Read on to find out more about the incredible team behind the Reynard City animated series and video game!
Samuel Victor: Director of Vocal Performances and Audio Technician
Previous/ upcoming credits:
Working in various capacities in many films, from director, through writer, and occasional low budget film actor, including lead roles in “Stagger”, “The Perfect Love Song”, “The Gamble” and “Terror Nation”. I’m also a musician and performer, having worked with names including R Kelly & D12, and have the honour of currently being trained in traditional animation by the legendary Don Bluth.
When did you hear about Reynard City?
I heard through a mutual friend that a sound engineer was needed to record the voices for a pilot for an animated series. I was interested as this project combined most of my areas of interest/semi “expertise”, such as sound, film, and animation. On reading some of the comics on-line I was very enthusiastic about the project, especially once I learned that many of the cast of “Stagger” (a feature film I was working on editing at the time) were involved.
How did you approach directing the vocal performances?
By reading the comics and then studying the scripts for the whole series, I got a real insight into the character’s minds. I even tried reading each part out-loud several times to see how I would approach the lines, were I to be acting in the show. This really helped me to make suggestions and be able to direct the actors when they were performing their lines. As is often the case with animation, each actor recorded their parts separately in a booth. This can sometimes mean lines sound unconvincing when spliced together. To avoid this, I was able to act the scenes out with the voice actors, performing the lines before and after theirs to help them get in character and really act the lines, rather than simply reading them. We were very lucky to have some great actors and I think between Will & myself we got some really great performances.
What appeals to you about Reynard City?
Reynard City is as mad as a box of frogs. And it is all the better for it. On reading the comics and scripts I immediately saw a lot that reminded me of classic 80s and 90s cartoon series, and also saw a lot of influence from Japanese Manga and Anime. It’s a proper adventure, with the memorable characterisations of something like “Thundercats”, with the madcap humour of “Samurai Pizza Cats”. I think its Anime name should therefore be “Samurai-Thunder”. Mostly because “Cats-Pizza-Cats” sounds more like a 4chan meme. Pretty unique for this kind of Anthropomorphic superhero series is that the characters have real human problems that people can relate to, like those of the best (more po-faced) Marvel and DC lines. I particularly like female superheroes worrying about their weight. There’s none of the male-fantasy in-achievable perfection usually rife in the genre, which often gets stuck in a perpetual Furry Fan-fic loop. This will appeal to that audience, of course, but has enough depth & original ideas to be palatable to a mainstream audience of clinically insane people.
Holly McKeon: Vibes McAllister/AK Girl
Previous/ upcoming credits: The Shellsheekers (Maddermarket Theatre), Let’s Be Having You (Audio Sketch show)
How did you approach the voice for your character?
Having read the comic, I gauged the voice from her personality. It was as simple as that, pretty much!
What appeals to you about Reynard City?
It’s a witty comedy that can be appreciated by all ages!
Linda Hook: Sally Joanna Sabrina Vixen/Wondervixen
Previous/ upcoming credits: Marie in Stagger and various productions at the Seagull Theatre
When did you first hear about Reynard City?
On the set of Stagger, realising what a great project this was and wanting to get involved.
How did you approach the voice for your character?
As the cliché goes, she sounds a lot like me! I can relate to the character, it’s well written. She is a deep character with a dark past, and I endeavour to show how multi layered she is.
What appeals to you about working on Reynard City?
Female superheroes kicking butt! They have real, human qualities that are great to explore.
Mark Margason: Guillermo Roberto del Zorro Rodriguez/ Hyper Rob
Previous/ upcoming credits: Stagger, The Rapture, Robin Hood (Russell Crowe)
How did you approach the character?
I was trying to mimic the distinct, powerful voice you hear on most US trailers (the late, great Don LaFontaine)
What appeals to you most about Reynard City?
The strange characters and abstract stories. It’s very original!
Kevin Wilkinson: Mega Fox, Dr Antibiotix
Previous/ upcoming credits: Many, all great fun! Kevin did a rewrite on the script for Stagger and is a very talented artist and graphic designer!
How did you approach the voice of your character?
By listening to the director’s requirements and being as menacing as possible (God, I love playing villains!)
Taraneh Jaranpour: Caramel Girl, Mysterious Voice
Previous/ upcoming credits: Zephyr in Zanussi Dance Company, Jose Vidal and co Dance Company Chesire Cat (Alice In Wonderland, Seagull Theare), co-directed A Christmas Carol (Seagull Theatre). Currently directing short films for Nudge Productions.
How did you approach the character?
I tried to inject a little humour into the character, don’t know if I managed it, and giving her a ‘street’ accent adds more variety to the range of characters in the story.
What appeals to you about Reynard City?
I like the way the characters have insecurities about their appearance, just like all of us, despite being super-human heroes and the balance of strong characters both female and male.
Lee Johnson: Knox
Previous & Upcoming Credits: Dangerous Adventures For Boys (Channel 5), Stagger, stage performances of Pinter and The Importance Of Being Earnest
How did you approach the voice for your character?
I just imagined how a big, fat media mogul would sound!
What appeals to you about working on Reynard City?
It’s new, it’s fresh and I’ve never seen anything like it before…it’s going to be big!
Rob Button: Humiliator, various
Previous/ upcoming credits: None to speak of as of yet… um… I… I judged a recent preschool easter fayre basket competition, if that counts! (editor note: Rob Button is a member of University of East Anglia’s comedy society ‘Headlights’. You can see examples of his work here)
How did you approach the voice for your character?
Well, I walked up to it and… huhu just kidding! When I saw Humiliator described by one of the characters as a “bad stand up comedian”, I suddenly realised that “Hey, this dude’s on a similar level to me!” So, I used a similar voice as the one I use in my standup, whilst adding a slightly more sinister edge. He is an evil weapon of mass destruction (of sorts!) after all!
What appeals to you about Reynard City?
I’m a fan of the genre, and I liked the original take on it in RC.
Jack Allen: Warp King (video game)
Previous/Upcoming Credits
Jack has played many roles including- the roles of ‘Convict 5’, ‘Farmer 1’, ‘Factory Foreman’, ‘Captain’, ‘Higher Class Guest’, ‘Grantaire’, ‘Jean Valjean (Understudy)’ and official Company ‘Swing’ in a Youth Production of ‘Les Miserables’ and the roles of ‘Willie Lopez’ and ‘Subway Ghost’ in a Youth Production of ‘Ghost – The Musical’
How did you approach the character?
I originally got my inspiration for the voice of my Character the ‘Warp King’ from extracting styles from individual fictional Characters e.g. The personality of ‘Mr. Tiny’ from the ‘Cirque Du Freak’ chronicles by ‘Darren Shan and the reactions and vocal tone of the ‘Joker’ from the original 90’s ‘Batman: The Animated Series’, and in a way combined their different aspects. Mr. Tiny with an added harsh sense of humour, renounced cheating qualities, slick-ish edge and a thirst to play games before causing complete havoc… That’s my interpretation for ‘Warp King’.
Tonya Marie Doughty: Various (video game)
How did you approach voicing your characters?
I’m a big gamer geek so playing games gave me an insight into the types of sounds and effects that could be achieved. I just read through the script and decided on my view point of what each monster and bad guy should sound like and then went with it. For the intruder alarm and the dough bomb I just used my normal speaking voice as I felt it needed a natural touch.
Do you enjoy video games? If so what’s your fave?
I LOVE video games, I’m an Xbox girly gamer! LOVE all platform games and am a major Call of duty Zombies addict!
Sabrina Stanton: narrator (video game)
How did you approach voicing your character?
I just played with the lines and decided that my sarcastic self was the best approach. Also the thought of gamers getting frustrated at my ad-libbed taunts was just a little too pleasing!
Do you enjoy video games? If so what’s your fave?
Yes I do, I’m an old skool platform, and Professor Layton kinda girl!