Hyattsville Animation Actor Helps Kids Find Their Voice at Workshop

Hyattsville’s Jamie McGonnigal worked with dozens of kids on their voice acting skills Saturday.

At a workshop at the Hyattsville public library, the voice actor who from shows such as “Pokémon,” “One Piece” and “Winx Club: The Magic Is Back” taught the basics of the profession.

“I make silly noises and I get paid some money for it sometimes,” he said.

He showed off his home recording studio, explaining how the foam on the wall blocks unnecessary sound and a filter that stops plosives such as “p” or “k” that can overload the sensitive microphone.

After playing a clip from a “Yu-Gi-Oh!” series, McGonnigal admitted that at the time he did not actually understand some of the jargon-heavy dialogue in the scene.

“A good director isn’t going to tell you how to say the line, but they are going to tell you enough,” he said.

While movies made by U.S. companies such as Disney do the voice recording before the animation, McGonnigal has worked on shows that were originally in Japanese or Italian. That adds a step, as he has to watch the scene to make sure his dialogue matches the mouth movements of the character.

McGonnigal invited kids to voice characters from various books before developing a new voice for their own character.

He then invited his slightly abashed husband, Sean, to show the voices the two have developed for Elephant and Piggie in the Mo Willems series of books when reading aloud at home.

“This is what it’s like to grow up as a voice actor for a parent,” he said.

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