Rob Paulsen, the voice of Yakko Warner from Animaniacs, Raphael from the 1980’s version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and a myriad of other characters from beloved cartoons attended Dragon*con in Atlanta, Georgia over Labor Day weekend.
And I, the lucky gal that I am, had an opportunity to sit and chat with him. But since I’d already urged him to sing the Nations of the World song before (you can see video here), I decided to start with questions about one of his most current and exciting projects: Nickelodeon’s upcoming version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The show debuts September 29 (check your local listings) and features the voice talents of Sean Astin (Raphael), Jason Biggs (Leonardo), and Greg Cipes (Michaelangelo). Paulsen voiced the “cool but crude” Raphael in the original series, but what will he bring to the role now that he’s portraying the nerdier Donatello?
While Raphael sounded a lot like Paulsen, he explains that “Donatello’s voice is not too dissimilar, although it is a little higher because Donatello is sort of the brains of the bunch and is a little more nerdy, but he does have a short fuse in this iteration of Turtles. Whereas Raphael was kind of a smartass, Donatello’s the brains but still doesn’t like it when these guys sort of rush him to get done with his stuff. The placement of my voice is a little different, the attitude is completely different. “
Though he describes the show as being made for kids 8-12, he points out that viewers of the original series can now watch with their kids. And, there’s a new DVD collection of the original show scheduled for release in November, so kids will also be able to watch the earlier series.
What’s the best part of working on TMNT?
“There are many best parts . . . the best part is working . . . when you’re an actor and lucky enough to make your living doing that the first cool thing is getting a chance to work. If it happens to be a great project then you’re lucky. The truth is there are very few actors who get two shots at an enormous franchise like Ninja Turtles. When it first started, none of us had any idea that it would end up being something that 25 years later a pretty girl would want to talk to me about it. To have something where not only I got to be part of entertainment history . . . but then 20 years later” he’s asked to participate again voicing a different turtle. He predicts that in six months or by next Dragon*con Turtles will be “madness” with even more Turtles wandering around. He continues, “The show is literally being made by fans for a new generation of fans.”
What is it like to be out and constantly hear your voice on commercials, television, etc?
“It never gets old. I love show business. I love being a performer . . . when you’re on a stage with Billy West and Richie Horvitz it’s such a pleasure . . . it never gets old. When I’m driving around and hear a commercial or am in Best Buy, there’s been one than more occasion where I look up and there’s Animaniacs on DVD or there’s Ninja Turtles or Jimmy Neutron, Fairly Oddparents or T.U.F.F. Puppy or whatever I’m working on . . . it’s wonderful. What really is an incredible pleasure and where the joy of the craft meets a point at which you feel like you’re doing something good with your work is when you can walk into a hospital. It’s not just me, a lot of us do this. You get to go visit kids in a hospital and see children in diabolical circumstances watching Jimmy Neutron. “ When he visits these hospitals and sees children getting a kick out of watching one of his cartoons, he approaches them speaking as a character from the show. It has “nothing to do with ratings or merchandising or commercials” but brings joy to a sick child
Aside from getting Frank Welker on Talkin’ Toons, what are plans for the podcast’s future?
“It’s been a complete labor of love. It was initially supposed to start as twenty minutes of tips on voice acting . . . but the thing that’s happened that is really lovely is we’ve struck a nerve. After I did the first ten or fifteen by myself I realized I’ve got everybody’s phone number . . . I can call Charlie Adler [Buster Bunny on Tiny Toons], I can call Nancy Cartwright, I can call Phill LaMarr, I can call Billy West, I can Mark Hamill, Tara Strong. It’s become an animation interview show, a pop culture celebration of cartoons. . . I don’t have any plans to stop it . . . and people seem to really love it.” He mentions possibly doing more live podcasts after having done four successful ones, including one with Maurice LaMarche [The Brain from Animaniacs] and another with the cast of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He answers questions from Twitter and Facebook, and other actors ask to be on it. He may even visit your local comedy club and do a podcast there. He’s also writing a book, and “the sky’s the limit.”
He also sells autographed pictures online, and the proceeds go to charities The Wounded Warriors Project and Operation Smile. This week he’ll be at Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed Army Hospital visiting wounded soldiers. He and Maurice LaMarche will also be visiting army bases in Europe in the fall.
We discussed how Animaniacs is still really popular (particularly with me, since I often quote episodes and sing songs from the show), but I wanted to know if he had any favorite episodes. He mentions “Wakko’s Two Note Song” which takes two notes and turns them into a “fantastic song.” He also likes the one where Yakko sings “I am the Very Model of a Cartoon Individual” and “King Yakko” where Yakko ascends to the throne of Anvilania. As for Pinky and the Brain episodes, he mentions liking the one with the evil rodent named Snowball, voiced by the late Roddy McDowell.
Aside from Turtles, he is the voice of Bobble in the upcoming DVD release Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings. Mae Whitman, the voice of Tinker Bell, is also the voice of April O’Neil on the new Turtles series.
It was a delightful chat, but alas, it had to end, so he concluded it with the farwell at the end of every Talkin’ Toons podcast: “Laughter is the best medicine, and the cool thing is you can’t OD and the refills are free.”