Cartoon voices: a descriptive analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Television, especially cartoons, is a constant presence in children’s modern-day life. Cartoon voices may represent influential standards in the construction of linguistic and social representations of children. Objective: this study will seek to describe the voice parameters of heroes and villains in cartoons and investigate whether there are vocal patterns that characterize and differentiate these characters. Methods: A cross-sectional, qualitative and descriptive study. It consisted of a sample of 23 lines from cartoon characters, heroes and villains, found on Brazilian Television. The samples were submitted to vocal perceptual analysis conducted by three experienced speech language pathologists, with the following voice parameters being analyzed: resonance, pitch, loudness, pace, rhythm and clarity of speech. Vocal abuse and psychodynamics of voice has also been analyzed. Results: Chest resonant quality was found predominantly in the voices of villains, as well as low pitch; while heroes presented a balanced resonant voice. Two hero characters show articulatory disorders in fricatives and alveolar trill. Vocal abuse was shown in 50% of the characters, both heroes and villains. No differences were observed regarding loudness, pace and rhythm between hero and villain voices. Psychodynamic voice aspects show that heroes have jovial, cheerful, courageous, distressed and anxious voices, while villains have mature, confident, threatening, authoritarian and aggressive ones. Conclusions: The voices of heroes and villains seem to differ, demonstrating certain patterns in vocal construction that characterize good and evil in the characters.