Brad Pitt Showed Off His Vocal Talent in These 3 Animated Films
Superstar Brad Pitt is synonymous with Hollywood celebrity. Recently earning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Pitt can now add an Academy Award to his already long list of credits.
While the Seven star has appeared in dozens of films, some may not know he exhibited some notable vocals in a few animated movies.
‘Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas’
Taking on the title role of Dreamworks’ 2003 film Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Pitt starred in the animated movie along with Michelle Pfeiffer and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Dreamworks’ co-founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg knew Pitt was perfect for the voice of the heroic sailor.
“You think of Sinbad as a character and say, ‘I could have anybody in the world to play him.’ Brad was our first choice,” Katzenberg told the Los Angeles Times in 2003. “Brad Pitt in this movie is everything I’ve always dreamed of seeing Brad Pitt do in a film. He’s heroic, he’s a rogue, he’s footloose and fancy-free and fantastic in doing all these bigger-than-life battles.”
When asked what he liked about working in animation over live action films, Pitt instantly named the top benefit. “The hours. They’re much shorter. It lets you have a life,” the actor said. “It was a much more relaxed atmosphere. There aren’t hundreds of people and millions of dollars ticking away with the moves you make.”
‘Megamind’
Apparently, Pitt liked the shorter scheduled so much he signed on for another big-screen cartoon in 2010. Joining Will Ferrell and Tina Fey for Megamind, the Oscar winner voiced the superhero character Metro Man.
“I think he looks a bit like [George] Clooney, which is obviously not as good,” Pitt joked of Metro Man in 2010, according to Access Online.
Ferrell portrayed the super-intelligent alien supervillain, Megamind, who destroys the beloved Metro Man. Tina Fey plays reporter Roxanne Ritchi, girlfriend of Metro Man, who is kidnapped by Megamind. When plans go awry, Megamind works with Roxanne to set things right. They soon discover Metro Man faked his own death in order to retire and pursue country music.
The family-friendly material is what sold Pitt on the role. “That’s how we choose our roles now — Will the kids like it?” Pitt said in 2010. “Will they like it when they get a little older? Is it a good location for the family?”
Happy Feet Two
Teaming up with the all-star cast from the 2006 original, Pitt and Hollywood heavyweight Matt Damon signed on for Happy Feet Two. The actors portrayed Will and Bill, two tiny krill who decide to depart from their swarm and venture out into the great big ocean.
Swimming along with characters voiced by Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Elijah Wood, Sofia Vergara, and Alecia Moore (aka Pink), Pitt and Damon set their vocals to music for the sequel.
“Matt Damon can sing and Brad Pitt definitely can’t,” director George Miller told CVT News in 2011. “But he gave it a shot.”
Miller wanted to create visuals as authentic as possible when portraying the arctic setting. “We base it as much as possible on the natural history of the world, so you’ll notice that the water and the clouds and the sky and the ice and the shapes of the icebergs is very, very close to reality,” he said.
Pitt seemed to enjoy his foray into animation, saying in 2003, “For me, it’s just about trying something new. “
