Frank and Gordon

Greetings,

If you've been watching the Olympics on CBC up here in Canada, you've probably met Frank and Gordon, Bell Canada's newest patriotic mascots who are promoting their services during the Torino Olympic Games.

Frank and Gordon, two computer generated beavers, are paired with two voice actors, Norm MacDonald and Ken Campbell. Norm MacDonald, a comedian and actor, is a Canadian by birth, born in Québec City, Québec, Canada. Ken Campbell is an American actor.

Aside from the voice actors themselves, the beavers do stand on their own quite well. This may go back to the whole debate about celebrity voice-overs and how effective they are if you don't recognize the identity of the voice actor.

I for one couldn't place Norm, although I knew that his voice was familiar. Upon finding out who voiced Frank, it immediately became obvious to me (the light went on!) and I thought that Norm was a good fit as Frank. Another member of our team couldn't place Norm's name either, but did recall however that the voice actor in question somewhat physically resembled our nation's beloved Rick Mercer, another Canadian comedian and television star (he's also all about Canadian mascots re: Rick Mercer Report).



Any thoughts that you have about animated or computer generated (CG) mascots are welcome - perhaps we could even start another thread from your comments!

Out of curiosity, has anyone voiced a character for commercial purposes?

Stephanie

P.S. Checkout Frank and Gordon's website here.