From Oslo, 1991’s Rocketeer voices role in Disney series
There is no such thing as a perfect acting job, but Billy Campbell has found that his voice work for Disney Junior’s new “The Rocketeer” comes very close. Not only does he get to be part of a project based on the same source material as the feature film that gave his first film fame, but also because recordings can be done anywhere on the planet, Campbell doesn’t have to leave the country where he’s living — Norway — to do the work.
“I am thrilled I can do my voice work from anywhere,” Campbell said. “I sure could get used to just going into a sound studio once a week. I hope I can get some more voice work after this.”
The new animated series, slated to debut Friday on Disney Channel and Disney Junior, is inspired by the Dave Stevens superhero comics. Unlike the 1991 film in which Campbell played an adult who used a rocket pack to save the world, the hero work now falls on a young girl, Kit Secord (voiced by Kitana Turnbill). Campbell is the voice of her father, Dave, and Kathy Najimy speaks for her mom, Sareena.
Each episode of “The Rocketeer” features two 11-minute stories that follow Kit as she goes on high-flying adventures to help save her community and its residents from trouble. Helping her out is best friend Tesh (Callan Farris), who serves as Ground Control, and her grandfather, Ambrose Secord, who works as a mechanic at the Hughesville Airport.
Another positive for Campbell is that the show offers a strong message to young girls.
“When they were talking about ‘The Rocketeer’ sequel — live action — they were also talking about a female protagonist, and as soon as I heard that, I thought it was terrific,” he said.
Campbell has a long list of acting credits since he played Cliff Secord in “The Rocketeer,” including TV shows “The O.C.,” “Once and Again,” “Helix” and “The 4400” plus the feature films “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” and “Enough.” He gave up hope of being involved with another “Rocketeer” project decades ago.
“I think it has been 30 years,” he said. “There was talk of a ‘Rocketeer’ reboot or a sequel, but I had no serious expectations of being part of that.
“This was the first film I ever did, and I had an enormously wonderful time doing it. I thought it was such a sweet movie, and I loved the way it turned out. It was such a wonderful experience in my life; of course I was wishing I could revisit it. And now I do.”
And the series gives Campbell his first opportunity as a voice actor, something he’s always wanted to do. Until the new Disney series came along, no one had offered Campbell the chance. He believed, despite his lack of experience as a voice actor, the odds were relatively high he would be hired considering his history with the franchise.
He found the initial days of recording a little strange because he had to adjust to using only his voice to make the performance work. He was able to handle the challenge because of what he called some of the most intense direction he ever had.
Voice recordings are done either with all the actors in the studio or one at a time. Because Campbell goes to a recording studio in Oslo, his work is solo.
“Living outside the United States is great in a lot of ways these days but particularly because I have spent enough time in Los Angeles. I can say it is not the place where I wanted to spend the rest of my life,“Campbell said. “I am super, super happy to be in Scandinavia because they have a lot on the ball.
“I don’t have to be in the middle of the business, and that is good because I was always a little bit of a fish out of water as far as the business was concerned. Now I don’t have to be that anymore.”