Robert Frederick Paulsen III was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 11, 1956,[5][2] the son of Bob and Lee Paulsen. He was raised in Grand Blanc, Michigan,[2] where he graduated from Grand Blanc High School in 1974.[6] He sang in choirs throughout his youth and adolescence and began performing in plays in school, but his childhood idol was ice hockey player Gordie Howe, and he considered the arts to be a secondary career choice due to his primary interest in becoming a National Hockey League (NHL) player.[2] He briefly attended the University of Michigan-Flint, but later dropped out and moved to Los Angeles in 1978 to pursue a career in show business, much to the disapproval of his father.[7][8][9] He worked his first job as a musician, before pursuing voice acting full time.[8]
During the 1980s, Paulsen also explored the field of live action films. His first film 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. Paulsen became more prevalent in the world of advertising as well. In the 1980s, he had been the announcer for the sitcomCheers and continued to secure roles as an announcer. He appeared as the voice of Mr. Opportunity, spokesman of Honda commercials on TV and radio,[10] 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 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.
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.[11] He also reprised his role as 1987 Raphael in the multiple 1987/2012 crossover episodes.
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.[13] In 1993, he voiced "Antoine Depardieu" 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.[14]
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 and Mike Ellis in the 2001 cartoon series Butt-Ugly Martians.
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.[citation needed]
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", Bacon Bill, Motato, Beau Rockley, Captain Mike, Tom Celeriac (a play on Tom Selleck), and other countless voices 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 voiced Ditto, Rhomboid Vreedle, Baz-El, and Magister Patelliday in the Ben 10 franchise.[citation needed]
Paulsen has been a regular industry guest and featured panelist at San Diego Comic-Con. 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 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,[25] 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 with Dante Basco.[26]
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.[27]
Personal life
He married his first wife, Carol Anne Schnarr on June 23, 1979. They divorced in 1982.[28] He married his second wife, photographer Parrish Todd, in 1983.[8] Together, they have a son.[8][29] He lives in Agoura Hills, California with his family.[30]
Paulsen has long supported various charities and raised donations 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 children with developmental disabilities. He also donates funds from autographs to the Wounded Warrior Project and Operation Smile.[31] In February 2016, he was diagnosed with stage IIIthroat cancer. He has since undergone treatment and his cancer went in remission.[32] Following his battle with cancer, he wrote a memoir called Voice Lessons: How a Couple of Ninja Turtles, Pinky, and an Animaniac Saved My Life.[33]
The Powerpuff Girls Movie – Hota Wata, Killa Drilla, The Doot Da Doot Da Doo Doos (uncredited), Blah-Blah Blah-Blah (uncredited), Wacko Smacko (uncredited)
All Hail King Julien – Brodney, Captain Ethan, Lil Arms Magee, One Eyed Simon, Brendan the Butterfly, DJ, Narrator, Snake, Recorded Voice, Additional voices[34]
Donatello, nicknamed Donnie, is a superhero and one of the four main characters of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media. He is the smartest and often gentlest of his brothers, wearing a purple mask over his eyes. He wields a bō staff, his primary signature weapon in all media.
Raphael, nicknamed Raph, is a superhero and one of the four main characters of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media. In most iterations, he is depicted as the most aggressive of the turtle brothers, physically the strongest, and often at odds with his brother, Leonardo.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American animated television series produced by Fred Wolf Films, and based on the comic book characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Set in New York City, the series follows the adventures of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their allies as they battle the Shredder, Krang, and numerous other villains and criminals. The property was changed considerably from the darker-toned comics, to make it more suitable for children and families.
Wakko's Wish is a 1999 American animated musical comedy-adventure fantasy direct-to-video film based on the 1993–1998 animated series Animaniacs, serving as the series finale until the 2020 reboot of the series. It relocates all of the Animaniacs characters to a quasi-19th century fairy tale world and portrays their race to find the wishing star that will grant them a wish.
Pat Fraley is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated television series and voiced Falcon in the 2003 Stuart Little animated television series. Fraley is also a member of Voice and Speech Trainers of America.
Tom Ruegger is an American animator and songwriter. Ruegger is known for his association with Disney Television Animation and Warner Bros. Animation. He also created Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and Histeria!.
Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain is an American animated sitcom featuring characters from the television series Tiny Toon Adventures and Pinky and the Brain, both created by Tom Ruegger. Serving as a spin-off and crossover to the two series, the series was executive produced by Steven Spielberg and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation and Amblin Entertainment. It aired from 1998 to 1999 on Kids' WB, running for 13 episodes. This show would be Spielberg's final collaborative effort with Warner Bros. Animation until the 2020 revival of Animaniacs.
Susan Blu, better known as Sue Blu, is an American voice-actress, voice-director, and casting-director in American and Canadian cinema and television. She most notably voiced Arcee in The Transformers: The Movie and Seasons 3 and 4 of The Transformers. She is also known for playing the roles of Stormer/Mary Phillips and Lindsey Pierce in the 1980s animated series Jem. She also served as a Casting- & Voice-Director for Handy Manny, for which she also guest-starred as Marion.
Animaniacs Game Pack is a 1997 computer game based on the animated television series Animaniacs. It features five arcade games starring the Warner kids, Yakko, Wakko and Dot. It was published and developed by Funnybone Interactive. Voices for all characters in the games are provided by the voice actors who performed the roles for the television series. It was the first Animaniacs media to use digital ink and paint, mostly used in cutscenes. Also, it used 3D pre-rendered backgrounds in some games.
Pinky and the Brain is an American animated sitcom created by Tom Ruegger for the Kids' WB programming block of The WB. It was the first animated television series to be presented in Dolby Surround and a collaboration of Steven Spielberg with his production company Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television Animation. The characters first appeared in 1993 as a recurring segment on the animated television series Animaniacs. It was later spun off as a series due to its popularity, with 65 episodes produced. The characters later appeared in the series Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain, and later returned to their roots as an Animaniacs segment in the 2020 revival of that series.
Animaniacs is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, until the series ended on November 14, 1998. It is the second animated series produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television Animation, after Tiny Toon Adventures. It initially ran a total of 99 episodes, along with a feature-length film, Wakko's Wish. Reruns later aired on Cartoon Network from 1997 to 2001, Nickelodeon from 2001 to 2005, Nicktoons from 2002 to 2005, and Discovery Family from 2012 to 2014.
Nicktoons is a Dutch pay television channel broadcasting in the Netherlands and Belgium. It launched together with Nick Hits on 2 August 2007. It mostly airs animated programs dubbed in the Dutch language. The Global feed has also been available since 2017.
Gilad Kleter is an Israeli actor and voice actor.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American animated television series developed by Ciro Nieli, Joshua Sternin, and Jennifer Ventimilia for Nickelodeon, based on the characters created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. The series begins with the Turtles emerging from their sewer home for the first time, using their ninjutsu training to fight enemies in present-day New York City. The series ran in the United States from September 28, 2012, to November 12, 2017.
Simcha Barbiro is an Israeli actor and voice actor.
The first season of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles aired on Nickelodeon from September 28, 2012, to August 8, 2013. The season introduces the four turtles Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo.
Animaniacs is an American animated comedy musical television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Hulu. A revival of the 1993 TV series Animaniacs created by Tom Ruegger, the new series sees the return of the Warner siblings, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot, and Pinky and the Brain.
Events in 1956 in animation.
Gordon Joseph Bressack was an American television writer who won Emmy Awards for Pinky and the Brain and Animaniacs. He was the father of filmmaker James Cullen Bressack.
↑ Paulsen, Rob; etal. (Micheal Fleeman) (2019). Voice Lessons: How a Couple of Ninja Turtles, Pinky, and an Animaniac Saved My Life (1sted.). United States: Viva Editions (published October 8, 2019). pp.13–19. ISBN978-1632280664.
↑ Paulsen, Rob (October 8, 2019). Voice Lessons: How a Couple of Ninja Turtles, Pinky, and an Animaniac Saved My Life. Viva Editions. p.264. ISBN978-1632280664.
↑ Paulsen, Rob (October 8, 2019). Voice Lessons: How a Couple of Ninja Turtles, Pinky, and an Animaniac Saved My Life. Viva Editions. pp.29–34. ISBN978-1632280664.
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