A Man Of Many Voices

After watching Rob Paulsen perform some of the voices he is most noted for in Animaniacs Live, it is easy to see why he is a true voice artist. He segues between characters effortlessly while entertaining his audience never missing a beat. In the Animaniacs cartoon series alone Rob voiced Yakko Warner, Pinky and Dr. Scratchansniff. Other characters Rob has voiced include Carl Wheezer (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius) , Spike (The Land Before Time), Major Glory (Dexter's Laboratory) and the list goes on. Although I enjoyed watching all these characters I have to admit my favorite will always be Yakko. Rob continues to entertain the new generation as the voice of Sir Kirby in Disney Jr.'s Doc McStuffins. He has also created a Podcast that has been turned into a video webcast called Talkin' Toons, you can find this at nerdist.com and on itunes. In the show Rob is joined by other great voice artists to discuss their personal experiences, read scripts and even re-enact some of their favorite scenes. Although it is currently on hiatus.

Animaniacs Live is a great way to get insight to the song writing and voice over aspects of this famous cartoon, as well as hear interesting behind the scenes stories of what went into it's production. Rob is accompanied on stage by Emmy Award winning composer/song writer Randy Rogel. Randy demonstrates his song writing genius by relating stories of how he created songs for this cartoon that remain ingrained in it's fan's psyche to this day. Together they could tell fun, interesting stories all day!

The audience didn't want this Q/A session to end.

Seeing this show is a must for all Animaniacs fans! As if all the entertainment and behind the scenes talk isn't enough these two gentlemen are also happy to give career advise to those in the audience seeking it. I was only able to speak with them briefly after the show. Aside from being superbly talented, they are just as cordial of stage as they are on.

G'NIGHT EVERYBODY!

Be sure to check out Rob's website: robpaulsenlive.com
He is also on Facebook: www.facebook.com/robpaulsenlive
and Twitter: @yakkopinky

Randy is on Twitter: @MrRandyRogel

The Keeper of Memories

If you grew up in the late 60's through early to mid 70's you may have fond memories of the Rankin/Bass T.V. specials. "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Mad Monster Party", were just a couple of holiday main stays for children. I have to admit, even though these came before my time there are a few that I still watch every year. That's why I was excited when I recently had the pleasure of briefly meeting the keeper of those memories, Rick Goldschmidt, at Wizard World Chicago. Rick is the official historian/biographer for the body of work produced by Rankin/Bass productions. He's written books on the making of these holiday classics as well as the production company and it's founders Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. He has dedicated much of his career to everything that is Rankin/Bass. Aside from being a published author, Rick's also an illustrator and musician. He has even recorded with members of Gin Blossoms, One of my followers. He's also an avid collector of T.V. and movie memorabilia. Rick happily makes personal appearances to share his knowledge and sell Rankin/Bass merchandise to anyone wanting to keep their childhood memories of The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass alive, at least in their personal collections.

For those of you in the West Hollywood, CA area on October 14th, Rick will be at his long-time friend and famous artist Shag's store to celebrate Mad Monster Party starring Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller! The festivities will begin at 7:00 pm. Rick has also informed me that he will have two screen used Animagic figures from Rankin/Bass with him: Smokey the Bear, from their 1966 T.V. special starring James Cagney and Octavia (voiced by Hilary Momberger, who Rick says may also be in attendance) from Rankin/Bass' The First Christmas from 1975. These will be appearing courtesy of Screen-Novelties in Hollywood. Screen-Novelties has animated A Spongebob Christmas, Elf T.V. special as well as a new Nickelodeon Halloween special that will premier this season. Rick says he will also be appearing at The Shag Store in Palm Springs, CA on October 22nd at 12:00 pm for a Mad Monster Party Brunch. Be sure to attend in costume! They have lots of surprises in store and Rick will be signing books and selling various Halloween themed Rankin/Bass merchandise. From there he will be heading to his second appearance at Chiller Theatre in New Jersey the weekend of the 23rd. He will be appearing alongside Michael Nesmisth of The Monkees, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers from Leave It To Beaver to name only a few. At this appearance he will be featuring the Animagic figures of Rankin/Bass' Father Time (Red Skelton) from Rudolph's Shiny New Year and Sister Theresa (Angela Lansbury) from The First Christmas courtesy of Deep Archives. There will also be Photo Ops with the puppets available!

If you can't meet Rick personally you can always follow his blog at www.enchantedworldofrankinbass.blogspot.com or check out Rankin/Bass items not available any where else, at www.miserbros.com 

Memories to Draw From

If you approached a group of twenty somethings on the street and started a conversation about "Rugrats" I could almost guarantee that they would all light up and begin to reminisce about their childhoods. Although most millennials will remember this show as well as "Rocked Power", "The Wild Thornberrys", and "Aaahh!!! Real Monsters". They would not be able to tell you what all these shows have in common aside from them all being produced by Nickelodeon. However these classic shows do have something else in common. They all had David Fontana working on their creative teams. Whether he was directing or storyboarding he brought a creativity to these shows which made them memorable. Currently in semi retirement from television David is now having fun by lending his immense talents to the caricaturist team at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Which is where I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with him. It is an unfortunate truth that we (the fans) too frequently leave the creative teams of our favorite shows unrecognized. So thank you David Fontana for being a part of my childhood, by helping bring the characters I love to life. Because of your work I have a big part of my childhood to pass on to my children someday.

P.S. I bought my Reptar Bars today and yes they do turn your tongue green.

Be sure to check out David's website here: http://www.davefontana.com/

Also follow him on Twitter: @DjScungilli