A good one I forgot is this sort of sassy, slightly babyish New York babe, who pronounces words like “service” as “soy-vus.” Do you know the kind I mean? I randomly heard the song “Lotta Locomotion” from the horrible musical “Starlight Express” the other day, and the floozy characters in that song speak this way and I immediately recognized it as a thing. I think the dopey Miss Springfield on the Simpsons speaks this way too. What are some other examples?
When you said that, I didn't think of New York so much as New Orleans for some reason. I don't know why, but the Mississippi delta region has that same coil-curl merger. You hear it a lot in CCR's music like "Heard it through the grapevine" and a lot for really old blues recordings from that area.
This archetype is an old one J.J. It is the Jean Hagen character Lina Lamont from 1952's Singing In The Rain. The earliest example I can think of is from.the 1930a cartoon Betty Boop. Now where Betty Boop lifted that voice I am.not sure (FROM RADIO?), but it is safe to say that this particular iconic Female Brooklyn sexpot voice is over 100 years old. ***According to Wikipedia, Betty Boop was based on 20s singer / actress Helen Kane ( who ended up suing Betty Boop's creators). Helen Kane is maybe the reason for this pop culture voice. We have forgotten ber existence, but her voice lives on 100 years later in film, TV, and animation. m.ruclips.net/video/Rclfkeyy1bg/видео.html&pp=ygUKaGVsZW4ga2FuZQ%3D%3D m.ruclips.net/video/6Gmq55QPyfE/видео.html&pp=ygUKaGVsZW4ga2FuZQ%3D%3D More research: Trying to make a connection between Singing In The Rain and Helen Kane (rhymes), but cannot. She is blonde in Rain, but Lane was brunette like Betty Boop. Jean Hagen said she was doing a parapet of Judy Holiday's character Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday (also a blonde). There seems to be a connection between Betty Boop and Billie Dawn which would tie things back to Helen Kane. I know the voice as a kid from the Annie Potts character Janine Melnitz in Ghostbusters and The Real Ghostbusters cartoons. I think that even by 1950;Actresses (and 1084), Actresses were not thinking of Helen Kane and were thinking of Betty Boop.🎵Boop boop de boop🎶 Maybe your research will correct some things and solidify some things, but I am confident that I am leading you down the right path.
I’ll call this the “Wise Asian Old Man Accent.” The old master in almost every martial arts TV show or film almost always speaks in this generic “Asian” way. It’s generic because it doesn’t really sound like specifically Chinese or Japanese or any other accent, but just vaguely East Asian. I think Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda and Sinsei Wu from Ninjago speak this way.
There is also a stereotypical lower class British accent in American media too which is some kind of bizarre mock-cockney concoction. Think Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins or several Simpsons episodes where it was used. It is used to convey a kind of simple minded but kind hearted servility.
Parodies of Arnold Schwarzenegger's thick Styrian accent have been used for giant strong characters but that might just be to parody him specifically, like Rainier Wolfcastle from the Simpsons, Jorgen Von Strangle in Fairly Oddparents or Nils Niedhart in the new Animaniacs.
Yeah, Schwarzenegger's accent is the one I _immediately_ thought of when J.J. mentioned celebrity impressions becoming their own stock accents. It's to the point that it has become practically _required_ for bodybuilder-type characters. It's most prevalent in cartoons, I think, but the best live action example I can think of is Hans and Franz (played by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon) on Saturday Night Live in the late 80s/early 90s.
Patrick Warburton's vocal performance as Kronk has cemented that voice as the goto himbo voice. Usually played by a meathead who isn’t particularly bright.
@@Kuudere-Kun I feel like he tends to sound pretty similar in different characters that he voices, but Kronk is probably the one with the biggest meme status. So more people would associate his voice with Kronk than with Brock
Patrick Warburton is his own accent for sure, but I don't know if anyone else really uses it so much as that he uses it in every role and gets cast a lot.
As an Englishman, the whole pirate part is really interesting. What you mentioned about Hagrid and the West Country accent is stereotyped in Britain as a farmer's accent, very rural and (quite rudely) unsophisticated, but simultaneously not unintelligent and brutish like certain other lower-class accents are (also quite rudely) stereotyped to be, and Hagrid fits this stereotype to a T. Historically, many famous English pirates in the new world often came from the West Country, cities like Bristol or Plymouth in particular because of their large roles in trans-Atlantic voyages and trades. I assume this simply carried down the generations as part of the general pirate stereotype into the modern interpretations of pirates. I think Mr. Krabs as an example specifically also plays into the general 'sailor' stereotype (all the crusty sea-dogs like that one sea captain from the Simpsons), and not just pirates. Btw, really cool video, I really liked your first one.
True, West country accent is usually considered rural, but the classic pirate accent is clearly based on West Country. In reality pirates were a bunch of hardened thugs. But because of the West country accent we think of them as loveable rogues. Didn't Banksy produce a work called the 'mild, mild West'? West Country pirates had a rather better PR than Chicago gangsters! I'd never thought about it before, but it makes sense that a film from the 50s started off our link between Caribbean pirates from 200-300 years ago and how they sounded. Did anyone really think about how pirates sounded before this? I doubt it. There were highwaymen at the same time, so if we had had a major film portraying Dick Turpin everyone would probably think all highwaymen were Yorkshiremen! True, a lot of people left from Bristol and Plymouth for adventure on the high seas, but the odds are they started from another part of the country - e.g. Captain Morgan.
Gday mate dunno why I’m here but almost every time I see Australians on tv especially Americans it’s just bloody annoying I’ve got a broad accent and I’m from and always been in North Queensland even most Australians are loosing the accent it’s bloody annoying
Fun fact: Rowling was born in the Bristol area (same place as Jodie Gibson). My housemate swears down that Hagrid was inspired by one of her dad's friends (a guy called Oaf), who knew Rowling years ago. Rowling has said before that Hagrid was based on "a Hell's Angel from the West Country" who loved talking about gardening, which apparently exactly fits the description of Oaf.
I think Schwarzenegger and Stallone definitely solidified their accents as the go-tos for bodybuilder and meathead types respectively. Schwazenegger is also propagated in Fairly Oddparents as Jorgen Von Strangle
Yeah, this is a good one to flag up if he decided to do a video on this. Definitely the Austrian accent has become shorthand in media for bodybuilder, strongman, big muscular lunk in general. Hans and Franz from SNL are another example.
The "Gypsy" accent is usually a quick go-to for a fortune teller. The "Fast Talking Salesman" like from 1962s "The Money Man" and Phil Hartman's "monorail" episode from the Simpsons is also iconic and an easy tell :)
Iirc, the Monorail guy is based on the lead character in the musical The Music Man where the man tries to sell simple townsfolk band instruments and promises to teach them but leaves town with their money before he even gets out the sheet music. I believe that actor was Robert Preston who was known for playing shady characters. He also made a series of records called “chicken fat” that were used as music for school children to exercise to in the 60s.
It should be pointed out that the west country-pirate association has a more historical basis. Bristol was the one of the main seaports during English colonization, especially for transatlantic travel. Black beard and many other famous pirates are thought to be from there. Also the west country accent is very similar to original pronunciation, which is now known to be the original historical accent that modern English was spoken in during the 16th century. Most modern British accents on the other hand developed more in the 18th and 19th centuries. The pirate accent should also be distinguished from the yankee sailor accent seen in Mr. Krabs and Seamus, which is based more from sailors from New England (this is why Seamus’s accent also changes in the alternate family guy British episode).
My Welsh friend was recently telling me that Blackbeard was actually from Wales- so perhaps we should really be imagining pirates with stereotypical Weslah accents... In general though, yes, Bristol, Plymouth and other Westcountry ports were the source of many of the merchant mariners that ended up becoming pirates during the age of sail, so the pirate accent is probably fairly accurate for many of them. It's not really correct to say that Westcountry English is the "oldest" English accent, any more than the people are correct who claim that American accents are closest to what Shakespeare would have spoken. The truth is that all modern accents have preserved elements of older forms of English into the present day but in different ways - so while there's certainly many elements of Westcountry English that have been preserved from older varieties, it has also lost characteristics that were retained elsewhere. Thats also why if most speakers of modern regional English accents listen to videos of actors reading Shakespeare in "authentic" middle English (there's a few floating around on youtube), they can normally pick out at least a few elements that sound like their own accent. I'd reccomend Simon Roper's youtube channel for more information on this if you want to find out more on this, he even does a few videos where he replicates historic English and American accents over the last 600 years or so to show how they've evolved!
@@christopherdwane2844 Your friend is slightly confused: Bartholomew Roberts (whose name influenced The Dread Pirate Roberts in "The Princess Bride") a.k.a. Black Bart/Barti Ddu was certainly Welsh, as was Sir Henry Morgan, but Blackbeard (Edward Teach or Thatch) came from Somerset (probably not far from Bristol, but not the city itself). I think Robert Newton would have been justified in using a West Country accent, as the action of "Treasure Island" started at The Admiral Benbow Inn on the Devon coast and the character Squire Trelawney had a Cornish name.
My brother and I always assumed (jokingly) that Doofenshmirtz is based on our father. He was born in Austria and is a somewhat absent-minded genius inventor. He actually played a significant role in Canadian technology, working on the original Canadarm and inventing the idea of adding holograms to bills to stop counterfeiters.
I find the accent that Daniel Craig uses in “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” is a very specific southern accent. As someone who lives in the south, you will rarely find anyone that sounds like this. It’s a very old accent that is only really used in movies.
The "Haity-Taity-Tay" happy-go-lucky Irish accent is a notable one in America, usually only seen in Leprechauns. Actual stereotypical Irishmen are more often portrayed as angry drunks. The "Mrs. Doubtfire" Scottish accent is another one, almost always seen in a worried old maid. I believe one of the good witches from Snow White had this.
@@JJMcCullough Just thought of another one. The "Effeminate evil british man" heard in such characters as Scar from The Lion King. I've heard it stems from archaic broadcasting traditions preferring gay stereotypes to be cast only on villains, which is ALSO why you get decidedly UN-feminine FEMALE villains like Cruella DeVille and The Evil Queen.
There are no “good witches” in _Snow White_ . There are three Good Fairies in _Sleeping Beauty_ but all of them have American accents. You might be thinking of Verna Felton, though, the voice of Flora (the red fairy) and of the Fairy Godmother in _Cinderella_ . She had a warm, motherly, if a bit husky, voice and I could see both Flora and the Fairy Godmother evoking similar feelings as Mrs Doubtfire even if the accents are different.
I always thought it was interesting in How To Train Your Dragon how all of the adults had thick Scottish brogues (despite the characters actually being more Nordic in nature), and yet the children all sounded like American mall rats. I think this is reflective of how older immigrants come to the U.S. or Canada with their home country accent, but their kids grow up with general American accents. This vocal symbolism was used even though no immigration is depicted in the story at all.
In British comedy the "Mummerset" West Country dialect is often used similar to the Southern accent in American media. It's associated with rural farming "Git off my land" type of characters.
I also feel like a lot of people do impressions of Peter Lorre's voice because they remember the many times that Looney Tunes did parodies of the actor, rather than Peter Lorre himself.
I agree. That's especially true for people under the age of 50. I was one of those weirdos who loved movies from the 30s-50s when I was a teen, so I knew his work well. But these days, most people know the imitation of him, and not really the actor.
Some frequently rehashed voices taken from old Hollywood actors might be ---> Edward G. Robinson (old timey cop), Clarke Gable (The "Man's man" voice, often used for military characters), James Cagney (Old timey gangster), Humphrey Bogart (Hard boiled detective voice) , Greta Garbo (sexy stoic femme fatale), Clint Eastwood (cowboy, obviously), Walter Matthau (grizzled seen-it-all cop), Jerry Lewis (wacky scientist/buffoon), Sammy David Jr (Cool jazz singer), Gregory Peck (domineering father), Eartha Kitt (exotic sex symbol), James Stewart (Starry eyed American dreamer), Lou Costello (loveable doofus), Divine (The "aggressive" gay voice)
On the old timey gangster, it's also notable that where the pirate accent was based on a movie character, the gangster voice actually came from what Al Capone sounded like. Edit: after looking at comments pirates did come from that part of Britain (cool)
The whole "old-timey gangster/mobster" voice ("Eh bawss! We's gonna make him sleep widda fishes, eh?" etc etc) is a mix of various accents, but I think most heavily inspired by Italian-American accents - the Mafia being from Italy & Sicily originally.
@@shahancheong9792 Well yeah, but not just, mostly it comes from early 20th Century New York City lower economic classes and 2ndt Gen European immigrants. From there it could be Italian, Jewish, Irish, even Slavics.
Yer he has a West Country accent. In the UK the strength and variation vary a little From West Dorset down to Cornwall. Also in England it's a general sailors accent as well, as Cornwall and especially Plymouth in Devon are major maritime centres.
Tbh both mr. krabs and the krusty krab in general has always had that sorta vibe. It's why you always hear sea shanty-esque songs play in the krusty krab. Hell, krabs himself lives in an anchor
Here’s an accent I see a lot of, the bold, heroic accent, you see this with characters like Mighty Mouse, Mister Incredible, Powdered Toast Man, and The Tick. Just usually a shorthand for a “superhero” archetype
The "superhero voice" kinda feels like a mix between transatlantic (sans British affectation) and "old-timey actor" (but with less twang). If I had to hazard a guess, this is probably because the voice derives from old cartoons from the 30's through the 50's.
I think it might be in part based on narrators from old serials too? Like if I'm thinking of the same voice it also matches the stereotypical narrator voice pretty well too.
Gary Owens is also one of the reasons for that. He voiced Powdered Toastman, along with several Hanna Barbera super heroes like Space Ghost and Blue Falcon.
A lot of old Looney Tunes and Hannah Barbera characters from the golden age of those companies were basically impressions of celebrities at the time that we have forgotten now. Huckleberry Hound is Andy Griffith, Foghirn Leghorn is a popular character of a southern senator from a long forgotten radio show, and Snagglepuss (and the “Yes!” guy from the Simpsons) are imitating Frank Nelson. But there’s also typical accents in there too like the Bronx for Bugs, Texan for Sam, etc.
Huckleberry Hound is not an impression Andy Griffith. Griffith wasn't that popular when Huck was created. It's just a voice that Daws Butler himself created.
@@papachillothezappey4050 Buttler said that voice, which he applied to other southern characters, are impressions of North Carolinian men, in which Andy Griffith is in or near that area close enough to mistaken for an impression.
@@NeelLLumi-AnCatDubh Mel Blanc said in an interview that it was a combination of Brooklyn and The Bronx. But he also said that Porky Pig wasn't stuttering, but actually grunting like a pig. But Porky's original voice actor actually stuttered in real life, and Blanc just impersonated that guy when he took over, so that obviously wasn't true.
Fun fact about the Mid Atlantic Accent. It was a popular accent for radio and video broadcasts, during a time when broadcast struggled with bass tones.
As a native Spanish speaker that grew up consuming dubbed American media (as a large part of the world did, really) it's kind of fascinating that I can recognize some of these. Of course dubbing studios couldn't just use American accents, but they often found some sort of equivalent in spanish. The ones related to nationality are the easiest, but there are also alternative stereotypes for the smart, dopey, rural, high class, cool, gay, and so on. That being said, sometimes dubbing studios clearly don't give a damn and a lot gets lost in translation. Though that's an issue with direction/VA as much as accent choices.
I feel like Orson Welles's voice might be have that celebrity impression quality, even if it's mostly references to the man himself. But most of those characters still have a certain pompous and authoratative way of speaking, and generally convey a very magisterial presence.
That is true. I actually randomly read yesterday that George Lucas originally wanted to have Orson Welles to voice Darth Vader, but opted for James Earl Jones, on the account of him being less recognizable, hence less distracting from the mystery behind the character. With the years, it seems Jones' voice has taken that niche away, as fewer people really remember Welles.
@@JJMcCullough Warner Bros. cartoons like Animaniacs continued the legacy of celebrity and movie references that children probably wouldn't understand. There was also a running gag about Orson Wells in The Critic, but that is another cartoon that assumes movie knowledge.
I've always hated that bat voice. It kind of ruined it for me almost as bad as Tobey Spiderman shooting webbing from his wrists. It was just...wrong haha.
Another celebrity impression, that has become super common in media, is that of Hulk Hogan and other wrestler-types like him! You know, the muscle guy who's threatening our heroes with an "Oh yeaaaaa, you're going DOWN brother!!!". It's pretty ubiquitous, especially in cartoons! 😄 An example would be "The Boulder" from Avatar, although I guess that he was modelled on the Rock.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's distinct accent and mannerisms have become highly imitated, easily as much as Jack Nicholson (see Jorgen Von Strangle in Fairly Odd Parents, McBrain from the Simpsons, I think Robin Williams' Genie did an impression too). These are usually meant to represent the 80s bodybuilder/action hero archetype more so than Arnie in particular. I'd say he easily makes the list!
One accent I think you neglected was the Russian accent. Kinda like the German accent coming from WWII, I think the Russian accent comes from Cold War era media. It's usually always to imply some form of anti-American / authoritarian villain.
I feel like for non-explicitly political characters, it's more commonly seen for like, janitors and other stereotypically lower class immigrant workers.
Or for fish-out-of-water, comedic effect "excuse me, we are looking for nuclear wessels" (Walter Koenig) or "one order McFries, two chocolate McShake, come back McSoon" (Robin Williams). Bronson Pinchot's entirely fake accent drifted between Russia and Greece across the Balkans over the years.
@@FozzyBBear I guess in some ways there is now just a generic “backwards country accent” that has elements of eastern and southern Europe, like Russia, Greece, Hungary, Poland, maybe even a bit of Italian. The Elbonians in Dilbert have a good genetically backwards country accent, so does Borat of course.
@@JJMcCullough i feel as though the russian accent is more leaning towards a goofy militant (if that’s a good way to put it). such as mr bobinsky in coraline.. his directness is odd, yet funny. definitely seen in working characters as you said, a good portion of those characters having some history with war.
In British media, the west country accent tends to be used a bit more to communicate something that's. Unintimidating? Cute? Loveable? It's really not used as a scary tough guy voice very much at all over here (except for when it is sometimes used as the "pirate voice" although I'd argue they're slightly different) Edit: so I think the reason why hagrid was given this accent was not to make him seem tough and intimidating, but rather so that he appears loveable if slightly dim
Funny you mention this as the actor who was the stand in for Darth Vader (not James Earl Jones, who just did his voice) had a soft west country accent and they thought it sounded too weak. So of course they went with James Earl Jones who while being black, has a very mid-atlantic sounding accent in a way.
I like the point you made in the beginning about how even if we’ve never heard these accents in real life, we still recognize the stereotypes associated with them through pop culture. I still think about how in your last accent video you talked about the sort of old money upper class New England accent, and how you weren’t sure if anyone actually talked like that. I searched the internet trying to find any real life examples of people talking like that, but every clip of that accent was from some sort of skit or parody. Yet, it’s amazing how we all recognize the accent and its connotation just through fictional media.
It's true, it's like a lot of cartoon things. Like, I don't think black cannonball style bombs with fuses ever existed, it's a pop culture trope that evolved out of something loosely based on reality.
It's real but it's restricted to well a specific class of people. You want hear it unless you go to specific areas or know certain people or go to certain schools.
@@JJMcCullough Black "canonball" style grenadeas made of two iron hemispheres, filled with gunpowder and lit with a fuse did exist in the early modern period. They weren't very common on the battle field due to being quite dangerous to... Well just about everyone frankly, but they were used more often during sieges and possibly naval battles. The British Grenadiers were "intended" to use them, but very rarely did due to the aforementioned instability.
@@JJMcCullough Another one is the Australian accent/clothing. I doubt that many Americans have met Australians so the stereotype comes from films and TV, the whole Crocodile Dundee and Steve Irwin image of men obssessed with tracking down dangerous animals in a shorts, a corkscrew hat and fatigues.
Something I love is that because Devon and Cornwall are traditionally seen as agricultural and pastoral, the "pirate" accent in the UK is used instead for farmer characters.
When you mentioned a modern celebrity who has become a go-to accent, I can't believe you didn't mention Arnold Schwarzenegger. As essentially the only Austrian the average American knows (okay, besides that other guy with the funny mustache), the strong, cool, buff guy in a lot of shows have his accent!
Paul Lynde was another actor whose voice is now used as a character archetype. Roger on American Dad and Bi-Polar Bear from Queer Duck are both pretty clear examples of it. Also, there was an interesting story on the audio commentary for The Big Hit, a Mark Wahlberg movie. The writer said that he had been accused of including Jewish stereotypes with the characters of Christina Applegates parents, but he had no idea that those were stereotypes at all. He had seen a documentary on cartoonist Robert Crumb and just included the Jewish parents from there in The Big Hit, acting exactly how the people from Crumb acted, which was also like the clips you included. Saturday Night Live had a pretty good sketch using the fast talking transatlantic accent, "Singing Sisters", that mainly uses it because it's supposed to be in the 1940s, so they talk like actors from a 1940s movie. Another example of the Peter Lorre voice is Ren from Ren & Stimpy, even though he doesn't fit the usual character type.
William F Buckley, one of the most influential conservative talk show hosts, used the trans atlantic accent, showing how the accent has been utilized in the world of politics
Except in the case of Buckley, the trans-Atlantic accent was his natural speaking voice since he didn't learn how to speak English until later in his life and when he eventually did (being from an upper-class upbringing), he was taught to speak with that accent because it was seen as the proper and civilized way to speak at the time.
JJ... This was a really fun video. I thoroughly enjoyed it. A celebrity accent that had some staying power in cartoon history (although has been waning over the years) is the Phil Silvers/Sgt. Bilko accent. This accent was typically used for fast-talking but also impatient Hollywood movie directors, usually depicted with a bald head and thick black eyeglasses (reflective of the real Phil Silvers).
As a person from the pirate-sounding part of England, pirates are quite a sentimentalised part of life here. Years ago, I remember hearing that the accent came from the people who used to smuggle goods into the country - people who lived along the south coast and naturally spoke like that. Over the years, the smugglers sort of merged with the pirate idea and now it's quite a commonly repeated folk explanation.
It is kinda interesting that the Boston accent wasn't in either of these considering how it's one most Americans can recognize but I think it usually has pretty similar associations of toughness to the New York accent (like the Scout from TF2, one of the few fictional examples that comes to mind) or is a parody of someone actually from Boston (like how Mayor Quimby is an obvious John F. Kennedy parody)
Your analysis of celebrity impressions which morphed eventually into just pop culture shorthand reminds me of the journey of how a lot of pop-punk (and associated genres) musicians founded their singing voice. The idea that you start of with the American accents of influential New York bands like the Velvet Underground or the Ramones , which influences British Bands like the Sex Pistols or the Clash who added an exaggerated English sneer, which in turn was mimicked by 90s pop punk bands like Green Day or Blink 182 which lead to the overtop enunciation genres in that bubble are known for (I miss you by blink being the cliche example). It's like a game of telephone back and forth from the late 60s onwards of people thinking "I wanna sing like them" which leads to a dialect of singing which no one really sounds like. With each iteration imitating a certain voice , because it represents a cultural shorthand for a personality or an attitude the band want to present. Ofcourse this is a massive oversimplification of the timeline, but I thought the comparison with this topic interesting - great video as always J.J
Zsa Zsa Gabor, most famous for the 60s sitcom Green Acres, like Bela Lugosi, had an Hungarian accent. Her accent was imitated in cartoons, movies, pop culture to denote an eccentric foreign lady of class.
The one thing that comes to mind is a very common way to do Russian/Eastern European accent is to parody either Dolph Lundgren from Rocky IV or Arnold Schwarzenegger from Red Heat.
@@Tulpen23he’s not talking about Schwarzenegger’s personal accent, he’s talking about Schwarzenegger’s attempt at doing a Slavic/Russian sounding accent in the film Red Heat…..yah it was definitely weird to hear someone with such a unique accent attempt a “Russian” accent lol.
Pepe Le Pew was originally supposed to be a parody of the classic Hollywood actor Charles Boyer, and since most depictions of the stereotypical French lover come from Pepe, one could say that, even though he’s not well known beyond the classic film crowd, a Boyer imitation would be of the suave French ladies man.
A lot of early cartoon voices were based on celebrities of the time. Flintstones is based on the Honeymooners. Yogi Bear is an Art Carney impression. (Also fun fact, Yogi Bear was named after NY Yankees legend Yogi Berra. And that's why Yogi is a bear.) And of course Snaggleposs is the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz
@@ferulebezel it's Boyer - Pepe Le Pew was based upon Pepe Le Moko, Charles Boyer's role in Algiers (1938) which was itself based upon the 1937 French movie Pepe Le Moko starring Jean Gabin
About the french accent, I think that rather than just chefs, it is often used for any kind of artist, art critics, or generally people who are well versed in the arts. I'm surprised you didn't mention that.
You hit it right on the head with the Trans-Atlantic accent! My grandmother spoke with that accent after attending an east-coast boarding school that taught them to talk that way. I always loved speaking to her on the phone. ❤
You should have mentioned the rocket scientist and former Nazi Wernher von Braun when discussing how America came to associate German accents with evil intelligence. He was on TV throughout the fifties and sixties, and many leftists critiqued the US government for hiring the man after the war.
I think it has more to do with Albert Einstein having a famously strong German accent, and appearing kinda crazy with his iconic hair. Although Wernher von Braun was definitely parodied in Dr. Strangelove.
@@onurbschrednei4569 i was thinking more Werner Herzog. Although Einstein is very well known i fell that most americans have never actually heard him speak. I would think more people have heard Herzog since theirs not many recordings of einstein actually speaking.
@@onurbschrednei4569 I thought it was Kissiner not von Braun who was parodied in Dr. Strangelove? It would make more sense considering the situation, but it could be both.
@@verl0000 No, Strangelove was not based on Kissinger. Dr. Strangelove is portrayed as a brilliant scientist and former Nazi, taken in and rehabilitated by the US, which mirrors Wernher von Braun, a rocket scientist and former Nazi. Kissinger was not a scientist, but a politician, and Kissinger was the opposite of a Nazi: he was jewish and had to flee Germany.
@@Staggs2200 Nah, the brilliant German scientist trope is older than the 1980s, which is when Werner Herzog started making documentaries. Also, Einsteins accent may not be famous nowadays, but back in the 40s and 50s, when Einstein was a very public persona, he was infamous for his thick accent.
I just rewatched your first video, and you talked about how Americans have a hard time distinguishing between different British accents. I think that’d a good video for you to do. Explaining the various British accents to non British English speakers
The "eastern Europe" accent, I think, is a fairly consolidated signifier of..."experience" I think would be the best world for it. Because the character themself can be of any disposition, happy, grumpy, reserved, etc, but generally they have a similar portrayal of having struggled throughout their life and come out stronger or hardier for it.
The Russian accent specifically is used for villains but a "general" ambiguously Eastern European accent is often used for these kinds of characters, the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Doofenshmirtz
I think because the transatlantic accent was often used in talkies and noir film (whos subject often covered detective work, guessing games, sneaking around and even snooping), it is often associated with a character that is detective-like, or even literally a detective, or perhaps just particularly nosey. I love this discussion! I think it's very music-like to associate accents with personality features in AV mediums, just like we associate certain harmonies, melodies and sounds with certain feelings in aural mediums.
When I was growing up in the 1970s, every kid had their own version of the “Howard Cosell” accent (modeled after the sportscaster with the forceful and overblown personality), and early in the decade people still had an impersonation of TV impresario Ed Sullivan (the man who put The Beatles on US TV for the first time).
Funnily enough, the reason why the Pirate accent sounds the way it does isn't just because Long John Silver's actor was from the west country. Historically speaking, a lot of pirates actually were from the west country region. I wouldn't be surprised if the people behind Treasure Island (Or even the book itself) had in mind specifically that accent when casting the part
In a possible third video, you should talk about Pluto, Kenny, Popeye, & The Tasmanian Devil and how they can still be understood despite not having a real voice or accent
Examples of actor's accents becoming pop culture accents: Boris Karloff as a standard mad scientist voice, and his contemporary Bela Lagosi, who is the default Dracula or vampire voice.
You touched on this in your original "Southern Accent" breakdown, mentioning its use for tough, hot-headed soldiers, but there's a very specific accent or way of speaking I like to call "Drill Instructor English", which was really codified by Gunnery Sgt. R. Lee Ermey in the film "Full Metal Jacket", after the movie came out a lot of drill Instructor/Sergeant or senior enlisted men in modern pop culture channels at least a little bit of that. - GySgt Hartmann as portrayed by GySgt R. Lee Ermey in "Full Metal Jacket' (1987) - The Drill Sergeant from "Forrest Gump" provides a more positive and slightly more family friendly take on this voice. - Sgt. Arch Dornan from "Fallout 2" (1998) - Sergeant Major Sixta from "Generation Kill" (2008), I also detect a bit of a Cajun accent in his voice, which I tend to associate with sort of crazy, survivalist characters with a few screws loose, I'm not sure how widely applicable to pop culture that interpretation of Cajun english is.
I can’t believe JJ has not mentioned Irish Accent. Used by cop characters in some shows and to mock Irish people in Saint Patrick’s Day themed episodes.
The Irish cop was in fact a real thing in the late 19th/early 20th century, lots of Irishmen became policemen after moving to America. As a rather obscure example, take the cop character from that Larryboy Flash animated series. As a trope though, most younger Americans probably wouldn’t recognize it because Irish cops just haven’t been a thing for a while
Jim Cummings has done the Irish cop accent most people are familiar with. The mayor from SWAT Kats is the one I can think of off the top of my head, but its in so many 90 cartoons.
@@colltonrighem I've only seen the _Larry-Boy_ cartoons in short bits when my brother would watch it, and I don't remember that character. But now I have to ask... was he a potato?
I think the reason he hasn't mentioned this is that their isn't actually anything interesting to it. And Irish accent denotes an Irish person. How that irsh person is then portrayed is separate from the accent.
My fiance mentioned the “West Virginia pilot accent”. He explained it as someone who is unnervingly calm and collected in a seemingly hopeless situation. He said Chuck Yeager made it popular.
Chuck Yeager didn't just make it popular, he's the origin of that accent. Every pilot wannabe who came after him is imitating his actual voice and demeanor on the radio when he flew combat in World War II and Vietnam, and the X-series of aircraft as a test pilot.
It’s really interesting to see West Country accents getting international recognition. Generally I’d say the accents associated with the more eastern parts of the Southwest (Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, etc) are seen as quite non-threatening and sort of cosy and warm. Usually used for farmers or other rural folk (the accents in the Vicar of Dibley portray this well). By contrast, right down in the far southwest: in Devon and Cornwall (where I’m from), the accents are used for pirates (as mentioned) and other more “rough” groups, like smugglers or perhaps creepy old men more broadly. It’s also seen as much less quaint, and probably more associated with rural poverty and working class people, whereas the aforementioned accent cluster of the eastern SW is often used for a ‘merry old England’ vibe with cute cottages and wheat fields, as opposed to the dramatic and cow-filled landscape in Devon and Cornwall. I hope that makes sense!
For celebrity impressions as characterization, Ben Stein's distinctive deadpan monotone gets used a lot for minor background characters who are supposed to be boring, like accountants and bureaucrats. If a comedy has a scene at the DMV, the clerk usually talks like that.
Like Gilbert Gottfried (until his tragic passing), Ben Stein himself usually provides the voices for those characters, because he's affordable. So if someone says "I'm looking for a Ben Stein type sounding voice," they'll usually just hire Ben, because he's available, and within budget. Just like Gilbert Gottfried. But what made Gilbert so great, is that Gilbert wouldn't turn down any role. He would be perfectly fine with playing or saying anything. Whereas I'm sure Ben Stein has a set of standards, and there's certain lines he wouldn't cross. Gilbert had none. For instance, there's this celebrity website called cameo. And tons of celebrities are on there, and they will make personalized videos for pretty much anything, if you just pay them. However, in fears of getting cancelled, there's certain things they won't do, and they can decline or refuse anything that they don't feel comfortable with. Gilbert however, would take every request. Nothing was off-limits. And there was no request that was too vulgar or too obscene for him to say. Ben Stein is also on cameo, but his voice is sounding more gruff these days in his older years. Not the iconic monotone Ferris Bueller sounding voice.
@@I_WANT_MY_SLAW Gilbert Gottfried's real voice was quite different from the one he was famous for (although I've never heard his real voice, myself). I don't know if it's the same with Ben Stein or not.
@@MatthewTheWanderer you can hear Gilbert's real voice on SNL sketches. The best examples of this on yourube are "Pillow Pets" or "Cast Romance II" posted on the SNL youtube. In the early 80s, he had a very brief stint on SNL (was only a cast member for 12 episodes), and he used his normal speaking voice, as he had not yet developed that iconic voice, that would became his signature. Nothing remarkable. It's just a softer less shrill version of his famous voice.
Edward G. Robinson “accent”! He’s the reason mobsters caricatures say “see” all the time. Randomly specific example that comes to mind if the gangster fish from the early 90s Little Mermaid tv series. Additionally, I think a few of the “Gay Accent” examples you gave were inspired by Paul Lynde.
These videos are interesting to me because this often gets lost in translation. I'm brazilian and had no idea cartoon characters had different accents in the english versions up until a few years ago because in Brazil they all have an accent vaguely reminiscent of the one spoken in São Paulo by middle and upper class people but with a family-friendly spin, plus some slang no one ever uses in real life Something I've noticed is that kids (myself included) often go through a period in which they sound like a cartoon character from ages 3-8, but then start using the words and accent associated with their native region once they start watching "grown-up TV" or go to middle school
Two big ones I think of are Rodney Dangerfield and Gilbert Godfried. Its actually pretty insane how many of these voice Robin Williams hit in Alladin. "I can't believe it, I'm losing to a rug" 😂😂 The other one I think of is Jim Carrey. I am showing my age but so many of these went through my friends group in the 90s 😂😂😂 Thanks JJ, this was wonderful! Hope everyone has a great week!!
Robin's natural sounding voice is iconic itself. But he was an incredible impressionist. Such a tragic figure. The funniest man in the world. Could make anyone laugh with zero effort. Loved by everyone (I'm not saying everyone loved all of his movies. Even he admitted he made some stinkers. But he was beloved as a person.) Yet he had so many demons he was constantly fighting.
9:27 I'd say another good example of a character with a sort of hybrid transatlantic/New England snob accent would be Charles Emerson Winchester III from MASH
1:02 Ironically, growing up in Australia, I always thought of this one as the “this is fiction” accent. Like, the accent always used in TV and movies to show that it’s just TV or a movie. It took me a while to realise that people actually talk like that in real life, and I was like, “Wait, so they’re just using their normal accent? So it sounds like real life to them?”
Here's a few more examples for several of these accents that JJ didn't mention in the video: Mid-Atlantic Accent: -Wile E. Coyote from Looney Tunes -Old-Timey Strong Bad Homestar Runner -Kent Brockman from The Simpsons -Alastor from Hazbin Hotel French Accent: -Pepe Le Pew from Looney Tunes -Bruce Campbell's cameo from Spider-Man 3 "Gay Person" Accent: -James the Red Engine from Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (during Alec Baldwin's time as narrator) -Team Rocket from the Pokemon Anime Peter Lorre impression: -Sleet the Wolf from Sonic Underground Feel free to add more examples in the replies to this comment!
I respectfully suggest that Team Rocket is not the "gay person" accent. They are a take on the wealthy/powerful/superior snob. Somewhere in the preppy New England / Mid-Atlantic area. Think the Howells from Gilligan's Island.
The protagonist of “Destroy All Humans!” franchise, Crypto, speaks in an especially hammy Jack Nicholson impression. His counterpart/boss, Orthopox, and a voiced by Richard Horvitz putting on a bit of a mid-Atlantic accent to make the character come off as decidedly more dignified than the violent Crypto.
The Jamaican Accent represents cool, chill, high, or as broad as the "Caribbean Accent." The English-speaking have a shared colonial master, but other than that we did not really interact with each other until the mid-1900s for the most part, so are accents evolved quite differently. Nigerian English is also just used to represent African.
I’m glad you liked the first accent video - its one of my favourites! I find accents so fascinating; I appreciate that you did a follow-up! The UK has its own accent stereotypes, and it’s interesting how those stereotypes overlap with the American ones. I liked that you spoke about the origin of the pirate accent - my own stepdad is from Devon and he speaks this way. The pirate accent is actually a Cornish accent, which in UK pop culture is more associated with sailors and fishermen (the region’s predominant industry). You’re right, however, that Hagrid has a west country accent, which is an accent which is seen as more hickish, often in a way that is quite intimidating. The Essex accent is another fun one - its usually given to characters who are very vain and airheaded. It’s also quite similar to the way that a lot of gay British men speak, so on men it is usually seen on characters who are quite camp. Mid/northwest accents are broadly associated with people who are poor, angry, and thuggish. I have this accent irl and its honestly pretty difficult, especially as a woman. It isn’t considered very feminine. There’s also the scouse accent, which is an accent unique to the city of Liverpool (also in the northwest), which has been heavily influenced by the city’s history of Irish immigration. It is usually given to criminals (particularly thieves), and usually criminals who are quite dopey and incompetent. The English accents that you’ll normally hear in American media are Received Pronunciation, which is an accent only really taught in elite schools and acting colleges. As a result, you’ll only hear it on upper class people, particularly politicians and newsreaders. I guess it would be similar to the transatlantic accent in that way. I know that Americans are also fond of the cockney accent, which is a London accent associated with people who are working class but still chipper and chatty.
As an American, this was a very interesting and insightful read, thanks for posting it. Quick question if you don't mind: here in the United States, the scouse accent is often associated with old-school rockstars (i.e. the Beatles, Ozzy Osbourne, all of those guys). Is that the case over in the UK as well? I was going to bring up that connotation but then I realized that you didn't mention it in your comment, so maybe it's less prevalent in the Britain itself? I'm just curious.
A good example of the Trans-Atlantic accent that younger people (Zoomers) could relate to would be Alastor from Hazbin Hotel, a character that is the embodiment of a 1920s radio host.
Why would us zoomers specifically relate to such a niche accent? It's a distinctly old accent that's become increasingly rare in recent decades, so zoomers like myself are surely less likely to "relate" to it?
@@HOTD108_ As a Zoomer; I can confirm, I associate the Mid-Atlantic Accent with Rubberhose 1930s-era animation with Alastor from Hazbin Hotel being very inspired with that era.
Fantastic video! The amazing thing about accents is that they are even diverse amongst their group. I am southern USA, specifically Carolinian, with a diverse background. My father was from Michigan and to me he had the "Generic" American accent you talk about and my mother is from deeeep Kentucky back county and has the heavy Appalachian accent which has the "hick" twang. As a southerner I hear long draw of Louisiana or Charleston and say "dang they got that south bad" and yet Ive been told my accent is heavy from folk that "ain't from round here". I also hear a little bit of southern characteristics in what you pointed out as "African American" accents which I only assume is indicative of people of poor southern whites and African slave heritage having such common and intertwined history. Another indication of this cultural interaction is classic southern and soul food being equally similar. I am a proud husband, father, and grandfather of a multi-raced family and I believe as America (which is a land of mutts) ages and progresses the lines that divide race, culture, and language (accents) will blend into a more mixed bag.
... and the Transatlantic accent was a refined version of a non-rhotic New England accent, which the stage, early sound film, and even some New York schools picked up as a standard.
The West Country accent is definitely an interesting one as I never really associated it with the pirate accent growing up in the area though the connection is clear. In the UK, I feel it would be more associated with farming and being rural due to how the region is.
I always refer to it as Transatlantic accent. Because I have to strong of a mental association for Midatlantic with the Mid-Atlantic region of the US. So if you say Midatlantic accent my mind goes straight to the various modern day accents of that & the surrounding regions. Heavy emphasis on Baltimore since it's probably the most distinct of the bunch.
Idea for a video: I feel like the many impressions by Genie from Aladdin reflect western pop culture well, maybe a breakdown of some of those and brief explanations of what they are?
Yeah, off the top of my head he does the Peter Lorre, Jack Nicholson, French, stereotypical Gay, he does a deliberately “standard American” when he portrays the flight attendant, someone on here mentioned the Romani accent, you could say his character he portrays in the intro to the movie is that. He does an impression of Rodney Dangerfield, but while he does have a very iconic way of speaking, I don’t see it imitated very much anymore.
I would also say some similar popularity applies to actors like Sean Connery and Matthew McConaughey, though maybe more parodied than appreciated. And we can’t forget Arnold.
Regarding the "gay accent," I'm queer myself and have a gay male coworker, and he told me that he does subconsciously play up his "gay accent" in certain crowds, because he wants to express his gayness without explicitly saying so (or wearing something obvious like a rainbow flag shirt, although he does have one lol). It can be hard to tell when other folks are gay or queer, and playing into stereotypes a little bit can help us spot each other if we're looking for potential partners or allies, and we're not in a designated queer space like a gay bar.
Theres the italian accent in two versions for different types you have your italian mobster accent often used for that type of character eg. Fat tony from the Simpsons, Big Louie and Don Turtalle from the ninja turtles, and you have you italian from italy accent for characters like Super Mario and Pistachio Disguise and often chefs
2:56 Gru from the Despicable Me movies should absolutely be in this category. His wonky way of talking adds a lot to his character in some nuanced ways.
Great video JJ, and as for additional accent suggestions, there’s iambic pentameter, aka, "The Shakespearian accent", that's often used for characters that are extremely intelligent but the same time in some way isolated from people, or at most most people. There's also the Russian accent. If the Russian character in question is male, they'll usually be portrayed as untrustworthy, and an inevitable looming threat of some kind. If the Russian character is female, they'll be more likely to portrayed as sort of femme fatal character, but if they speak in a higher pitch Russian accent, they'll be portrayed as kind and trustworthy, for some reason. Men with a Scottish accent are largely portrayed the same way as characters with rougher Southern accents, though are typically not made out to be nearly as unintelligent. The Italian accent is an easy one to explain. The character in question is either good at cooking, or in the Mafia, and the deeper the tone of voice they have, the more likely its the second one. There's the Jamaican accent, typically used by characters that are either mystical in some way (usually fortunetellers or which doctors specifically), or just super laid back and relaxed. Then there is the "Generic African accent", which is really most noteworthy for not really being a thing in the real world, and rather just a blend how various people in Africa speak all into one. There's also the Chinese accent, which is most notable for both being far less common than it used to be, and since often times Japanese people are given the generic American accents, at least when they speak English, which might have something to do with the cold war. The only other one I can think of is the "Vincent Price accent". I'm not sure I'd call his voice more Southern, British, or even Gay (and he was apparently Bisexual in real life), but nonetheless, his particular brand of speaking has become a cliché of sorts, mostly with aristocratic or eccentric characters, especially if said characters are meant to be seen as potentially malicious, or surrounded by other horrific individuals. Hope this all helps!
There are many people who have been in the public eye in the last century, such as Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Heisenberg or Werner von Braun, who have shaped the image of the German accent.
The British video game series 'Worms' allows you to customise your characters, and one part of this is picking an accent for them to speak with during gameplay. So there are a load of accents with stereotypical phrases for them that you can listen to, which is really fun. A lot of them are British accents that Americans might not know about, but there's some general ones too that everyone would know. Here's a link to listen to some of them if you're interested: ruclips.net/video/3cTNiB4sjbw/видео.html
What I find interesting about accents is that even though I, as someone born and raised in Massachusetts, can easily hear the accent come from others, but I can’t from myself, even though I’ve been told I say certain words like a Bostonian.
I’m Texan, have a central Texas accent, and I don’t notice my accent until I travel outside of the south. And even then I only notice it on some words.
real, i'm from mass and also grew up in a neighborhood full of hispanics so watching tv i could recognize other people's accents but i didn't think i had one of my own until a couple people told me so
I think that there is a distinct "gangster accent" that comes from depictions of U.S. Chicago and New York area Italian and Sicilian mafia films. James Cagney was one of the earliest examples, but his speaking style was distinct to him and frequently mimicked. Cagney's "gangster accent" ultimately gave way to the dialect that we heard in the Godfather films. Actor Joe Pesci encompasses this accent in films like "Casino" and of course "Goodfellas." Perhaps the most recent example is the accent from "The Sopranos."
Hey so just for some added context, the West Country accent was not just associated with pirates from its role in media but was also a real historical result of the presence of major naval links in the west county, and especially the port city of Bristol, with Britains emerging colonies in the New World. As a hugely profitable city at this time, many locals of the region became involved with various maritime jobs, be it in the navy, sea based trade or eventually as pirates/privateers, Blackbeard being the most famous example. I dont know for sure, but im assuming that's why that accent was used in treasure island in the first place.
@@headstone9384 to this day I still have no idea why they made Hermes Jamaican. It makes him slightly more interesting to listen to, but the accent isn’t really used to signal anything about his character. Unless the whole point is to just play against stereotype, since he’s so humorous and hard-working.
Another good good example of a celebrity impression that has become shorthand for a specific character type is the Edward G. Robinson impression used to denote a gangster type character, particularly in Looney Tunes cartoons from the forties and fifties. Another example would be the Phil Silvers impressions from his iconic You’ll Never Get Rich tv show, which is used to invoke the stereotype of an unscrupulous con artist. Although not as popular today, it seemed like every salesman in Hanna-Barbera cartoons (Flinstones, Top Cat, etc.) sounded like Silvers’ Sergeant Bilko.
Now I'm thinking of how in The Simpsons Roger Meyers says that it doesn't matter that Itchy & Scratchy were plagiarized because Top Cat, Chief Wiggum (in a 4th-wall breaking moment), and Yogi Bear copied Sgt. Bilko, Edward G. Robinson, and Art Carney.
The only Phil Silvers impression I'm acquainted with is Chit Chatterson on _WB's Histeria!_ It left such a big impression on me that when I played the first two _Monkey Island_ games, I mentally read all Stan's dialog in that voice. I was _really_ weirded out when he finally got a voice in the third one and it sounded nothing like that.
This video and its predecessor are some of your best work JJ. I know breaking down cultural tropes and stereotypes is JJ’s whole thing, but these two videos in particular really crush it
What you identified as a New England accent does not really sound like one to me. Honestly I’d say Peter Griffin is a better example of the typical new English accent
A good one I forgot is this sort of sassy, slightly babyish New York babe, who pronounces words like “service” as “soy-vus.” Do you know the kind I mean? I randomly heard the song “Lotta Locomotion” from the horrible musical “Starlight Express” the other day, and the floozy characters in that song speak this way and I immediately recognized it as a thing. I think the dopey Miss Springfield on the Simpsons speaks this way too. What are some other examples?
Matilda’s mom also speaks that way
When you said that, I didn't think of New York so much as New Orleans for some reason. I don't know why, but the Mississippi delta region has that same coil-curl merger. You hear it a lot in CCR's music like "Heard it through the grapevine" and a lot for really old blues recordings from that area.
I think Katy Kat from the Parappa the Rapper and Um Jammer Lammy ganes is suposed to have that accent as well
Lucia in Street Fighter V has this accent, as well as Poison from the same game to a lesser degree.
This archetype is an old one J.J.
It is the Jean Hagen character Lina Lamont from 1952's Singing In The Rain.
The earliest example I can think of is from.the 1930a cartoon Betty Boop.
Now where Betty Boop lifted that voice I am.not sure (FROM RADIO?), but it is safe to say that this particular iconic Female Brooklyn sexpot voice is over 100 years old.
***According to Wikipedia, Betty Boop was based on 20s singer / actress Helen Kane ( who ended up suing Betty Boop's creators).
Helen Kane is maybe the reason for this pop culture voice. We have forgotten ber existence, but her voice lives on 100 years later in film, TV, and animation.
m.ruclips.net/video/Rclfkeyy1bg/видео.html&pp=ygUKaGVsZW4ga2FuZQ%3D%3D
m.ruclips.net/video/6Gmq55QPyfE/видео.html&pp=ygUKaGVsZW4ga2FuZQ%3D%3D
More research: Trying to make a connection between Singing In The Rain and Helen Kane (rhymes), but cannot. She is blonde in Rain, but Lane was brunette like Betty Boop. Jean Hagen said she was doing a parapet of Judy Holiday's character Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday (also a blonde).
There seems to be a connection between Betty Boop and Billie Dawn which would tie things back to Helen Kane.
I know the voice as a kid from the Annie Potts character Janine Melnitz in Ghostbusters and The Real Ghostbusters cartoons.
I think that even by 1950;Actresses (and 1084), Actresses were not thinking of Helen Kane and were thinking of Betty Boop.🎵Boop boop de boop🎶
Maybe your research will correct some things and solidify some things, but I am confident that I am leading you down the right path.
I’ll call this the “Wise Asian Old Man Accent.” The old master in almost every martial arts TV show or film almost always speaks in this generic “Asian” way. It’s generic because it doesn’t really sound like specifically Chinese or Japanese or any other accent, but just vaguely East Asian. I think Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda and Sinsei Wu from Ninjago speak this way.
And Phong from ReBoot, of course.
Bruce Lee might've been an influence for that.
I attribute it to Keye Luke, who played wise old Chinese men in things like Kung Fu. And Gremlins, of course.
You could argue that Iroh from Avatar fills this niche, even though I'm not certain that he 100% has that accent, beyond just being Mako.
well, if we can have Magical Negroes, then why can"t we have Magical Ancient Asian Masters?
There is also a stereotypical lower class British accent in American media too which is some kind of bizarre mock-cockney concoction. Think Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins or several Simpsons episodes where it was used. It is used to convey a kind of simple minded but kind hearted servility.
Oh yes, the Lizard chimney sweep in Alice in Wonderland has it too.
I remember in Rango one of the early bandits in the beginning was given a cockney accent
Oy guv'ner! And wearing a flat cap or newsboy cap is a requirement.
Oh, like Yangus in Dragon Quest 8?
Ah, yes. The mockney concockney.
Parodies of Arnold Schwarzenegger's thick Styrian accent have been used for giant strong characters but that might just be to parody him specifically, like Rainier Wolfcastle from the Simpsons, Jorgen Von Strangle in Fairly Oddparents or Nils Niedhart in the new Animaniacs.
There's also a dog body builder character on Tiny Toons that sounded like him.
haha yup, first one I thought of
There’s Hans and Franz from the “We’re going to PUMP you UP” SNL skits.
Yeah, Schwarzenegger's accent is the one I _immediately_ thought of when J.J. mentioned celebrity impressions becoming their own stock accents. It's to the point that it has become practically _required_ for bodybuilder-type characters. It's most prevalent in cartoons, I think, but the best live action example I can think of is Hans and Franz (played by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon) on Saturday Night Live in the late 80s/early 90s.
Rainier Wolfcastle is indeed supposed to be just a straight up parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Patrick Warburton's vocal performance as Kronk has cemented that voice as the goto himbo voice. Usually played by a meathead who isn’t particularly bright.
But his Brock Samson voice has probably made just as much of a very different impression on Pop Culture.
@@Kuudere-Kun I feel like he tends to sound pretty similar in different characters that he voices, but Kronk is probably the one with the biggest meme status. So more people would associate his voice with Kronk than with Brock
Oh yeah, the jock voice accent! I forgot about that one.
Joe from family guy
Patrick Warburton is his own accent for sure, but I don't know if anyone else really uses it so much as that he uses it in every role and gets cast a lot.
As an Englishman, the whole pirate part is really interesting. What you mentioned about Hagrid and the West Country accent is stereotyped in Britain as a farmer's accent, very rural and (quite rudely) unsophisticated, but simultaneously not unintelligent and brutish like certain other lower-class accents are (also quite rudely) stereotyped to be, and Hagrid fits this stereotype to a T. Historically, many famous English pirates in the new world often came from the West Country, cities like Bristol or Plymouth in particular because of their large roles in trans-Atlantic voyages and trades. I assume this simply carried down the generations as part of the general pirate stereotype into the modern interpretations of pirates. I think Mr. Krabs as an example specifically also plays into the general 'sailor' stereotype (all the crusty sea-dogs like that one sea captain from the Simpsons), and not just pirates. Btw, really cool video, I really liked your first one.
True, West country accent is usually considered rural, but the classic pirate accent is clearly based on West Country. In reality pirates were a bunch of hardened thugs. But because of the West country accent we think of them as loveable rogues. Didn't Banksy produce a work called the 'mild, mild West'? West Country pirates had a rather better PR than Chicago gangsters!
I'd never thought about it before, but it makes sense that a film from the 50s started off our link between Caribbean pirates from 200-300 years ago and how they sounded. Did anyone really think about how pirates sounded before this? I doubt it. There were highwaymen at the same time, so if we had had a major film portraying Dick Turpin everyone would probably think all highwaymen were Yorkshiremen!
True, a lot of people left from Bristol and Plymouth for adventure on the high seas, but the odds are they started from another part of the country - e.g. Captain Morgan.
Mr Krabs is like a mix between West Country and Scottish Brogue accents
Gday mate dunno why I’m here but almost every time I see Australians on tv especially Americans it’s just bloody annoying I’ve got a broad accent and I’m from and always been in North Queensland even most Australians are loosing the accent it’s bloody annoying
There's a strong nautical and naval tradition in the South West. I don't think the casting in Treasure Island was purely by chance.
Fun fact: Rowling was born in the Bristol area (same place as Jodie Gibson). My housemate swears down that Hagrid was inspired by one of her dad's friends (a guy called Oaf), who knew Rowling years ago. Rowling has said before that Hagrid was based on "a Hell's Angel from the West Country" who loved talking about gardening, which apparently exactly fits the description of Oaf.
I think Schwarzenegger and Stallone definitely solidified their accents as the go-tos for bodybuilder and meathead types respectively. Schwazenegger is also propagated in Fairly Oddparents as Jorgen Von Strangle
In some cases, simply having an Austrian accent implies bodybuilder.
Yeah, this is a good one to flag up if he decided to do a video on this. Definitely the Austrian accent has become shorthand in media for bodybuilder, strongman, big muscular lunk in general. Hans and Franz from SNL are another example.
I lift things up, and put them down.
The "Gypsy" accent is usually a quick go-to for a fortune teller. The "Fast Talking Salesman" like from 1962s "The Money Man" and Phil Hartman's "monorail" episode from the Simpsons is also iconic and an easy tell :)
Iirc, the Monorail guy is based on the lead character in the musical The Music Man where the man tries to sell simple townsfolk band instruments and promises to teach them but leaves town with their money before he even gets out the sheet music. I believe that actor was Robert Preston who was known for playing shady characters. He also made a series of records called “chicken fat” that were used as music for school children to exercise to in the 60s.
@@TheBrunohusker Yeah in the original post I meant music man, not money man. Both he and Hartman are legends!
Yikes
It should be pointed out that the west country-pirate association has a more historical basis. Bristol was the one of the main seaports during English colonization, especially for transatlantic travel. Black beard and many other famous pirates are thought to be from there. Also the west country accent is very similar to original pronunciation, which is now known to be the original historical accent that modern English was spoken in during the 16th century. Most modern British accents on the other hand developed more in the 18th and 19th centuries. The pirate accent should also be distinguished from the yankee sailor accent seen in Mr. Krabs and Seamus, which is based more from sailors from New England (this is why Seamus’s accent also changes in the alternate family guy British episode).
My Welsh friend was recently telling me that Blackbeard was actually from Wales- so perhaps we should really be imagining pirates with stereotypical Weslah accents... In general though, yes, Bristol, Plymouth and other Westcountry ports were the source of many of the merchant mariners that ended up becoming pirates during the age of sail, so the pirate accent is probably fairly accurate for many of them. It's not really correct to say that Westcountry English is the "oldest" English accent, any more than the people are correct who claim that American accents are closest to what Shakespeare would have spoken. The truth is that all modern accents have preserved elements of older forms of English into the present day but in different ways - so while there's certainly many elements of Westcountry English that have been preserved from older varieties, it has also lost characteristics that were retained elsewhere. Thats also why if most speakers of modern regional English accents listen to videos of actors reading Shakespeare in "authentic" middle English (there's a few floating around on youtube), they can normally pick out at least a few elements that sound like their own accent. I'd reccomend Simon Roper's youtube channel for more information on this if you want to find out more on this, he even does a few videos where he replicates historic English and American accents over the last 600 years or so to show how they've evolved!
@@christopherdwane2844 Your friend is slightly confused: Bartholomew Roberts (whose name influenced The Dread Pirate Roberts in "The Princess Bride") a.k.a. Black Bart/Barti Ddu was certainly Welsh, as was Sir Henry Morgan, but Blackbeard (Edward Teach or Thatch) came from Somerset (probably not far from Bristol, but not the city itself). I think Robert Newton would have been justified in using a West Country accent, as the action of "Treasure Island" started at The Admiral Benbow Inn on the Devon coast and the character Squire Trelawney had a Cornish name.
@@andrewbutler7681 Thanks for the clarification!
My brother and I always assumed (jokingly) that Doofenshmirtz is based on our father. He was born in Austria and is a somewhat absent-minded genius inventor. He actually played a significant role in Canadian technology, working on the original Canadarm and inventing the idea of adding holograms to bills to stop counterfeiters.
Oh interesting!
I find the accent that Daniel Craig uses in “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” is a very specific southern accent. As someone who lives in the south, you will rarely find anyone that sounds like this. It’s a very old accent that is only really used in movies.
Very New Orleans-y
Ive never heard it in real life.
There’s whole Vox video about Frank Underwood having this fake accent too
Those are 2 different movies? I've only ever heard of one movie called "Glass Onion, a Knives Out Mystery".
He sounds like a Texan educated in Britain.
The Mobster accent is one I feel is worth mention. Tony Soprano and Joe Pesci are the biggest examples that come to mind
And then there's the old-fashioned mobster accent, which is an impression of Edward G. Robinson, see?
Basically a tough guy New York accent
The mobster accent is basically just a New York/New Jersey accent
Vito Corleone was also an iconic older mobster voice
Fat Tony, Legs and Johnny Tightlips from the Simpsons
The "Haity-Taity-Tay" happy-go-lucky Irish accent is a notable one in America, usually only seen in Leprechauns. Actual stereotypical Irishmen are more often portrayed as angry drunks.
The "Mrs. Doubtfire" Scottish accent is another one, almost always seen in a worried old maid. I believe one of the good witches from Snow White had this.
Oh yes and the Ladybug in James and the Giant Peach
@@JJMcCullough Just thought of another one. The "Effeminate evil british man" heard in such characters as Scar from The Lion King. I've heard it stems from archaic broadcasting traditions preferring gay stereotypes to be cast only on villains, which is ALSO why you get decidedly UN-feminine FEMALE villains like Cruella DeVille and The Evil Queen.
Francis Griffin from Family Guy.
There are no “good witches” in _Snow White_ .
There are three Good Fairies in _Sleeping Beauty_ but all of them have American accents.
You might be thinking of Verna Felton, though, the voice of Flora (the red fairy) and of the Fairy Godmother in _Cinderella_ .
She had a warm, motherly, if a bit husky, voice and I could see both Flora and the Fairy Godmother evoking similar feelings as Mrs Doubtfire even if the accents are different.
There's Muriel in Courage the Cowardly Dog
Juandissimo saying "I even pitched a tent" is such a good blink and you miss it adult joke.
Wait, that's how his name is spelled? I always thought it was wandissimo. You know, like wand?
Yes but he's Spanish, so "Juan"
@@RivLoveshineit's a pun based off as mentioned wand and juan.
@@lowlsqwidI'd say it's a pun on Don Juan specifically
I think kids shows from that era REALLY wanted to make sure the adults had their attention as well
I always thought it was interesting in How To Train Your Dragon how all of the adults had thick Scottish brogues (despite the characters actually being more Nordic in nature), and yet the children all sounded like American mall rats. I think this is reflective of how older immigrants come to the U.S. or Canada with their home country accent, but their kids grow up with general American accents. This vocal symbolism was used even though no immigration is depicted in the story at all.
Cool observation
Well, they do come from the the land of the ice and snow...
In British comedy the "Mummerset" West Country dialect is often used similar to the Southern accent in American media. It's associated with rural farming "Git off my land" type of characters.
ARE You Being Served has some good example of different accents
I also feel like a lot of people do impressions of Peter Lorre's voice because they remember the many times that Looney Tunes did parodies of the actor, rather than Peter Lorre himself.
I agree. That's especially true for people under the age of 50. I was one of those weirdos who loved movies from the 30s-50s when I was a teen, so I knew his work well. But these days, most people know the imitation of him, and not really the actor.
That “pitched a tent” joke from Fairly Oddparents flew right over my head as a kid.
Some frequently rehashed voices taken from old Hollywood actors might be ---> Edward G. Robinson (old timey cop), Clarke Gable (The "Man's man" voice, often used for military characters), James Cagney (Old timey gangster), Humphrey Bogart (Hard boiled detective voice) , Greta Garbo (sexy stoic femme fatale), Clint Eastwood (cowboy, obviously), Walter Matthau (grizzled seen-it-all cop), Jerry Lewis (wacky scientist/buffoon), Sammy David Jr (Cool jazz singer), Gregory Peck (domineering father), Eartha Kitt (exotic sex symbol), James Stewart (Starry eyed American dreamer), Lou Costello (loveable doofus), Divine (The "aggressive" gay voice)
On the old timey gangster, it's also notable that where the pirate accent was based on a movie character, the gangster voice actually came from what Al Capone sounded like.
Edit: after looking at comments pirates did come from that part of Britain (cool)
@@1ronDragon I'm pretty sure James Cagney's character in The Public Enemy was loosely based on Capone, or at least referencing him.
Yes yes, spot on. These are definitely standard go to accent/characterizations.
The whole "old-timey gangster/mobster" voice ("Eh bawss! We's gonna make him sleep widda fishes, eh?" etc etc) is a mix of various accents, but I think most heavily inspired by Italian-American accents - the Mafia being from Italy & Sicily originally.
@@shahancheong9792
Well yeah, but not just, mostly it comes from early 20th Century New York City lower economic classes and 2ndt Gen European immigrants.
From there it could be Italian, Jewish, Irish, even Slavics.
I love your “unsophisticated” taste in media. That sounds back handed but it really helps make your videos graspable.
Mr. Krabs is shown several times to be a sea men so the connection between him and his pirate accent seems pretty logical in that regard
It's also slightly different from a real pirate accent like The Flying Dutchman has.
He lives underwater though...
Yer he has a West Country accent. In the UK the strength and variation vary a little From West Dorset down to Cornwall. Also in England it's a general sailors accent as well, as Cornwall and especially Plymouth in Devon are major maritime centres.
Tbh both mr. krabs and the krusty krab in general has always had that sorta vibe. It's why you always hear sea shanty-esque songs play in the krusty krab. Hell, krabs himself lives in an anchor
Guys. His grandfather is a pirate. Piracy was the family business. This was literally the basis of an entire episode.
Here’s an accent I see a lot of, the bold, heroic accent, you see this with characters like Mighty Mouse, Mister Incredible, Powdered Toast Man, and The Tick. Just usually a shorthand for a “superhero” archetype
The "superhero voice" kinda feels like a mix between transatlantic (sans British affectation) and "old-timey actor" (but with less twang). If I had to hazard a guess, this is probably because the voice derives from old cartoons from the 30's through the 50's.
@@RunePonyRamblings I believe it might come from George Reeves and his portrayal of Superman
This is a great one. The Crimson Chin on Fairly OddParents as well.
I think it might be in part based on narrators from old serials too? Like if I'm thinking of the same voice it also matches the stereotypical narrator voice pretty well too.
Gary Owens is also one of the reasons for that. He voiced Powdered Toastman, along with several Hanna Barbera super heroes like Space Ghost and Blue Falcon.
A lot of old Looney Tunes and Hannah Barbera characters from the golden age of those companies were basically impressions of celebrities at the time that we have forgotten now. Huckleberry Hound is Andy Griffith, Foghirn Leghorn is a popular character of a southern senator from a long forgotten radio show, and Snagglepuss (and the “Yes!” guy from the Simpsons) are imitating Frank Nelson. But there’s also typical accents in there too like the Bronx for Bugs, Texan for Sam, etc.
Bugs is Flatbush, actually
Huckleberry Hound is not an impression Andy Griffith. Griffith wasn't that popular when Huck was created. It's just a voice that Daws Butler himself created.
@@papachillothezappey4050 Buttler said that voice, which he applied to other southern characters, are impressions of North Carolinian men, in which Andy Griffith is in or near that area close enough to mistaken for an impression.
@@NeelLLumi-AnCatDubh Mel Blanc said in an interview that it was a combination of Brooklyn and The Bronx. But he also said that Porky Pig wasn't stuttering, but actually grunting like a pig. But Porky's original voice actor actually stuttered in real life, and Blanc just impersonated that guy when he took over, so that obviously wasn't true.
Fun fact about the Mid Atlantic Accent. It was a popular accent for radio and video broadcasts, during a time when broadcast struggled with bass tones.
As a native Spanish speaker that grew up consuming dubbed American media (as a large part of the world did, really) it's kind of fascinating that I can recognize some of these. Of course dubbing studios couldn't just use American accents, but they often found some sort of equivalent in spanish. The ones related to nationality are the easiest, but there are also alternative stereotypes for the smart, dopey, rural, high class, cool, gay, and so on.
That being said, sometimes dubbing studios clearly don't give a damn and a lot gets lost in translation. Though that's an issue with direction/VA as much as accent choices.
Justo estaba pensando eso
What are the equivalent accents in Spanish for the smart, dopey, and high class accents?
I feel like Orson Welles's voice might be have that celebrity impression quality, even if it's mostly references to the man himself. But most of those characters still have a certain pompous and authoratative way of speaking, and generally convey a very magisterial presence.
The Brain on Pinky and the Brain is a classic Orson Wells expy
i can only hear the words "magisterial presence" in that specific accent
That is true. I actually randomly read yesterday that George Lucas originally wanted to have Orson Welles to voice Darth Vader, but opted for James Earl Jones, on the account of him being less recognizable, hence less distracting from the mystery behind the character.
With the years, it seems Jones' voice has taken that niche away, as fewer people really remember Welles.
@@MTLYev That's a good point. Keith David brings that to some of his characters too, more Jones than Welles though.
@@JJMcCullough Warner Bros. cartoons like Animaniacs continued the legacy of celebrity and movie references that children probably wouldn't understand.
There was also a running gag about Orson Wells in The Critic, but that is another cartoon that assumes movie knowledge.
Christian Bale's batman voice is definitely it's own accent now
"I am the darknees, I am the night. Shit robin wheres the lasange's my throat is killing me"
I've always hated that bat voice. It kind of ruined it for me almost as bad as Tobey Spiderman shooting webbing from his wrists. It was just...wrong haha.
So is Bane and the Joker
@@TyshaggyGaming i was way too confused about why batman would need lasagna for his throat.
Lol sorry, I just dont know how to spell those throat candies right@@tavelkyosoba
Another celebrity impression, that has become super common in media, is that of Hulk Hogan and other wrestler-types like him!
You know, the muscle guy who's threatening our heroes with an "Oh yeaaaaa, you're going DOWN brother!!!". It's pretty ubiquitous, especially in cartoons! 😄 An example would be "The Boulder" from Avatar, although I guess that he was modelled on the Rock.
See also: Randy Savage
The Boulder is voiced by actual Pro Wrestler Mick Foley too.
Been recently playing borderlands 2. Mister Torgue is definitely the most over-the-top and in-your-face example of this 😂
Arnold Schwarzenegger's distinct accent and mannerisms have become highly imitated, easily as much as Jack Nicholson (see Jorgen Von Strangle in Fairly Odd Parents, McBrain from the Simpsons, I think Robin Williams' Genie did an impression too). These are usually meant to represent the 80s bodybuilder/action hero archetype more so than Arnie in particular. I'd say he easily makes the list!
The Kardashian cali girl vocal fry has become quite iconic
One accent I think you neglected was the Russian accent. Kinda like the German accent coming from WWII, I think the Russian accent comes from Cold War era media. It's usually always to imply some form of anti-American / authoritarian villain.
I feel like for non-explicitly political characters, it's more commonly seen for like, janitors and other stereotypically lower class immigrant workers.
@@JJMcCullough Russian accents are also commonly given to "tough-guy" macho men characters as well.
Or for fish-out-of-water, comedic effect "excuse me, we are looking for nuclear wessels" (Walter Koenig) or "one order McFries, two chocolate McShake, come back McSoon" (Robin Williams). Bronson Pinchot's entirely fake accent drifted between Russia and Greece across the Balkans over the years.
@@FozzyBBear I guess in some ways there is now just a generic “backwards country accent” that has elements of eastern and southern Europe, like Russia, Greece, Hungary, Poland, maybe even a bit of Italian. The Elbonians in Dilbert have a good genetically backwards country accent, so does Borat of course.
@@JJMcCullough i feel as though the russian accent is more leaning towards a goofy militant (if that’s a good way to put it). such as mr bobinsky in coraline.. his directness is odd, yet funny. definitely seen in working characters as you said, a good portion of those characters having some history with war.
In British media, the west country accent tends to be used a bit more to communicate something that's. Unintimidating? Cute? Loveable? It's really not used as a scary tough guy voice very much at all over here (except for when it is sometimes used as the "pirate voice" although I'd argue they're slightly different)
Edit: so I think the reason why hagrid was given this accent was not to make him seem tough and intimidating, but rather so that he appears loveable if slightly dim
I agree, it definitely evokes farmer more than pirate here
Funny you mention this as the actor who was the stand in for Darth Vader (not James Earl Jones, who just did his voice) had a soft west country accent and they thought it sounded too weak. So of course they went with James Earl Jones who while being black, has a very mid-atlantic sounding accent in a way.
I like the point you made in the beginning about how even if we’ve never heard these accents in real life, we still recognize the stereotypes associated with them through pop culture. I still think about how in your last accent video you talked about the sort of old money upper class New England accent, and how you weren’t sure if anyone actually talked like that. I searched the internet trying to find any real life examples of people talking like that, but every clip of that accent was from some sort of skit or parody. Yet, it’s amazing how we all recognize the accent and its connotation just through fictional media.
It's true, it's like a lot of cartoon things. Like, I don't think black cannonball style bombs with fuses ever existed, it's a pop culture trope that evolved out of something loosely based on reality.
It's real but it's restricted to well a specific class of people. You want hear it unless you go to specific areas or know certain people or go to certain schools.
@@JJMcCullough Very true lol, I never thought about that
@@JJMcCullough Black "canonball" style grenadeas made of two iron hemispheres, filled with gunpowder and lit with a fuse did exist in the early modern period. They weren't very common on the battle field due to being quite dangerous to... Well just about everyone frankly, but they were used more often during sieges and possibly naval battles.
The British Grenadiers were "intended" to use them, but very rarely did due to the aforementioned instability.
@@JJMcCullough Another one is the Australian accent/clothing. I doubt that many Americans have met Australians so the stereotype comes from films and TV, the whole Crocodile Dundee and Steve Irwin image of men obssessed with tracking down dangerous animals in a shorts, a corkscrew hat and fatigues.
William F Buckley is a great example of the trans-atlantic accent.
Something I love is that because Devon and Cornwall are traditionally seen as agricultural and pastoral, the "pirate" accent in the UK is used instead for farmer characters.
When you mentioned a modern celebrity who has become a go-to accent, I can't believe you didn't mention Arnold Schwarzenegger. As essentially the only Austrian the average American knows (okay, besides that other guy with the funny mustache), the strong, cool, buff guy in a lot of shows have his accent!
Jorgen Von Strangle
Good call on this one! His accent has certainly become iconic and frequently imitated in cartoons.
I think The Painter just amplifies the "aggressiveness" of the Austrian accent in American culture.
Paul Lynde was another actor whose voice is now used as a character archetype. Roger on American Dad and Bi-Polar Bear from Queer Duck are both pretty clear examples of it.
Also, there was an interesting story on the audio commentary for The Big Hit, a Mark Wahlberg movie. The writer said that he had been accused of including Jewish stereotypes with the characters of Christina Applegates parents, but he had no idea that those were stereotypes at all. He had seen a documentary on cartoonist Robert Crumb and just included the Jewish parents from there in The Big Hit, acting exactly how the people from Crumb acted, which was also like the clips you included.
Saturday Night Live had a pretty good sketch using the fast talking transatlantic accent, "Singing Sisters", that mainly uses it because it's supposed to be in the 1940s, so they talk like actors from a 1940s movie.
Another example of the Peter Lorre voice is Ren from Ren & Stimpy, even though he doesn't fit the usual character type.
When J.J. Was showing examples of the “gay accent” some of them sounded like an impression of Paul Lynde
Whenever there's a sassy gay coded older man, it's almost always a Paul Lynde or Charles Nelson Reilly impersonation. I love them
Escargoon in the English dub of the Kirby anime was another clear Paul Lynde impression
William F Buckley, one of the most influential conservative talk show hosts, used the trans atlantic accent, showing how the accent has been utilized in the world of politics
Except in the case of Buckley, the trans-Atlantic accent was his natural speaking voice since he didn't learn how to speak English until later in his life and when he eventually did (being from an upper-class upbringing), he was taught to speak with that accent because it was seen as the proper and civilized way to speak at the time.
"stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I'll sock you in your goddamn face, and you'll stay plastered"
and he did it to cover up his "gay" accent
I would have placed his accent in the "refined southern" category myself
Yes, I mentioned this on the last video.
This was such a fun video. Loved the huge variety of examples and nostalgia
JJ...
This was a really fun video. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
A celebrity accent that had some staying power in cartoon history (although has been waning over the years) is the Phil Silvers/Sgt. Bilko accent.
This accent was typically used for fast-talking but also impatient Hollywood movie directors, usually depicted with a bald head and thick black eyeglasses (reflective of the real Phil Silvers).
As a person from the pirate-sounding part of England, pirates are quite a sentimentalised part of life here. Years ago, I remember hearing that the accent came from the people who used to smuggle goods into the country - people who lived along the south coast and naturally spoke like that. Over the years, the smugglers sort of merged with the pirate idea and now it's quite a commonly repeated folk explanation.
It is kinda interesting that the Boston accent wasn't in either of these considering how it's one most Americans can recognize but I think it usually has pretty similar associations of toughness to the New York accent (like the Scout from TF2, one of the few fictional examples that comes to mind) or is a parody of someone actually from Boston (like how Mayor Quimby is an obvious John F. Kennedy parody)
Your analysis of celebrity impressions which morphed eventually into just pop culture shorthand reminds me of the journey of how a lot of pop-punk (and associated genres) musicians founded their singing voice. The idea that you start of with the American accents of influential New York bands like the Velvet Underground or the Ramones , which influences British Bands like the Sex Pistols or the Clash who added an exaggerated English sneer, which in turn was mimicked by 90s pop punk bands like Green Day or Blink 182 which lead to the overtop enunciation genres in that bubble are known for (I miss you by blink being the cliche example).
It's like a game of telephone back and forth from the late 60s onwards of people thinking "I wanna sing like them" which leads to a dialect of singing which no one really sounds like. With each iteration imitating a certain voice , because it represents a cultural shorthand for a personality or an attitude the band want to present.
Ofcourse this is a massive oversimplification of the timeline, but I thought the comparison with this topic interesting - great video as always J.J
very interesting!
Zsa Zsa Gabor, most famous for the 60s sitcom Green Acres, like Bela Lugosi, had an Hungarian accent.
Her accent was imitated in cartoons, movies, pop culture to denote an eccentric foreign lady of class.
Right. There was a time when simply saying the word "darling" morphed in to an impromptu impression of Ms. Gabor.
The Flying Dutchman in SpongeBob is a perfect pirate accent
Vicent Price impressions I'd say are up there with Peter Lorre, as a sort of spooky, occult person, but with more class.
Boris Karloff as well.
Vincent Price = Gay + Transatlantic
The one thing that comes to mind is a very common way to do Russian/Eastern European accent is to parody either Dolph Lundgren from Rocky IV or Arnold Schwarzenegger from Red Heat.
so Austrian?
Yeah, Austria is not eastern European and doesn't sound like a Russian / eastern European accent (real or stereotypical)
Natasha from Rocky and Bowinkle.
@@Happy156Schwarzenegger’s role in Red Heat was a law enforcement agent from the Soviet Union.
@@Tulpen23he’s not talking about Schwarzenegger’s personal accent, he’s talking about Schwarzenegger’s attempt at doing a Slavic/Russian sounding accent in the film Red Heat…..yah it was definitely weird to hear someone with such a unique accent attempt a “Russian” accent lol.
Pepe Le Pew was originally supposed to be a parody of the classic Hollywood actor Charles Boyer, and since most depictions of the stereotypical French lover come from Pepe, one could say that, even though he’s not well known beyond the classic film crowd, a Boyer imitation would be of the suave French ladies man.
A lot of early cartoon voices were based on celebrities of the time. Flintstones is based on the Honeymooners. Yogi Bear is an Art Carney impression. (Also fun fact, Yogi Bear was named after NY Yankees legend Yogi Berra. And that's why Yogi is a bear.) And of course Snaggleposs is the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz
Are you sure. I always thought he was based on Maurice Chevalier, who played a lot more Lotharios that Boyer did.
@@ferulebezel it's Boyer - Pepe Le Pew was based upon Pepe Le Moko, Charles Boyer's role in Algiers (1938) which was itself based upon the 1937 French movie Pepe Le Moko starring Jean Gabin
About the french accent, I think that rather than just chefs, it is often used for any kind of artist, art critics, or generally people who are well versed in the arts. I'm surprised you didn't mention that.
You hit it right on the head with the Trans-Atlantic accent! My grandmother spoke with that accent after attending an east-coast boarding school that taught them to talk that way. I always loved speaking to her on the phone. ❤
You should have mentioned the rocket scientist and former Nazi Wernher von Braun when discussing how America came to associate German accents with evil intelligence. He was on TV throughout the fifties and sixties, and many leftists critiqued the US government for hiring the man after the war.
I think it has more to do with Albert Einstein having a famously strong German accent, and appearing kinda crazy with his iconic hair.
Although Wernher von Braun was definitely parodied in Dr. Strangelove.
@@onurbschrednei4569 i was thinking more Werner Herzog. Although Einstein is very well known i fell that most americans have never actually heard him speak. I would think more people have heard Herzog since theirs not many recordings of einstein actually speaking.
@@onurbschrednei4569 I thought it was Kissiner not von Braun who was parodied in Dr. Strangelove? It would make more sense considering the situation, but it could be both.
@@verl0000 No, Strangelove was not based on Kissinger. Dr. Strangelove is portrayed as a brilliant scientist and former Nazi, taken in and rehabilitated by the US, which mirrors Wernher von Braun, a rocket scientist and former Nazi. Kissinger was not a scientist, but a politician, and Kissinger was the opposite of a Nazi: he was jewish and had to flee Germany.
@@Staggs2200 Nah, the brilliant German scientist trope is older than the 1980s, which is when Werner Herzog started making documentaries.
Also, Einsteins accent may not be famous nowadays, but back in the 40s and 50s, when Einstein was a very public persona, he was infamous for his thick accent.
I just rewatched your first video, and you talked about how Americans have a hard time distinguishing between different British accents.
I think that’d a good video for you to do. Explaining the various British accents to non British English speakers
The "eastern Europe" accent, I think, is a fairly consolidated signifier of..."experience" I think would be the best world for it. Because the character themself can be of any disposition, happy, grumpy, reserved, etc, but generally they have a similar portrayal of having struggled throughout their life and come out stronger or hardier for it.
The cab driver from Brain Candy
The Russian accent specifically is used for villains but a "general" ambiguously Eastern European accent is often used for these kinds of characters, the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Doofenshmirtz
Nico Bellic from GTA4
I think because the transatlantic accent was often used in talkies and noir film (whos subject often covered detective work, guessing games, sneaking around and even snooping), it is often associated with a character that is detective-like, or even literally a detective, or perhaps just particularly nosey. I love this discussion! I think it's very music-like to associate accents with personality features in AV mediums, just like we associate certain harmonies, melodies and sounds with certain feelings in aural mediums.
When I was growing up in the 1970s, every kid had their own version of the “Howard Cosell” accent (modeled after the sportscaster with the forceful and overblown personality), and early in the decade people still had an impersonation of TV impresario Ed Sullivan (the man who put The Beatles on US TV for the first time).
Funnily enough, the reason why the Pirate accent sounds the way it does isn't just because Long John Silver's actor was from the west country. Historically speaking, a lot of pirates actually were from the west country region. I wouldn't be surprised if the people behind Treasure Island (Or even the book itself) had in mind specifically that accent when casting the part
In a possible third video, you should talk about Pluto, Kenny, Popeye, & The Tasmanian Devil and how they can still be understood despite not having a real voice or accent
Also: Donald Duck and Scooby Doo
the adults from the Peanut/charlie brown as well@@JJMcCullough
@@JJMcCullough Scooby Doo, as you shown in the clip, does have a voice. He pronounces his name as Ruby rather than Scooby, though...
@@listentomerantaboutuseless34The adults in Peanuts are just a trombone sound...
@@JJMcCulloughAlso Astro from the Jetsons.
Though, Scooby and Astro had the same voice actor, and they had very similar voices.
Examples of actor's accents becoming pop culture accents: Boris Karloff as a standard mad scientist voice, and his contemporary Bela Lagosi, who is the default Dracula or vampire voice.
Fantastic video! Would love to see a breakdown of region specific words like jawn and hayna/haina/heyna
You touched on this in your original "Southern Accent" breakdown, mentioning its use for tough, hot-headed soldiers, but there's a very specific accent or way of speaking I like to call "Drill Instructor English", which was really codified by Gunnery Sgt. R. Lee Ermey in the film "Full Metal Jacket", after the movie came out a lot of drill Instructor/Sergeant or senior enlisted men in modern pop culture channels at least a little bit of that.
- GySgt Hartmann as portrayed by GySgt R. Lee Ermey in "Full Metal Jacket' (1987)
- The Drill Sergeant from "Forrest Gump" provides a more positive and slightly more family friendly take on this voice.
- Sgt. Arch Dornan from "Fallout 2" (1998)
- Sergeant Major Sixta from "Generation Kill" (2008), I also detect a bit of a Cajun accent in his voice, which I tend to associate with sort of crazy, survivalist characters with a few screws loose, I'm not sure how widely applicable to pop culture that interpretation of Cajun english is.
The Soldier in TF2 is pretty much this cranked up to 11
I can’t believe JJ has not mentioned Irish Accent. Used by cop characters in some shows and to mock Irish people in Saint Patrick’s Day themed episodes.
The Irish cop was in fact a real thing in the late 19th/early 20th century, lots of Irishmen became policemen after moving to America. As a rather obscure example, take the cop character from that Larryboy Flash animated series. As a trope though, most younger Americans probably wouldn’t recognize it because Irish cops just haven’t been a thing for a while
Jim Cummings has done the Irish cop accent most people are familiar with. The mayor from SWAT Kats is the one I can think of off the top of my head, but its in so many 90 cartoons.
@@colltonrighem I've only seen the _Larry-Boy_ cartoons in short bits when my brother would watch it, and I don't remember that character. But now I have to ask... was he a potato?
@@stevethepocket Bingo, he was!
I think the reason he hasn't mentioned this is that their isn't actually anything interesting to it. And Irish accent denotes an Irish person. How that irsh person is then portrayed is separate from the accent.
My fiance mentioned the “West Virginia pilot accent”.
He explained it as someone who is unnervingly calm and collected in a seemingly hopeless situation.
He said Chuck Yeager made it popular.
Chuck Yeager didn't just make it popular, he's the origin of that accent. Every pilot wannabe who came after him is imitating his actual voice and demeanor on the radio when he flew combat in World War II and Vietnam, and the X-series of aircraft as a test pilot.
@@NathanMN I understand. My phrasing made it seem like something he was copying and not his actual voice. This was my error, not my fiances.
It’s really interesting to see West Country accents getting international recognition. Generally I’d say the accents associated with the more eastern parts of the Southwest (Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, etc) are seen as quite non-threatening and sort of cosy and warm. Usually used for farmers or other rural folk (the accents in the Vicar of Dibley portray this well). By contrast, right down in the far southwest: in Devon and Cornwall (where I’m from), the accents are used for pirates (as mentioned) and other more “rough” groups, like smugglers or perhaps creepy old men more broadly. It’s also seen as much less quaint, and probably more associated with rural poverty and working class people, whereas the aforementioned accent cluster of the eastern SW is often used for a ‘merry old England’ vibe with cute cottages and wheat fields, as opposed to the dramatic and cow-filled landscape in Devon and Cornwall. I hope that makes sense!
For celebrity impressions as characterization, Ben Stein's distinctive deadpan monotone gets used a lot for minor background characters who are supposed to be boring, like accountants and bureaucrats. If a comedy has a scene at the DMV, the clerk usually talks like that.
Like Gilbert Gottfried (until his tragic passing), Ben Stein himself usually provides the voices for those characters, because he's affordable. So if someone says "I'm looking for a Ben Stein type sounding voice," they'll usually just hire Ben, because he's available, and within budget. Just like Gilbert Gottfried. But what made Gilbert so great, is that Gilbert wouldn't turn down any role. He would be perfectly fine with playing or saying anything. Whereas I'm sure Ben Stein has a set of standards, and there's certain lines he wouldn't cross. Gilbert had none. For instance, there's this celebrity website called cameo. And tons of celebrities are on there, and they will make personalized videos for pretty much anything, if you just pay them. However, in fears of getting cancelled, there's certain things they won't do, and they can decline or refuse anything that they don't feel comfortable with. Gilbert however, would take every request. Nothing was off-limits. And there was no request that was too vulgar or too obscene for him to say. Ben Stein is also on cameo, but his voice is sounding more gruff these days in his older years. Not the iconic monotone Ferris Bueller sounding voice.
@@I_WANT_MY_SLAW Gilbert Gottfried's real voice was quite different from the one he was famous for (although I've never heard his real voice, myself). I don't know if it's the same with Ben Stein or not.
@@MatthewTheWanderer you can hear Gilbert's real voice on SNL sketches. The best examples of this on yourube are "Pillow Pets" or "Cast Romance II" posted on the SNL youtube. In the early 80s, he had a very brief stint on SNL (was only a cast member for 12 episodes), and he used his normal speaking voice, as he had not yet developed that iconic voice, that would became his signature. Nothing remarkable. It's just a softer less shrill version of his famous voice.
@@I_WANT_MY_SLAW I've never seen any of those sketches. But, I suppose I could watch them since they are on RUclips like you said.
That first accent video is how I found your channel. How the time flies
Edward G. Robinson “accent”! He’s the reason mobsters caricatures say “see” all the time. Randomly specific example that comes to mind if the gangster fish from the early 90s Little Mermaid tv series.
Additionally, I think a few of the “Gay Accent” examples you gave were inspired by Paul Lynde.
agree about paul lynde, though i wonder chicken/egg with some of that stuff
These videos are interesting to me because this often gets lost in translation. I'm brazilian and had no idea cartoon characters had different accents in the english versions up until a few years ago because in Brazil they all have an accent vaguely reminiscent of the one spoken in São Paulo by middle and upper class people but with a family-friendly spin, plus some slang no one ever uses in real life
Something I've noticed is that kids (myself included) often go through a period in which they sound like a cartoon character from ages 3-8, but then start using the words and accent associated with their native region once they start watching "grown-up TV" or go to middle school
Same with German dubs.
Two big ones I think of are Rodney Dangerfield and Gilbert Godfried. Its actually pretty insane how many of these voice Robin Williams hit in Alladin. "I can't believe it, I'm losing to a rug" 😂😂 The other one I think of is Jim Carrey. I am showing my age but so many of these went through my friends group in the 90s 😂😂😂 Thanks JJ, this was wonderful! Hope everyone has a great week!!
Robin's natural sounding voice is iconic itself. But he was an incredible impressionist. Such a tragic figure. The funniest man in the world. Could make anyone laugh with zero effort. Loved by everyone (I'm not saying everyone loved all of his movies. Even he admitted he made some stinkers. But he was beloved as a person.) Yet he had so many demons he was constantly fighting.
9:27 I'd say another good example of a character with a sort of hybrid transatlantic/New England snob accent would be Charles Emerson Winchester III from MASH
My favorite is the Patrick Warburton accent, most of his roles you can instantly pick up on it and its a ton of fun to do.
1:02 Ironically, growing up in Australia, I always thought of this one as the “this is fiction” accent. Like, the accent always used in TV and movies to show that it’s just TV or a movie. It took me a while to realise that people actually talk like that in real life, and I was like, “Wait, so they’re just using their normal accent? So it sounds like real life to them?”
Well, some of them are actually British or Australian and are using that accent to sound American, however.
Jeff Goldblum & Harvey Fierstein come to mind as "pop culture accents."
Here's a few more examples for several of these accents that JJ didn't mention in the video:
Mid-Atlantic Accent:
-Wile E. Coyote from Looney Tunes
-Old-Timey Strong Bad Homestar Runner
-Kent Brockman from The Simpsons
-Alastor from Hazbin Hotel
French Accent:
-Pepe Le Pew from Looney Tunes
-Bruce Campbell's cameo from Spider-Man 3
"Gay Person" Accent:
-James the Red Engine from Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (during Alec Baldwin's time as narrator)
-Team Rocket from the Pokemon Anime
Peter Lorre impression:
-Sleet the Wolf from Sonic Underground
Feel free to add more examples in the replies to this comment!
I respectfully suggest that Team Rocket is not the "gay person" accent. They are a take on the wealthy/powerful/superior snob. Somewhere in the preppy New England / Mid-Atlantic area. Think the Howells from Gilligan's Island.
Also adding Gruncle Stan to the Ed Wynn derivatives. Plus, the Doctor from the Loud House definitely is riffing off him
Mid-atlantic accent: Jay Sherman's parents from The Critic. His mom is supposed to be a parody of Katharine Hepburn.
another great example of the Mid-Atlantic would be the writer George Plimpton
The protagonist of “Destroy All Humans!” franchise, Crypto, speaks in an especially hammy Jack Nicholson impression.
His counterpart/boss, Orthopox, and a voiced by Richard Horvitz putting on a bit of a mid-Atlantic accent to make the character come off as decidedly more dignified than the violent Crypto.
The "Bob and Doug McKenzie" accent usually represents a character who is hick, and kind.
The Jamaican Accent represents cool, chill, high, or as broad as the "Caribbean Accent."
The English-speaking have a shared colonial master, but other than that we did not really interact with each other until the mid-1900s for the most part, so are accents evolved quite differently.
Nigerian English is also just used to represent African.
I’m glad you liked the first accent video - its one of my favourites! I find accents so fascinating; I appreciate that you did a follow-up! The UK has its own accent stereotypes, and it’s interesting how those stereotypes overlap with the American ones.
I liked that you spoke about the origin of the pirate accent - my own stepdad is from Devon and he speaks this way. The pirate accent is actually a Cornish accent, which in UK pop culture is more associated with sailors and fishermen (the region’s predominant industry). You’re right, however, that Hagrid has a west country accent, which is an accent which is seen as more hickish, often in a way that is quite intimidating.
The Essex accent is another fun one - its usually given to characters who are very vain and airheaded. It’s also quite similar to the way that a lot of gay British men speak, so on men it is usually seen on characters who are quite camp.
Mid/northwest accents are broadly associated with people who are poor, angry, and thuggish. I have this accent irl and its honestly pretty difficult, especially as a woman. It isn’t considered very feminine.
There’s also the scouse accent, which is an accent unique to the city of Liverpool (also in the northwest), which has been heavily influenced by the city’s history of Irish immigration. It is usually given to criminals (particularly thieves), and usually criminals who are quite dopey and incompetent.
The English accents that you’ll normally hear in American media are Received Pronunciation, which is an accent only really taught in elite schools and acting colleges. As a result, you’ll only hear it on upper class people, particularly politicians and newsreaders. I guess it would be similar to the transatlantic accent in that way. I know that Americans are also fond of the cockney accent, which is a London accent associated with people who are working class but still chipper and chatty.
As an American, this was a very interesting and insightful read, thanks for posting it. Quick question if you don't mind: here in the United States, the scouse accent is often associated with old-school rockstars (i.e. the Beatles, Ozzy Osbourne, all of those guys). Is that the case over in the UK as well? I was going to bring up that connotation but then I realized that you didn't mention it in your comment, so maybe it's less prevalent in the Britain itself? I'm just curious.
A good example of the Trans-Atlantic accent that younger people (Zoomers) could relate to would be Alastor from Hazbin Hotel, a character that is the embodiment of a 1920s radio host.
Why would us zoomers specifically relate to such a niche accent? It's a distinctly old accent that's become increasingly rare in recent decades, so zoomers like myself are surely less likely to "relate" to it?
@@HOTD108_ the media, not the accent
Another great "contemporary" (10 years ago) example would be Varrick/The Narrator from The Legend of Korra.
@@HOTD108_
As a Zoomer; I can confirm, I associate the Mid-Atlantic Accent with Rubberhose 1930s-era animation with Alastor from Hazbin Hotel being very inspired with that era.
@@HOTD108_reading comprehension is super important. Please work on it. It’ll save you from so many of these moments. 👍
Another great video.
I think Paul Lynde’s speech affectations shows up enough to be mentioned (The Simpsons- Boy Scout Leader; American Dad- Roger).
It's a good sort of creepy, lecherous voice. Herman on the Simpsons has a bit of this.
@@JJMcCullough I think Herman might've actually been based on George HW Bush if I recall correctly.
Fantastic video! The amazing thing about accents is that they are even diverse amongst their group. I am southern USA, specifically Carolinian, with a diverse background. My father was from Michigan and to me he had the "Generic" American accent you talk about and my mother is from deeeep Kentucky back county and has the heavy Appalachian accent which has the "hick" twang. As a southerner I hear long draw of Louisiana or Charleston and say "dang they got that south bad" and yet Ive been told my accent is heavy from folk that "ain't from round here". I also hear a little bit of southern characteristics in what you pointed out as "African American" accents which I only assume is indicative of people of poor southern whites and African slave heritage having such common and intertwined history. Another indication of this cultural interaction is classic southern and soul food being equally similar. I am a proud husband, father, and grandfather of a multi-raced family and I believe as America (which is a land of mutts) ages and progresses the lines that divide race, culture, and language (accents) will blend into a more mixed bag.
I just find it funny the character trying to seduce Wanda "pitched a tent"...
The overlap between New England and Transatlantic accents works bc a lot of the most traditional old-money prep schools are in New England.
... and the Transatlantic accent was a refined version of a non-rhotic New England accent, which the stage, early sound film, and even some New York schools picked up as a standard.
The New England accent and transatlantic accents sound different to me.
@@belkyhernandez8281Preppy New England is like an exaggeration of TransAtlantic
@@GamingGardevoir oh
@@GamingGardevoir nah the upperclass New England accent came first.
The West Country accent is definitely an interesting one as I never really associated it with the pirate accent growing up in the area though the connection is clear. In the UK, I feel it would be more associated with farming and being rural due to how the region is.
Yeah, like the Hobbits in Lord of the Rings.
A major part of the stereotype is also being gruff, closed off and defensive, best embodied by the off used phrase
"Git orf my land"
I always refer to it as Transatlantic accent. Because I have to strong of a mental association for Midatlantic with the Mid-Atlantic region of the US. So if you say Midatlantic accent my mind goes straight to the various modern day accents of that & the surrounding regions. Heavy emphasis on Baltimore since it's probably the most distinct of the bunch.
Every cartoon gangster is Edward G Robertson .... I think it's a hilarious accent. "Nyeah, scheee"
And Chief Wiggum from The Simpsons.
Idea for a video: I feel like the many impressions by Genie from Aladdin reflect western pop culture well, maybe a breakdown of some of those and brief explanations of what they are?
Yeah, off the top of my head he does the Peter Lorre, Jack Nicholson, French, stereotypical Gay, he does a deliberately “standard American” when he portrays the flight attendant, someone on here mentioned the Romani accent, you could say his character he portrays in the intro to the movie is that. He does an impression of Rodney Dangerfield, but while he does have a very iconic way of speaking, I don’t see it imitated very much anymore.
The Bill Murray accent is another great example of the celebrity accent taking on a life of it's own.
I would also say some similar popularity applies to actors like Sean Connery and Matthew McConaughey, though maybe more parodied than appreciated.
And we can’t forget Arnold.
Regarding the "gay accent," I'm queer myself and have a gay male coworker, and he told me that he does subconsciously play up his "gay accent" in certain crowds, because he wants to express his gayness without explicitly saying so (or wearing something obvious like a rainbow flag shirt, although he does have one lol). It can be hard to tell when other folks are gay or queer, and playing into stereotypes a little bit can help us spot each other if we're looking for potential partners or allies, and we're not in a designated queer space like a gay bar.
Sad
Theres the italian accent in two versions for different types you have your italian mobster accent often used for that type of character eg. Fat tony from the Simpsons, Big Louie and Don Turtalle from the ninja turtles, and you have you italian from italy accent for characters like Super Mario and Pistachio Disguise and often chefs
2:56 Gru from the Despicable Me movies should absolutely be in this category. His wonky way of talking adds a lot to his character in some nuanced ways.
He neglected to mention any eastern European accents!
@@simulatrix indeed
@@simulatrixthere’s thousands of accents
Great video JJ, and as for additional accent suggestions, there’s iambic pentameter, aka, "The Shakespearian accent", that's often used for characters that are extremely intelligent but the same time in some way isolated from people, or at most most people.
There's also the Russian accent. If the Russian character in question is male, they'll usually be portrayed as untrustworthy, and an inevitable looming threat of some kind. If the Russian character is female, they'll be more likely to portrayed as sort of femme fatal character, but if they speak in a higher pitch Russian accent, they'll be portrayed as kind and trustworthy, for some reason.
Men with a Scottish accent are largely portrayed the same way as characters with rougher Southern accents, though are typically not made out to be nearly as unintelligent.
The Italian accent is an easy one to explain. The character in question is either good at cooking, or in the Mafia, and the deeper the tone of voice they have, the more likely its the second one.
There's the Jamaican accent, typically used by characters that are either mystical in some way (usually fortunetellers or which doctors specifically), or just super laid back and relaxed.
Then there is the "Generic African accent", which is really most noteworthy for not really being a thing in the real world, and rather just a blend how various people in Africa speak all into one.
There's also the Chinese accent, which is most notable for both being far less common than it used to be, and since often times Japanese people are given the generic American accents, at least when they speak English, which might have something to do with the cold war.
The only other one I can think of is the "Vincent Price accent". I'm not sure I'd call his voice more Southern, British, or even Gay (and he was apparently Bisexual in real life), but nonetheless, his particular brand of speaking has become a cliché of sorts, mostly with aristocratic or eccentric characters, especially if said characters are meant to be seen as potentially malicious, or surrounded by other horrific individuals.
Hope this all helps!
I always assumed the German mad scientist stereotype was more of a reference to Frankenstein, but WWII makes sense as well.
And Sigmund Freud too, in terms of a professor character with a think German accent.
There are many people who have been in the public eye in the last century, such as Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Heisenberg or Werner von Braun, who have shaped the image of the German accent.
The British video game series 'Worms' allows you to customise your characters, and one part of this is picking an accent for them to speak with during gameplay. So there are a load of accents with stereotypical phrases for them that you can listen to, which is really fun. A lot of them are British accents that Americans might not know about, but there's some general ones too that everyone would know. Here's a link to listen to some of them if you're interested:
ruclips.net/video/3cTNiB4sjbw/видео.html
I LOVED playing that game throughout highschool!!
What I find interesting about accents is that even though I, as someone born and raised in Massachusetts, can easily hear the accent come from others, but I can’t from myself, even though I’ve been told I say certain words like a Bostonian.
Same with me but with my southern accent
Listen to yourself in recording and you will probably hear it too
I’m Texan, have a central Texas accent, and I don’t notice my accent until I travel outside of the south. And even then I only notice it on some words.
real, i'm from mass and also grew up in a neighborhood full of hispanics so watching tv i could recognize other people's accents but i didn't think i had one of my own until a couple people told me so
Out of curiosity, can you distinguish a Vermont, Maine, New Hampshirite accent from a Massachusetts/Bostonian..?
Good work, fun interesting video! Loved the last segment!
I think that there is a distinct "gangster accent" that comes from depictions of U.S. Chicago and New York area Italian and Sicilian mafia films. James Cagney was one of the earliest examples, but his speaking style was distinct to him and frequently mimicked. Cagney's "gangster accent" ultimately gave way to the dialect that we heard in the Godfather films.
Actor Joe Pesci encompasses this accent in films like "Casino" and of course "Goodfellas." Perhaps the most recent example is the accent from "The Sopranos."
Hey so just for some added context, the West Country accent was not just associated with pirates from its role in media but was also a real historical result of the presence of major naval links in the west county, and especially the port city of Bristol, with Britains emerging colonies in the New World. As a hugely profitable city at this time, many locals of the region became involved with various maritime jobs, be it in the navy, sea based trade or eventually as pirates/privateers, Blackbeard being the most famous example.
I dont know for sure, but im assuming that's why that accent was used in treasure island in the first place.
I do think that Jamacian/Caribbean accent could be on this list, but the only example I can think of is Grim from Billy & Mandy
The frog from Parappa the rapper
The crab from The Little Mermaid? Hermes from Futurama?
@@headstone9384 to this day I still have no idea why they made Hermes Jamaican. It makes him slightly more interesting to listen to, but the accent isn’t really used to signal anything about his character. Unless the whole point is to just play against stereotype, since he’s so humorous and hard-working.
I associate that accent with the Miss Cleo psychic reading commercials from back in the late 90’s, early 2000’s.
Another good good example of a celebrity impression that has become shorthand for a specific character type is the Edward G. Robinson impression used to denote a gangster type character, particularly in Looney Tunes cartoons from the forties and fifties.
Another example would be the Phil Silvers impressions from his iconic You’ll Never Get Rich tv show, which is used to invoke the stereotype of an unscrupulous con artist. Although not as popular today, it seemed like every salesman in Hanna-Barbera cartoons (Flinstones, Top Cat, etc.) sounded like Silvers’ Sergeant Bilko.
Sgt Bilko/Top Cat is one of my favorite character types. I'm so glad you mentioned this!
Now I'm thinking of how in The Simpsons Roger Meyers says that it doesn't matter that Itchy & Scratchy were plagiarized because Top Cat, Chief Wiggum (in a 4th-wall breaking moment), and Yogi Bear copied Sgt. Bilko, Edward G. Robinson, and Art Carney.
The only Phil Silvers impression I'm acquainted with is Chit Chatterson on _WB's Histeria!_ It left such a big impression on me that when I played the first two _Monkey Island_ games, I mentally read all Stan's dialog in that voice. I was _really_ weirded out when he finally got a voice in the third one and it sounded nothing like that.
This video and its predecessor are some of your best work JJ. I know breaking down cultural tropes and stereotypes is JJ’s whole thing, but these two videos in particular really crush it
What you identified as a New England accent does not really sound like one to me. Honestly I’d say Peter Griffin is a better example of the typical new English accent