It was revealed on January 28th that actor Kote Shinya will be voicing King George, the king of beavers, in the Japanese version of Disney & Pixar's latest animated film, Hoppers (directed by Daniel Chung, due for release on March 13th). A special video was also released in which Kote and Kyoko Yoshine, who plays the main character, animal-loving university student Mabel, dressed as beavers and visiting beavers at the zoo.
"When I Became a Beaver" tells the story of Mabel, who learns that her precious forest will disappear due to a highway project, and in order to protect her precious place, she uses secret technology to take on the appearance of a beaver and hatches a plan to protect the animals and the forest. Director Chung, who served as a storyboard artist for "Inside Out" (2015), was inspired by Studio Ghibli's "Pom Poko" (1994, directed by Isao Takahata) and thoroughly researched the beaver's ecosystem to create this film.
Kote, who is a fan of Pixar films such as "Toy Story" and "Inside Out," won the role after receiving the approval of director Chung during an audition in the U.S. "I've always been told I look like Buzz Lightyear or Mr. Incredible, and that my face looks like it could be in a Pixar film, so I'm happy that this opportunity has finally come together," he said.
Kote voices King George, the cheerful and kind-hearted king of beavers who leads his forest friends. Director Chung praised Kote, saying, "King George is a difficult character to portray, requiring an exquisite balance to make him believable. He is very kind and charming, and while he has some comical scenes, he also has his feet on the ground like a king. King George is in a sense the core character of the film, and I thought Kote's performance perfectly embodied that."
On being cast in the role of King George, Kote revealed his feelings at the time, saying, "My family loves Disney and Pixar, so no matter what the outcome, I thought it would be great if my child would be proud that someone had even asked him to audition. So I was really surprised when I heard I got the role. Everyone around me was really happy, and I was a little surprised (laughs)."
Regarding the setting of this film, in which he plays a beaver and infiltrates the animal world, he said, "I think everyone dreams of talking to animals, so I thought, 'Pixar is here to depict that!' It doesn't have flashy cityscapes like 'Zootopia,' but it does a good job of depicting a world that can only be understood from that perspective, like 'Toy Story,' and the new way of looking at the world that emerges from that perspective, as well as the strict rules that animals have to follow.It's a very crazy story, but it was very convincing in many places and I felt a strong sense of affinity with it."
Regarding the voice of King George, he said, "He's a king, but he's very kind. Rather than leading the animals as an authority, he's a gentle king who gently brings them together by saying, 'Calm down, calm down, calm down.' I'm not good at fighting either, so I think we're similar in that we often mediate. When I was a kid, I tried to mediate a fight and got punched on both sides (laughs)." He also revealed some of the challenges he faced during the recording, saying, "The voice of the original actor in his home country was higher than my natural voice, so out of respect, I tried to use a voice that I don't usually use. And then there's the face. I kept the corners of my mouth up, slightly protruding my front teeth (laughs), and moved my face as hard as I could to make my facial muscles look like King George's. He was so high-energy from the moment he first appeared, so the hardest part was getting off to a good start."
The special video released at the same time shows Kote visiting the beavers at Hamura City Zoo in the form of a beaver. In order to truly understand the feelings of the animals in order to work as a voice actor, Kote visited the zoo in the form of a beaver, but it seems that he is unable to communicate well with the giraffes and capybaras...
They visited their favorite beavers, but they seemed sleepy, probably because the beavers are nocturnal, and they struggled despite being given tips on how to communicate with them by the zookeepers. Then Yoshine made a surprise appearance dressed as a beaver. Kote seemed so surprised by her sudden appearance that he was left speechless, but the two of them struggled to communicate with the beavers. Perhaps it was worth it, as the beavers entered the water on their own and showed off their swimming skills in front of the two. Delighted and relieved that they had finally been able to connect with the beavers, the two performed a live voice recording in front of the beavers, seemingly receiving the "seal of approval" from the real thing.
