Worst Vocal Direction in the series

[Kirankrt]

For me, it’s Bill Farmer and Jim Hanks.

Farmer is a great Goofy, I loved him in A Goofy Movie but in the games, nearly every word he says, the inflictions make it seem like he’s asking a question.


Hanks, while a okay Woody voice, puts too much emphasis on certain words.

I dunno, I just feel like the vocal direction is really poor a lotta the time. Like they can’t actually expect us to believe they approve of Willa Holland performing Aqua as though she’s just woke up.

 

[The Kid]

Nothing will ever be worse than Aerith in KH2. That was honestly the worst voice acting I've ever heard in my life

 

[Sign]

Nothing will ever be worse than Aerith in KH2. That was honestly the worst voice acting I've ever heard in my life

The truth right here.

Honestly, SE needs to employ a better method of voice direction, because what they're doing is not working well enough. Iirc they would have the Japanese voice director on call to approve lines during overseas recording sessions, and due to the language barrier, they'd be listening more for certain cues rather than judging the overall performance.

 

[WaltK]

Everyone in the Pride Lands was pretty naff. Especially Simba and Nala.

 

[Kirankrt]

Everyone in the Pride Lands was pretty naff. Especially Simba and Nala.

I dunno I’d say James Horan was okay as Scar when he wasn’t quoting the movie. Like when he was Scar’s Ghost, he sounded good. Not exactly Irons but he was good.

 

[okhi12]

To be honest I can't stand Woody's voice, he sounds weird. But it is the first time I have heard the Toy Story characters with english voices as I grew with the spanish dub of Disney movies... I guess I'm not used to his voice. I should watch the movies in english for the sake of comparison to see if the game is worse. The rest of the Toy Story characters sound fine in the game.
But even I noticed that Aeris was really off in KH2, she sounded like she was dead inside. On the other hand Ray Chase is the best master of masters we could hope for. This series has its ups and downs and the voice acting is no exception.
Terra and Aqua received a lot of criticism when BBS came out, I always remember someone commenting on youtube that Jason Dohring sounded like he was given the script in the middle of the street and that was really accurate, lol. And I preferred Aqua's japanese VA because for some reason Willa Holland sounded very entitled and arrogant to me back then. But their voices grew on me and now I really love them, specially Aqua in 0.2.
The one I have mixed feelings for is Richard Epcar. I preferred Billy Zane but I don't think Epcar did a bad job in BBS. However in KH3 I don't like him much. As Ansem he was just ok, but as Terra-Xehanort he sounds kinda dumb. When he says 'Who are you?' and 'How!' when fighting the lingering will, he overacts too much.
I absolutely love the voices of Xemnas, Larxene and Vexen.
But if I were to give a best VA award in the series it would go to Donald's VA, this poor man's throat must have a comprehensive insurance and he should earn money each time Donald finds ingredients.

 

[Absent]

"And what is this dangerous task, Terra?" I don't know why but that delivery is so weird to me.

Obligatory strained "Come Kingdom Hearts." I got used to Rutger really quickly but that line made me realize why a lot of people don't like his voice delivery.

 

[Kirankrt]

Yeah that line...oh boy yeah...

I mean okay I could see Rutger working if he was just Xehanort from the beginning but he wasn’t.

Hell, Christopher Lloyd should have been Xehanort in Kh3 . True it’s not a actuate voice but he’s got the rasp.

 

[Zettaflare]

Didn't occur to me until KH3 how much I dislike Mickey's new voice. I know no one could top his original VA but Bret is just lacking.

 

[WaltK]

Talking about specific lines:

-Sora’s “this is not happening” when Goofy supposedly dies in KH2.
-Xion’s screams. Just, all of them.
-Ven’s scream in the flashback where Terra and Aqua overload him with questions (the Japanese version is just miles better)
-Esmeralda introducing herself to Sora in DDD. Maybe it’s just because the line itself sounds so unnatural, like, would Esmeralda really just come right out and say she’s a gypsy like that?
-The way Meg says Goofy’s name whenever she does the “Sora, Donald, Goofy” thing. Why does it sound so...flirtatious?

 

[Face My Fears]

Didn't occur to me until KH3 how much I dislike Mickey's new voice. I know no one could top his original VA but Bret is just lacking.

I thought I was alone on this. Whoever the new voice is for Mickey is horrible! I mean, maybe for Mickey specific things he can work, but the person who did Mickey's voice before somehow managed to make Mickey's voice work for Kingdom Hearts stuff and not sound unbelievably over-the-top.

There was a horrific line Master Xehanort yells, I think it's "come Kingdom Hearts" and I was like... WTH!? Why be all high-pitched for? Also, the new Kairi didn't have that special something Hayden brought to the role, and her screams ugh.

 

[Sign]

I thought I was alone on this. Whoever the new voice is for Mickey is horrible! I mean, maybe for Mickey specific things he can work, but the person who did Mickey's voice before somehow managed to make Mickey's voice work for Kingdom Hearts stuff and not sound unbelievably over-the-top.

Am I missing something? Because I've seen a ton of people talk about the "new Mickey voice" when Bret Iwan is still listed in the credits and he's been voicing that character for a decade. It wasn't even this widespread when BBS released, which had his first full performance as Mickey.

I agree that his performance in KH3 sounded off though.

 

[Absent]

He can do “theme park” Mickey just fine. In fact sometimes I forget there’s different Mickeys because he can match his predecessor really well...That is until Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts is when you can tell that Mickey has a different voice actor.

 

[Sakuraba Neku]

Sora in KH3D stands out.

 

[FudgemintGuardian]

Almost all of Larxene's is perfect, but I just can't get over the little gasp she makes (in both English and Japanese) when Xemnas reveals she, Marly, Demyx, and Luxord are from the past. It doesn't sound at all appropriate for the situation nor matches her Xemnas-finally-lost-it face.

 

[disney233]

Unpopular opinion....but Lock, Shock, and Barrel's VA infuriates the living HELL outta me. It's voices like these that make me wish that Disney could've hired the actual voice actors.

Popular opinion...Terra was dull in Birth by Sleep, and....Then...there's KH2's Aerith...like she's the prime definition of dead inside.

 

[Face My Fears]

Unpopular opinion....but Lock, Shock, and Barrel's VA infuriates the living HELL outta me. It's voices like these that make me wish that Disney could've hired the actual voice actors.

Popular opinion...Terra was dull in Birth by Sleep, and....Then...there's KH2's Aerith...like she's the prime definition of dead inside.

I never played Final Fantasy VII, so I always assumed that Aerith's gimmick was soulless (which is why Cloud liked her). I don't even know if Cloud likes her or not, I also just assumed that lol.

 

[Veevee]

Aerith, without any doubt. That sounded so wrong.

Unpopular opinion: I prefer Aqua's English voice over her japanese one. The japanese one is so emotional and I don't really see that much emotion on her face in BBS ... she smiles now and then and blushes once, but I always thought that emotionless delivery nailed her pretty well. She reminds me of Katniss from the Hunger Games, if I think about it.

 

[DarkosOverlord]

I think perhaps a premise should be made: I'm not familiar with the English voices of a lot of Disney characters, being italian and all.
So, even if some voices of some iconic characters clash or don't feel right for some of them compared to the iconic ones (I do know some people have a bit of an issue with "Homer Simpson Genie" in KH1), I wouldn't know.

KH1: probably Aerith. It's hard for me to forget Kairi's Left4Dead Witch laugh at the beginning, but it's an isolated case.

Re:CoM: Mickey. MAN, I can't stand Mickey's voice in this game. He does something with the vowels in this game, and I don't like it. Makes him sound... dumb.

KH II: Aerith, hands down.

BbS: despite never being part of the Willa Holland hate bandwagon and I do recognize the progress she made, in the first game Aqua had some lines hard to listen to.

DDD: yeah, I think Sora. This was HJO's "please don't make me voice a 14 year old anymore" lowest.

Back Cover: Luxu didn't really sound alright, unless his sort of demure attitude was intended.

KH III: Donald.

 

[Kirankrt]

I think perhaps a premise should be made: I'm not familiar with the English voices of a lot of Disney characters, being italian and all.
So, even if some voices of some iconic characters clash or don't feel right for some of them compared to the iconic ones (I do know some people have a bit of an issue with "Homer Simpson Genie" in KH1), I wouldn't know.

KH1: probably Aerith. It's hard for me to forget Kairi's Left4Dead Witch laugh at the beginning, but it's an isolated case.

Re:CoM: Mickey. MAN, I can't stand Mickey's voice in this game. He does something with the vowels in this game, and I don't like it. Makes him sound... dumb.

KH II: Aerith, hands down.

BbS: despite never being part of the Willa Holland hate bandwagon and I do recognize the progress she made, in the first game Aqua had some lines hard to listen to.

DDD: yeah, I think Sora. This was HJO's "please don't make me voice a 14 year old anymore" lowest.

Back Cover: Luxu didn't really sound alright, unless his sort of demure attitude was intended.

KH III: Donald.

To be fair on Mickey’s voice, his voice actor was really ill. Died a year later.