Posted in: Audio Dramas, Pop Culture, TV | Tagged: Calm, It's a Wonderful Sleep Story, jimmy stewart, Respeecher

AI-Generated Jimmy Stewart to Narrate Bedtime Story for Calm App

Calm is bringing back Jimmy Stewart for a holiday bedtime story with approval of his family and his estate for their meditation and sleep app.

Thanks to artificial intelligence technology, deceased artists performing for audiences again is not so much becoming niche but rather jumping closer to mainstream reality. Calm recreated the voice of the late actor and Oscar winner Jimmy Stewart, who died in 1997; best known for his work in the holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946), Vertigo (1958), and Rear Window (1954), and many other films, to narrate the AI-generated It's a Wonderful Sleep Story for the company's sleep and meditation app. The project was made possible thanks to an arrangement with Stewart's family & his estate (managed by CMG Worldwide).

Billed as "a heartwarming new holiday tale," the clip features AI-Stewart sounding like his younger years circa It's a Wonderful Life, "Well, hello. I'm James Stewart. But, well, you can call me Jimmy. Tonight, I'm going to tell you a story. It's a heartwarming story of love, of loss, of hope and of joy. But most of all, it's a wonderful sleep story." One of Stewart's daughters, Kelly Stewart Harcourt, wrote a statement, "We are excited for our dad to be the voice of Calm's latest Sleep Story. It's amazing what technology can do and wonderful to see Dad's legacy live on this holiday season in new ways, like helping people find restful sleep and sweet dreams."

Calm used Respeecher, the AI-voice cloning startup, to generate Stewart's voice for the project. The company already made waves with its work with the Disney-owned Lucasfilm in Star Wars-related projects that saw Mark Hamill and James Earl Jones reprised their biggest iconic characters in Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader without the wear of their respective advanced ages in live-action shows like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Disney previously secured the permission of Peter Cushing's estate to recreate his likeness for his Grand Moff Tarkin to return for 2016's Rogue One.

"Jimmy Stewart's calming voice is one of the most iconic in movie history, and we're thrilled to see it brought to the leading relaxation app on the market," said Tina Xavie, chief marketing officer of CMG Worldwide. "Thanks to advanced technology, we all get the joy of hearing Jimmy's unique voice again. Respeecher employed a voice actor to mimic Stewart's speech patterns and perform the lines. "It was essential, like in all other projects, that the project was done according to high ethical standards and respect, which Respeecher has advocated for many years," said Alex Serdiuk, Respeecher CEO and co-founder. He added, "James Stewart is one of the most remarkable actors in U.S. history. Recreating his voice with AI was both a huge responsibility and an honor for Respeecher. It was a way to pay tribute to his incredible career and all the good memories he left to people."

For more, including information on other recreation projects like an animated biopic of legendary French singer Edith Piaf, and other Calm-related works, you can check out the Variety piece here. It's a Wonderful Sleep Story with Jimmy Stewart will be available exclusively to Calm Premium subscribers on December 5th. You can listen to the sample below.

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