Interview with Rob Paulsen on Voice Acting, Ninja Turtles, and Animaniacs

Hello nurses and friends and nurses, Yakko Warner

here and you're listening to a podcast on the

GeekCast Radio Network. Lucky you. Hello and

welcome to the GeekCast Radio Network interview

of Rob Paulson. We will be talking with Mr. Paulson

very shortly. And yes, this is being released

Monday, November 23rd, 2010, which Kevin, my

co -host here, is 29 years old. Pretty sure it's

Tuesday Okay, well to whatever But that's all

good. Yes, I am 29. Thanks. Remember 23rd 2010.

It doesn't matter. That's that's the day doesn't

matter what day the week it is Yeah, it's my

birthday and this is a sweet sweet ass birthday

present. Yes. Yes it is And it took me all of

I think six months to get this Actually know

what it was was Hey, uh, an old, uh, very, very

old Tooncast co -host who, uh, hasn't been with

us on Tooncast since episode six, I think, uh,

a pup named Scooby -Doo killed Dion. But I was

talking to Dion the other day, the music man,

uh, a couple months ago, actually, and he asked

me, you know, are you guys ever gonna interview

Rob Paulson? And I said, actually, that's kind

of funny you mention that because I'm actually

waiting to even f— try to find a way to contact

him until it's close to Kevin's birthday, because

that's what Kevin's birthday present is this

year. It's all good. Yes. I couldn't think of

something better to do on my birthday than talk

to Rob Paulson. Yes, exactly. So without any

further ado, I think you're probably going to

hear a couple of clips from Yakko, maybe a song

or something or whatever, and then we'll get

into the interview after this. And now, the nations

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Kong, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Yugoslavia, Crete, Mauritania,

then Pennsylvania, Monaco, Lindenstein, Malta,

and Palestine, Fiji, Australia, Sudan. Hello

everyone, this is Michael Blanchard and I'm joined

with my tune cast co -host Kevin Thompson. Hello,

sir. Hello Mike today is Kevin's birthday November

23rd 2010. How old are you then? Don't ask that

question. How old are you just? 29. Yes, and

I figured that I would try to find some really

really cool awesome present this year for Kevin

and today we have the super awesome privilege

to interview Rob Paulson yes that's right Rafael

or should we say now Donatello on the is on the

line with us hello Rob hey guys how you doing

happy birthday Kev thank you very much my pleasure

this was like my ultimate get for his birthday

this year because he is a huge fan of yours and

I was like okay what can I do for him without

actually spending any money Oh yeah, no, and

I can also vouch for the fact that the fee that

I'm charging is fairly reasonable too, so nobody's

getting spent. Well, that's great. I'm very flattered,

Kevin, that this would be a good birthday present

for you. I guess there's just no accounting for

some folks' taste, but I appreciate your kind

remarks and the fact that you've paid attention

to some of my wacky stuff all these years. Oh

yeah, definitely. Yes, very much so. Very cool.

So just to get started, this is the first time

we've talked to you, and I know that you've done

other interviews with other people, so can you

kind of give us a quick summary of your upbringing

and how you got into voice acting? Yeah, in terms

of my upbringing, I was raised by Badgers. Actually,

that's not true. They were Wolverines, because

I'm from the state of Michigan. No, I grew up

born in Detroit and raised in and around Detroit

on Flint, Michigan. And when I was a kid, I wanted

to be a hockey player, but it became fairly clear

that I had neither the talent nor the temperament

to make any money at hockey, although I still

loved to play. And then I sort of fell back on

acting, which was my second passion. And I did

this quite young. I was a huge fan of Peter Sellers

and the Pythons and the Goons and all sorts of

international comedy, primarily British comedy.

And so when I was a kid, I... sort of stole a

bunch of things from those guys and at the same

time I was a big rock and roll fan and my earliest

performing background consists primarily of singing

and that was my initial passion in terms of performing.

So I had a huge background in classical music,

learned to read music and then realized that

Even if you're a lousy crappy shitty band you

can still get chicks if your jeans are tight

enough and you even have a modicum of talent.

So that didn't take me long to figure that out

when I was in about 8th or 9th grade and I did

have I suppose less than a modicum of talent

but my jeans were pretty tight. So I joined a

couple of rock and roll bands and got involved

in theater and then out of high school I went

to college for about a year and realized that

i was wasting my parents money in my time and

decided to uh... join a theater company uh...

all the time of course working on my voice and

dialects and arguments not necessarily with an

eye toward being a voice actor per se but just

being an actor slash entertainer uh... could

you really truly is uh... that is you know my

my passion when i came to los angeles in nineteen

seventy eight uh... which is my god before kevin

was brought up At that time, I was primarily

an on -camera talent, doing a lot of commercials,

TV, episodic television, the occasional movie.

And then my agent, by whom I'm still represented,

I'm proud to say, suggested I was doing a lot

of voice work. And they said, have you ever thought

about doing cartoons? And I said, well, absolutely.

I have, but at that time, you remember, maybe

you don't. In those days, cartoons were only

on Saturday morning on the three major networks.

There was no Fox, there were no cable, there

was no satellite. And of course, they were in

syndication in the afternoon on everybody's local

stations. In Detroit or Flint, everybody had

a Sir Graves Gastley or a guy who would pop out

of a casket and host the scary movies or maybe

some goofy guy who would... I have a talking

puppet and he would host Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Every local network had those guys. So I finally

got a crack to read a couple of auditions for

a couple of cartoons. And Gordon Hunt, who is

now probably better known as Helen Hunt's father,

was at the time the main guy at Hanna -Barbera,

and they're no longer around, but Gordon directed

Smurfs and Johnny Quest and all these cartoons

that I read for and ultimately got a couple of

jobs on. One thing led to another and I booked

Ninja Turtles and didn't take long before I thought

wow I've actually got work that pays me money

and residuals and I'm gonna have to make a decision

here and I'm probably much better looking as

a cartoon than I am a an on -camera talent in

the world, especially Los Angeles is full of

plenty of Middle -aged I'm sorry, um average

-looking white guys with sag cards and So the

rest is, as they say, history, and thank goodness

I took my wife's advice and started auditioning

for cartoons. I haven't really done much on camera

in the last 15 or 20 years, but I've been fortunate

to be very busy with my voice, and that brings

us to today. Yes. What were some of your favorite

cartoons and animated movies growing up besides

the ones you kind of just mentioned as far as

Hanna -Barbera? Well, I wasn't a huge Hanna -Barbera

fan. I was a fan of the actors, Dodds Butler

and Mel Blank, and Gene Benderpile, so many people,

Lenny Weinerib, Michael Bell, all these people

that, you know, Jack Angel had worked on the

shows. Don Messick, of course, all of these phenomenally

gifted people, June Foray. But my favorite shows,

I mean, I liked Uncle Berry Hound, and Quick

Drama Gras, and El Cabong, and you know, all

those guys. But when I was a kid, I really loved

all the J Ward stuff. Tom Slick, Rocky and Bullwinkle,

Super Chicken, I really loved Fractured Fairy

Tales, Fractured Flickers, all the stuff with

Hans Conrad and Jun Furet, and not only Mel Blank,

but Bill Scott, Paul Fries, Paul Winchell, those

guys were all my heroes, same with Oh my goodness

forgive me if I don't remember the names I'm

getting old myself Edward Everett Horton spectacular

talents all and So that's what I you know the

Warner Brothers stuff I was really a huge fan

of all the Warner Brothers things which was which

made it so wonderful for me in the 90s when I

was working on animating action thinking the

brain and and Hysteria and Tasmania. I really

loved all of Mel's stuff. Virtually everything

that came down the pike in terms of Warner Brothers

animation I could not get enough of and so they're

a huge fan of all that. In the decades that you've

been working as a voice actor in the different

animation studios and stuff like that, have there

been a few of the studios that have kind of become

your favorites or some of the ones that you like

working for the most? Yeah, I think I certainly

have a soft spot for Warner Brothers because

they really changed my life. I should say they

changed it again. Ninja Turtles was a huge turning

point in my career. when I booked Animaniacs

and subsequently Pinky and the Brain, and that

was about a ten -year gig. I started working

for them doing Tiny Tunes in the late 80s, and

then we did Pazmania, and then after that it

was Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, and Hysteria,

and Freakazoid, all those things. So I definitely

have a spot for Warner Bros., but I would say

over and above the studio, it's because of the

people that I was able to work with there. I

had the good portion of making friends who are

dear friends of mine to this day tom ruger jean

mccurdy uh... andrea romano your hastings john

mccann paul rodd uh... nick hollander ready no

gal all these incredibly good people must be

uh... gosh i can't arrest is landing to give

me a seat here this is a rusty mills keith baxter

just work with keith last week and i wanted to

sign which he wrote uh... which he wrote in which

i had a singing french uh... so you have a studio

special spot for me because it really was if

there's uh... a hallway from home for myself

and my son my my son would come with me to a

lot of recording sessions and so i was all the

people i mentioned became personal friends of

all my family and uh... you know i want to get

me for taking the brain was nominated for a bunch

of other one that i want a bunch of any awards

for that show and for animaniacs right side definitely

huge soft spot for water brothers and uh... in

the last few years i'd always work for disney

to the last few years that he has become a hallway

from home because i've been working a lot for

them doing um... other tinkerbell movies which

have turned out to be really great and have done

quite well and of course nickelodeon that kind

of supplanted water brothers as my almost daily

hallway from home because of jimmy neutron and

back at the barnyard and danny phantom and Fairly

Odd Parents and now Planet Sheen, a spin -off

of Jimmy Neutron and Tough Puppy. So I've been

really fortunate to work with people and then

quite often people go from studio to studio.

So it's really about the people. You know, Butch

Hartman and Allison Dexter and Mark Taylor, all

these lovely people that I get to work with at

Nickelodeon are just really, really wonderful

people who ultimately become personal friends

and that's just one of the really, really fantastic

side benefits of being a voice actor. I get to

work with these people that ultimately become

my golf partners and my dinner partners and it's

just a huge gift. Yeah. If you could still be

working on any one show that you thought would

have worked in... that you've worked on in the

past, which show would it be? Like say, if you

could still work on Animaniacs, would you still

want to work on that today? Absolutely. As a

matter of fact, Andrea Romano and I were working

on, I was working with her on Avatar over at

Nickelodeon last week and she said we both kind

of at the same time said kind of really miss

Pinky and the Brain and Animaniacs because they

were probably the best work we've ever done collectively.

You know, we got to do wonderful music with Richard

Stone and Julie and Steve Bernstein, the scripts

were wonderful, stood the test of, I get, every

day I get fan mail from somebody who loves either

of those shows. So I would have to say if I could

pick one, I would probably have to pick Animaniacs

for the reasons I just enumerated. And now I

get people who have children who really love

Animaniacs as much as these kids did when they

were in high school and college. So that would

probably be my favorite, and it's difficult because

it's kind of like, which child do you like the

most? It's sort of a Sophie's choice. situation

because all of the shows not only pay my mortgage

but they give me so much pleasure and I have

so much so many good memories from many many

episodes of many different shows and of course

the friendships I've developed along the way

and it's just a huge huge gift to be able to

do that for a living but Animaniacs was a pretty

thrilling place to work and a show on which to

work for gosh seven or eight years. Right. Kind

of getting into the some of the characters a

little bit has there ever been a role on any

show that you've taken that in retrospect you

Not necessarily regretted, but you kind of wish

you wouldn't have taken we've talked to a couple

other voice actors And they've they've had like

one or two roles that maybe they thought well

I wouldn't have done that if I could do it again

has there ever been one of those for you Yeah,

I suppose if there has been you know the truth

is and I'd like to think that I'm I'm Driven

by my desire to be artistic and provide the public

and my fans with You know art and good choices

and all that but the bottom line is I still got

to make a living right and It's pretty tough

to turn down any work unless I find a gratuitously

Just gnarly and in a nature that I wouldn't want

my children or my grandchildren or my friends

children to see or my parents But that rarely

is the case However, there was one show I did

a few years back at Warner Brothers called...

God, maybe I've expunged it from my mind. It

was called Coconut Threads Fruit Salad Island.

And it was clearly a desperate attempt by the

producers to sort of capitalize on the SpongeBob

phenomenon. And the backgrounds and the animation

were really cool, very interesting. But my part,

and it was kind of goofy, and it was just...

silly and the producers knew it too, but they

were in my same situation. They all had to make

a living, and of course, I'm a professional in

irrespective of whether or not I think the show

is kind of silly, I'm gonna do the best job I

can do. And in retrospect, I suppose if I had

to pick one where I would have said, you know,

thanks but no thanks, that would probably be

it, but the truth is I didn't. I took the checks

and cashed them, so I really have to be a bit

of a hypocrite if I push that too much. I think

everybody knew that it was kind of a futile attempt

to capitalize on somebody else's genius and it

didn't work. And so it was mercifully probably

given the quick death it deserved. Kind of on

the flip side, has there ever been a role that

you turned down, maybe you were too involved

with something else or you just didn't have the

time, but a role that you ended up having to

turn down that you wish you would have been able

to play? I don't think there's anyone I've ever

turned down. I've had many I wish that I could

do. I've had many, many issues where I've not

been able to read for a project because I was

really busy. So it's the double -edged sword.

You can't complain when you're really busy, but

it does take you out of the loop for a while

if you're lucky enough to be busy. I can't recall

exactly what they might have been, but Yeah,

I can't really say that I had to turn them down

because I was never offered the job and then

had to say sorry, I can't because I'm already

working. I just didn't get a chance to read for

them. Okay. But I would have loved to have worked

on The Simpsons. I would have loved to work on

Family Guy. I would have loved to have done a

couple of King of the Hills. I've done a few

Penguins of Madagascar, but I'm not a regular

and I think that's a great show. I just started

watching that show. Yeah, it's really good and

of course all my buddies are on it John DiMaggio

Jeff Bennett I think Jeff Bennett is the most

singly singularly gifted voice act working today.

He is so Astonishingly versatile Nothing phases

him he can ad -lib he can he can improvise He's

an incredible What am I trying to say he's an

incredible Mimic, he's just so talented and he's

really right now in his time. He's kind of where

I was a few years back. I'm still really busy

and luckily folks still think enough of me to

continue to bring me in and work and luckily

things are still banging on all eight cylinders.

But Jeff is probably the most prolific, gifted

guy going right now. He's just... incredibly

amazing and he's just the nicest guy I'd ever

want to meet. He's like Walker or Billy West

or Aaron Norris or Tom Kenny. Just the nicest

people you'd ever ever ever want to meet. Completely

devoid of any pretense. Has there ever been a

show that you were involved with that you were

pretty excited about and you thought it was going

to be something big that just didn't end up?

you know, taken off, it didn't last very long?

Oh, totally. One was a show called Butt -Ugly

Martians. I did that show about ten years ago.

It was me and Charlie Schlotter and Kath Susi

and Scott Bullock, O .G. Banks, Robert Stack

when that was such a huge... Robert Stack was

since passed away. That was a big, big thrill

for me in my career, working with a bona fide...

Hollywood superstar of his age of the golden

age of movies and what a lovely gentleman he

was. But yeah that show was directed by Susan

Blue who directed Ninja Turtles and everybody

thought wow this thing is going to be huge and

I remember even driving to work one day I think

it was actually on my way to work at Jimmy Neutron

and I heard the local KBC radio morning drive

guys talking about well parents hide your wallets

because here come the but ugly Martians you know

the newest thing or we know what all the Toy

Fair this year said this is going to be the next

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and I thought oh

great I bought stock in the toy company man I

thought this is great I'm gonna be just really

catch this thing as it explodes and it went nowhere

Nickelodeon bought the rights to it I think ostensibly

to just put it on the shelves and if it aired

and it hit fine, if it didn't, then they could

keep it out of the way of the other. So it was

a very cruel strategic move by Nick, but the

show absolutely tanked, it did nothing. I mean,

they took us to England, the investors were all

from England, they flew us to England a couple

of times, I did a bunch of work over there, a

bunch of promo over there, you know, they fed

us like we were big rock and roll stars, nothing,

zip. So yeah, it happened. You just never know

by the same token I had no idea that Ninja Turtles

was gonna be What it was and certainly no idea

that I'd get a second crack at it 20 years later

right is that probably one of the the on the

flip side one of those shows that You didn't

necessarily think we're gonna be a success that

that turned out to be a big hit would that be

the number one one? That you would name for that.

Yeah Certainly, I mean I had that has to be the

number one in my career that I had no idea would

be a hit not because I wasn't aware of it, I'm

not a big comic book guy, but I was aware of

the Ninja Turtles comic book. I just certainly

had no idea that the show, I thought it would

be okay and it might be kind of fun, even though

the cartoon was significantly different than

the cartoon, I mean, I'm sorry, than the comic.

Yeah, pardon me, the comic book was different

than the cartoon. The cartoon was much lighter

and more kid -friendly and more... Designed to

sell action figures, but I had no idea none of

us Townsend cam Barry Pete Rene none of us Pat

Fraley we had any no idea that it was gonna end

up being the pop -up Huge piece of the pop culture

that it ended up becoming so no so no stock for

the Turtles toys then huh? Some of us do it I

think I think Sue blue bought a bunch of it and

did pretty well on the playmate stock And we

did a couple hundred episodes So it was really

good and you know did a lot of great stuff for

my career I mean being one of the Ninja Turtles

kind of like what Tom Kenny's going through with

Spongebob I mean when you become when you have

a show on which you're one of the hit characters

It opens up a lot of doors and Tom Kenny is way

way more talented than just Spongebob But the

fact that he's on the most you know that he is

the voice of the most popular cartoon character

Probably in the last 10 years He is and he was

incredibly versatile. He gets a chance to show

producers what he's capable of, that, you know,

doors are open for him, as they should be, that

may not be open if he wasn't doing Spongebob.

So there are a lot of ancillary wonderful things

that happen as a result of being on a hit show.

And the same thing happened with Pinky and the

Brand and Animaniacs, although those weren't

as much of a surprise because right out of the

shoot, we knew we had something special just

because Steven Spielberg was on the show. Yeah,

right. Out of all the characters you have played,

what are some of your favorites? Well, certainly

Raphael, Pinky, Yakko. I really like Carl from

Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius. I think Carl is a very

interesting, cool character because he works

beautifully with the drawing or the rendering.

He really does. His sensibilities, his personality,

his insecurities. oddness really work with the

drawings, and that's a huge testament to the

folks at DNA Productions because the kids that

do the draw or computer generate Carl do a magnificent

job of it and now in the subsequent show the

spin -off called Planet Sheen the soul of Carl

has sort of been mutated into an oddball alien

critter called Boppy, which is short for Doppelganger.

And they did the same magical computer work there

vis -a -vis Carl. So I would say that's another

one. And a lot of women, a lot of girls, really

love Carl because he's so cute and very vulnerable.

But he's odd, too. He's not above... getting

a crush on his best friend's mom, which is a

little spooky and a little... You know, it's

probably a felony in some galaxies, but who gives

a shit? Exactly. Carl and Pinky and Yakko, and

although I had a great time on the mask because

I got to bounce all over the walls and got to

be like Jim Carrey for a lot less money. But

Yakko and Pinky, Dr. Scratch, those that I really

love too because... Pinky in the brain. I really

truly enjoy that I mostly because of Maurice

Lamar sure was one of those guys if you talk

to me just go this guy is so So stupid talented.

We did interview. We did an interview mo and

Wow. Yeah mo is awesome He's just fucking crazy

with his talent, but he's just a great guy yeah

that's what makes him so much more that's why

i love him even that much more about the same

categories billy weston jess and jeff and frank

and trash and cats you see and you know and uh...

maria bamford and uh... uh... you know um...

paris strong and and april when she only just

stupidly gifted humans with no pretense about

their gifts uh... Having Mo to work with and

create those two characters together was an incredible

experience, and we are best buddies to this day.

I have a little side question. This isn't actually

anything on the sheet, but I'm wondering, since

we are talking to you and I don't think we ever

asked Mo this, did Pinky and Brain ever truly

succeed in taking over the world? Not that I

know of. I don't believe they ever did, which...

it's probably good because it opens the door

for another series and i i am it's it's obviously

sort of self -serving but as a fan and as an

animation uh... aficionado i think you know everything

else new again and i would not think it was too

far around a possibility but thinking the brain

and animaniacs could could have a second life

and still be viable uh... i mean I would think

they're every bit as viral as Turtles, which

is now probably in its fourth iteration. Right.

They're making a Smurfs movie. They're making

a Rocky and Bullwinkle movie. They're doing another

Thundercats now, so... Thundercats, which Andre

is directing. I just got done a couple of...

I just did another Scooby -Doo movie. Right.

So, you know, the fact that Animaniacs and Pinky

the Brain have been gone for ten years... I don't

think it's impossible so maybe it's a good thing

that we never succeeded in taking over the world

because I have to tell you now mind you I'm not

a you know big celebrity where people come running

up on the street but once people find out who

I am and what I've done every one of them person

in the brain and animaniacs I've never met anyone

that doesn't like them never never never never

never and virtually everybody while they may

not recognize everything that i think that i

may not play golf with people who are older and

stuff in the cell out there are you the better

i have a lot that's i mean so i get that a lot

and um... that will indicate to me that if of

the maybe of the few thousand people a year that

i hear from in terms of you know being fans of

that i need to find out what i do and who i am

that that would indicate that that's just basically

a sampling of the general public that i do you

know i get that kind of response from people

all over the world That would be awesome. I mean,

for God's sake, last week, Planet Sheen, I think

it was only its first month of being released,

and it was number 15 in all of cable television.

Number 15. Wow. That's including, you know, The

O 'Reilly Factor, and football, and USPN, and

the only other cartoon was Spongebob. So that

indicates there are millions of people that just

watched the new offering from Nickelodeon. let

alone a generation and a half who have been exposed

to Pinking the Brain and Animaniacs and now on

video. Right, yeah. What was it like having the

chance to do characters like Dick Dastardly and

Super Snooper and some of those other Hanna -Barbera

classics as their younger selves? It was great

fun because I was basically following the footsteps

or the vocal steps of of Paul Winchell and Dawes

Butler and you know they were, it was a little,

it wasn't really intimidating because it's not,

I don't get so intimidated. I never got really

scared of anybody in that way out here. I was

very cognizant of who it was I was following

and I had enormous and do have enormous respect

for what they brought to our culture and for

their talent and their gifts. But it didn't scare

me. I looked at it more as a great challenge.

And it was my opportunity to shine so that I

would be able to get more work. And I don't think

of myself in the same terms of Dodds Butler and

Mel Blank and Jun Furey and Don Messick and those

greats. Paul Fries and Jay Ward and Bill Scott.

Hans Conrad, I really don't. That's for other

people, critics and fans to make up their own

minds when I'm dead and gone or when I'm in my

60s or 70s or 30s where the where these folks

were when I came out here. But I'm certainly

privileged to at least work amongst them and

be counted as their peers. But I don't know that

I would say that I consider myself in the same

universe as those folks. But it never really

freaked me out. It was a great challenge, and

hopefully I rose to the occasion. But I'm never

under the... false assumption that I could replace

any of those people and that really is why I

think I'm better at creating characters and my

strengths are generating sort of organic characters

from nothing with the help of the producers and

the writers and the artists and my other fellow

actors and hopefully I generate characters or

have a hand in generating characters that become

classic ones, you know, that were created by

the actors we just talked about. so i don't really

i don't go out and audition for elmer fodden

dot about to be happy and to be in uh... i i

i could but i would do a bad impression of uh...

somebody like billy weston morris or welker or

jeff bennett or uh... you know they are not some

time to much you know i would do a bad impression

of one of those actors doing a spot -on impression

check with another guy you see these actors are

the actors who created it are dead and the franchise

are still viable, so you need people to do them.

But all the people, you know, Joe Alasky, all

the people who I was just talking about can do

a far, far, far better job than I at those. So

I really don't even audition for them. I'm much

better at creating my own stuff. Gotcha. When

you were cast in the Second Land Before Time

movie, did you have any idea what you're getting

yourself into there? No, I mean, I knew that

the first movie was a really big hit and it was

My son was kind of into it. He wasn't really

a big dinosaur kid. He was really into Sesame

Street and Big Bird, which was great for me because

I loved watching all that. And I was just grateful

that we didn't have Teletubbies or parties when

he was around. I swear to Christ, I'd have put

a gun in my mouth. No, I really didn't. I didn't

know from two different angles. I didn't realize

what a lovely gig it would be in terms of the

franchise longevity. And, you know, in terms

of the back end of the deal, man, the residuals

we made on those video sales were just ridiculous.

It was great. I mean, I have a lot to, you know,

I've got a lot of dinosaurs to thank for the

odd sports car purchase throughout the year.

So, yeah, it was a great thing. And again, same

thing, you guys. Really, really, really, really,

really lovely people. You know, Linda Gary, who

has since unfortunately passed away, I got to

work with, oh gosh, I'm sorry, I just lost my

train of thought. Oh god, the guy from Logan's

Run and Romeo and Juliet, Peter, no, I'll think

of it. Oh, I'm sorry, not Peter, Michael York

did one of them. You know, I got to work with

so many, and of course, Jeff Bennett and I did

a couple of characters that recurred in those

things. Tress McNeil was on those. uh... we went

through a couple of different kids have played

little put you know young guys of their voices

would change in their all great kids and handy

mcafee uh... play you know i forgot what character

she put the she was on all of them just i got

to see this really sweet little girl brought

to be this incredibly beautiful stunning talent

a young woman uh... and kenny mars all my god

ken mars what a genius actor who of whom i was

a huge fan and and all the mel brooks movies

he did long before i came to hollywood and he

and i share a deep passion for sports cars and

uh... and so i've got no you know because friends

with kenny mars who's probably close to out of

the seventies now but again what a gentleman

just a big teddy bear of a guy in credible voice

and lovely talent and it was just i mean you

go to work and it's almost in almost embarrassed

to take the check almost but not to admit it's

just What's it like coming back to, you know,

you kind of mentioned it already a little bit,

but what's it like coming back to the Turtles

franchise all these years later and not just

coming back but voicing a different character

this time? I am so excited. There's a kind of

a backstory that is really kind of interesting.

I remember when I got the call to go read for

it, you know, I told my agent, I knew that Nick

had paid like sixty million bucks or something

for the rights to ninja turtles and i thought

well they're going to be around in my son now

works at nicolodian on tough puppy butch harman's

new show is a production system and so he graduated

in college he went to work over there and uh...

so i thought wow this is cool maybe my kid now

can get a chance to work on ninja turtles how

cool that they have two paulsons working on turtles

agent called me to say that the producers like

to come and read for ninja turtles and i said

well It's not that I'm too proud to read. I'm

happy to do it because I know from the several

versions that have happened Since the version

I was on Sometimes they don't necessarily stick

to what we did. They want to try things and I

got no problem with that hell I don't own it.

I'm I'm just an actor. Yeah They said and I said

now did they realize that I was on the original

show and They said she said yeah, they know I

said well because I just don't want to go in

there and having them do a little research that

they say, wow, this guy sounds pretty good, because,

you know, they're younger, they're probably in

their late 20s, like you guys early, isn't so,

they may have been, they obviously were aware

of the show, but they may not have known that

I was on the original show, and maybe they might

say, wow, this guy Rob Paulson is really good,

and they do a little research of the IMDB and

say, oh, no, no, no, no, he was the original

Rafael, sorry, we don't want him, so I didn't

want to waste their time and my time, frankly,

if that was going to be the case, and, And then

she called back and I said, and I also don't

want to be a charity case. I don't want them

to say, well, let's fill the old guy a bone and

see if he can still do it. Cause I can, you know,

but I also am cognizant of the fact that I'm,

you know, I'm old enough to be your dad. And

while that doesn't bother me, you know, aging

is great. It beats the alternative, you know?

So. And I said, I just don't want to be uncomfortable

for any of us. And they called back and said,

no, no, no. We know exactly who you are. We know

that you won an Emmy. We know that you've done

thousands of these. We're a fan. We want you

to read This Time for Donatello. We have a different

idea about Donnie. And I said, wow, OK. And of

course, the first thing I thought of was, well,

you know, Barry Gordon is one of my dear friends.

And he did Donatello when we did it. And I never

would ever in a million years want to step on

anybody's toes. And they said, no. Rick you know

with all the respect you're the only one we're

at having come back and uh... it's nothing personal

we just some of the other voices you've done

and we like some of the sensibilities for the

direction of about how right now he's not going

to be quite as nerdy and he's still going to

be the gadget guy but maybe a little more energy

not quite as nerdy that's okay as long i'm not

as long as i'm not state doing something that

might be hurting one of my fellow actors because

I really, ethically, it's just, you just don't

do that. And B, if you know that I was already,

I've already been to that rodeo and you still

want me to come down, shit yeah man, I'd love

to read for it. And so I read, and about a month

or two went by, and sometimes these things take

a while, and of course Nickelodeon is gonna be

pretty vigilant about it because they spend a

lot of dough. And my kid one day called me up,

he's got it on the apartment, but he said, hey

man, They'd have people in here, I mean, dobs

and dobs and dots of people for reading for Turtles.

It's like crazy. And I said, well, hey, at least

I got a crack at it. And one day I got a phone

call saying, hey, guess what? You booked out

a pillow. Nice. And yeah, that's what I said.

How nice is that? And I was so excited. I mean,

I've done a lot of stuff and I've done a lot

of cool stuff. But to be able to sort of have

Ninja Turtles redux at this stage of my career

is a great deal of fun. and we've we've recorded

the pilot i i hope that i'm still in the mix

i mean you know they're still making matching

in deciding what they're going to do but it was

such a big grow and a huge uh... uh... thank

you to the producers because they could have

gone many different ways but the fact that they're

aware that i was there at the beginning and they

trust me as an actor to be able to bring something

new to it you know they're probably going to

get a um... a little bit of black from the the

super geek crowd it's going to say oh my god

you know this is sacrilege My only response to

that is, you know, look, folks, to coin our friend,

you know, William Shatner, get a life. You know,

and I don't mean that disrespectfully, and it's

a free country and people can say, I don't like

turtles if Rob Paulson's not gonna do Raphael,

but whatever, blah, blah, blah. But you know,

I used to get the same crap when Animaniacs was

coming along, and you know, we had like a year

and a half to get it on its feet. After Tiny

Toons and I used to get email and read all these

Boards about oh my god, you know, I can't believe

they're gonna Yeah, how can we do better than

Tiny Toons and wish Warner Bros. Thinking? Why

don't they do more episodes with Buster and Babs?

I mean, you know, there are too many characters

to exploit They shouldn't they shouldn't deviate

from this and now it's kind of like oh, yeah

Yeah, that was that show that everybody did their

homework on before Animaniacs knocked out of

the park So you just you know, these people are

talented and they know what they're doing and

certainly I would never Begrudge you your right

to criticize you can do it all day long, but

Jesus Christ You know give folks a chance. I'm

pretty good at my job, and I know what I'm doing

I've done this a long time. I've been down this

road the other actors I'm not going to mention

who they are because I don't want to you know

I don't want to speak on behalf of the producers

and tell everything is in order, but trust me

these guys know what they're doing Nickelodeon

knows what they're doing and it's worth a crack

and if the show doesn't work it won't be because

the people who who are putting it together don't

have the best interest of the fans at heart,

and they want to give them a good version of

the Turtles, and they still think that there's

life in it. So before you get bent out of shape,

Rob Paulson is, first of all, thank you that

you put, that you're that worried about it, that

you make me feel like a big star. Trust me, it

isn't that big a deal. It's about the show. It's

not about whether or not Rob can... You know,

make the transition to Raph or Donnie, or the

voice is gonna sound too similar. It's not about

one actor, it's about the whole project, so give

it a chance. Before we move on to some behind

-the -scenes stuff, are you able to give us a

sampling of your version of Dantello? Well, I

was gonna say, mind you, before I go on, let

me say I was not directing that to you guys per

se. I'm just saying that you and I know there

are gonna be certain folks that are gonna, you

know... I have nothing better to do than spend

way too much time on Facebook going, I heard

Rob Paulson, I'm a big fan, but how can he do

this to us? You know, that's the kind of stuff

you're gonna get. You wanna go, really, seriously.

Yeah, I actually posted that as soon as you had

made that tweet, I actually, I kinda helped run

a site called BehindTheVoiceActors .com and I

actually... posted that that news immediately

and then everything that i posted was positive

i was i was pretty excited i don't you know to

me it's just the fact that they're they're bringing

you back into a show that you already were involved

with i think that's cool regardless of who you're

playing you know it's just kind of a cool little

tidbit well i'm i'm not interested in kevin or

mike this guy that's kevin okay kevin i i i i

listen and i agree if you get it's a huge throughout

for me you know personally and professionally

because ninja turtles i mean still here are twenty

odd years ago And you guys are jazzed about it,

and I would venture to say most people are. That's

astonishing. That's astonishing that it's still,

and Nickelodeon thought enough that they could

spend 60 million US dollars on it? They're not

stupid. And from a personal standpoint, it's

not only a huge thing, but my kid, he's out of

his mind. He's going, God, this is so cool. And

he's going to try to put a word in to see if

maybe he can get hired on as it, because nothing

would be more exciting than for me to be able

to. go to work on pearls and know that my son

is working on it too. That would be great. Yeah.

And so I'm very, very, very excited about it.

And if nothing else, maybe I'll become a trivial

pursuit question and say, who's the only actor

ever to have worked on Ninja Turtles doing two

different characters? That's pretty cool. Yeah.

So in terms of the way the voice sounds, right

now, it's pretty much kind of like this. And

it probably wouldn't be a whole lot of different

from Ralph to the Untold, but the am i trying

to say the uh... uh... context and uh... the

fact that it's it it it's probably a little higher

and and a little quicker and uh... he's kinda

got a crash thing for april uh... but so it's

it's kind of a little more that's really like

that one of most interesting things i've ever

seen in my life are you are you serious mikey

really think you want to do that and uh... so

it'll be probably like that but we've only done

the pilot so if it's kinda hard to to nail it

down until we get all the ducks in a row. But

when they get it figured out and they give everybody

the green light to talk about it and leak stuff

about it, then you'll hear about it. Cool. Are

there any other characters besides Donatello

that you have upcoming in shows or whatever that

you're excited about that you can tell us about

without getting in trouble? Yeah, I would say

that for folks who haven't watched it, give Planet

Sheen a try. It's pretty funny and it's doing

really well. And the character I'm playing in

there is, as I said, called Doppie. And it's

Carl with a different body. But Jeff Garcia,

who plays Sheen, and Bob Joles plays a monkey

who has crashed on this planet during the days

when the US used to send up monkeys. And of course,

it's no surprise that his name is Nesment, paying

homage to Michael Nesment of the Monkeys. And

he even wears a red... stocking cap like michael

mess mit did on the monkeys television show i

was a kid's pretty pretty clever stuff uh...

so i don't know if i was on it uh... from paki

bruce issue fantastic candy i love candy my one

of the most gifted swedish beautiful got a lot

candy my what she's on it she's freaking hysterical

uh... freddie patish or another guy who is just

a walking teddy bear which entirely too much

talent plays uh... uh... The Emperor of the Planet,

Xenu. Very, very, very funny. Tom Lennon, who

was a regular on Reno 911 and is one of the funniest

freaking people you'll ever meet in your life.

Great guy. Jeff Bennett, again. You know, he's

on everything. Jeff Bennett is on every show

that's anywhere, as he should be. He makes everything

he touches better. He's like... He's like the

Peyton Manning of voiceover. He's such a good

fucking quarterback that he makes everybody play

up to his level. He welcomes the same way. They've

all got that natural ability to make everybody

around them perform better just by being in the

show. And so with that cast, you should definitely

give that show a crack. Another new guy. I've

done the show a few times of the dementia mention

of the penguins in Madagascar Danny Jacobs who

plays King Julian is Unbelievably talented. I

mean, it's unreal how good this guy is It just

stupid talent doing so funny. Oh My god, it's

so funny and I got to say I mean I know the guy

in the movie was great But Danny to me Danny

just puts extra juice on it man. He is so i really

i get punk i can't say enough about this guy

really really really really really nice guy but

stuff we go well where did find this guy thank

god they did watch a lot to hear it sit down

you know it's just incredible uh... billy west

never ceases to amaze me so uh... but yeah planet

sheen is the one that's uh... You know, the newest

one that's going on right now. Right. I've seen

advertisements for it. I haven't had a chance

to catch it yet, so I might have to DVR it or

something. Yeah, watch a couple episodes and

see what you think. It's pretty funny. It's written

and produced by Oderkirk. Jim Hope, who was responsible

for producing and writing a lot of the George

Lopez show, is very funny on it. I mean, his

stuff, his writing is excellent. Doppie gets

to sing a lot, so that's kind of funny. My Carl

Flash Doppie character sings, which turns out

pretty funny, so I'm really proud of that. So

yeah, man, I'm still knocking around, and people

are nice enough to hire me to do what used to

get me in trouble in seventh grade, and thank

God they do. I really appreciate it. Every voice

actor seems to have a method for remembering

which of their voices goes with which of their

characters, especially if they are on a show

where they voice a good deal of characters. Like

you did on Tiny Toons, Teen Titans, and other

shows, how do you keep all of your voices straight?

You know, it's really all about being in the

show in the context, because I don't have to

think about a hundred different voices on each

show. I mean, it's not really that hard. I wish

I could say it was some magical... technique

that I use that's very simple like an ancient

Chinese secret, you know, but it's not I'm good

at my job and I should be they pay me a lot of

money to do this and One could argue in this

economy that I'm overpaid but you know I'm a

capitalist and free enterprise and thank God

that I live in a country that folks are I'm able

to make the kind of living I do going to do what

I would be doing for free. I mean I play and

But really it's about being a professional and

I remember there are people there to get you

on point and Directors who have examples and

say it sounds a little off listen to this guy

I remember and especially with a show that's

on which you're a regular and it's a hit Then

you know you're you're doing it every week anyway,

so It's it'd be kind of like if you were a plumber

and they were rudimentary things You know that

you there were jobs that you did on a regular

basis like you know putting in faucets and fixing

toilets and tweaking septic tanks and how to

fix a leak i mean you'd use there are things

that you do about all the time right and certainly

everything's at a once in a while something comes

along we got a polly repipe something you gotta

really think about and work at any exhausted

but by a large i'm a journeyman and uh... uh...

i've been an actor for many many years and i've

got thousands of these things and i don't i don't

have a lady fair attitude i'm comfortable and

confident in my work and hopefully that is reflected

in my hand in the that the quality of my work

and i feel that My job is to give the producer

an embarrassment of riches. I feel like when

I do a take, that if I do my job well, the producer

has a problem deciding which take is the best

one. And I would venture to say most actors feel

the same way because we want to be able to, not

only, you know, we're leaving our mark on it,

it's gonna grow out there, and if the show's

a hit, you know, it'll be around for years after

I'm dead, and I want people to enjoy it, and

I want... other folks to be happy with it and

proud of their work in collaboration with me.

But I would like to think that I'm professional

enough to be able to figure out how to do it

and follow direction well and all of that. So

it's not like a big stretch. It really is about

being confident and trusting your instincts and

trusting the people that are nice enough to hire

you. Gotcha. In all the recordings you've done,

you know, thousands and thousands of recordings,

do you remember any big practical jokes or is

there the funniest thing that has happened in

the recording studio or who's the biggest prankster

to work with? You know, um, God, I don't really,

no real physical prank. You know, there was one

that was really good. It wasn't really a prank.

It was, I have to say that at the risk of sounding

a little Arrogant I certainly rank amongst the

I thought so Let yeah the highest level of at

least vocal pranksters I I do it all the time

because I like to take the piss out of people

because they know I love them and and I have

never run into an issue where I've offended anybody

because I pretty much know my audience and these

guys and I get the piss taken out of me and I

love it but I remember years ago we were doing

a show kind of obscure show, and a really fascinating

cast, and it was a fascinating show called Phantom

2040, and it starred Jeff Bent, Scott Valentine,

Margo Kidder, Paul Williams, a brilliant songwriter.

Really, oh, Mark Hamill, very eclectic cast,

and I did maybe seven or eight of them, so I

did enough to be friends with everybody. And

Mark is another guy that I just adore. I spoke

to his wife through the day on the phone, and

I just love Mark Hamill. He's just one of the

nicest superstar people you'll ever meet. I mean,

the guy's frickin' Luke Skywalker, and he might

as well be your next door neighbor from whom

you're buying a cup of sugar. He and his wife

and his children are just lovely, lovely people.

But I remember we were doing an episode of Phantom

2040, and this was, God, 10, 15 years ago, I

guess, and Paul Williams was late to the recording

session. and I remember he came in like 45 minutes

late and you know that happens sometimes and

we were all just kind of taking the piss out

of him and he came in he was very gracious and

he said you know and there's a little backstory

you may or may not know that Paul had several

bouts with substance abuse which is no big surprise

and he's been you know he now amongst one of

the many incredible talents he has He's very

involved in helping recovering addicts and he's

just a wonderful man. And, you know, he's written,

you just, you know, IMDB him and you can't imagine

how many hits songs this guy's written. And I

remember he was pretty late for session one day

and he walked in and he was very apologetic and

said, you know, to my fellow Fespians, I have

to apologize. Did I miss anything? And I looked

at him and I said, well, from what I've read,

Paul, the 80s. he laughed pretty hard about that

and got a big kick out of it so we all do that

kind of stuff together and uh... i remember that

one of the really fun things i recall was we're

going to take in the brain no more is is such

a great uh... impressionist and of course the

brain is is really orson welles and he's so good

at it but the divorce of orson welles and edward

right on the when you see this not be on camera

he looks great it's most voice And so I remember,

you know, Moru says his mic check would always

use that famous outtake of... Yep, the peas.

Right. We know a remote farm where Mrs. Buckley

lives and blah, blah, blah, and, you know, show

me a way to sit in July and I'll go down on,

you know, it's fantastic. And Moe knows it verbatim

and it's spot on, and every time he does it,

it's hysterical. So that's what he used as his

warm up every recording session for thinking

in the brain. One day we went into work, and

we all got there a little early. They asked if

we would just please arrive a little early this

day, and three or four of us who were on the

show that day did, and they passed out the script.

And it was the episode that's called Yes, Always,

where they basically do a $400 ,000 in -joke

in which they modify that outtake to work with

Pinky and the Brain. And you can find it on the

DVD collection or YouTube. It's very funny. So

it's pain and doing it and Pinky plays the part

of the director who's trying to correct him.

So when we were going over the script, nobody

said anything and as Mo started to read it, he

almost got tearful. He was even going, oh my

god, oh my god, oh my god, this is fantastic,

you guys, thank you, thank you. So it turned

out to be a really great episode because it was

right in Mo's wheelhouse. It was almost like

it was written by Maurice and so it was really

funny and also very sweet to see how How cute

it was when he got the joke and it turned out

really great. Do you have any bizarre or humorous

audition stories? Well, I don't really bizarre

or just something that was weird compared to

a regular audition or Or has it been pretty standard?

I did have an actor I mean I did have a director

once who shall remain nameless who who came in

one time on a I forgot what show was I was working

on but he came in one time and Apparently my

character was supposed to be falling down a flight

of stairs or bumping on my ass down a flight

of stairs and he wasn't getting what he wanted

and so he came in and You know was sort of shaking

me felt he said, okay and action and recorded

and shaking me and you know put his hands on

my shoulders and then he came into another actor

Jess Harnell I think it was and took a broomstick

and was like poking him to get reactions and

I I Remember saying to this actor. Can I can

I talk to you for a second? We took a break and

I said look You know, I'm all about getting what

you need, but if you poke me with that fucking

broomstick, you're gonna wear it. And I'm not

a big, imposing guy, but the hockey player in

me came out, and I thought, that is no way to

get an actor, no way to get a performance out

of an actor. But yeah, by and large, anything

else is pretty cool. I mean, sometimes you get

people with a, have a bad day, but really, I

can probably count the number of times that I've

had bad experiences, and I put that in quotes

on one hand. Generally, a great way to make a

living. Yeah. Right, yeah. Do you ever go back

and watch the shows you worked on, like whether

it's on YouTube or on DVD? Do you have any of

the Pinky and the Brain or Animaniacs DVDs or

Turtles DVDs? Yeah, I've got them all. I don't

sit down, you know, like Star is Born and watch

my... I mean, like Sunset Boulevard and watch

my own performances and, you know, get depressed

with a bottle of Scott. I do watch them occasionally,

but I've done so many that I kind of forget.

And then every now and then I'm reminded of one

that somebody will send me a link on YouTube

and I go, God, what a great show. Man, that Pat

Fraley was so great in this. Oh yeah, I remember

this show. It was really cool. And so I don't

watch them religiously, but I do from time to

time get on and get there. My kid will get a

Blu -ray copy of something I've done and we'll

watch it, and that's great fun. What are your

feelings regarding recording with an ensemble

cast versus a non ensemble cast or it's just

you in the booth doing voices? I Would always

rather be with the other actors, right? Yes It's

not always possible and some producers prefer

to go out that way and I'm certainly fine with

that But if I have my choice always rather be

with the other actors What is are there any accents

you cannot do what is the hardest accent for

you to do? Probably the hardest one for me to

do right off the bat is a South African accent.

That's a very difficult one for me to come up

with ordinarily. It's quite hard because it's

quite easy to slip into an Australian accent

and there are very different sounds that come

around with the AP accent, although I can pull

it off if I need to. If I work on it, I can quite

easily find a way to the way to do a South African

said, but it's very hard for me. That one is

hard because, you know, people who really hear

it and are from that area can pick it up right

away that I'm sort of slipping between Australian

and South African and Scottish. So that's a hard

one. And if it's two words like finish in Latin,

I would never know, you know, I would never know

the difference. I'm pretty good. I got a pretty

good ear. If I listen to something and they give

me an example, I can pick it up. And then the

trick is sliding the words in the script into

that accent instead of just repeating what I

hear on an example. You know what I mean? Right.

But the South African is a tough one. And boy,

Matt Damon did a really, really good job of that

in Invictus. I mean, he really did. Excellent.

uh... i don't you know you work with the uh...

ton of people over the years that is there anybody

that you haven't worked with that you would really

like to yeah john cleese uh... uh... i love john

cleese and michael palin there to my heroes growing

up i really wanted to work on the way to work

with your sellers but of course he passed away

many many years ago uh... uh... you know There

are so many. I'm a big rock and roll fan because

that's kind of my roots. I would find a love

in some way to work with some of my rock and

roll heroes like Jeff Beck or Jimmy Page or Robert

Plant or something. I never know. You never really

know. You might be working on a project someday

and the musical aspects are being composed by

David Gilmore and I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan.

You just never know. But I did get a chance to

work with Randy Newman and I know he's doing

a A play called Hopps and Angels here in LA right

now with Michael McKeon's in it. And I've got

a chance to work with Mike McKeon and Harry Shearer

and Chris Gastless, I'm terrific. Dave Thomas,

great. These guys are huge fans of all of theirs

and I've had the pleasure of working with them.

Cary Elway, I got to be buddies on Thinking the

Brain. I got to work with Roddy McDowell, big

fan. Just a sweet, loving, wonderful man. Ernest

Borgnine, Tim Conway. There are many people,

you know, if I could think of one right now,

I would have to probably go with John Cleese

and Michael Palin and maybe Peter O'Toole and

I think Brad Pitt would be a guess. He's so much

more than just being a pretty boy. He's a very

talented guy. He's great in Megapind. I'd like,

I'd love to work with Brad Pitt because he also

really loves cars and motorcycles like I do and

So yeah, all those guys, there are just so many

gifted people out there and the money have grown

my account among my friends. But celebrities

I haven't worked with yet. Nicholson too, just

to be in the presence of Jack Nicholson, I think

he'd be great. Justin Hoffman, so many big fans.

I wish that I could have worked somehow with

Stanley Kubrick, he was my favorite director.

But you know what, if I die tomorrow, I've had

a pretty good run, man. I've been really lucky.

You have been to some of the various Comic -Con

fan conventions that have been held over the

years. What are your impressions of the fan conventions

and types of following that some of these shows

receive? Oh, I love Comic -Con. I've been going

to Comic -Con. This year was the first year I

didn't go, and only because I had nothing to

promote. I'm sure that, you know, the studio

will bring me in to promote Turtles or whatever

next year. I don't know, but I've been going

for 15 years. I took my son the first time and...

1983 when we were launching Animaniacs and then

went all the way up to 2009. And I love it. I

am so, so deeply appreciative of the fan base.

And just love to see how it's grown and the way

that folks treat me like a rock star. I'm really,

really, truly grateful. I am humbled by the response

I get from places like, you know, not only that,

but other... conventions I've been to, most of

which aren't quite as huge as Comic -Con, which

is just overwhelming to my senses, and it's just

lovely the way they treat me. And again, my admonishments

earlier in this interview were not directed toward

fans or geeks in general, because I am a fan

and a geek. I just don't like it when people

don't give something a chance, because people

work too hard on a project, nobody, nobody, nobody,

nobody. ever starts out to make a bad show. Right.

And so, um, if it deserves to be punished and

it deserves to, you know, go the way of the Buffalo,

great, turn the channel. It sucks, it won't be

back, don't buy the toys. Give it a chance. You

know, while something's in production, people

will disparage it and say, oh, there's no fucking

way this thing can be good, I can't believe they

got so and so to do this, or I listened to this

girl last time, she was terrible. Well, you know,

give it a chance. I'm a total geek too, but I

also work on it and I know, you know, people

bleed for these shows, so. uh... to uh... shot

shoot it down before it hits the air is is not

cool but the only i got a problem with that now

that i'm really cool and very glad to be a part

of any of that yeah uh... actually arrived at

in tell you this before but i actually teach

uh... at the junior high level and uh... one

of the things i've started doing this last actually

this last year was the first year i did it but

uh... actually play In the first week when you're

just kind of getting to know each other and kind

of trying to warm up to everybody, I actually

play your version of Nations of the World and

your President's song, because I teach social

studies and I actually offer anybody that can

memorize the Nations of the World song extra

credit. Out of all the singing that you've done

in shows over the years, is there a certain song

that is your favorite or the most memorable one

you've performed? Well, that probably is the

one that, you know, I do it at every performance

I attend. I mean, every live performance I go

to, every personal appearance I'm asked to be

part of, I do that song and people go nuts and

I love doing it. So that has to certainly, I

think, be my number one favorite and certainly

the all -time performed song and the most requested

song that I've been a part of. And so I've done

it hundreds of times and I never get tired of

it. The other one I like is the one that I won.

I won my Emmy for doing an episode called...

It was the Pinky the Brain version of A Star

is Born, where Brain plays Norman Brain instead

of Norman Maine, and I'm the Judy Garland part.

You see the Judy Garland or... The original one

was Janet Gaynor. The song I sing in that I think

is one of the things that won me the Emmy because

it's a really beautiful song and I love that

song too but I never performed that one live.

At Yakko's World I can perform live without the

music and it's a transfixing mesmerizing song.

Thank you to Randy Wigell. who wrote it. It doesn't

need any accompaniment. If you do that song by

itself, a cappella, people just go unbelievable.

Right. You know, so that's probably got to be

my favorite. Yeah, I've never been able to do

the Nations of the World past Africa, or once

I get to Africa, I get in trouble. Yeah, it's

crazy. Randy Rogan, man, he's still writing,

still very prolific, writing and producing his

own musicals. Another guy, incredibly gifted

man, and you... You could have dinner with them

and just think, wow, what a cool guy. Really

great. In your opinion, how hard would you say

it is to make it in the voice acting business?

And do you have any advice for people who are

trying to break into voice acting? Well, anything

worth doing can require some blood, sweat, and

tears. In terms of being hard, going to have

people shoot at you in Iraq is hard. That's difficult.

Pouring hot tar. in august in louisiana on the

freeway is hard you know being a a laborer is

hard it's usually competitive because there are

a lot of you know really talented actors both

celebrities and and rank -and -file actors like

myself who are are good at this and this is what

we do um but there's you know people always break

in nobody does it forever there's always room

there new people that i've gotten to work with

the last few years uh... urea lowenthal is fantastic

on benton and the other stuff he does years ago

you know jason mosden was a new kid he's fantastic

yeah i was in it um... so uh... you know danny

cook he used to be a new kid there are so many

new guys um... eric uh... now eric bows has a

new kid is really really good uh... so many young

guys that are in girls are fantastic i mentioned

um... uh... out gosh i can't think of a name

but i mentioned earlier worker there on the back

at the barnyard uh... terry strong name but no

care strong i mean she's young and beautiful

but she's been around forever i was thinking

of uh... of uh... uh... andy what is that that

let's see andy mccarrick oh no not andy andy

and nancy those guys have been around forever

i'm thinking of uh... uh... i'll i'll take a

moment We're good on the back of the barnyard

and you know, folks like this, brand new and

so there's plenty of room. I would tell people

if it's your passion and you cannot imagine yourself

not doing it, then you have to do it. Try to

work on your chops, acting, singing, improvising,

dialects, all that stuff before you come to LA

and do yourself a little favor and go to, you

know, find out who these actors are represented

by and give the names of agents in Hollywood

and virtually all of them have websites. to which

you can uh... go and listen to the demos of your

favorite actors so you can hear my demo you can

hear billy west family here jeff and if you can

hear cory burton's you can hear welker's and

then you know what you're up against not to discourage

you but you got to know what you're up against

it's a huge pool now it's now it's also you know

that they've celebrities are in the mix see competing

with people who are really gifted with their

voice and actually counted have thousands of

hours of experience but then you're also up against

people who have uh... high visibility on television

and you know it's just it's a tough nut but you

know it's it's not hard if it's an adventure

it's challenging and very rewarding i would never

dissuade you from doing it but just know what

you're in for before you get in so it doesn't

you know blow your brains out because it can

be a little overwhelming but for me it was a

big challenge and i stuck it out and i got a

crack at it and luckily i made the most of it

and i had a lot of good break a lot of good people

that we're helping me along and i try to reciprocate

now uh... but uh... uh... sometimes i i i also

have friends that it hasn't worked out for them

uh... they're really talented but they didn't

get the break so when they got and they didn't

capitalize in same way the number of us other

ones did it's no reflection on their talent it

just that showbiz to quite a phrase and sometimes

it cruel we don't start your business is cruel

economy is tough right now it's hard to become

a professional athlete. It's not too dissimilar

from being a professional actor. The odds are

really, really, really, really against you. But

if you've worked out, and you're good at your

game, and the scouts like what they hear, and

the producers like what they hear, they'll give

you a shot. Whether or not you can make it through

the drills, and whether or not you can make it

through the... You almost made it. You didn't

get this one, but you had five callbacks, but

they decided to go with a celebrity. Well, you

get pissed off, and you get over it, and then

you're on to the next one. If you can do that,

then this is for you. If not, then for some people

it's great and they just do the art for its own

sake and they love being in productions at home

or at their colleges or doing local radio and

local stuff. And that is every bit as legitimate

in terms of being satisfying for your soul. And

sometimes I get notes from people saying, you

know, I was out there for five years but now

I'm so happy because I'm involved in my local

theater company or I'm doing online cartoons

with my friends up here in Vermont and we're

having the time of our lives. And that's great.

It's really all about satisfying yourself. It

definitely takes on a different complexion when

you're doing it to put braces on your kids' teeth.

As much fun as it is, and as a huge, wonderful

ride as it's been, it's a totally different vibe

when you gotta make the mortgage payment. We

just have a couple more questions for you and

then we'll be done. uh... one of them i got to

ask this because it's my complete geek question

here because i'm mildly obsessed with the uh...

the old eighty show mcgyver which you uh... actually

appeared on an episode in nineteen eighty six

i know it's a long time ago do you remember anything

about your experience on that show we're working

with richard dean anderson or anything yeah richard

dean anderson and i want to become buddies because

i'm a hockey player and he is truly play the

same hockey team uh... and i saw richard and

he lives in malibu and he's another motorcycle

guy and i saw him About a year and a half ago,

last time I saw him was at the BMW dealership

out here in Newberry Park in the mountains in

Southern California. We had a nice chat, he's

doing well, he looks great, he's always been

a real handsome guy, and he's just a lovely,

lovely guy. Good hockey player, great motorcyclist,

and a good actor, very good actor. He obviously

had a terrific career with, you know, what's

the one about? Stargate and MacGyver. Yeah, Stargate

and MacGyver. I mean, the guy's fantastic. I

think he was on a soap opera before MacGyver.

But one thing I remember about that episode that

was so wonderful was that I got to meet and work

for two days or three days with Russell Johnson

who was the professor on Gilligan's Island. And

he worked with me on that show and that was the

huge, huge, huge thrill for me. To be able to

sit and have lunch and like you guys are with

me today, I asked him all sorts of questions

and he never got tired of it and it was really

cool to be able to sit and have lunch with the

professor. He told me all these great stories

about Jim Backus. Bob Denver and Tina Louise

and it was great really that was a huge thrill

for me. Nice. I've noticed that you're quite

the active and I'll say hilarious Twitter poster.

Do you enjoy do you enjoy using Twitter and Facebook

as much as you seem to and where do you come

up with some of your topics? Oh yeah I mean I

I don't know where I come up with them they just

sort of enter in my head and unfortunately I

don't need any chemical inducement to get them

out but I'm sometimes inspired by fans, because

a lot of them are even wackier than I. But yeah,

I'm not a Twitter or Facebook nut. I mean, I'm

not on it all the time. Like, I have friends,

you know, Hal Sparks, my god, he Twitters, he's

got a Twitter 20, 30, 40 times a day. I mean,

I don't even know, I probably retweeted three

or four today, but nothing like that. One of

my golf, one of the golf, here as i follow dining

in polter the british golfer you know he's got

like a million followers and same with chris

um... hardwick who's just a brilliantly gifted

comedian who was who played all this to call

on on uh... uh... back at the barnyard maria

bamford by the way was never going to get out

there uh... if you got to check her out on line

she's ridiculously gifted maria bamford another

one on uh... chris hardwick has over i think

a million or two million followers and tweets

every day since he hosted on g four about uh...

you know uh... uh... electronics and gizmos and

gadgets credibly funny but i i i find out it

really fascinating and it's and i love being

able to keep in touch sometimes i can always

respond as quickly or as often as people would

like and i i hope they understand it's not because

i i don't want to but i i really do you know

i'd like a mental patient and sometimes really

hard to make If I'm on and like 20 people or

50 or 100 people want to talk to me at the same

time, I can't do it. Right. Well, I was very

entertained by your movie titles with food names.

Oh, thanks. Yeah, I saw that topic. I just wanted

to join the fun, so thank you for that. Well,

we would like to thank Mr. Rob Paulson for taking

the time to chat with us in this special GeekCast

Radio Network interview. This will also be featured

on This Week in Geek. It's a sister site to us.

They kind of do the same geeky things. They've

interviewed a whole bunch of people as well.

If people wanted to get in touch with you, say

through Facebook or Twitter, do you want us to

give that information out to people or anything

like that? Yeah, on Facebook it's just Rob Paulson

and on Twitter it's Yakko Pinky. Okay. Yeah,

they can do it as long as they understand that

quite often I respond to people when I friend

them, but I don't have millions of followers.

I've only got like 16 or 1700 Twitter followers.

maybe the same amount on Facebook. And I try

to respond to things when I can, but it's more

about if I'm gonna be performing somewhere or

let people know that I've got something online

for them to look at, I let them know and I try

to respond when I can, but just please know that

I really do appreciate everybody who's paid attention

to my stuff throughout the years and I hope that

I can continue to live up to your expectations

and keep you laughing and more importantly, smiling

for years to come. Yes, and we're gonna ask you

to hold the line as we go to a break where you're

probably going to hear the planet song maybe,

so we'll be right back. Hey guys, Raphael here,

the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Did you say

podcast? Dudes, dudettes, you're listening to

a podcast on the Gatecast Radio Network. Cowabunga!

It's time to tour the planets that make up our

solar system. Come on! The closest to the sun

is the planet Mercury Next, the shrouded planet

Venus is as cloudy as can be The Earth is next,

we call it home, let's hope it stays that way

And then there's Mars, it's really red, what

more can I say? The gassy planet Jupiter's as

big as planets come Then there's Saturn with

its mighty rings made up of tiny crumbs We travel

on to Neptune, that's a gassy, grazing ball And

cold and tiny Pluto, it's the furthest one of

all Well, there you go, that's our solar system

You forgot your anus Good night, everybody Hey

Chad, Pinky here, of Pinky and the Brain. The

smarter one, if you don't mind saying so. I love

listening to the gate cast radio network. Oh

my god. Oh god, that was so much fun. Yeah, it's

basically proved, you know, so far every time

we have interviewed a voice actor, it has been

an amazing experience. And I'm convinced that

all voice actors are genuinely good human beings

now. Because every time we talk to anybody, they

are so gracious. They're so kind about things.

They're so accommodating. And, you know, that

was a phenomenal experience. Yeah, it's one of

those things where it's funny. I normally, because

everybody knows that GCRN and Twig, for the most

part, because I'm also going to have Mike Dodd

feature this over on This Week in Geek as well,

but most of our network stuff is explicit. And

we didn't tell Rob ahead of time that, yeah,

it's OK if you need to curse. He just started

cursing. I was like, wow. Cool. That was very

cool. And I know it's weird for us to kind of

geek out over a celebrity cursing, but I mean

it's like, you just don't expect it, but wow.

But yeah, that was really, really great to talk

to Rob. Very, very awesome guy. Yeah. It's something

where I've been around, I haven't been around

a lot of celebrities in my life obviously, but

I've gone to certain events or seen sports people

or UFC fighters or whatnot, and for some reason

it doesn't... have the same effect on me as when

like on behind the voice actors when a actual

voice actor leaves no comment about something

or or talking to some of these voice actors in

an interview it's just a completely different

experience and I I get a little more geeked out

when when I'm talking to voice actors it's it's

just so cool that's you know I've said this before

that's one of the reasons why we do these intros

outros before the actual interview and just don't

give you the interview right away because that

way for us we don't geek out on them and scare

them off Yeah, they don't need to hear that part

until they listen to the whole episode later.

Yes, exactly. But no, it was just a really great

pleasure to talk to Rob. And he gave us a little

sampling of his Donatello voice. Yeah! That was

amazing. Yeah, it was a very little bit of sampling.

You know, like he was saying in the interview,

you know, give something a chance, you know,

just because he is known as Raphael for the most

part. Maybe he can bring something different

to Donatello and he said that's what they were

looking for was yes We know we knew you were

Raphael and yes we want you for Donatello because

we want Donnie to go in a slightly different

direction and So give it a chance. Yeah, give

it a chance and I'm actually really excited for

turtles now. Yeah Well, it is just like, you

know, it's just like some of the other people

we've talked about, you know, obviously there's

always new Transformers cartoons and, you know,

people go nuts about, oh, you know, so and so

is not doing the voice or so and so is doing

the voice. And the moral of the story is watch

the show, you know, the first couple of episodes.

And then if you don't want to watch it, you don't

have to watch it. You might like it and you might

find something new that you want to watch. So

don't judge it until you see it. Exactly. Or

hear it. Yeah. This so I guess that's gonna wrap

it up for us. I have been Mike TFG and Blanchard

and you are Kevin optimist solo Thompson and

for this week in geek and geek cast radio network

we would just like to say thank you to Rob Paulson

and Good luck with everything that he is. He

will be doing in the future and We will see you

guys next time adios Well, those are systems

getting me crazy here at the GeekCast Radio Network!

Ugh, what am I to do? Good night, everybody!