How did you get started doing voice-over work?
I got started
in the animation business as a result of my desire to be an actor, so I started out as a singer first... a long time ago.
In high school I had an interest in music - I was in a lot of music classes and a lot of rock 'n roll bands - a lot
of classical music training. Then I got involved in theater, I spent a year in college and realized that I was wasting
my parents money and my time. In 1975 I spent a year traveling around the United States and Canada doing theater.
Went back to Michigan and joined another rock 'n roll band for another year and a half, then I moved back here in 1978...
so I've been here twenty-eight years, my goodness. I started doing a lot of on-camera stuff, a lot of commercials.
Before I moved out here I did a lot of local radio in Michigan, and so I had a real desire to do voice work. So I got
my first shot out here doing cartoons on GI Joe in 1983, I did that on and off for about a year. Then I gradually
started doing more and more animation work - the first real break I got was from Hanna and Barbara - there was a second running
of Johnny Quest, it was originally done in the 60's and of course I was too young for... when it was done again in the
mid eighties... Hanna Barbara asked me to be Hadji for a couple of years. And the first really big show that I did was
in 1987 - it was Ninja Turtles. I did that for about seven or eight years - that sort of got me to the point where
I got real excited. It was incredible fun. I started getting more and more work, it was clear to me and my wife
that is where my strengths where... because frankly there are a million average looking white guys out here - half of them
are good actors, but still the odds are pretty astonishing. So I was really lucky that the voice-over thing started
to work for me, and I think I had a bit of a leg up on some of the voice actors because I could sing. When you can sing
in character it helps a lot. Sometimes when they hire someone to do a voice, then they hire someone to sing like that
character. And, one thing led to another. I haven't done any on-camera for a while. So that was how
I got started, and I've been doing it pretty steadily for the past twenty years or so.
Do you remember the first voice you ever came up with?
As far
as a voice that I came up with that was my own, I really don't. I remember listening to different dialects, particularly
British... because I was a big fan of Monty Python. I try to be pretty thorough when I break down a dialect, it's
not like it a real complicated thing - I listen to little things that make the characters more honest and more real.
So when I do a dialect I try to do it as... like most actors... of course I'll do it as well as I can, but I try to give
it little twists and turns that I've learned along the way to seperate the people who really speak that way from people
trying to imitate it. And I don't really remember the first one, it was probably me imitating stuff that I heard
on Monty Python.
How has your career changed over the years?
First of all, there are lots of bigger series. In the 80's and 90's, with Animaniacs we knew we were doing
sixty-five half-hour episodes. Same thing with Darkwing Duck, Chip 'N Dale, and any of those other big shows.
We knew that the studio would buy sixty-five half-hours. That really doesn't happen very much any more, usually
now you get a buyer for thirteen... they start with thirteen or twenty then they see how things go. Also, I think the
celebrity talent... there are a lot of celebrities doing cartoons. I was in a movie called "Ant Bully" and
"Barnyard" this summer, in just those two... the four lead characters in "Ant Bully" had half a dozen
Oscars between them. There are a lot of big stars. Certainly having a celebrity in the mix doesn't
guarantee you're having a hit, and that's evidence by "Ant Bully". I mean, it was great
and a lot of fun to work on... I think a lot of people looked at it and said, "What a minute, this is Antz or A Bug's
Life... we're already seen this, and if we have to make a choice on where to spend our money then we better go somewhere
else". Star power didn't do a damn thing, because most often the celebrities are hired to do their own thing...
their own voices, and what I do... the ultimate compliment for me is when somebody hears my work and says, "Oh, I didn't
know that the same guy who does Pinky is the same guy who did Yacko". You know what I mean? That's a
compliment to me, and that's what I try to do. So those are the two main ways, in the time that I've been doing
it... those are the two biggest things... oh, and also... there are a lot more animated features than there used to be.
Now we have our own Oscar category, and I think there should be because there's no secret that animated features are making
a shit load of money.
Looking back at all of the voices that you've
done, which one is your favorite?
Boy, they're like your kids... I know it's clich'e,
but it really is. It's hard to pick one because they've all been really good to me in many different ways.
I would say that my favorite over all would have to be Pinky because I thought "Pinky And The Brain" was a great
show. It was written beautifully, Maurice LaMarche (Brain) is an incredibly talented fellow, and he made me better.
And I won an Emmy for that character - so that was pretty special. So I would say Pinky, and Raphael was pretty important
because it was a huge - huge show... it was one of those... something that became part of the culture. Now, you can
say Ninja Turtles all over the world and people know what you're talking about. And I like Carl a lot - from Jimmy
Neutron. That's a really good show, it is really well rendered... the computer animated is beautifully done considering
that you're talking about a television show. I don't think it lost anything from the feature, and quite often
when you watch a feature like Little Mermaid... Quite often, the money that's spent on animated features can't be
spent on a television show, that's just too expensive. So, I would say that Pinky, Raphael, and Carl are my three
favorite characters.
Which voice is more like the real you?
Raphael. He sounds pretty much like me, a little higher pitched.
Do you get much freedom when you do a voice, are you able to do what you want with it?
I think probably both, Tim. Particularly when they're casting a show, the producers have ideas of what they
think they want. It's sometimes difficult to audition for things like that because you're starting off with
a clean slate and really don't know what they want. It's like shooting in the dark. Once they get me to
where they think it works best - I really like to adlib a lot. It's not because the scripts are bad, because usually
I get to work with a lot of good scripts... that allows me to try something else. It may end up in the final piece or
it may not, but I think quite often I get hired to do that ... people know that I like to manipulate the script, in my opinion
when you're able to feel comfortable enough to manipulate the script it makes that character that much more believable.
Sometimes the producers let me give it a shot, and sometimes what I do is not in there, and that's fine... it's their
dime, they can do whatever they want. Also, it depends on what type of show... I did an animated show of "The Mask",
which I played the Jim Carrey role... that let me adlib and go all over the place.
What does your family think of your career choice?My immediate family - my wife and son think
it's great because they get to eat. (laughs) My kid gets to drive a car and go to college, and my wife gets
to go shopping at Nordstom. When I started working, certainly my parents were a little unsure and concerned with my
choice. And since I got to be pretty busy doing voice work, they get a real kick out of it. When I go back to
visit my folks in Michigan, I don't care where we go... my dad will walk up to the hostess in a restaurant saying, "Did
you watch 'Pinky and the Brain'? My son is Pinky!", and I have no choice because I don't want my dad
to look like an asshole so I have to go up and say (in Pinky's voice), "Hey, how are you doing... I'm Pinky and
he's my dad... lalala". They get a real big kick out of it, and all my siblings get a hoot out of it.
And it's fun, it's a really cool profession and it doesn't matter how old you get, people love cartoons.
Whether it's Bugs Bunny, Animaniacs, or Casper the friendly ghost... whatever. Some of these mean a lot to people.
So when people get a kick out of what I do... I'm very flattered. Doesn't matter what are you are. Matter
of a fact, my son just had his 22nd birthday and he wanted to have a Ninja Turtle birthday party. So he and his ten
or twelve buddies came over and had birthday cake on Ninja Turtle plates, and they were thrilled to death. It was pretty
fun.
What are you working on right now?
Right
now I'm working on the TV series of "Barnyard" for Nickelodeon. The movie has done quite well, so the
TV series is just a logical followup. For years I've been doing the "Land Before Time" videos, they've
been really successful so we're doing a TV version of that for Cartoon Network. I've got "Curious George"
that I'm doing now for PBS.
What voice are you doing for that
one?
I do a lot of miscellaneous voices, the man in the yellow hat and George are Jeff Bennett
and Frank Welker. Ten years ago I did a show called "Biker Mice From Mars", that's back now... we did
twenty-six episodes which are airing in Europe, I don't know if they have a distributor here in the U.S. yet. I
do a show for Nickelodeon called "Catscratch", which we're waiting to hear if that picked up. And right
now I'm heading to the wrap party for the finishing for a show I did called "Danny Phantom". And I have
a couple Disney things going on, one called "The Replacements", which just started. Got a few things going
on, so hopefully I'll keep busy.
