THE voice actor behind a cartoon character well-known to millions of parents and children across the world says she can’t wait to get behind the mic again.
Sarah Ann Kennedy, the voice behind Miss Rabbit in Peppa Pig, is excited to get back in the studio after a new company took over the show’s production and is planning 104 new episodes.
University of Central Lancashire animation lecturer Sarah, of Preston, got involved with Peppa Pig when she was asked to write a few episodes by creators Neville Astley, Mark Baker, and Phil Davies in the early 2000s.
She wrote two episodes and introduced a character who had just three lines, sparking the show’s creators to ask if Sarah wanted to voice the character.
Miss Rabbit who is voiced by Sarah Kennedy who lives in Preston. Credit: Entertainment One
As the show continued to grow, she was called back more and more as the writers liked Miss Rabbit’s character and wrote her into the show.
Miss Rabbit is well-known to viewers as bafflingly having many jobs at the same time, including bus driver, supermarket assistant, librarian, helicopter pilot, firefighter, ice cream seller, shoe shop assistant, nurse, ticket seller – and even more.
Sarah said: “They kept including her in things and the part grew from there. They didn’t think, ‘we must cast Sarah in this’, we all knew each other because we had worked in studios together before.”
The show has moved from originators Astley Baker Davies to another UK animation studio, Karrot.
Sarah Kennedy who plays Miss Rabbit lives in Preston
The new team at Karrot is already writing episodes and Sarah, along with the other voice actors, can’t wait to unleash their vocal talents.
She added: “We have all been doing it for years so it is going to be a big change apart from the voice artists, we are all are staying, it’s just the writers and directors that are changing.”
Sarah said when she was sitting with Neville and Mark as they created the show, she never dreamt it would be as big as it has become, not just in the UK, but around the world.
The US toy company Hasbro bought Peppa Pig franchise owners Entertainment One for £3.3billion in 2019 and the show has been broadcast in 180 countries and is huge in the USA and China.
Sarah is also a course leader in MA Animation at UCLan. Credit: Entertainment One
Unlike other shows, Peppa Pig kept the British voices over in America which Sarah puts down to how clearly the characters speak and how easy it is to understand.
She added: “I had no idea it was going to be this big. I don’t think anybody did.
“They are very particular about what they want, there is a really strong style to it.
“You just forget how much you have done. I have voiced theme park rides and all things like that.
“It’s very weird. I have a very normal life, I wasn’t planning to be a voice artist.
“I am really proud of it and being part of it is an amazing thing.”
Sarah also voiced Nanny Plum in Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom, Dolly in Pond Life and wrote Crapston Villas, an adult animated show for Channel 4.
She is the leader for the MA animation course at UCLan and said that many students are blown away that their course is being run by someone who is so successful in the industry.
Sarah said: “I forget about it sometimes then people bring it up. I just don’t see myself like that.
“When I go to places and people sometimes say something about my voice.
“When my daughter started doing ballet, the teacher said I sounded like Nanny Plum and I laughed and said ‘I am’. She couldn’t believe it.”
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