New Disney Channel star Ben Bailey Smith says if he was a dog he would be a pampered pooch that’s carried everywhere.
The 41-year-old actor-and-comedian – whose rap stage name is Doc Brown – voices both Sid Squirrel and Spencer Sausage Dog in new Disney Channel animated series ‘101 Dalmatian Street’ and admitted that if he could pick to be any canine he would choose to be a "pedigree lap" dog who can "get away without walking" and eats "very luxury foods".
He said: "If I was a dog, I would be anyone of those pedigree laps, any type of dog that can essentially get away without walking, be carried, dressed up, fed very, very upgrade luxury foods – I’d be one of those. Not a fighting dog or a walking or a running dog, definitely not."
‘101 Dalmatian Street’ is inspired by Dodie Smith’s 1956 novel and Walt Disney’s beloved 1961 film ‘101 Dalmatians’. The series sees the characters re-imagined for the 21st century and is set in modern day London in Camden.
Ben is joined in the UK voice cast by Paloma Faith, Miriam Margolyes, Tameka Empson and Bethan Wright.
‘Silicon Valley’ actor Josh Brener and Michaela Dietz voice the dogs Dylan and Dolly, the eldest Dalmatian siblings, and the show follows their adventures along with the pooches’ parents Doug and Delilah and the other 97 puppies, whose names also begin with ‘D’.
Ben – who has starred in comedy film ‘David Brent: Life on the Road’, ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Cleaning Up’ – admits it was his dream come true to work on a Disney project and he got his voices for each character by studying the drawings.
He said: "When I was a small child, my dream was to voice cartoons and to one-day voice animated movies. It was the first thing I ever wanted to do and I never actually believed that I’d ever do it.
"With the characters, you see a picture of them and then you get a sense of whether they have a big burly voice or a little tiny voice, high pitch, low pitch and then from there you just play around.
"It’s important at that point to have other people in the room who can give their opinion. So something like this, it’s a comedy; you can do various silly things and see what sticks. Also you can do one really silly voice, try it out and it’s funny for a moment and you realise a hundred episodes later that it’s just really annoying.
"So that initial process is quite important, but it’s also one of the most fun parts as anything could work. It might not, but it might and that’s quite an exciting thing to be part of."
‘101 Dalmatian Street’ airs on Disney Channel, Monday to Thursday at 5pm.
Ben Bailey Smith would love to be a Disney dog
