Pushing Daisies

So much has been said about Jim Dale’s narration on Pushing Daisies. Some find it awfully annoying and over done. But I am on board the love train for this one. I think that he makes the show a lot more magical than it already is.

I grew up hearing fairy tales from a grandfather who may not sound like a Jim Dale, but the idea or image is there. As a six or seven year old, my grandfather would tell me stories about beasts and creatures supposedly lurking by this big mango tree outside my bedroom window and when that thought would have scared me (and scarred me for that matter — I scare easily!), my grandpa’s soothing voice and animated delivery would manage to capture my interest. Suddenly, those beasts don’t seem so harmless, by my grandfather’s account.

And it’s the same thing for Jim Dale, who manages to make a dark story, such as the bizarre murders on Pushing Daisies, even mildly…charming.

But say if you were to pick someone else to narrate the show, would you have someone else in mind? Kelsey Grammer? Emma Thompson? Kristin Bell (alright, that may be pushing it too far…)? I found a list of TV Narrators we’ve listened to in the recent years, so can you imagine anyone of them replacing Jim Dale’s voice? Mary Alice Young from Desperate Housewives would sound to me like a conniving step mother. I wouldn’t take Ron Howard so seriously (although he does amazing narration on Arrested Development!). Ditto JD on Scrubs, whose dweeby and nervy delivery is so much more suited for it.

I guess what I’m pointing out is, there’s an element to Jim Dale’s voice and delivery that makes him the perfect voice of this show, in as much as these other narrators are on theirs.

Pushing Daisies, Jim Dale, Voice of Pushing Daisies, Pushing Daisies narrator