Vol.
XXIII
Sep 22, 2024
[THE MAIN EVENT
Remembering the man with the godly voice
If at some point over the last 50 years you didn’t know the most recognizable villain in the world, Darth Vader, was voiced by James Earl Jones, you do now. If you watched The Lion King when you were a kid and felt warmed by the dulcet tones of Mufasa as he guided Simba through a tumultuous reign, you have Jones to thank for that, too.
Everybody has a James Earl Jones they like. His was a generational talent, a career that left a touchstone in its wake every decade or so. In the '60s, it was Dr. Strangelove. In the '70s, it was Claudine and Star Wars. In the '80s, it was Field of Dreams, Coming to America, and more Star Wars. In the '90s, it was several Jack Ryan films and The Lion King. In the 2000s, he leaned into voiceover roles, until, finally, in 2021, we got him once more as King Jaffe Joffer in Coming 2 America. Jones would appear on a random TV series or stage play almost every year of my life, and was almost always the highlight. If you didn’t like one, another would soon be along. He once recited the alphabet on Sesame Street and literally changed how literacy was taught.
ELEVATOR PITCH
Filmmakers Jazmin Jones and Olivia McKayla Ross speak on their search for Renée L'Espérance, a Haitian woman whose likeness made Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing the most iconic keyboarding software of all-time
What Olivia Ross (Associate Producer) Says: The process of making the film — especially in the beginning and the research phase — was this attempt to reaffirm a legacy we believed mattered more than the dominant narrative was declaring. Mavis Beacon is the prototype for the way we understand what AI can do and the way so many people across the globe were introduced to personal computers. You cannot use a computer if you cannot type.