Justice Society: World War II arrives on streaming platforms on April 27th, 2021, and hits 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray and Blu-Ray on May 11th, 2021. This next entry in the DC Animated Universe sees The Flash thrust into the midst of an epic battle between Golden Age DC Super Heroes the Justice Society and Nazis for an adventure that definitely doesn't play out the way you might be expecting.
The movie's all-star cast includes Chris Diamantopoulos (Invincible) as Steve Trevor, and trust us when we say he steals the show! However, what you may or may not know is that the actor is also the current voice of Mickey Mouse and has been playing Disney's most iconic character since 2013.
As you might expect, we had to ask Chris about what that means to him, and his response is insightful, fascinating, and a glimpse into what it means to lend your voice to a true film and TV icon. We'll be bringing you our full interview with the Justice Society: World War II star a little later this week!
You've been voicing Mickey Mouse for Disney for a while now; what does it mean to you, as an actor, to bring that iconic character to life on screen?
It’s a great question. As a kid, when I started becoming cognizant of actors versus characters, I was always dismayed when I would read about an actor who didn’t care about the source material of the character they were playing. You’d hear about these actors saying, ‘Eh, I didn’t read the comic’ or ‘It’s just a job’ and it always broke my heart. You think, ‘Oh gosh, as a kid, I’d give anything to be 'X' superhero or whoever. I’ve read all the comics or seen all the cartoons!’ So, I take it very seriously. I try not to take myself seriously, but I take the work dead seriously.
With a role like Mickey Mouse, I’ll tell you really quickly, when they came to me, I’d just done the Three Stooges movie and they were looking to go back to the original Walt Disney 1930s style. Given that I had a facility with that 30s vernacular, they thought I’d be a good fit. I resisted auditioning because I’m such a fan of Mickey. I just thought, ‘No, that’s holy ground. I don’t think I can do it.’ After some time thinking about it and watching some old Walt documentaries, I realised that my speaking voice and the taper of where my voice lies was very similar to Walt’s. When I watched him do Mickey for an interview and he went [adopts Mickey Mouse voice] ‘Oh, boy!’ I watched him ignite his body and thought I could do that. I didn’t want to do it unless I could do it well, so when I got the part, I held my breath for several years, in fact, because you never know when it’s going to go away or they’ll decide they don’t want you to voice Mickey.
People say, ‘Wow, you’re the voice of Mickey Mouse,’ and I say, ‘I just lend my voice to Mickey while they’re asking me to do it and I do it with great pride and great pleasure.’ I wear it like a badge of honour and think it’s just terrific. Any time I get to do any of these iconic characters, I just think, ‘I can’t believe what my life is. This is what I get to do.' I feel like the luckiest guy alive and want it to keep on coming.
Keep checking back here, as we have plenty more to share about Justice Society: World War II!