How do they make the voice match up with the character movement in cartoons?

Question

Do the voice actors watch the animation, or do the animators have to listen to the voice actors?

Answer 1

The voice actors watch the animation and match the words up with the lip flaps.

Answer 2

Different companies use different methods, but both the above written work.

Answer 3

As they are recording, the voice actors can watch the portion of the animation that they are dubbing.  Also, it isn't like stage, tv and movie acting where a whole scene is recorded at a time, then redone again and until it is perfect.  With voice acting only one line is recorded at a time, with several takes.  It just makes it a little easier trying to match up the lip flaps and getting what the director wants.

Answer 4

It's both. In North America, it's more common for the actors to come in and record the audio first. The audio is then given to the animators who analyze it and build a performance off of it. This is how Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, and Blue Sky do their movies. In Japan however, it's more common for the animators to do the animation first and the animators sync their dialogue to it afterward. This is why it's common to hear japanese voice actors give line readings that quickly speed up at the end because they're trying to fit lines into a character's mouth before they stop talking.

American companies also do the voice recording after animation when dubbing foreign animation like anime. It's already been produced in its entirety in japan, but for American airing the English dialogue must be recorded to replace the Japanese dialogue.