Short Stuff: The Voice of God

Guaranteed human. All right.

“Now the way an instant oil change, change wisely.”

What's up fam at Sports Journalists, Ari Chambers?

Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl Sam Jay. And we're the host of Everyone Watches Women Sports, a new podcast from Together. We're breaking down the biggest headlines, the viral moments, and the stories everyone's talking about across women's sports. From game changing performances to culture-shifting conversations, we'll give you our takes, our debates, and a few last along the way.

Because everyone watches women's sports. Listen to everyone watches women's sports. From the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, and welcome to The Short Stuff. I'm Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry sitting in for a day.

So this is short stuff. Hit it, Chuck. In a world where two doofus is podcast.

That's my imitation, everybody.

Of Don La Fontaine, and this is a bit of tribute to the man that was known as the voice of God. Don La Fontaine, the movie trailer guy. That's right.

“That's exactly what a lot of people call him.”

The movie trailer guy because he has to credit Chuck this eye popping number. I'm going to take this one, okay? Yeah, let's hear it. Over the course of his career, he recorded more than 5,000 film trailers. Oh, man.

Preview. 5,000 previews. 750,000 television spots like commercials and promos and all that stuff. I bet Don La Fontaine when he passed away in 2008 was a very, very rich man. I would think so.

I would think so. And good for him. Sure, I mean he did it with his own hard work.

I mean by the end of his life, he was working basically till the end.

Yeah. And by the end of his life he had built out a home office and was averaging seven voiceovers a day. Which if you don't do voiceovers, you're probably like that doesn't seem like that much. I'd knock that out in like 15 minutes. Yeah.

No, you wouldn't. Because it's actually surprisingly difficult. And if you're actually working with the professional company, they will make you do that over and over. And over again, and it is quite, it's quite awful. I don't recommend it.

Yeah. Who doesn't love voiceover. Yeah. We read our audiobook and it was not fun. And this is two guys who talked for a living into a microphone and it was pretty painstaking.

Yeah. And the director was even great. Yeah. Now everyone did a great job. Everyone was awesome.

Nothing to do with that. It was just very monotonous. It wasn't for us. Yeah, we're very off the cuff. Obviously the way we do our show and did not transfer over to like exact readings of things. Yeah.

For sure. Like exact. It has to be exact or you'll get yelled at. All right. So Don Lafantaine was born into Luth, Minnesota.

He served in the military and the, well, he's in the army because he was in the United States Army band and chorus and worked as a recording engineer there. And once he got out, he continued engineering at the National Recording Studios in New York City. And in 1962, he got hooked up with a producer, a radio producer named Floyd Peterson. And Peterson just happened to be working with Stanley, the great Stanley Kubrick and Dr. Strangelove. He was creating these kind of radio for almost.

Right. And it was like really successful. So he and Lafantaine hooked up and said, all right, we should like be like legit partners from now on. Yeah. They did legitimize that they formed Floyd L. Peterson Inc.

“And I think this is the impression I have is that initially Don Lafantaine just kept doing his engineering thing.”

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think so. It wasn't until 1965 a few years into their partnership that I guess there was some scheduling mix up.

And voiceover actor didn't show up on time or for their slot. So Don Lafantaine had to step in and record some radio spots for the gunfighters of Casa Grande for MGM. And MGM said, brother, we are just going to buy this whole thing out right. This proof of concept is done. You invented the plane with the seatback trays and everything right out of the gate.

They're like, hey, you with the perfect voice.

Give this a shot. Exactly. This was at a time when film production and promotion, we're all kind of done in house. Like you made the movie and then you didn't go to a different company to like cut the trailer or whatever. Like they did it all themselves.

Right.

“And they were like, hey, I think we can disrupt this tradition.”

And they, I don't know why that was funny. Why was that funny? Disruptors, disresuptors, just such like a 2013, horrible Silicon Valley horror show. Yeah, I wasn't thinking of it in the terms of disruptors, but they literally disrupted. But yeah, you're right.

Yeah. But no, no, I mean, I wasn't laughing at you, Charles. No, no, I know. You're laughing at people that use word disruptors with a straight face. Yeah.

And the disruptors themselves. Yeah, sure. All right. So they were disruptors straight face. And they said, they kind of developed the modern movie trailer as we know it together.

It was, you know, it was, it was a very creative time for them.

And they were the first to create these like catch phrases that are now very ubiquitous across the trailer industry.

And, you know, this example, I think this came from the New York Times of Victory Area, or maybe sag after a, or DawnMoth on Tane.com. But they, they listed some of these sort of catch phrases that are now just all over the place. Like, a one-man army, or nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no way out. But of course, in a world was was the money slogan.

And La Fontaine just, he kind of crystallized it when he was like, it's just a very rapid way to set the scene. When you can say in a world where, where violence rules, like that kind of says it all in just a handful of words about what kind of movie you're about to see. Yeah, because if a 90-minute movie is ideal to have like a nice steady crisp clip, a trailer has to be even crisper. Yeah.

“Even at a steady or clip, you have to be able to, yeah, surmise a bunch of stuff from just a few words.”

And that was a, I mean, that was a great innovation. I saw basically everywhere that he's the one that came up with that. He's certainly credited with it. You get the impression no Hollywood historian has actually gone to the trouble of identifying that yes, he definitely was the one who pioneered it. Everybody's like, yeah, it was done La Fontaine.

Yeah. All right. Nice caveat. And we'll be back right after this with more on the voice of God. "Following instant oil change."

If your service lads on, trust the text with the train. That's us. 270 hours with zero complaining. They train under the hood. They train down in the pit.

270 hours means they're training's legit. It's the smart choice for smart folk and care for their steed.

“Some trust the instant oil change that starts with foully.”

Now the oil and instant oil change changed wisely. What's up fam? I'm sports journalist Ari Chambers. Hey, what's up, y'all? It's your girl Sam J.

And we're the host of everyone watches women sports. A new podcast from together and I heart women sports. Because let's be real. Women sports is giving us way too much to talk about these days.

So Kelsey Fennler, she became the first female solo roer to go from California to Hawaii.

My first does is like, what's up with the snacks? Like, what do we eat? The highlights, the rivalries, the breakout stars. The moments that take over your entire timeline. In the conversations that start during the game and somehow keep going all week.

Every week, we're breaking down the biggest stories across women sports. Naomi Osaka showing out she beat Savalinka. Shawn's to you now me. You get the palm Naomi, you get the palm for that. Because we're not just interested in what happened.

We're interested in why everyone's talking about it. Because everyone watches women sports. Listen to everyone watches women sports. On the I heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. That's what my Apple, my SK has put.

Hey, hey, hey, let's put the TV to the bank down. But don't you shit down. All right. So in a world is the kind of thing that has been parried many, many times over the years. Like once it became so ubiquitous, every comedian latched onto it.

They were in guy co commercials. The Simpsons movie like used on La Fontaine. And at the end, like Homer was talking back to Don La Fontaine as the voice of God. And that was kind of fun. So obviously, that's kind of thing that's going to be parried.

But as far as his real career goes, we can go back to 1976. When he started his own production company, Don La Fontaine Associates.

And two years later, Paramount Pictures said, "Hey, why don't you just come work for us and run our trailer department?" Yeah.

“And he said, "Catchin, I'll be right there."”

If I always loved your mountain logo.

Yeah, me too. That was such a great thing at the beginning of Frater's Law Start. Did all this from the Paramount logo into the actual mountain? I knew you were going to say that. I just saw a disclosure day, the new Spielberg, and I highly recommend it.

Okay, good. That's all back rooms in the theater twice within three days. Oh, wow. If I really liked it a lot. Yeah, all right. Did you see it twice just because you wanted to?

Or you're like, "Oh, I got to take you me back and see this." Both of those. Okay, cool. Yeah, that's fun. Yeah.

So, but yes, I recommend that as well. I'll go see this closure day. Yeah. You're the second group of people who recommended it. I'm a group.

You are amazing.

That's how important you are.

All right, so he worked at Paramount for just a few years. Let's in '81 move to LA, which is ironically where Paramount is.

“And there was an agent named Steve Tisherman who said, "Hey, you should really like,”

like he wasn't the voice of God, the voice of God yet in 1981. He were like, you should really just concentrate on this because you're so good at it." Sure. And that was it. That's when he really cemented his legacy as just the voice over guy.

Yeah, real quick question, Chuck. Why did Steve Tisherman's name sound familiar? I did not get a chance to look him up. But I don't know. Is he like a legendary agent?

I have no idea. Actually, it didn't ring familiar to me. Okay. It did for me for some, maybe. Maybe, I don't know.

Yeah. But yes, Don Laugh and Tame did become the king of voice over as the voice of God after about that time starting in the '80s. He became the, like, the in-house, I guess voice for all four. All four of the networks in America, plus the overlooked fifth one, UPN.

That's right. And TNT and TBS, Cartoon Network. I mean, you can hardly name a brand without mentioning Don Laugh on Tame having voice for them. You're not going to say all these brands? That's funny.

And then, you know, he was sort of the in-show announcer for award shows for the Academy Awards at times. And just, you know, it was a heck of a career in a, a love it when someone can find a niche like that and just like dominate it to that degree. It's really kind of fun. He definitely did dominate it. And not just dominate it, but also make fun of yourself too.

Oh, yeah. He had a great sense of humor. I feel like. Yeah, that a Geico commercial I went back and watched that the one from 2005. Yeah.

It is so cute. There's this real Geico customer telling about like this story where they had to like, you know, call Geico and, you know, I guess make a claim. That's the word I'm looking for. Sure.

And it was just an average everyday story. So they hired Don Laugh on Tame to kind of movie it up. And so she, he was translating what the woman was saying. It was, it was very cute. Yeah.

I bet he made some good scratch from them too. I hope so, man. He definitely deserved it. And by the way, if you are, if you work in advertising for Geico, you guys have been killing it for the, the, the entire century so far.

Yeah.

“I think they always put out a pretty fun spot.”

Remember the Geico caveman? That's great. Did you know that there was a short lived TV show featuring them? Yeah. Do you remember that?

Yeah. Did it actually come out? I remember it was a, yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. I didn't know if they actually made it to air. But I knew it was a thing. It was rough. Yeah.

I mean, that probably wasn't. Some things are best left is 30 or 30 second ads. Yeah. Right. Right.

Like most things probably. Yeah. America is very fickle. So this is, well, I don't know if it's surprising or not. Because he kind of had that deep baritone.

But he was an on and off smoker for a lot of his life. And he had quit though for two solid decades. He did the right thing. Before he was admitted to Cedar Sinai. Very sadly in 2008.

With the pulmonary embolism was in critical condition the week after that.

And his family was like, let's pray for dawn. You know, like he needs to hear from everybody. And on September 1st, 2008. He passed at the age of 68 about 10 days into his hospitalization. And he is interned at the fantastic legendary Hollywood forever cemetery.

Which is great. We did a whole short stuff on itself. Oh, yeah. That's right. Yeah.

Apparently his last final performance was in a thinniest and firm episode. I'm pretty sure. And I know it's a cartoon. I'm pretty sure it's Nickelodeon cartoon. The episode is The Chronicles of Meep.

If you want to go here him. His final line was in a world there. I said it. Happy.

And they put a little short tribute to him at the end of the episode.

So good for them.

“I wonder if he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame because he totally should.”

If he doesn't thin the Walk of Fame needs to get their act together. Yeah. I'm looking that up real quick because that was something that I meant to look up earlier. Well, hold on while you're looking that up. Let me mention there's a 2013 movie written and directed by Lake Bell.

Oh, yeah. Called in a world.

And it's about like the voice of her world, I guess.

Yeah, yeah, she's great. Yeah, I haven't seen it. Have you seen it? I have not seen that movie. But I'm a fan of Lake Bell from children's hospital.

And I've just learned and of course. I don't know if this is right or not. The AI overviews are so bad. It's hysterical sometimes. Let me just make something up because that says no.

But then I'm seeing a picture of him with a star. So maybe yes. Yesterday, I asked whatever the stupid assistant in my house is. Because I wasn't sure if Ireland had made the world cup this year. And I said this Ireland in the world cup.

And it said no Ireland is an Ireland. Oh my god. Wow. Yeah, not a joke. Wow.

Pretty unbelievable. At least it acknowledged that Ireland exists.

“Yeah, I mean, everything, everything better, right?”

Sure.

Yeah, but like by the second.

All right. So I'll do some real research and see if he had set star on the Walk of Fame and I'll report back later. Yeah, because ironically, the AI assistant could be right because another AI program created a fake picture of him on the, with a star. Yeah. What a time to be alive.

I know. That's it. I guess short stuff's out, right? Short stuff's out.

“Stuff you should know is a production of I Heart Radio.”

For more podcasts to my heart radio, visit the I Heart Radio app. Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. [Music]