It's one of my favorite performances.
At the time Leguizamo was performing his one man show "Freak" on Broadway. This meant 8 performances a week which required two continuous hours of full strain on his voice.
His doctor told him not to speak at all between performances in order to reduce strain on his vocal chords.
This last panel is my favorite line. "He's got no sense of humah!"
John Leguizamo had already agreed to voice the film before being put on mandatory voice rest. Honoring his commitment he came, signing to us between takes, and delivered great take after great take.
This is one of the few films I've worked that has been "made" by the voice track. Many have worked because of the music, but I can't think of any other with standout voices.
At the same time we were working on another piece for this same show using the voice of a VERY FAMOUS comedian.
That performer didn't bother to read the script before the record -patched fiber optically from the West Coast. A fact made all the more embarrassing by his apparent inability to read at a 2nd grade level. This turned to anger and a refusal to read the innocuous script on "moral grounds". Amy Schatz, HBO's producer/director did a remarkable job of coaxing him through. Ultimately, the whole reading was unusable and the voices had to be reconceived/recast.
The music was post-scored. It's "standard" in a lot of films, but it's a process I don't like.
It's not a coincidence that all of the best animation is based on a solid music track.
Tomorrow, we'll finish this board and write a little about the design and animation.
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Just prior to John Leguizamo voicing this film, he and I had developed a number of projects which we took to HBO to pitch. John brought along his at-the-time partner/director David Bar Katz.
John started on the first pitch to Sheila Nevins and Carole Rosen. Sheila stopped him mid-sentence by making a loud noise like a buzzer. Then shouting, "Next!"
John and David looked at each other. Then he started the next one, a story of a couple of street kids built around hip-hop. Ultimately, Sheila said she loved it but wanted more of John's actual life in it. She was ready to order six half-hour shows.
The meeting concluded on an up feel.
In the elevator down, John and David said they would never work with them. (You don't humiliate a star and expect to work with him.) And that was that.
So soon after, he did the VO for your show.
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