Rob Paulsen

Robert Fredrick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor and singer,[2] who has done many voice roles in various films, television shows, and video games, including Raphael and Donatello from the 1987 and 2012 animated series respectively of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yakko Warner, Dr. Otto Scratchansniff, and Pinky from Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain,[3] Carl Wheezer from Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and its spin-off television series The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, Peck the Rooster from Barnyard and its spin-off television show series Back at the Barnyard, Spike in The Land Before Time films and television series, and the title character in The Mask: Animated Series. In total, Paulsen has been the voice of over 250 different animated characters and performed in over 1000 commercials. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for his role as Pinky, and three Annie Awards.

For the Fight Club character named Robert Paulson, see Fight Club (novel).
Rob Paulsen
Paulsen in June 2011
Born
Robert Fredrick Paulsen III

(1956-03-11) March 11, 1956
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
OccupationVoice actor, singer
Years active1978–present
AgentSBV Talent[1]
Spouse(s)
  • Carol Anne Schnarr
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1979; div. 1982)​
  • Parrish Todd
    ​
    (m. 1983)​
Children1
Parent(s)
  • Lee Paulsen
  • Robert Frederick Paulsen Jr.
Websiterobpaulsenlive.com

Early life

Paulsen was born in Detroit, Michigan[4] to Lee and Robert Frederick Paulsen Jr. He was raised in Grand Blanc, Michigan and attended Grand Blanc High School, from which he graduated in 1974.[5] Paulsen later briefly attended University of Michigan-Flint but dropped out to pursue a career in show business.[6]

Career

Early career

He began his voice-over career in 1983 with the mini-series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, where he played "Snow Job" and "Tripwire". A few years later, his career launched into more roles such as "Cobra Slavemaster" and reprising "Snow Job" and "Tripwire" on G.I. Joe, "Corky" on The Snorks, "Marco Smurf" on the later seasons of The Smurfs, "Boober" on the animated version of Fraggle Rock, "Hadji" in The New Adventures of Jonny Quest and the title character – "Saber Rider" and the villain "Jesse Blue" on Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs.

Live action acting

During the 1980s, Paulsen also explored the field of live action films. His first movie was Eyes of Fire in 1983. He played supporting roles in Body Double, Stewardess School, Warlock, and Mutant on the Bounty. He appeared in television shows during this time as well, such as MacGyver and St. Elsewhere. He mentioned in an interview, regarding his role in Body Double, that he would not want his child (who was very young at the time of the interview) to see the movie, so he could not really be proud of his work.

Advertising

Paulsen became more prevalent in the world of advertising as well. In the 1980s, he had been the announcer for the sitcom Cheers and continued to secure roles as an announcer. He appeared as the voice of "Mr. Opportunity", spokesman of Honda commercials on TV and radio, the announcer for Buffalo Dick's Radio Ranch, and the spokesman for Lucky Stores, a West Coast grocery store chain, before it was acquired by Albertsons in 1998. He provided the voice of "Dog" in the Taco Bell kids meal commercials from 1996 to mid-1997, with Eddie Deezen as the voice of "Nacho" the cat.

However, Paulsen's most famous advertising role was in the original commercial of the now ubiquitous Got Milk? campaign. The famous commercial, Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel?, aired in 1993, and launched the Got Milk? campaign into a monstrously successful enterprise. Paulsen continues to be one of the most sought-after commercial voice actors in the industry.

He can be currently heard as the voice of singing Mr. Mini-Wheat in the Mini-Wheats commercials in Canada.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

From 1987 to 1995, Paulsen voiced Raphael and various supporting characters in the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Originally starting as a five-part miniseries, the series continued for ten seasons and 193 episodes. It was a great success and became an instant pop culture symbol. Paulsen has said that Raphael's voice is very similar to his natural voice.

He returned to the franchise as Donatello for the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series on Nickelodeon, which ran for five seasons and 124 episodes from September 29, 2012 until November 12, 2017.[7] He also reprised his role as 1987 Raphael in the multiple 1987/2012 crossover episodes.

Paulsen serves as the voice director for the subsequent series, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which premiered in July 2018.[8]

Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain
Rob Paulsen with Pinky at Anthrocon 2007

Throughout the early 1990s, Paulsen continued to co-star in animated series, which allowed him to branch further into radio and television announcements and dropped live action acting from his repertoire. In 1993, he voiced "Antoine D'Coolette" in ABC's series Sonic the Hedgehog, and "Arthur", an insecure accountant in a moth costume (wings included), in the superhero series The Tick in 1995, replacing Micky Dolenz, who had originally played Arthur.[9]

In 1993, he starred as the title character in both Mighty Max and The Mask. Also at this time, he starred in what became one of his most popular roles, "Yakko Warner" of Animaniacs. Paulsen also provided the voice of "Pinky" from both Animaniacs and its spin-off Pinky and the Brain, a show which won him several Annie Awards and a Daytime Emmy in 1999.[10] He also did a number of characters in Tiny Toon Adventures, including "Fowlmouth", "Arnold the Pit Bull", and "Concord Condor". In the direct-to-video movie Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, he did the voices for "Banjo Possum", "Mr. Hitcher" (who would also appear in other episodes), and "Johnny Pew".

Paulsen continues to voice Yakko and Pinky in the 2020 Animaniacs revival on Hulu.[11]

Roles

Animation

Paulsen has provided voices for a great number of characters, among which are Yakko Warner, Dr. Otto Scratchansniff and Pinky in Animaniacs, Steelbeak in Darkwing Duck, Brick and Boomer in The Powerpuff Girls, Atchan in Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost in The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, Ogden O. Ostrich in Channel Umptee-3, Hathi in Jungle Cubs, Jack Fenton, The Box Ghost, Nicolai Technus, and The Vulture Ghosts in Danny Phantom, Carl Wheezer, Butch and Skeet in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, Mark Chang, his father King Grippulon, Happy Peppy Gary and Bucky McBadbat in The Fairly OddParents, Peck the Rooster in Barnyard and Back at the Barnyard, and Gordon in Catscratch.

He was also the voice of Rothchild in the early episodes of Samurai Jack. Additionally, Paulsen provided the voice of P.J. Pete in Goof Troop, A Goofy Movie, and An Extremely Goofy Movie, as well as the voices of Ratchet and Dr. Debolt in the TaleSpin pilot episode and introductory TV movie Plunder & Lightning. He also did the voices of Boober Fraggle, Sprocket, and Marjory the Trash Heap in the animated version of Fraggle Rock, as well as Gwizdo in the Dragon Hunters movie.

He also voiced Zeek and Joshua in K10C: Kids' Ten Commandments, Rude Dog in Rude Dog and the Dweebs, and Archie the Raccoon, A.K.A. Ze Archer, in "Mask of the Raccoon" on The Penguins of Madagascar. and also provided the voices of 2T Fru-T, Mike Ellis, Dark Comet and Ronald in the 2001 cartoon series Butt-Ugly Martians.

He portrayed the voice of Chomper and Strut in The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure, Spike and Rinkus in The Land Before Time sequels and Spike in the TV series, but Spike was played anonymously in the original The Land Before Time. Paulsen also played Mo in The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water. Paulsen also voiced the robot "D.E.C.K.S." in the early 1990s TV series Wake, Rattle, and Roll. Paulsen also voiced Prescott A. Wentworth III in the Jem episode The Fan.

Paulsen was best known to Transformers fans as the voices of the Autobots Air Raid, Chase, Haywire, Fastlane and Slingshot in The Transformers.

Video games

In video games, much voice talent has bled over from television and radio voice actors. Paulsen has appeared in video games such as Doom 3 and ClayFighter 63⅓. He played Fluffy, the Chinese-crested dog, in 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue, an Irish-talking pubtender in the 1996 video game Toonstruck, and Morte, a floating, talking skull, in Planescape: Torment, as well as Anomen Delryn in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Gray Fox in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and both Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an Assist Trophy. He provided the voice for Erik the Swift of The Lost Vikings in its second installment. He portrayed Tobli and Lian Ronso in the English version of Square Enix's Final Fantasy X-2 and has played the lead character in Bubsy. Although an extremely minor role, Paulsen has also done the voice for the Greek soldiers in God of War. He voiced Jaq and The Grand Duke from the Cinderella world in Square Enix's and Disney's Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

In the video game The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge, he did the voice of Igor. He also reprised his role as Yakko Warner, Dr. Otto Scratchansniff, and Pinky in Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt. Rob Paulsen voiced the lead character, Lazarus Jones, in the PS2 game Ghosthunter, and played The Duck Avenger in Disney's PK: Out of the Shadows. Rob also voiced Alfredo Fettuccini, Bob the Ghost Pirate, Lookout and Ghost Priest in The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. He voiced the Fox and the Mouse in the Green Eggs and Ham PC game. He also voiced Tlaloc in Tak and the Power of Juju. He has voiced The Riddler in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, a role he reprised in Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite. Rob is the voice of talking alien dog Beak-Beak in Armikrog. Paulsen also voices Smash Hit in Skylanders: SuperChargers and Skylanders: Imaginators.[12]

Other

Paulsen is also the off-camera voice of the syndicated television series Funniest Pets & People, which is seen on Superstation WGN and other television stations throughout the United States and abroad.

Current roles
Rob Paulsen at the 2006 Annie Awards.

It was not long before Paulsen returned to Warner Bros. Animation, which had diverged into a new era of television serials (following what is sometimes referred to as the "Silver Age of Animation"). Paulsen appeared as "Rev Runner" of the new show Loonatics Unleashed and starred in Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island. He was also the voice of the character "Squeeky" on the TV show Danger Rangers. He voiced "Ichabeezer" and "Tom Celeriac" (a play on Tom Selleck) in VeggieTales in the House for Netflix. Paulsen also provides the voice for the Honda character "Mr. Opportunity." In the Rob Zombie animated film, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, Paulsen voiced the characters "El Gato" and "Commandant Hess", among some others. He also has a role as "Ditto", one of the alien forms on Ben 10, as Rhomboid Vreedle of the Vreedle Brothers and Baz-El in Ben 10: Alien Force, two characters that he reprised, along with a new character, Magister Patelliday on Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and Ben 10: Omniverse.

Paulsen is also the current voice of Disney character José Carioca. Rob became the new voice of "Prince Eric" of Disney's The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea since Christopher Daniel Barnes failed to reprise the role in 2000, though Barnes did return to voice the character in the Kingdom Hearts series when Paulsen was unavailable.[13] Another Disney character he is currently the voice of is Toodles from the kids show "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse". From season 3, he voiced Toodles in Happy Birthday Toodles, Road Rally, and Space Adventure, as well as every episode of season 4. He is also the voice of Peck the Rooster and other minor characters in the Nickelodeon computer-animated series Back at the Barnyard and various characters on the Disney Channel animated series The Replacements. He is the voice of Bobble in the Tinker Bell movies. Paulsen also played the titular character for an animated web series based on the video game Bravoman for Namco Bandai's ShiftyLook division.[14]

Awards and nominations

Paulsen has been nominated for an Annie Award for his role of Pinky for 4 consecutive years, which he won in 1996, 1997, and 1999. In 1999, he also won the Daytime Emmy Award for voicing Pinky.

In 2004, he was nominated for his role of the Troubadour in Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, and in 2005, he was nominated for his role in The Happy Elf.

Public appearances
Paulsen at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International

Paulsen has been a regular industry guest and featured panelist at San Diego Comic-Con International over the past several years. He has also appeared at animation industry-related events, such as the World Animation Celebration Online in 1998, among many others. He has also been a guest at several anime conventions, including JACON, Mikomicon, and Anime Overdose. Paulsen was a guest of honor at Anthrocon in 2007. He has recently started doing "Rob Paulsen Live" seminars across the U.S. to talk of his career, sign autographs, and talk with fans. Sometimes, people in attendance would request him to sing the famous Yakko's World number, where he sings all the nations of the world with his Yakko voice in a fast-paced delivery without rehearsing.

In May 2011, working with social media and web producer Chris Pope, Paulsen rolled out a brand new website RobPaulsenLive.com, as well as a weekly audio podcast called Talkin' Toons with Rob Paulsen, which started out being managed and deployed by The Tech Jives Network,[15] before moving to be part of Nerdist Industries' Nerdist Podcast Network. Some episodes were recorded before a live audience at The Improv in Hollywood, California, while later ones were recorded at the Nerdist Showroom. The show is on indefinite hiatus following the March 23, 2019 episode the Dante Basco.[16]

In June 2011, Paulsen made announcements that he was taking his show on the road with his "Lots of laughs and autographs" tour. Working closely with a team that included Chris Pope, his publicist, and others he made his first successful tour in Atlanta, Georgia, which happened on July 30, 2011, and another in Dallas, Texas on September 17, 2011, that required two seminars, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, as they were so popular.[17]

Personal life

Paulsen was married twice. He first married Carol Anne Schnarr in 1979, they divorced in 1982 after three years of marriage. Paulsen married his second wife Parrish Todd, a photographer, in 1983.[18] Together they have a son, Ashton "Ash" Paulsen.[18][19] In an interview with a Chicago TV station, Paulsen described himself as "a singer who decided to become an actor." Growing up in Grand Blanc, Michigan,[20] Paulsen sang in choirs throughout his youth and adolescence and began performing in plays in grammar schools. However, his idol growing up was Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings; he considered the arts to be a secondary career choice, primarily interested in becoming a professional hockey player.

Paulsen has long supported charity organizations and donated considerably for cancer research. He has worked a lot for GOALmodels, a program for adolescents, and is a sponsor of Camp Will-A-Way, a camp for mentally and physically disabled children. Paulsen also donates funds from autographs to the Wounded Warrior Project and Operation Smile.

In February 2016, Paulsen was diagnosed with Stage III throat cancer. Paulsen has since undergone treatment, and his cancer is now in remission.[21]

Author

Following his battle with cancer, Paulsen wrote a memoir Voice Lessons: How a Couple of Ninja Turtles, Pinky, and an Animaniac Saved My Life.[22] He has continued his speaking and performing tour in part to promote his book but also discuss his experiences.

Filmography

Paulsen voices most of the characters with his original accent which is American, but he used an English accent to voice Strut in The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure and Brunch in Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf while using a Scottish accent to voice Bobble in the Tinker Bell movies. In his role as Pinky, Paulsen used an exaggerated Cockney accent, especially in earlier episodes. He even used a Brooklyn accent for Reuben (Experiment 625) in Lilo & Stitch: The Series.

Film

Television

Video games

Live-action

Internet

Theme parks

References
  1. Szabo, Barbara (March 7, 2007). "Talent Agent Lectures for Mary Pickford Series". Corsair Newspaper – Santa Monica College. Retrieved October 19, 2014 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  2. "Rob Paulsen of Grand Blanc voicing holiday special". MLive.com. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  3. Forman, Ross (November 8, 1994). "Cartoon-voice Actor Is All Talk". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  4. https://robpaulsenlive.com/about-us/
  5. https://blogs.lib.msu.edu/red-tape/2017/oct/october-10-1954-rob-paulsen-iii-born/
  6. Rosbury, Alison (January 4, 2016). "Laughter is the Best Medicine Q&A with Rob Paulsen". MyCity Magazine. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  7. Williamson, Anna (September 28, 2012). "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' – preview". Digital Spy. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  8. Petski, Denise (November 2, 2017). "'Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles': Ben Schwartz, Kat Graham Among Voice Cast". Deadline. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  9. Hogan, Ron (April 4, 2019). "The Tick: The History of a Laugh-Out-Loud Superhero Satire". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  10. Nordine, Michael (2018-11-18). "'Pinky and the Brain' Voice Actors Hint at Reboot: 'If We Get Our Show Back…'". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  11. Pastrick, Chris (October 9, 2019). "Original voices set to return for 'Animaniacs' reboot on Hulu". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  12. Kickstarter (June 4, 2013). "V.O. Spotlight – Rob Paulsen". Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  13. Behind the Voice Actors: Prince Eric Behind the Voice Actors, Retrieved January 5, 2015
  14. "CCI: ShiftyLook Announces New Webcomics, Animated Projects". ComicbookResources.com. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  15. "Talking Toons with Rob Paulsen on TechJives.net". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  16. "Talking Toons with Rob Paulsen on Nerdist Industries". Nerdist Industries. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  17. Lucas Ackley & Chris Robison. "Rob Paulsen comes to Atlanta by BigShinyRobot.com". Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  18. By N.F. Mendoza (1995-12-17). "It's a Living : Voices From Within : How Rob Paulsen Gives Life to his Cartoon Characters". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-12-19.
  19. Lawson, Tim (2004). The Magic Behind the Voices: A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors. Persons. ISBN 9780786486946.
  20. "Rob Paulsen of Grand Blanc voicing holiday special". MLive.com. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  21. Radio, Southern California Public (21 December 2016). "Voice actors: Unseen heroes of film and TV, Part II".
  22. Paulson, Rob (October 8, 2019). Voice Lessons: How a Couple of Ninja Turtles, Pinky, and an Animaniac Saved My Life. Viva Editions. p. 264. ISBN 978-1632280664.
  23. Charles Grosvenor (producer, director) (2002). The Land Before Time IX: Journey to Big Water (Film). Universal Studios.
  24. @yakkopinky (July 29, 2012). "My voice, yes. RT @kaarval: @yakkopinky were you really in spaceballs???" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  25. "Behind The Voice Actors – Rob Paulsen". Behind The Voice Actors.
  26. https://web.archive.org/web/20190410224309/https://www.instagram.com/p/BwF42IlA4uw/
  27. "Burrito Run". Ultimate Spider-Man. Season 3. Episode 17. July 28, 2015. Disney XD.
  28. "I Know That Voice, A Documentary About the World of Voice Acting". Laughing Squid. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  29. Butch Hartman Ep. 7 – FULL Rob Paulsen Podcast – with Butch and Jace on YouTube
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