Interim Report Re: HP on Audio: Dale v. Fry Taste Test

[Haggridd]

No: HPFGUIDX 17831

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., catherine at c... wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Haggridd" <jkusalavagemd at y...> wrote:
> > 
> > Fry becomes less enjoyable the more ambitious he is in making up 
> > voices. His Harry is excellent-- better than Dale's-- because it 
    is  essentially Fry's reading voice.  His Aunt Petunia is poor,
as is his Minerva MacGonagall. 
> 
> I love his Prof Mcgonagall.  For me, has given it the right amount  
  of sharpness - and he hasn't fallen into the trap of giving her a 
> Scottish accent which would probably sound too comical, and would 
> give her less dignity than she deserves.  The sections in CoS and 
> GoF, when she is portrayed as softening slightly are also well
done, IMO.
> 
> > Irrespective of any authentic dialect issues, I love Dale's 
    Hagrid. He is the essential gamekeeper to me and irascible in     
    a nice way. Fry's Hagrid sounds too much like a lower class city 
    dweller.
> 
> I originally objected to Fry's Hagrid - but to me he can't possibly 
> sound like a lower class city dweller, because he does an authentic 
> West Country accent, which JKR specified.  It has grown on me.
> 
> > I don't like Fry's Ron at all.  Too high a timbre to his voice, 
    and it also interferes with his vocal interpretaions on Ron's 
>   dialogue.  It is his worst voice so far.
> 
> I don't agree with this.  I don't know whether this is something 
  that has developed, but for me, Stephen Fry does convey the right   
  amount of sarcasm, bitterness in Ron's voice.  He also makes him   
  sound quite biting when he gets older.
> 
> I haven't listened to Jim Dale - so I can't compare, but I don't 
> think I could now, because some of Stephen Fry's voices are 
  imprinted  quite strongly in my mind, and I think that a new 
  interpretation would jar.
> 
> Catherine

I have snipped those portions where we agree, Catherine.  I would
love it if you could obtain the Dale recordings, and compare the two. 
I had to overcome my own prior imprinting by the Dale recordings, and 
I hope that nonetheless I have been objective.  

I admit to an American's ignorance on the local dialects, so I cannot 
respond to your comment on Hagrid, but I do like the Dale reading.  

To my American ears, MacGonagall's Scots voice by Dale is
appropriate, and in no way comical.

I am only beginning to listen to Fry, and I am sure that my opinion 
will evolve as I hear more of him.  There is one serious problem that 
I have noticed with Fry, though.  It seems to me that he slips in amd 
out of a voice characterization without any conscious control; and
his voice characterizations are inconsistent.  An example is the Ron 
that you like-- he has already changed Ron's voice and I am still only
listening to PS.

Haggridd