I have mentioned in the past that Sloth is one of our very favorite characters in ZOOTOPIA (which comes to Blu-Ray and DVD on June 7th), so imagine how excited I was when I found out I was going to have a change to interview not only the voice of Flash, Raymond Persi, but also the actual Flash himself! That’s what happened two weeks ago in California.
We started out with an interview of Raymond Persi, who came upon playing the role of Flash a bit accidentally. He explained that when making films they first do rough versions of them and “sometimes we don’t know who’s going to be cast yet, or we don’t even know if that character will stay in past one screening of the film. So they bring a lot of different people in the studio to do “scratch voices” it’s called – just a temporary voice, just to tell the story. And every now and then, we keep some of those voices in.” Raymond’s first scratch voice that ended up staying in a film was Gene, the little jerk from Wreck It Ralph, along with the Zombie. Then later on Get A Horse, he said, “I got to be another little jerk, the little jerky horn.” He also had a line in Frozen, which was fun for him because the character’s name was Percy.
While Raymond didn’t do any voices on the short Feast, his two Boston Terriers did! They brought the dogs into the studio and recorded them like eating things, as well as their grunts and snorts. He said “they’re both snorty dogs anyways, so it worked out well.”
When it came to Zootopia, producer Rich Moore along with the Head of Story, Jim Reardon, brought Raymond in to do scratch for Flash. Raymond said, “normally you think, oh, you’re going to do the voice of a sloth, you think ‘oooohhhhkaaaaay, I’ll taaalk sloooowly.’ But that’s not what they wanted. They said, ‘no, no, he talks normal. He just has spaces in between the words.’ So we recorded for half an hour or so, and they coached me. They showed me what they wanted. We read the lines, and then the scene didn’t change too much because after that one recording, that’s what they used in the film. I think my voice just sounded stupid enough that it worked.”
While I really enjoyed talking with Raymond, it was crazy fun getting to interview Flash himself. I totally understand the pain Judy Hopps felt in trying to get information out of him at the DMV. It’s a bit frustrating! Check it out:
ZOOTOPIA is available on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow, June 7th! If you want to make your own home viewing of the Zootopia Blu-ray a little more special, you can make this delicious Sloth Chocolate Recipe that I created in honor of flash. It’s similar to the chocolate served in Central America where non-Zootopia-dwelling sloths make their home. While it’s meant to be a hot drink, it actually tastes good cold too – – which is a good thing because at the speed he moves Flash’s cup would always be cold by the time he drank it.
Liz Mays says
This character is so funny. The DMV lines would be so long if Flash actually worked there!
Lisa Thompson says
Our entire family LOVED Zootopia when we saw it in the theater and we all agreed that Flash was our favorite! I think I’ll be buying this video when it comes out tomorrow!!!
Theresa says
Flash is too cute! I missed this one in the theaters, so I am really looking forward to getting to see it on dvd!
Shannon says
Zootopia sounds so cool, I have heard only good things!
I really need to watch it.
Marcie Wahrer says
We will be watching Zootopia tomorrow for our family movie night and I am uber excited. I have heard nothing but fantastic reviews thus far.
Val says
Thanks for sharing this fun interview! It looks like this film must be a pretty cute one to watch!
Brandy says
This looks like an adorable movie, I probably should watch it. I keep reading some of these fantastic interviews and it intrigues me.
Jeanine says
I can’t wait to see Zootopia! I have yet to see it, but I think it will be such a great family movie. This is really cool! What a wonderful experience!
Sarah Bailey says
Zootopia looks like it is going to be such a fun movie!
Robin Ruehrwein says
What a really cute interview! You had me laughing and I can’t wait to see this movie!
Pam says
I have been wanting to see Zootopia. I heard it was a really cute movie with a lot of small details in it.
Lindsey says
Oh how cool- that really IS flash!!!!! This movie was a lot of fun.
MJ L says
Wow! How cool is this?! My kids would have loved to talk to Flash!!
Stacie @ Divine Lifesytle says
Ha… Ha… Ha… Flash was my favorite character in the entire movie. He was SO every visit I’ve EVER had to the DMV. LOL
Crystal says
BEST movie of the year! My entire family adores this movie and can’t wait to buy it when it comes out on BluRay/DVD! My kids would freak over chatting with Flash – what a cool and special opportunity!