FORT WAYNE – Imagine walking down the toy aisle and the voice emanating from one of the playthings is your own.
It’s pretty “surreal” to push a button and hear your voice, said James Coffey, chief executive officer of Fort Wayne-based Blue Vision Music.
“You want to pull people aside and say, ‘Hey, that’s me,’ but they’ll probably think you’re crazy or won’t believe you,” he said. “It can be pretty cool.”
The voices inside many toys on shelves this holiday season are from Blue Vision. Items featuring the company’s vocals include Rockin’ Rider by Tek Nek Toys International Inc., Little People Fire Truck Ride-On by Fisher-Price and the Sing & Learn Baby Doll by Goldberger Co.
And Blue Vision makes sure talk is cheap.
The children’s music and recording company provides voice-over work for numerous toy companies at prices much lower than competitors’ in larger markets.
“You have all of these New York studios and all of these L.A. studios, but they’re better and it’s top-quality work,” said Lee Capozzi, head of product development for Dan-Dee International, a toy company in Jersey City, N.J.
“I’m an East Coast guy, so I’m not used to people being so nice,” Capozzi said. “They really are Santa’s little helpers.”
The voice work of husband-and-wife team James Coffey and Georgean Johnson-Coffey can be found in dolls, plush and educational toys, ATVs for tikes and just about anything where an audio microchip can be placed. The couple, however, don’t craft computer hardware.
They write the songs that make the whole world sing – as well as providing the occasional “mooo” or “oink.”
“It is a lot of fun,” said Johnson-Coffey, president of the business that began voice-over and special-effects work for toy companies a decade ago.
From a giggling baby to animals teaching preschoolers the alphabet, Blue Vision has provided audio for several other notable brands, including Disney, Hasbro and Mattel.
Fifth-grader Hannah Moore sings and does voice work for Blue Vision.
“My sister and I had to sound like penguins, but we had to plug our noses while doing it,” said the 11-year-old daughter of Jeff and Heather Moore. “It was hilarious.”
The Moore family has been tapped for talking teapots, baby dolls and a moose.
Heather Moore, a teacher at Whispering Meadows Elementary School, said some consumers would be surprised to learn that her husband is the voice behind some products.
“He had to sound like Barry White and Randy Jackson of ‘American Idol,’ but he’s this skinny white man from Fort Wayne,” she said of her husband, a theater department lecturer at IPFW. “We have a lot of fun.”
But make no mistake, the Coffeys provide most of the music and voices heard in the products. The Fort Wayne Children’s Choir, friends and other acquaintances also are among Blue Vision’s roster of talent.
And there’s good reason to refer to their contract workers as vocal “talent,” Johnson-Coffey said. Being able to utter something like “howdy, partner” on cue isn’t as easy as it sounds, she said.
“You have to be able to be expressive, animated,” Johnson-Coffey said. “Some of the best singers are actors and vice versa. It just all depends on who we’re dealing with.”
It also depends on what a company wants. Johnson-Coffey said one toy manufacturer that wanted a loud – but inviting – bellow thought her “come and get it” cry initially “sounded a little too stern,” she said.
“I didn’t mean for it come out that way, but that’s how they felt. I was supposed to be a farmer’s wife. It worked out in the end.”
So how does a company whose forte is making children’s music start doing toy voice-over work? Word of mouth.
“Yeah, that’s pretty much how it got started,” Johnson-Coffey said. “I’ve provided my voice a few times, but I’m not very good at it. Jim is better and has the musical background.”
Coffey has a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in education from Indiana University. But his credentials don’t guarantee that his clients will always like what he presents them, he said.
“Some of them are tough,” Coffey said. “Just when you think you’ve nailed it, a customer will come back and say they wanted something a little different. Some of them are really particular, but we understand that.”
For instance, last year Coffey said he was having a tough time imitating the voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from the popular Rankin-Bass stop-motion animation that debuted in the 1960s.
“It’s such an iconic voice, and that is what makes it a real challenge,” Coffey said. “You want to make sure you get the flavor of the voice and the speech patterns. We usually get pretty close.”
Another challenge is emulating the voice of celebrities in animated films.
“I mean, who sounds exactly like Tom Hanks?” Coffey asked, referring to Hanks’ role as Woody in the “Toy Story” series. When it comes to famous actors, however, Blue Vision provides only impersonations for prototypes that Disney reviews.
“We do, though, do music for Disney toys that are found in stores.”
Jeff Holtzman is chief executive officer and president of Goldberger Co. of New York. He said officials at the toy company are impressed with Blue Vision because “they get it.”
“They really have a feel for what kids like and what they sound like,” Holtzman said. “Sometimes you have something in your mind, but you don’t know how to express it. You can just tell these folks a concept, and they’re able to develop it.”
