Simon Pegg Replaces Bill Nighy as the Voice of Reepicheep
Simon Pegg, the new voice for Reepicheep
NarniaWeb has learned from a production source that Bill Nighy has been dropped from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and has been replaced by British actor Simon Pegg. Best known for his role as Scotty in the 2009 Star Trek film, Pegg has also appeared in Band of Brothers, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.
This is not the first time that a major character in the Narnia film franchise has been recast. Fans will remember that Brian Cox was originally set to voice Aslan, but in July 2005 he was replaced by Liam Neeson.
Here’s a brief clip of Simon Pegg speaking with TIME magazine:
What on Earth? Simon Pegg replacing Bill Nighy who replaced Eddie Izzard?! What is going on?!
To quote Eustace in the trailer – "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder!"
Wow! I don't have much of an opinion, as Eddie Izzard has been replaced, and that's that, but, regardless, this is still so unexpected!
Strange!
!!!
What is going on here? Something very strange has been in the air for the past month.
Is this a good sign or a bad sign?
Wow. Just wow. The production of VDT has been so strange. Between the horrible trailer, uninteresting poster, odd theatre stand, misleading synopsis, and most of all the double recast of Reep from Izzard to Nighy to Pegg, this may have been the oddest period of my life.
This late into production?!?! Besides, Pegg isn't a good choice at all.
I think he will do a better voice for Reep than Nighty, because he voiced the weasel with an eyepatch in Ice Age and that fits Reep more than old grim Davy Jones.
I guess there will be another replacement soon. Just kidding
so…..who's voice was it in the trailer? Because whoever it was, they sound very much like what Eddy Izzard sounded like in Caspian. I think this guy can definitely sound like Izzard much better than Nighy, so I tend to think he's the one they had in the trailer.
WOW, that's, well, strange. I just got used to Bill Nighy. But is this the voice we heard in the trailer, because that one seemed alright.
Oh, and my reepicheep voice test doesn't make sense anymore.Darn it!
At least with the Bill Nighy re-casting it was clearly a big positive step up from a comedic actor to a dramatic actor, which could only have benefited Reepicheep's more serious narrative elements in VDT. But now we are going back to a comedic actor? An a comedic actor who isn't even as good as Eddie Izzard? I really don't get it. Why not just stick with Eddie in that case?
Liam Neeson was announced as the voice of Aslan less than five months before the release! He replaced Brian Cox.
First impression: I like this voice a little better than Nighy's. But right now I'm just in shock.
What?! Okay, this is starting to get ridiculous.
That's what I want to know–is this good or bad? Was his voice the one we heard in the trailer? And why do they keep recasting Reepicheep? This is just so confusing!
Oh, he was the weasel in Ice Age 3? Hmm…maybe he'll work out good then. But only time and more movie footage will tell.
I think he'll be fine. While watching the trailer, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the voice of Reepicheep sounded more like Eddie Izzard's rendition in PC than I had been expecting it to, which I think works a little better as far as consistency goes. Pegg also has a pretty animated (no pun intended) voice (or can have-I realize he was pretty sedate in the clip above). When you're voicing an animated character, you need to get the emotions across. Subtle acting changes don't travel through the mic the same way they do on camera. And Reep's got a pretty broad range of emotions/scenarios in this. I'll go in looking to like the movie no matter who's doing the voice (remember the good old days when animated characters were voiced by people we'd never heard of so it was simply that character's voice?) As someone said in another thread, don't condemn the movie before you've seen it.
Very true, GP, but the production of LWW was fairly routine compared to VDT. It's insane how quiet Fox was and then in a few days there is more major news than I can handle at once.
Bill Nighy's normal voice sounds absolutely nothing like that of Davy Jones, which just goes to show you how good a voice actor he is.
And if Simon Pegg makes his Reepicheep sound anything like that irritating weasel character in Ice Age 3 i will be very upset. Just simply awful.
what is it with reepicheep???? this is his third voice! why was bill nighy dropped? (i can't wait to hear what aslan was originally going to sound like ;-))
I'm surprised this announcement didn't mention Izzard.
Lets all play "Musical Voices"! 😛
To quote the Dufflepuds: "You said it, Chief! No one could have said it neater or better! Keep it up, Chief, keep it up!"
Oh, COME ON! I hate it when films do this sort of thing! Recasting just changed the whole movie practically! Bill Nighy is also one of my favourite actors, too! Not. Cool.
Anybody else notice that both Bill Nighy and Simon Pegg were in Shaun of the Dead together?
Wait a minute!!!
On the official site it said Bill Nighy… at least it did yesterday.
There's like a curse or something over the character of Reep, they just can't stick with any single actor… this is really weird!!
nevermind now it says "TBA"
Well, I don't mean that I want Reep to sound like the weasel. Not at all! I just thought…well…I don't know…Simon Pegg can do enthusiastic small animated creatures???
I just hope right now that he can do a voice for Reep that can be at times energetic, at times more serious and dignified. I just really hope this is a good sign and not a bad sign that they keep recasting Reep! Maybe they're trying to get him just right, and taking great care with his character. That could be a good sign…
Yeah, I'm really confuzzled right now.
So who was Reep's voice in the trailer, then?
Wait a minute, isn't that the dude from that sci-fi movie that said, "I like this ship…it's exciting!" when someone got punched in the face?
Star Trek? Yeah, that's him.
yep, except he put on a scottish accent. hence the name 'scotty'.
Yeah – as Scotty in the recent Star Trek remake. Except there he was doing a (really bad) scottish accent, which (you would hope) he wouldn't be doing as Reepicheep.
Not sure who's voice that is in the trailer, definitely doesn't sound like Nighy, but doesn't sound all that like Pegg either. Then again, its often hard to match an unknown voice to a face, especially when they may be effecting an accent or any other such change in their usual voice.
I have just one question: so the voice of Reepicheep we heard in the VDT trailer is Nighty or Pegg's voice?! Somebody, please, help me understand this weird dilemma?!
you guys are kidding! really! I'm just so confused.. there is something REALLY weird going on with this movie! "this place is gettin weirder and weirder!" is this a late aprilsfools-joke? Is this a bad dream or what?
I'm just shocked right now!
unfcortunately the only ones who'll probably be able to tell you that are the production crew.
Wow. I LOVE Simon Pegg as Scotty in Star Trek. I hope he does a good job as Reepicheep. I like his voice better than Eddie Izzards personally. And I thought Bill Nighy's voice was a little deep for Reepicheep. Was that his voice in the trailer?
Very nice. =D
well, i have to say i sure like his voice alot better than Bill Nighy, and i think he will do a better job at doing Reepicheep. i just dont understand why they must change so much, but it's really not their fault if an actor decides not to do it or something else comes up and they cant do it. im not all freaked out like some people. sometimes there's just some things they have to do and change to make a success, and im not going to get mad over something i cant fix. Narnia fans, at least be happy there is a Reepicheep at all!
im in!! 😀
These things happen. Whatever the reason, I want Reepicheep to be the best he can be both in animation and voice. 🙂
Don't know why director Michael Apted and the producers made the decision but I'm sure they want the best for Reepicheep as well. Time wil tell…
Well I'm just keeping my chin up and hoping for the best, and when the movie comes out, then I'll decide.
It's a good sign! Simon Pegg! Yay!! This is totally awesome news! Simon Pegg is a comedian at heart just like Eddie Izzard. Bill Nighy is a great actor, but it just didn't seem right. Simon Pegg is perfect for this! I wonder if it was him that we heard doing the voice of Reepicheep in the trailer, didn't sound like Nighy.
Man…wow. I have never seen so much change in one character before. well congrats to Simon Pegg for making it in and I wish you the best of luck and hope you aren't replaced! = D = P!!
What are you talking about? (*shocked*) Simon Pegg is hilariously funny in a lot of the stuff he's done. (Spaced, Big Train etc.) Btw, what's this "best known for his role as Scotty in Star Trek (2009)" nonsense all about? Don't tell me you've never seen the genius work of Edgar Wright? I mean, comon people! Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz are two of the best films ever made in their respective genres.
ditto!!! this is SOOOO weird :S
I'm curious too! Whose voice was that in the trailer?
I think we should give Mr. Pegg a chance. It's not really fair to say that he won't do the role justice simply because most of his work leans more towards a kind of comedy. Especially when that kind of comedy requires for the roles that he's in to be very dramatic. Something else to consider is that with the exception of "Scotty" from the new Star Trek movie we've actually seen very little of Pegg outside the comedy context (ah, yes, I stand corrected, he was also a bad guy in an episode of Doctor Who some years back), so we really have no grounds to say with any real evidence that he'll do a poor job with Reepicheep. I think he definitely has the potential to do the role justice as he's neither limited to comedy nor to drama.
????? That was…..unexpected. I can't even come up with anything to say.
I just find most of Simon Pegg's comedy output (Spaced in particular) to be incredibly overrated. And most of his mainstream acting output (Mission Impossible 3, Star Trek etc) to be more irritating than anything else.
O wow, that is very interesting- but hey! I am glad they ended up wit Liam Neeson!
with* haha
Ummmm…this seems rather late. Still, I'm sure he'll do a great job. I liked him as Scotty. 🙂
Actually, Simon Pegg did a pretty excellent Scottish accent in "Star Trek" – that is, a Glaswegian Scottish accent. As the character is actually supposed to be from Linlithgow it's not perfect, but I think that's being a bit too picky. 😉
Anyway he did a lot better than Mel Gibson.
Haha I love Simon Pegg! He was awesome in Hot Fuzz 🙂 I don't think they'd use Nighy's voice in the trailer if they weren't going to use it in the actually film.
Okay, I saw this guy as Scotty in Star Trek. He did a superb job I thought. Still, this really makes me wonder why they didn't use Eddie Izzard again. I mean, why not stick with what worked? There must have been a road block on Izzard's part – a contractual thing or perhaps he simply wasn't available.
LOL I know!
Well, it was briefly talked about the voice of Reepicheep being replaced some time ago, but it never said who would be taking on this extrordinary roll, nor did it have any background on this person.
Don,t worry. From what I've heard, they've really only recasted Reepicheep once, but they've announced it several different times in several different ways.