The musical voice thats not your own-Singing voices for animated characters

This…..

Well it’s nothing new as it predates the renaissance of animation.

But it’s been bugging me for quite a while.

You ever watch your favorite classic Disney movie 

or it’s competitors,

Sorry for this frame grab from CATS DON'T DANCE where DANNY's mouth is exaggerated 

but I just grabbed something from IMDB and it's the best they provided.

Then you do your research or look at the credits and you find that the voice used for when a character sings is not the same actor as the person performing that character’s speaking voice?

This is the vocal equivalent to the Stunt Double.

It's basically where the studio realizes that the actor they’ve chosen from the audition can’t sing to save their life.

Using this example of Susan Alexander Kane from CITIZEN KANE because the character is described as one who barely has the best abilities of singing despite pushed motivation from Charles Foster Kane.

So instead of recasting… well it’s still a recast no matter what....

What happens is that the actor who does the speaking voice remains while he/she is replaced during the musical number.

That explains the difference in tone in the voice during those said musical numbers… when listened to very thoroughly.

Some examples are barely noticeable if the singing voice happens to have a tone sound similar to the actor who normally performs the voice of said character.

For example:

the iconic “A Whole New World” from Aladdin(1992)

When Aladdin and Jasmine sing during that number, it’s not Linda Larkin or Scott Weinger singing but rather their replacements Lea Salonga and Brad Kane.

And the transition from speaking to singing is seamless...... aside from the slightly lower pitch on JASMINE's part but still the same tone.

Same goes for others like this from Hunchback.

The Song: GOD HELP THE OUTCASTS.

In that, it’s not Demi Moore who's singing but rather

Heidi Mollenhauer.

HEIDI's Esmerelda is of a slightly higher pitch and softer sounding voice than Demi's own vocal performance.

Honestly, 

Demi Moore's voice is more befitting as Dallas Grimes from the 1996 film BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD DO AMERICA

Again, Mulan:

Whenever she sings, it’s not Ming-Na Wen but rather, 

yup you guessed it: Lea Salonga.

Same movie:

Whenever Shang sings,

it’s not B.D Wong but rather it’s Donnie Osmond.

While movies like those from DISNEY, DREAMWORKS, WARNER BROS. 

etc.,

Have done a good job with finding the right actors who can sing and still make their characters sound at least the same as their character's speaking voice,

There are times when that fails.

Take for example ROGER RADCLIFFE from 101 Dalmatians(1961)

(Or Roger Dearly if you're a DODIE SMITH purist.)

((Also, the original surname was used in Jim Jenkins 101 Dalmatians TV Series.))

Roger naturally has a British accent as performed by late actor BEN WRIGHT.

But whenever Roger sings such during his iconic CRUELLA DE VIL musical number, He drops the accent.

That's because Ben couldn't sing to save his life so the singing ultimately went to BILL LEE.

Unfortunately, Bill is not British, nor could he imitate a perfect British accent like some American actors can so whenever Roger Sings during that particular number, and many others, 

I can picture Anita calling Roger an idiot for dropping his accent.

But regardless, she still loves her husband.

Now there’s a rare chance when a character sings, it’s also their speaking voice.

Either it’s by hidden talent or the actor in question has a musical/Broadway background.

Like for example:

Jodi Benson,

Actor and singer of Ariel from The Little Mermaid

And my personal favorite:

Richard White,

Actor and singer of Gaston

"No one sings my voice as CHADLY as RICHARD WHITE, MY VOICE ACTOR!"

People like Jodi and Richard would refuse to let themselves be recast during a particular musical number so they ask to do the singing themselves.

I like it better when the actor/actress does their singing just by raw natural talent.

But I guess recasting just for a singing voice is 10x better than AUTOTUNE.

And I guess it's a good thing Disney never uses Autotune for their Musical numbers. 

Despite the current drama within the company, the Mouse House knows that real voices whether speaking or singing is the most important for all voice acting.

And yes, the singing-voice trope still persists to this day. 

So deal with it.

Or, just hire an actor/actress who's got a drama/Broadway background.