by Tracie Nair

Created on: December 21, 2006   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

Movies made by animation and CGI are quickly becoming more popular every year. When Lilo and Stitch came out in the theaters a few years ago I was sitting in my comfy stadium seat with two of my fellow thiry-something-year-old friends. I looked around and at nine o'clock on a Saturday night the movie theater was packed, but it was almost all filled with adults. The audience for animated movies are now just as popular with adults as they are with children.

A-list stars do voice overs for several reasons. Animation is a way to extend their reach to a different audience. Children who don't get to experience the bad ass-ness of Kiefer Sutherland as the almost immortal Jack Bauer on the television hit series 24 can enjoy him as Samson, the lion in the animated movie The Wild. Cedric the Entertainer, Whoopi Goldberg and Mike Myers are just some of the comedians who chose to do voice overs as a way to make a larger audience laugh.

Yes, A-list stars do profit as well from doing voice overs so this is another benefit for them. Most animated movies and television shows are geared toward children, but have hidden adult overtones. Besides, who takes the kids to the movies? Their parents take them so why not attract more parents to these flicks by throwing in some hidden humor given by the movie stars they know and love? I mean, I thought I was going to bust a gut when I saw Shrek for the first time. Princess Fiona, voiced by Cameron Diaz, had a high pitch singing duel with a cute little momma bird. The bird hit its highest note and exploded, leaving behind a nest of three eggs. The princess lovingly looks down at the eggs and in the next scene you see her frying the eggs pan over a campfire for breakfast. To me, that was so funny, but would probably go over the head of most small children. If more adults want to go then more kids "get" to go. More tickets sold means more money in the stars' pockets. It's a no brainer.

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