :lol:

[plastroncafe]

Is Kevin Clash going to get his own thread at some point too? He was the puppeteer/voice actor behind Movie Splinter and is also black.

(What always boggles me is how that man can do Splinter and be the voice of Elmo. Talk about range.)

[Powder]

Is Kevin Clash going to get his own thread at some point too? He was the puppeteer/voice actor behind Movie Splinter and is also black.

(What always boggles me is how that man can do Splinter and be the voice of Elmo. Talk about range.)

ELMO= SPLINTER? THAT GUY IS THE SAME GUY?!

WOW. Talk about uber cool. I would've never thought that.:o

[Jester]

Is Kevin Clash going to get his own thread at some point too? He was the puppeteer/voice actor behind Movie Splinter and is also black.

(What always boggles me is how that man can do Splinter and be the voice of Elmo. Talk about range.)
I could start that one!!

What's funny is Clash did try to effect a Japanese accent.

[Doc_ock_4mugen]

Elmo is Splinter!! HOLY CRAP!!!
Veronica Taylor is ASH KETCHUM, MAY, Ash's mom (Delia)... so now that's even weirder...

[ToTheNines]

ELMO= SPLINTER? THAT GUY IS THE SAME GUY?!

WOW. Talk about uber cool. I would've never thought that.:o

Cool yes... but it certainly weirds me out since he is of negro decent....

[Dejablue]

Oh just cut it out. You sure don't like to put things away do you.

[Mighty Bebop]

What always boggles me is how that man can do Splinter and be the voice of Elmo. Talk about range.

That's something that always kind of blew my mind. With most voice actors, you can always hear a little bit of their real voice peeking through. You can hear a little bit of Tigger in Pete (Jim Cummings), and Raphael in Yakko (Rob Paulsen). I always thought that all of Tress MacNeille and Billy West's voices sounded a little bit similar, and there's never any mistaking Mel Blanc.

But Elmo and movie Splinter? That is some range.

[XERO]

Elmo is Splinter!! HOLY CRAP!!!
Veronica Taylor is ASH KETCHUM, MAY, Ash's mom (Delia)... so now that's even weirder...

She's also the voice of April in the New Toon in case you didn't get the original reason I put that up there.

Oh just cut it out. You sure don't like to put things away do you.

Heh, just be glad you were smart enough not to name yourself 'Dejablack' or something. Uncle Phil as Shredder has got to be the oldest and most 'WTF?' fact of the TMNT chronology.

Kevin Nash as Super Shredder is the second.:P

[Dejablue]

I think I'll change my name to Dejablack. Sounds cool, dude.

[nomekop]

I really don't care about who voices who, races or that kind of stuff just doesn't matter. If the voice fits to the character, then it just fits. That's the most important thing. And James Avery was a great Shredder! :P



But Elmo and movie Splinter? That is some range.

Yep, amazing. Some people just got talent :D

[Protoman]

Happens ALL THE TIME. Heck even gender like the Ash example

Look at the Simpsons. The legendary voices that come from that huge cast of characters (and colors), and it's only a handful of people of different genders and backgrounds.

[plastroncafe]

Uncle Phil as Shredder has got to be the oldest and most 'WTF?' fact of the TMNT chronology.

Kevin Nash as Super Shredder is the second.:P

For me it was learning Cousin Oliver from the Brady Bunch was the voice of Michaelangelo in the live action movies.

[Miyamoto_Usagi]

For me it was learning Cousin Oliver from the Brady Bunch was the voice of Michaelangelo in the live action movies.

Haha, me too. Many other famous actors have done voices for video games and animation that you would have never guessed. It's not about race or whether a woman is voicing a male character its more about finding out the voice actor is not at all how you pictured them.

I think James Avery was the perfect voice for Shredder. There is no law that says that a japanese character has to have a japanese accent. James captured that japanese voice characteristic that we all know from Samurai flicks and gave Shredder a good Japanese feeling voice without the need of an accent. I can't even begin to picture Shredder with any other voice. James is da man!

[The Big Bad]

Aaaanyways...now that we're on the topic, what do y'all think of Avery's performance itself?

Me, I'd put him somewhere in the second tier of character performances--quite good, but not distinctive enough to make it a definitive one (for an example of that, see Pat Fraley as Krang). Personally, I thought that Load Williams, Turtles Forever's Shredder, did a fine job in capturing the Shredder, even if his voice didn't quite manage to match Avery's.

[Ioz]

Speaking of Pat Fraley, he did the voice of Bravestarr. I was surprised when I first realized that Uncle Phil was the voice of Shredder, but it was no biggie.