Kingdom Hearts Novelization: Dramatised Audiobook

Project Overview

KINGDOM HEARTS NOVELIZATION: DRAMATIZED AUDIOBOOK

 Hello and thank you for taking the time to check out our post!

The aim is to produce an audiobook reading of the first Kingdom Hearts novel, which totals 157 pages of text. You can either buy a copy yourself (though a PDF version will be provided upon a successful casting) or refer to the above video to see what this project will entail. (Please note, final edit may differ from what is shown in the test).

First Deadline (Narrator)(CLOSED) - 13th September

Second Deadline (Sora, Riku, Kairi, Leon, Yuffie, Cid, Ansem, Maleficent) - 5th October

Due to the fact that the narration will be a much lengthier process than character voices, we'll be casting the narrator role before we take auditions for the characters. That said, I have checked through previous auditions on the site and listened to many talented impressionists give their takes on the prominent Disney characters that appear in the franchise and may scout those roles accordingly. I'd recommend either messaging our account personally, or posting casting queries here if you are worried about being overlooked as a potential Donald, Goofy, etc..

Brief

Although length cannot be determined at this time, the intention is to produce the audiobook as one unbroken video, rather than over several instalments. There will also be visual elements, as showcased in the explainer video, so there may be a prolonged editing period after recording has finished. You will be notified when the work is uploaded and requests for samples for voice/showreels will be provided upon request.

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts is an Action-JRPG franchise developed by Square Enix, in collaboration with Disney and borrows characters from various works by both companies. It focuses on Sora, a 14-year old boy and the search for his friends Riku and Kairi, after their peaceful home, the Destiny Islands, is overcome by a dark force. He meets Donald Duck and Goofy, who were sent to find the Keyblade wielder by their king, Mickey. After realising Sora is the wielder of the Keyblade, they aid him in his search.

Meanwhile it is revealed that Maleficent is after the seven Disney princesses, having found a way to open the way to Kingdom Hearts, using the princesses' power. What the 'Kingdom Hearts' in-game is, in itself, is the heart of all the various worlds depicted in Disney's early animated movies. This concept was the game's greatest draw upon release and it quickly established itself as one of the industries' most interesting franchises. 

The book mimics the game it is based on, though it does cut out many scenes and interactions. That does not mean, however, that reading the book alone will leave you at a disadvantage if you have not played the games.

Additional

The project itself is stand alone, with there being no intention of moving onto any of the other books. Though copyright and fair use is a regularly debated topic it is quite clear that this project will deprive the first novel of sales. That said, the Kingdom Hearts novels were not widely bought upon release and very little marketing was done to promote them.

The hope is that this adaptation might go some way towards encouraging people to pick up the sequential publications and giving them a read for themselves.

Requisites

Naturally it is expected that you record using microphones of acceptable quality and that your delivery isn't effected by background noise.

Demo reels are fine as long as you state in the caption moments that you feel indicate suitable voice qualities for the character you are auditioning for, this moments can be mark with specific time stamps or you can suggest board segments.

Though only a very small portion of the characters being voiced will actually be in situations where it is necessary, you absolutely need to be able to scream and shout if needed. 

It would be unfair of me to do as others have on this site and dismiss anyone outright due to their age, given the ages of the original cast of the game the novel is based on. However, for anyone 18 or under there is an additional requirement that needs to be abided by. A parent/guardian, must be present to observe recordings and personal messaging. I admit that I am uncertain which legal system is applied when it comes to multinational collaborative work, however in the UK it is illegal to work with children unsupervised without an enhanced DBS check, as the employer I'll be erring on the side of caution and assume that I am still subject to that law in this case. 

Thank you for reading this through to the end and good luck with your auditions. We'll be taking auditions for the next batch of characters around 28th September, for those of you interested in the project, we'll see you then.

Best wishes, please stay safe during these troubling times.

Jude Howman,

GameFileDubbing.

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Latest Updates

  • Final Casting

    Well the final casting is in, this was extremely difficult and I want to thank you all for your patience. Narrowing down over 500 people to select just 9 was excruciating and I, again, would like to thank everyone for participating; Narrator - FalonEcho Sora - Sammysan Riku - Jake M Kairi - bellbellbell5 Leon/Squall - SeanGoodrich Yuffie - Starlight Hope Cid - DeVonW Ansem - vlaurent Maleficent - DidiDoesVoices --NARRATOR, Now I had to make a few careful considerations when casting the narrator. Though not as prominent in the early chapters, the prose becomes a little problematic. It is clear that english is not the translator’s first language and the wording in certain areas sounds a little unnatural. We have reworded those sections, but didn’t want to tamper with the original text too much, therefore I decided we would need to go with someone who I felt had the greatest experience in this field in order to achieve the most natural sound we can. As can be seen on Falon’s profile her experience is very extensive and my expectation is that she will be able to prevent the translation issues from distracting from the performance. That said I am sure you will be asking why I asked many of you (even those with no narration experience) to resubmit. Originally experience wasn’t going to be a factor at all in the decision-making process, however I hadn’t anticipated how much (and how many of you) would improve with every subsequent audition. The gap on the frontrunners, whom I didn’t feel needed feedback, was effectively closed. If I was going to narrow down a shortlist to pick from I had to take other factors into consideration. --SORA, I’m glad this is Kingdom Hearts 1 and not the subsequent books. The male voice, obviously, has an extremely unique sound to it when it’s breaking and it’s incredibly difficult to replicate. I think the vast majority of male applicants that came in for the role couldn’t entirely nail that. Were this project about any of the later games, when Osmont’s voice had matured, this decision would have been agonizingly more difficult. On the female applicant end, I think there were also struggles to replicate that sound, it was always going to be a challenge to get that on-the-verge-of-manhood quality. A special mention to Alireza Ahrari (a good first audition, but you’d very much benefit from a better mic. A bright future IF you push on from here and close the experience gap on your fellow actors) --RIKU, I have to be self critical on this one, the line selection was poor. 1st and 3rd lines were very low energy, I didn’t give any of you a chance to have fun with Riku’s arrogant or teasing moments. It left the auditions feeling very flat, with little to no opportunity to show off your range. That said, well done to those of you who made the best of what you were given. There was a lot of animation in Jake M’s voice, keeping the dialogue from becoming too monotone. --KAIRI, unfortunately this is where I got held up in the casting. Kairi was a very difficult role to cast, 2nd only to Ansem. There were so many of you who captured that Kairi essence and I’d be very interested in having some of you onboard to voice the princesses when we are ready to record the Disney roles. A special mention to Nubah Punya (so glad to hear you audition again after trying out for Narrator and what you submitted here was a definite improvement. Keep up the hard work.) --LEON, I was happy with the Leons, a real nice spread in terms of approaches. That said, some of you went with a gruffer sound, which, (whilst I feel many of you pulled off very well) I worry would be too close in sound to Cid. Since not every line has an attribution i.e. X said, Y replied, we need to lean toward making characters sound as different to one another as possible. --YUFFIE, I was quite lucky to have Yuffie as a character. I mentioned that some of the male applicants for Sora sadly had voices too mature for the role and the same was true of Kairi. Fortunately with Yuffie I felt there was a voice there that was achievable for actresses unable to comfortably hit Kairi’s child-like voice. So I’m glad there were roles suitable for all female voices. NOTE: I would recommend everyone go over to mezzyxo’s audition and look at how Meg presents her captions. Timestamp your takes, then include your additional notes, then include your discord. Very clean, very slick, leaves a great impression on the director. --CID, a lot of you went very gruff on Cid, perhaps I didn’t give you much room with his voice description, that said there was still a good selection of auditions in there for me to pick from. A bulk feedback would be to relax a little, there’d be five or six of you with very painful throats if you had to keep up that voice over a prolonged recording session. The sustainability of the voice you presented did factor into my decision making. --ANSEM, without a doubt the hardest role to cast. I feel that A LOT of you captured the essence of his character very well in terms of the controlled pacing, arrogance and tone. Like the Narrator role, there were simply too many fantastic submissions and I wasn’t able to draft a shortlist for Ansem, in the end I, again, had to resort to considering additional criteria. Despite not auditioning for any other role than Ansem, vlaurent still took the time to listen to people going for Narrator, Sora, etc and gave them advice, suggesting tone choices and areas to emphasise certain words in a line. Having someone onboard who, I think, can help get the best out of the other actors would be a great asset to the production. --MALEFICENT, there were plenty of magnificent Maleficent submissions. It sounds like you all had a lot of fun with this one. Ultimately, as an impressionist-marked role, I had to go with DidiDoesVoices due to her flawless imitation of Eleanor Audley’s portrayal. I’m sorry to those of you who didn't quite make the cut, I wish I could elaborate more on the auditions that I enjoyed, or give feedback to everyone regarding areas where they may have just fallen short. But, with how quickly interest in this project grew that isn’t feasible. I can only wish you all good luck on your next auditions and we look forward to bringing as many of you onboard as possible to pad out the remaining roles. Jude
  • Casting Closed

    Hello everyone, Well we're finally here. It has been a big 2 months where I've had the pleasure to listen to hundreds of extremely talented and extremely passionate actors. I would like to thank you all for taking the time to audition, I have even been humbled to have some people constantly look to improve by submitting multiple takes, particularly in the narration aspect early on. There have been those of you who have commented and encouraged fellow applicants and attached messages of support for me and the project with your auditions. We honestly feel incredibly lucky to have had every single one of you involved in this process and part of what I have been doing personally is noting down your names for future projects as, inevitably, not all of you can be cast. It seems there were a few last minute submissions so I let the casting run an extra 24 hours before delisting the project from public view. Right now there is no clear timeframe for when casting will be concluded. I haven't listened to any character auditions yet (as I don't want to have any bias for/against candidates based on how frequently I have heard their same clip or other similar factors, my intention is to make the casting process as controlled and unaffected as possible) however I have visited each of your profiles and made notes based on listening to your auditions for other project managers on CCC so that I have a clearer idea of what you might bring. The casting decisions will most likely be announced on the 17th (11 days) and I would like to insist that you all take pride in what you have submitted, I firmly believe that together you have all made each role so competitive and forced the standard to be raised to such an incredibly high level that any success this project has is solely down to your participation, because without you this cast won't be as strong as it will be. I will urge patience for this final phase and for those of you who do not make it into the roles advertised here please stay active on the site as I will, once primary voice recording concludes, obviously need to call on some of you for the dozens of additional characters. i.e. Tarzan, Jasmine, Peter Pan, etc... with those of you who auditioned being given priority for those roles. Feel free to continue to contact me, I am sorry that over the last fortnight I've not been getting back to some of you, unfortunately a lot of the prep has taken me away from the site and I forgot to set up notifications on my account, drop me a reminder in case you feel I've forgotten about you. Thank you all again and I hope you're all staying safe. Best wishes, Jude
  • Narrator Deadline Closed

    Thank you to everyone who auditioned for the Narrator role, the deadline has now passed for new submissions. We never imagined how positively this project would be received and are incredibly grateful to everyone who took the time to put forward their take on the role. In some cases we were lucky enough to have some of you submit several takes over the last few weeks and had the immense pleasure to listen to how you pushed yourselves to improve your performance for each and every audition. Though a role on CastingCallClub that has been closed will appear as "cast to offsite actor" the casting has not yet been finalized. Since there are over 250 auditions for the Narrator role alone, the final decision may not be made until September 20th. The deadline for the project has now been moved to coincide with the next character deadline of October 8th, for the remaining open roles. Good luck to those auditioning for character roles.
  • 2nd Feedback Day -HANDED OUT-/Feedback postponed

    The feedback for Narrator auditions from 26th August to 2nd September is finally ready. Thank you all for your patience, I’m sorry it took longer than anticipated to get back to you. As we get closer to full production may attention will be very frequently drawn away from the auditions and focusing on managing other aspects of the project. Therefore it is unfortunate that I’ll have to take a step back from routine feedback sessions, since now we’re getting to a point where auditions are coming in faster than I can write feedback! Moreover I’m only going to present feedback to the Narrator applicants, as again the amount of auditions coming in is too great for me to allocate time for helpful personalised feedback. To give it some perspective, since opening character auditions on the 31st August, there’s been over 200 auditions submitted, 200 in just 7 days. Hopefully once Narrator auditions have closed I can free up more of my time and give feedback to character auditions. I hope you are all staying safe and keeping well, Jude
  • 1st batch of Character Roles added

    Hello everyone, Character roles for Sora, Riku Kairi, Leon, Yuffie, Cid, Ansem and Maleficent have been added to the casting call. The deadline for these roles is set at October 5th, the deadline as advertised on the project has not been adjusted as it may mislead anyone wishing to audition for the role of Narrator. These roles were supposed to be added yesterday, however I haven't been able to close the gap on the schedule delays I eluded to in the last update.
Voice Actor
Voice Actor
Narrator
closed
Paid: Flat Rate 200 USD
cast offsite

I filled in as Narrator for the explainer video in order to check the pacing, it isn't an indicator of how I expect the lines to be delivered. Make the role your own and, of course, feel free to ask further about the role, if anything feels unclear.

It's been confirmed by Tetsuya Nomura that Mickey is the voice speaking to Sora throughout the first game. Since he doesn't fit the typical mould for an omniscient presence, I feel the same can go for the voice of the reader, you don't have to be a richly resonant, deep-voiced, middle aged man. However a dynamic and tonally aware delivery is important, along with good mic technique. A good reference for this role might be Stephan Stanton's recording of Treasure Island (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y4FuHiZTSY&list=PL_tOOJaoMSNUiAQDL5_pv4SGcxjAoqE-u).

The lines for this audition are quite long so if you are unable to create .mp3 files (and therefore cannot fit every set of lines into the submission) at least include the third set of lines. This role relies on your ability to read fluently and add flavour to prevent listeners from losing interest. The third set of lines are the best way for you to demonstrate that ability.

Payment will be adjusted to compensate instances of re-recordings and production delays.

  • [Warm Introduction of Disney characters] Donald strode past them, chest puffed out, tail waddling to and fro. As the royal magician, his first order of business for the day was to greet the king. [p.29]

  • [Foreboding/Concern] The rain started to come down harder. Showers after sunset weren’t that rare here. The ocean here was usually calm, but once in a while, there would be downpours or storms. Still… [p. 32]

  • [General/Descriptive] The man who came up to the counter had goggles on his head, a cigarette hanging from his lip, and a bellyband over his T-shirt—a middle-aged man, hardly the sort of person Sora would have expected to find running the Accessory Shop. [p.39]

Voice Actor
Voice Actor
Sora
closed
Paid: Flat Rate 60 USD
Role assigned to: sammy-san

This role has been marked as NON-IMPRESSIONIST. There is no expectation for an applicant auditioning for the role of Sora to mimic, impersonate, or otherwise alter their performance beyond how they desire to portray the selected role. However a reference has been provided at the bottom of the description for the performer's own usage.

Sora is 14-years old at the time of Kingdom Hearts and acts accordingly. He demonstrates a curiosity and fascination at the prospect of new worlds and experiences. He is quite forthright when it comes to expressing wants and desires, but he'll struggle with moments of insecurity about his ability to accomplish what he sets out to do. Rather his confidence stems from support units built around him, meaning he'll often sway between the positions of being an enthusiasitc leader and someone who needs close guidance.

REFERENCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeExqVOJhyc (reference provided by third-party).

Payment will be adjusted to compensate instances of re-recordings and production delays.

  • [To Tarzan, tired after trudging throw the jungle] “Umm, could we have a break-? I guess you don’t understand... No go. Rest. [miming his exaugstion] Phew. Do you..?”

  • [Lost and uncertain, after being seperated from his friends] “Yeah… Hey, Cid. Do you think Kairi and Riku are here, too?”

  • (Kairi: Hey, let’s take the raft and go—just the two of us!)[Embarrassed] “Huh? What’s gotten into you?”

Voice Actor
Voice Actor
Riku
closed
Paid: Flat Rate 35 USD
Role assigned to: Jake MVA

This role has been marked as NON-IMPRESSIONIST. There is no expectation for an applicant auditioning for the role of Riku to mimic, impersonate, or otherwise alter their performance beyond how they desire to portray the selected role. However a reference has been provided at the bottom of the description for the performer's own usage.

Riku is 15-years old at the time of Kingdom Hearts. He provides a nice contrast to Sora, being largely self-relient, and therefore lacking the impulse to consult others, his myopic perspective prevents him from allowing people, who might challenge his views, close to him. As a result he doesn't realise how far he strays from the path he sets himself, until it's too late.  

REFERENCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeExqVOJhyc (reference provided by third-party).

Payment will be adjusted to compensate instances of re-recordings and production delays.

  • [Quietly reflective about his eagerness to explore] "And suppose there are other worlds. Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater…”

  • (He was different)[Manic] “The door is open, Sora! Now we can go to the outside world!” (Riku said in a rush, a strange excitement in his eyes)

  • [Distrust] “I seriously doubt that.[beat] Why are you doing all this for me? What’s the catch?”

Voice Actor
Voice Actor
Kairi
closed
Paid: Flat Rate 20 USD
Role assigned to: bellbellbell5

This role has been marked as NON-IMPRESSIONIST. There is no expectation for an applicant auditioning for the role of Kairi to mimic, impersonate, or otherwise alter their performance beyond how they desire to portray the selected role. However a reference has been provided at the bottom of the description for the performer's own usage. 

Kairi is 13-years old at the time of Kingdom Hearts and is the only character who's age doesn't entirely reflect their emotional maturity. She is very deflective, often showing a reluctance to speak about her past. Instead she uses her bubbly, somewhat childish personality, to veer conversations toward more pleasant topics. 

REFERENCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeExqVOJhyc (reference provided by third-party)

Payment will be adjusted to compensate instances of re-recordings and production delays.

  • [Teasing, having found Sora sleeping on the beach] “Sora, you lazy bum! I knew I’d find you snoozing down here.”

  • [Painful memeory] “That was when we escaped from Hollow Bastion and ended up here.”

  • [Paniked, lost as a disembodied consciousness] "Sora, where are you?”

Voice Actor
Voice Actor
Leon (Squall)
closed
Paid: Flat Rate 35 USD
Role assigned to: Sean Goodrich

This role has been marked as NON-IMPRESSIONIST. There is no expectation for an applicant auditioning for the role of Leon to mimic, impersonate, or otherwise alter their performance beyond how they desire to portray the selected role. However a reference has been provided at the bottom of the description for the performer's own usage.

Leon fills the role of a straight-talker for the reader. If Sora, as the readers perspective, asks him a question, he'll provide clear-cut answers to maintain the balance between intrigue and confusion. In terms of personality however he is often very broody, at times boarding on cynical. That said, he's emotionally aware enough to know when to soften.

REFERENCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GfN4ob8F5Q (reference provided by third-party) Timestamp; 11:30

Payment will be adjusted to compensate instances of re-recordings and production delays.

  • [Broody warning] “And they’ll keep coming at you…as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade.”

  • [In Combat] “We have to find the leader! Let’s go!”

  • [Encouraging] "It's settled them, go show 'em what you're made of”

Voice Actor
Voice Actor
Yuffie
closed
Paid: Flat Rate 35 USD
Role assigned to: Starlight Hope

This role has been marked as NON-IMPRESSIONIST. There is no expectation for an applicant auditioning for the role of Yuffie to mimic, impersonate, or otherwise alter their performance beyond how they desire to portray the selected role. However a reference has been provided at the bottom of the description for the performer's own usage. 

Yuffie, for the most part, acts as foil to Leon and Aerith, balancing out Leon's cynicism and Aerith's concern with hopeful optimsim and a happy-go-lucky attitude. Often, she provides the emotional support and encouragement that keeps Sora present in moments of doubt.  

REFERENCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GfN4ob8F5Q (reference provided by third-party) Timestamp; 11:00

Payment will be adjusted to compensate instances of re-recordings and production delays.

  • [To Leon, after Sora regains consciousness, dillerious after Leon knocked him out] “I think you might’ve overdone it.”

  • [On why they had taken the Keyblade away from him] “We had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures"

  • [Showing off after being confused for Kairi by a dillerious Sora] “Kairi? Who’s that? I’m the great ninja Yuffie!”

Voice Actor
Voice Actor
Cid
closed
Paid: Flat Rate 35 USD
Role assigned to: DeVonW

This role has been marked as NON-IMPRESSIONIST. There is no expectation for an applicant auditioning for the role of Cid to mimic, impersonate, or otherwise alter their performance beyond how they desire to portray the selected role. However a reference has been provided at the bottom of the description for the performer's own usage.

Cid is probably the closest thing the group has to an administrative figure, relaying messages between disparate group members and working closely with members of Traverse town's community through his job as a shopkeeper. He comes off as playfully grumpy, often teasing Sora whenever he sees him. There's a lot of room to place Cid's voice, Chris Edgerly, who plays the offical voice, does go gruff, but not necessarily low.

REFERENCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcdD-FHg6w8 (reference provided by third-party) Timestamp: 0:20

Payment will be adjusted to compensate instances of re-recordings and production delays.

  • [Matter of fact] “Don’t call me gramps! The name’s Cid!”

  • [Mumbling to himself after discovering Sora has the Keyblade] “…The Keyblade… So that’s the ‘key’ thing, huh…, Maybe I better tell Leon…”

  • [Sora enters the shop, would be nice to have a paying customer] “Hey, welcome— Oh, you’re back.”

Voice Actor
Voice Actor
Ansem
closed
Paid: Flat Rate 45 USD
Role assigned to: vlaurent

This role has been marked as NON-IMPRESSIONIST. There is no expectation for an applicant auditioning for the role of Ansem to mimic, impersonate, or otherwise alter their performance beyond how they desire to portray the selected role. However a reference has been provided at the bottom of the description for the performer's own usage.

The, man-in-the-shadows style, main antagonist, allowing events to play out before he begins to act more directly. He initially starts out as a curious researcher, but as Sora pieces together the scattered pages of the journal he left behind, it becomes more apparent that his discovery has left him an unhinged, broken and altogether tainted shell of his former self.

REFERENCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeExqVOJhyc (reference provided by third-party) Timestamp; 18:20

Payment will be adjusted to compensate instances of re-recordings and production delays.

  • [Menacing] “There is much to learn. You know so little.”

  • [Researcher's notes] "That night, I observed a great meteor shower in the sky. I am studying the material from the meteorites that fell."

  • [All according to plan, after possessing Riku] “To the heart seeking freedom, this island... is a prison. And so this boy sought to escape."

Voice Actor
Voice Actor
Maleficent
closed
Paid: Flat Rate 70 USD
Role assigned to: DidiDoesVoices

This role has been marked as IMPRESSIONIST. The expectation is that, to a reasonable degree, an applicant auditioning for the role of Maleficent can replicate, or otherwise alter their performance to match past performances of the role, as such rates have been adjusted. A reference has been provided at the bottom of the description for actresses to work alongside. 

Maleficent asserts authority over the other malevelant characters, that try to hinder Sora. For her portrayal, she has quite a large range to cover, going from cold and stoic to manipulative and somewhat slimey. 

REFERENCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYeaNThPdm4 (reference provided by third-party)

Payment will be adjusted to compensate instances of re-recordings and production delays.

  • [On their progress in kidnapping the various princesses, to reach their end goal] "Yes. They are falling into our hands one by one. And speaking of which…”

  • [When Riku appears to distrust her motives for helping him][Manipulative/Slimey] “Silly boy. You’re like a son to me. I only want you to be happy.” (Her hand softly stroked his cheek.)

  • [On the verge of victory, hoping to delay Sora] “Come, my minions!”

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