It runs in the family

Nothing would represent Thansinee Tongprasat better than the saying "a tree is known by its fruit".

Born into a film-dubbing family that already had more than 20 year of experience in the field, Thansinee, or "Good", has been involved in the world of dubbing since the age of six.

"I remember sitting on my mom's lap and speaking out dialogue once my turn came with a jab of her finger," she recalls.

"I don't remember how long it took to do it, from the start to the end. The only thing I remember is that it was a lot of fun."

Chip, a character from Walt Disney's movie "Beauty and the Beast", who was turned into a teapot, was Good's first attempt at professional dubbing. After that, she was again selected by Pixar to voice Dot, a younger princess ant, in the movie "A Bug's Life".

Since then, she has fully embraced the profession of her mother and aunt.

Still a fourth-year student in communication arts at Sripatum University, Thansinee, 22, now works as a dubber for the Cartoon Network Channel at True Visions cable TV. Her voice can be heard in children's programmes, including "Camp Lazlo", "My Gym Partner's a Monkey", "Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi" and the "Winx Club".

Working as a cartoon dubber is similar to being an actor or actress. There are auditions as there are for other performers. But the process is quite simple.

"What you have to do is to give voice to your cast character with a script length of only three or four sentences and then wait for the result at home. That's it," she says.

Once you are chosen, just like an actor you work under a director, who will tell how to speak, to yell or to scream. You sometimes might even have to act out - thumping your chest or jumping and shouting out loud like Tarzan for a more realistic sound - while dubbing.

The only difference is that it's your voices that comes out of the screen, not your appearance.

There are different processes involved in dubbing cartoons to be released in theatres and those made for television.

Thansinee says that for cartoons to be shown in theatres, dubbers will work individually in a studio, as the character needs a clear, firm sound. But dubbing for television or a cable operator is done in a group, for a livelier and funnier sound.

"There are usually six or seven dubbers to voice one cartoon series. We will line up, sit together and go for it. Each will be responsible only for the character he or she has auditioned for," says Thansinee.

"In case there are some extra characters in the scene, a member in the team whose voice is similar to that character will help dub it."

However, both theatre and cable cartoon dubbers also share one thing in common - they will never see the script until the dubbing time. Thansinee gets only a couple of minutes to read through the script and mark her dialogue part before dubs.

"Cartoon series that we have watched or dubbed before will take about half an hour to complete one episode. But if it is a never-seen-before cartoon, we may have to spend up to two hours due to the unfamiliarity with the character, which can lead to many miscues."

For most theatre cartoons, dubbers are expected to finish their character in one day.

"If you cannot get your job done, you may be asked to come again later. But there would be no additional payment," she says

Currently, Thansinee earns Bt600 for one episode of a cable cartoon. Each month the total salary she earns is approximately Bt20,000 from the four programmes she dubs at True Visions. However, a more experienced dubber might get as much as Bt1,000 per episode.

Rates for theatre cartoon dubbing depends on the contract from the company. Thansinee got Bt9,000 for her most recent theatre cartoon.

For a cartoon lover, this is one of the most suitable jobs.

"The charm of being a cartoon dubber, for me, is a chance to watch it before everyone else. Also, you can imitate yourself to be the character and act out or play something you can't do outside the studio in the real world."

Anyone can be a dubber. Physical attributes don't matter in this job.

"So it's not the case that a person with a small body must dub only characters with little voices. Same thing, you don't have to stick with a well-built character just because you have a big body. We can practice, like a singer."

However, it seems that the only way to become a dubber is to join a dubbing school or take a course with a professional dubbing team.

"This is the easiest way to show your potential and to learn the correct way of dubbing. If you are good enough, there is a high percentage that the school will find you a job, because they have already seen your performance and improvement."

Story by Watchara Saengsrisin

Photo by Uthorn Sriphantha

The Nation