Ok, I wanna try something right now. Here's what Bowser sounded like in 1996. *growling noises* He sounds like some kind
of animal creature, right? Then, here's what he sounded like in 2002. "Mario!? How dare you disturb my family vacation?" All of a sudden he's speaking full English
sentences, like he's a human! And then, here's what he sounds like now. *growling noises* He's back to growling and
grunting. That's right, out of any Nintendo character,
I think that Bowser's voice has changed the most. But why is that? Well, I started looking into things behind
the scenes, and wow there's a lot going on here. So I wanna take you on the journey that I
went on, to figure out the answer to one simple question: Why has Bowser's voice changed so
much? In the beginning, Bowser wasn’t voiced by
a human being at all. Before I explain that, I first want to clarify
that I’m not talking about the Mario cartoons, or the old Mario anime either. No, I’m talking about big, main series Mario
games. And for Bowser, his voice first appeared in
1996. I actually made a whole video about this a
while back, but I’ll explain it here again. Unlike Mario and Peach, Nintendo didn’t
want to hire an actual voice actor to play the role of Bowser. So, they turned to “sound effect libraries”. These are essentially huge collections of
pre-recorded sound effects that show up in just about every video game, cartoon and movie. A classic example would be a “boing” sound
effect. It would be silly to record a new “boing”
sound every time one was needed, so instead, you get it from a sound effect library. But these libraries don’t just have goofy
sound effects. No, they’ve recorded just about any sound
you could think of. So, when Nintendo started developing Mario
64, they picked out a variety of pre-recorded sound effects to make up Bowser’s voice. Looking at the character, he seemed like some
kind of big snarling creature, so they decided to use animal sounds. Bowser’s roar, for instance, is a sound
effect called COUGAR - GROWL, ANIMAL, MOUNTAIN LION, CAT 01. Here’s the original sound effect. And then, here’s the pitched up version
used for Bowser. Another good example is the noise that Bowser
makes when he’s killed. It’s actually a sound effect called ANIMAL,
CREATURE - LARGE ANIMAL DEATH SCREAM. According to the description, it’s a mixture
of pig and wild boar noises. Lovely! Then, of course, there’s Bowser’s evil
laugh. This one is really interesting, because it’s
the only human sound effect that Bowser uses. It’s actually a very slowed down version
of a sound effect called HUMAN, LAUGH - COMICAL LAUGH: MALE. Here’s how it sounds at normal speed. Now, you might notice that voice sounds kinda
familiar. And that’s because it was recorded in the
early 80s by Charles Martinet, the man who would eventually provide Mario with his iconic
voice. That’s right, before he was Mario, Charles
Martinet voiced Bowser. Oh, and interestingly, the sound is also used
for boos, just sped up a bit. So, that’s where Bowser’s original voice
came from. It was all stock sound effects. And these sound effects were re-used again
and again in various Mario games. Let me show you what I mean. Here’s Mario Kart 64. And then, here’s Mario Tennis. Lastly, here’s Mario Golf. All of these games use the exact sound effect
for Bowser. Certainly efficient. But then, in 2002, everything changed. Nintendo were developing a game called Super
Mario Sunshine, the grand follow-up to Mario 64. And the developers were keen to make this
game more cinematic. The director said, “You may say that this
new Mario is a kind of cinematic experience.” Wow, that’s certainly bold. So to tell a more dramatic and complex story,
Nintendo needed all the characters to speak in full sentences, Bowser included. And frankly, the current animal noises they
were using just wouldn’t work. So, they started holding auditions across
America to find a human who could play the role of Bowser. One guy who showed up to these auditions was
Scott Burns. He was originally a radio host in the 1980s,
but he was fired from his job, so he went into voice acting instead. And one fateful day in 2002, he was called
in to an audition for Nintendo. He read lines for 3 different characters,
one of whom was Bowser. Now, like Peach’s voice actress, Scott Burns
had never actually played a single Mario game in his life. In fact, he didn’t recognise who Bowser
was. He was just shown this pixelated image of
a turtle creature, and told to give it a villainous voice. But he couldn't scare children - he was told
that as well. So Scott Burns started to think. And that’s when he came up with an idea. What if he based his voice on Santa Claus? I mean, no-one’s scared of Santa, right! Yeah, that's right, Bowser's voice was based
on Santa. So, Scott combined a villain voice, with a
very typical HO HO HO Santa impression. And, it worked, he got the role! Now, of course, Scott was pleased. But remember, he didn’t even who Bowser
was. However, there was someone else who DID know. “I remember going home and my son who was
probably 12 or 11 years old at the time I said hey look, “I got this role”, and
his eyes... He knew bowser, and he just couldn’t believe
it, he said “you’re Bowser?” Before long had passed, Super Mario Sunshine
was released, with Scott Burns providing the voice of Bowser. Again, keep in mind that Bowser was speaking
in full sentences for the first time ever. “Jr., I’ve got something...difficult...to
tell you about Princess Peach...” “That’s my boy! Well put son! The royal Koopa line is as strong as ever! But for now… let’s just rest awhile.” So, this was definitely a big change for the
character of Bowser, and the reaction from fans was mixed, shall we say. Having Bowser speak full lines of English
dialogue, well, it took a bit of getting used to. One review from the time described the game
as having "some of the lousiest voice-over work to be found on the GameCube." Ouch. So, Nintendo decided to go for a compromise. Scott Burns remained as the voice of Bowser
- he was a great voice actor, after all! - BUT, the character would no longer speak
in full sentences. He was back to growling and grunting. You can hear that for instance in Mario Kart:
Double Dash. There is, however, one videogame series that
did not follow this change: Super Smash Brothers. To this very day, every single Smash Bros
game uses animal sound effects for Bowser, instead of the human voice clips used for
the rest of the series. Take a listen. So, why is this? Well, it’s hard to pin down to a specific
reason, but according to a number of inside sources, this decision comes straight from
the top, from Super Smash Brothers director, Masahiro Sakurai. Why he prefers to use the retro style animal
noises instead of the modern human grunts is impossible to say for sure, but it’s
not just Bowser. Donkey Kong, uses realistic gorilla noises,
Diddy Kong uses realistic chimpanzee sounds, and King K. Rule uses crocodile grunts. Anyway, back to Bowser’s voice. By now, Scott Burns was the resident voice
for Bowser, appearing in all sorts of Mario games. However, fate would soon play a cruel trick
on him. Scott was a member of the Screen Actors Guild,
a union for actors working in the film industry. And this union has a list of which companies
you can work for if you’re a member. If a film studio, or game developer isn’t
on that list you can’t work for them. One day, Scott Burns got a letter from the
union, which said, “it has come to our attention that you have worked for a non-signature”. That’s right, Nintendo weren’t on the
list of approved companies, so Scott wasn’t allowed to work for them! And so, the union gave him two options. Leave the union forever, and never come back,
or stop working with Nintendo immediately. Scott chose the latter. ...Which left Nintendo scrambling for a new
actor to portray Bowser! You see, Nintendo had a new game coming out
in just a few months called Super Paper Mario, and they needed someone to play Bowser ASAP! With little time to spare, they found a temporary
replacement, in the form of voice actor Eric Newsome. Here’s a taster of his take on the role. While that was going on, Nintendo were busy
searching for a more permanent replacement to take on Bowser’s role. And once more they held auditions across America
in search of Bowser’s new voice. And one of the actors who showed up was a
man called Kenny James. Now, Kenny’s path into voice acting is a
bizarre story in and of itself. One day in 2001, he decided to become a voice
actor, so he set up a website for himself, and kind of expected job offers to start rolling
in. They did not. In fact, the very first job that came his
way was a man who paid 8 dollars for a Scooby Doo phone message. “Hey Scoob, answer the phone man! You know, and then I'd have to do Scooby Doo,
I'd have to be all like "UH UH, UH UH, HEE HEE HEE!” Obviously, 8 dollars is not enough money to
buy food, so Kenny James had a side job selling suburban propane. One day he was delivering a lady some propane,
when she heard him talking about this Scooby Doo answering machine thing. And that’s when the ball started rolling. The woman, it turned out, worked at a local
recording studio, and suggested that she could start sending him details about any future
auditions. Which included Nintendo’s audition for the
role of Bowser. So, Kenny was sent some lines and some audio
to reference, both of which were bizarrely from Super Mario Sunshine! “Jr., I’ve got something...difficult...to
tell you about Princess Peach”. So, he assumed that what Nintendo wanted is
someone to mimic that voice. He did his best impression of Scott Burns,
and sent the audio off to Nintendo. Kenny James had never had a proper voice acting
role before so he wasn't very hopeful at all that he would get the job. But, it was worth a shot! 2 weeks later, he got a response that shocked
him. He got the role! He was officially the new voice of Bowser! When he entered the recording studio to record
his lines, he was pretty terrified. And that’s where he found out something
else. He was basically never ever gonna speak in
full English sentences as Bowser. “I’ve said 4 words in 15 years, in English. Showtime "SHOWTIME" - that one. Mario, Peach and Nintendo. Those are the four words I’ve said in English,
the rest is Bowserese.” You can hear a sample of some of this Bowserese
in one of Kenny James’ first games as Bowser: Mario Kart Wii. Ok so one last thing before we move on. There's actually a weird date discrepancy
going on here - two of the dates don't line up at all. Kenny James first started voicing Bowser in
2005. But Scott Burns only left the role in 2007. That doesn't make sense! Well, it seems as though Kenny James was originally
just a temporary voice for Bowser while Scott Burns was busy in 2005. And then in 2007 after the union dispute,
that's when Kenny James took on the role full time. If you listen to the voice clips from the
games around that time, you're probably gonna hear a mixture of Kenny James and Scott Burns. But nowadays, it’s been 16 years since Kenny
James first took on the role of Bowser. If you pick up any game from the decade or
so, then chances are, all of the Bowser noises you’re hearing *Bowser laugh* were recorded
by Kenny James. Which is great! This is of course, just my opinion, but I
believe that modern Bowser sounds the best he’s ever sounded. I mean, just listen to this roar! *roar* But what happened to all of the old Bowser
voices? Well, Scott Burns is doing just fine for himself! He is a prolific voice actor, whose voice
you’ve probably heard in something, even if you didn’t know it. Plus, those union issues sorted themselves
out around 2008, when he returned for one final appearance as Bowser, in the game Super
Mario Sluggers. Since then, he’s voiced the announcer in
every single Mario Tennis game. Eric Newsome who took over Bowser’s voice
temporarily, has continued to work as a voice actor with Nintendo. In fact, he is the permanent voice of Meta
Knight in the Super Smash Bros games. Next time you’re playing, keep an ear out
for his voice. Masahiro Sakurai, the director of the Smash
series, continues to use animal sounds in his games instead of the many many human recordings
available to him, but he’s in charge, it’s up to him. And lastly, Kenny James continues to voice
Bowser to this very day. I hope I will continue hearing his voice for
a long time. All of this is to say, Bowser’s voice has
changed dramatically over the last 3 decades, from animal noises to full English sentences
to the growls and grunts that we’re used to hearing nowadays. Whether you prefer him as a fearsome beast,
or Santa Claus, that’s up to you. Also, Princess Peach is another character
whose voice has changed a surprising amount over time, so if you want to hear just why
that is, I’ve got a video that you can check out - it's on screen right now. Plus, if you’re not subscribed to the channel,
you might miss out on my future videos. So you should totally subscribe! If you want - it's up to you. (I don't wanna be too pushy...) See you next time, bye!
