Voice Actor's Notebook » Famous voice actors

This guy’s got game!

David Radtke — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 02:39:55 +0000

What do Yakko Warner (from the Animaniacs), Pinky (from Pinky and the Brain), Raphael and soon Donatello (from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Hadji (from Jonny Quest), and about another billion animated characters have in common?

The answer: ONE incredibly talented voice actor!

His name is Rob Paulsen

No, I'm not talking about a quote from a popular 1999 movie. (Actually, the quote was "His name was Robert Paulsen" but without Googling it can you name the movie?)

I'm talking about one of the most gifted voice actors in the business: Rob Paulsen — a man who has a list of voice acting credits that make the phrase "a mile long" seem tiny. (You can check them out at Rob Paulsen on IMDb.)

A major influence

I grew up listening to the man perform in many cartoons. And yet from TV show to TV show I never suspected it was the same guy doing the voices. All I knew is that whichever character he happened to be performing, I gravitated toward it.

Some videos:

Here's just a tiny sampling of some of his work along with a 3-part series on voice acting!

Yakko Warner:
The funny "cat" with the brown pants.
(Rob also plays the bald psychiatrist with glasses, Dr. Scratch-n-Sniff!)

Not only can he act, but can also sing.
Seriously, singing in character ain't easy!

Pinky - the crazy British-accented mouse
(The Brain is played by the very talented Maurice LaMarche who also has an amazing voice acting resume!)

The Mask - The Animated Series
Here's Rob singing the main theme. (He also plays the main character, Stanley Ipkiss, as well.)

Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(The turtle with the red mask.)

Snow Job from GI Joe

On Voice Acting...

(There are many, many more if you head on over to YouTube)

The Podcast

Rob also has a fantastic podcast that you should most definitely check out! You can find it here: Rob Paulsen Live

How about you?

Who are your favorite voice actors? If you don't know their names, then head on over to IMDb and do a search for the show's title. There you'll find a complete listing of who was in the show, what characters they played, and usually a link to the actor's IMDb page.

Nothing better than Bettye and Bob!

David Radtke — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:41:42 +0000

Multi-award-winning voice talent Bettye Zoller and Bob "man of a thousand cartoon voices" Bergen are teaming up to give you 90-minutes of live, online, interactive training in VoiceOverXtra's Voice Overs in Animation special audio/visual webinar.

This is not just a phone chat, boys and girls. It's training, training, training!

It all happens on Wednesday night, May 4th, so be sure to sign up!

Voice over videos galore!

David Radtke — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 10:22:28 +0000

Now that things here in Japan seem to be not so "panicky", it's time to roll up my sleeves and get some actual blogging done. Since I haven't posted some good voice over videos for a long time, I figure that there is no better time than the present.

Here are seven (count 'em, SEVEN!) videos to wet your voice over appetite!

Lego Clone Wars

Here's a behind the scenes look at the voices behind the new Lego Star Wars Clone Wars. The cool thing is that there is no actual script! The actors are only making up wacky sounds.

Robert Downey Jr. goes nuts

Our favorite Iron Man is also the voice behind Planters Nuts.

Rango

Take a look behind the scenes as Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, and a fantastic cast of actors, supply the voices for the new animated feature "Rango."

Gnomeo and Juliet

Last but not least, and unique twist on a Shakesperian classic featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine, Ozzy Osbourne, Hulk Hogan, Jason Statham, Patrick Stewart, Julie Walters, Ashley Jensen, and many others!

Yeah… I gotta thing for Harlan Hogan

David Radtke — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 12:55:56 +0000

(Notes from Harlan's website) Harlan narrates Christopher Kimball's recreation of a 12-course Christmas dinner originally hosted by Fannie Farmer in 1896. Fannie Farmer's Last Supper is playing throughout the holiday season on PBS.

A little Harlan Hogan goes a long way…

David Radtke — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 05:34:56 +0000

Here are three wonderful spots featuring the amazing Harlan Hogan. Listen carefully boys and girls, you're about to hear a master at work! Click the "Read more..." link to view the videos:

The Faces Behind the Voices

David Radtke — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:51:52 +0000

Here's a replay of the segment called The Faces Behind the Voices - CBS Sunday Morning that appeared on TV just recently. (My kids loved it because they could finally see who does the voice of Dora the Explorer!)

(Thanks Bobbin for posting this first! )

Happy Birthday Bob Bergen!

David Radtke — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:09:46 +0000

Here's wishing voice actor extraordinaire,
Bob Bergen,
A
V-V-V-Very
Hap-p-p-p-y
B-B-B-Birthday!

Merry (voice over) Christmas!

David Radtke — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:30:54 +0000

Here's wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year -- voice over style! This collection of famous and well-known voice actors have banded together to tell the popular Christmas poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas".

So sit back, relax, and pour yourself a glass of eggnog (as long as you don't have a voice over gig ) and enjoy!

PS
A special thanks to Voxmarketising for first introducing me to this video!

PPS
Bruice Miles sure looks like Santa himself!