‘90s babies, get ready because a beloved Nickelodeon character is making its return after almost two decades!
Face, ‘90s Nick Jr. mascot, is coming back to television screens in a slightly reimagined way.
“It’s combining animation and life action segments,” Cedric Williams, the man behind Face’s voice tells Celeb Secrets in an exclusive interview. “Face is reimagined and introduces modern pop hits and revamped nursery rhymes to create the ultimate music party.”
Face’s Music Party debuts as part of the ongoing “Music Mondays”-themed preschool programming block, where musical episodes of PAW Patrol, Peppa Pig, Bubble Guppies and more will air regularly on Mondays at 11 a.m.
Born in the ‘90s, Williams says Face was his friend as a child. So when it came to falling into character and finding Face’s voice, it was easy.
“I just kind of brought what I knew about Face already and added a lot of my own personality into this new version of face.”
In order to get the special, inviting tone that kids know and love, the voice actor says he had to think of what the “most friendly” and “most fun person” would sound like and try to emulate it.
He does that by being overly energetic and by adding a smile to his face as he reads his lines.
“I put my whole body into it and a light just sort of clicks in my brain and I’m like, ‘alright I’m Face!” Williams then goes on to say, “Face is my normal voice, just a lot more energetic and happy.”
Each episode of Face’s Music Party will center around themes that inform the song playlist and consist of four segments: a kid-friendly music video from popular contemporary artists; remixed sing-alongs of iconic nursery rhymes; exploration time in Face’s music box, where kids can play and learn about an instrument, sound or musical concept; and a high energy dance-along finale, with kid dancers demonstrating moves to viewers at home.
Since it is a music party, there has to be some fun involved right?! Williams says there were a few times while recording where he’d improv.
“During Face’s Music Party in particular… if there’s a musical moment, I can either sing it or rap it.”
Just like the character, Williams is overly animated when he’s recording for Face. He can’t just stand still when he’s reading, he puts his “whole body into it.”
So much so, sometimes he hits the mic with his hands and has to re-record!
“Let’s say I’m playing baseball and I’m having an inner monologue, I actually will gesture myself with the baseball bat”– he says this as he puts his two fists together and pulls them up over his shoulder like he’s getting to swing a bat– “and you can hear it in the voice coming out of that cartoon character.”
Williams has been voice acting for some time now with roles in Hunter x Hunter, The Promised Neverland and ThunderCats Roar. So, he knows what it takes to make a character come to life.
But despite that knowledge, he’s still blown away each time when the final product comes together.
“When you see the finished product and hear your voice come out of these characters, you’re like, ‘that’s me?’ It just goes together so well.”
Watch our full interview with Cedric Williams below:
