If it sounds like a duck, it may be Jason

Jason Marsden

Voice actor

Current assignments: Danger Duck on “Loonatics: Unleashed” (WB Kids!) as well as voices on the animated series “Xiaolin Showdown,” “Static Shock,” “Mucha Lucha!” and “The Fairly Odd Parents.”

Previous credits: Max in “The Goofy Movie” and “An Extremely Goofy Movie” as well as “Spirited Away,” “Lion King II” and “Jungle Cubs.”

Getting the job: “People comment how cush of a deal [voice work] is because we get to work in our pajamas if we want to -- and sometimes I do, if I am so inclined. I have had a career on camera as well, and voice-over acting is 10 times more fun than on camera. I can audition from my house, via my Mac. I did the movie ‘Spirited Away,’ and I auditioned and booked that from my home office.

“They sent me the copy [of the lines], I read it and mailed it to them in an MP3 file. But I do go to the studio to record.”

Finding your voice: “Danger Duck’s voice is definitely specific. They wanted a Daffy-like sound -- they wanted a lisp. Sometimes they give you an image of a character and that helps with the reference, and sometimes they just want you to come up with something unique. A great thing about the voice-over industry is there is very little competition. What I mean by that is everyone is so unique -- if they choose Rob Paulsen or Kevin Richardson over me, they are a talent I can’t compete with. If I don’t have that uniqueness [for a part] they will go somewhere else.”

The recording booth: “With Warner Bros., we have a full cast that we record with. We play off of each other’s energies. Comic timing is a big factor in this show, so it works to have someone to work off of. For ‘Loonatics,’ we get a complete script and the details are on the stage direction. Most people think that animation is done first and then the voices are recorded afterward, but we record and the animators animate toward our performance.”

Background sketch: “I was an only child, so I had myself to entertain. When I played with my Transformer action figures, the voices had to sound just like the cartoon. So I started practicing at a young age. When I moved to California -- I was from Rhode Island -- within a year of being here I went to an acting workshop and they sent me to an agent. I was 11.”

Breakthrough: “The first ever cartoon I did was Disney’s ‘Adventures of the Gummi Bears.’ I was not a Gummi Bear. I was playing young human boys [at first]. It’s only recently I have gotten to play ducks and other crazy characters.”

Diving into the unseen realm: “I think my ego level was too big, so I put myself out of on-camera [work] for a while. I just really wanted to focus on animation. I was really busy, and it was hard to juggle projects. And I really have a great time doing cartoons. I work with people I listened to as a kid. I also want to develop a behind-the-camera career directing and producing, and voice-over allows me the time to do that.”

Mentors: “I worked with voice actor Michael Bell; he has done tons of work. We worked together on a TV show, and I recognized his voice. I told him I liked voice-over, and he brought a script he worked on where there were three characters in the script, so I could practice with it and diversify my voice.”

Putting it in ink: “I did a cartoon for Disney called ‘Jungle Cubs,’ a baby version of ‘The Jungle Book.’ I tried out and booked the role of young [tiger] Shere Khan, whom I patterned after George Sanders, who was the originator of the role. I watched George Sanders’ movies to get his dialect down. I decided to get my first tattoo, and I thought what better tattoo to get than a voice that I do, so I’ll get Shere Khan. Literally a week after I got the tattoo, they said you’re great, but we are going in a different direction for the voice, so we are going to have you reaudition. The role slipped through my fingers.

“I reauditioned with a different voice [and kept the part], so the tattoo remained.”

Age: 30

Resides: Burbank

Union or guild: Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA

Salary: “You can make very good money doing voice-over. You can make $1 and you can make more than that. It depends on the project.”