*meant to say mouths…not moth…
In: 7
They do it both ways depending on the animation.
Generally animations will start with a voice recording, and then the animators will match it, either with automatic software or based on experience; knowing that certain sounds come from certain mouth shapes.
In some cases (particularly with dubbing) the animation comes first, in which case the voice actors have to be careful to line up their recording with the animation, and there is a whole art to translating dialogue for dubbed animation to make the new lines not just translate but also match the mouth movements.
Often animation projects will end up doing a bit of both, using “scratch” voice lines. In order to help the animators they’ll get someone to record the voice lines first (also helps with sound effects, music etc.), and then once the animation is largely finished it will go to the main voice actor to record the final version. They’ll often try to find a voice actor to do the uncredited “scratch” who sounds like their main voice actor, but who is cheaper and can be brought onto the project much earlier.
This is particularly common with big animation films where the production wants a famous actor to voice a role, but wants an experienced (and cheaper) voice actor to do the “scratch,” although sometimes a voice actor can do their own scratch, and occasionally a scratch voice will end up staying for the final version (apparently this happened with the 2022 Pixar film Turning Red, where Rosalie Chiang was hired to do scratch/temporary voice lines for the main role and was good enough that they kept her in the final film).
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