The following interview took place during the opening press conference for FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention 2021:
Signs of the Times: Hello! Thanks for coming back, first of all. My name’s Aaron. I work with the FanX social media team. A lot of things have happened in the past two years since we had a convention – I got married and had a kid.
Jess Harnell: Good for you!
Jim Cummings and Rob Paulsen, in background: Woo hoo!
SotT: Having a child and working from home, I watch a lot of TV, but my choices in entertainment have changed quite a bit. So, my question for you guys is: what is the importance in making – I guess, producing – content that is both fun and educational? … I remember, growing up, watching “Animaniacs” and other shows. I learned a lot, and I still remember some of your songs, you know?
JH: Oh, great!
SotT: So, what is the importance for you making things that are fun and educational for kids?
JH: Rob, do you want to take that?
RP: Why is it important? I think you’ve already touched on it. The fact is that you’re now willing to share this with your children because it has enough subversive humor to entertain you, and I would submit you probably got jokes down the road from “Animaniacs” that you didn’t get when you first watched when you were a little guy.
JH: You won’t believe what’s coming.
RP: That was, as Mo [LaMarche] and everyone has said [earlier in the press conference], that is utterly by design – and not just on “Animaniacs” and “Pinky and the Brain.” I think that there are other shows that strive to do that, as well. But also, we have a big orchestra, we get to do great music – a lot of them are “earwigs.” I can sing, “Tunisia, Morocco, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Botswana…” a capella, and it doesn’t matter. It’s such a remarkable tune that Randy Rogel wrote.
JH: And he does it live, too, all the time.
JC: I can feel him stopping himself. [laughter] Must… not… sing… full… song!
RP: Can I give you my own anecdotal evidence? My son is now 37, surprisingly. When my son was little, he lived for "The Muppets." I could watch "Muppets" all day.
JH: Yeah.
RP: I loved it. If my kid wanted to watch “Teletubbies,” I would have had a real problem.
JH: Oh, yeah!
RP: …Not with my child – and I understand why the rudimentary nature of “Teletubbies” and “Barney”… I understand why they work. But if I’m, in some respects, doomed to watch television with my kid, I could watch Big Bird all day. My kid can learn stuff – he can learn how to be kind and generous and count and all of that, without [me] thinking, “There’s not enough wine in the world for me!”
JC: And his youngest is 25, so it’s hard for [Rob] to… still learning stuff.
RP: Still learning!
JC: It’s tough!
RP: So, you’ve kind of answered your question for us because you’re the example, and thank you for that.
SotT: No, thank you!
JH: The one thing I’ll add is: I’ve always said that “Animaniacs,” in particular, is a Trojan horse because it’s an educational social satire masquerading as a kids’ show. That’s what it is.
In part two of the three-part, overly belated series to wrap up interview blogs from Salt Lake Comic Con 2015, I had the awesome opportunity to spend three minutes (yes, just three since the people in front of me took like 10 minutes each) with the voices behind the Animaniacs at the SLCC15 press conference in September. Not only are Rob Paulsen (Yakko), Jess Harnell (Wakko) and Tress MacNeille (Dot) supremely talented, they're also supremely nice, and I was thrilled to be able to get any time with them at all, to be honest, as these voice actors - and Harnell, in particular - have become a must-see (must-hear?) attraction at the past few Salt Lake Comic Con events. This was a cool interview for me, considering the fact that the Warner Brothers (and sister) taught me all I ever needed to know about U.S. capitals, presidents and all the words in the English language. (In retrospect, I'm not sure I truly realized in my young age how amazingly brilliant those songs were!)
In order to replicate the most authentic experience possible, instead of summarizing our conversation, journalism style, I've decided to transcribe it all and just post it like it happened. Enjoy!
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SotT: Well, first of all,
welcome back to you two [Jess Harnell and Rob Paulsen]…
Jess: “Thank you, pal. It’s good to be back.”
Rob: “Thank you. It’s good to be here.”
SotT: So, I was just
wondering if you guys could talk about the last convention that you did here –
I was working with the [Salt Lake Comic Con] staff at the time… I don’t know if
anybody expected your panel to be as successful and popular as it was…
Rob: “Oh my [goodness]!”
Jess: “Was that crazy?”
SotT: It was crazy!
Rob: “It freaked us out!”
Tress MacNeille: “The panel, or the…?”
Jess and Rob: “The movie read.”
Jess: “Oh, Tress wasn’t there. It was a rock concert.” [See this full panel here!]
SotT: Yeah, it was amazing!
Tress: “Now, who was in that one?”
Jess: “Me, Rob and Jim [Cummings]. That was it.”
Rob: “Yeah, it was just Jimmy Cummings, Jess and me.”
Tress: “Just the three? Well, that’s all you need, really.”
SotT: It was crazy! And, you
know, immediately, I went back to the site office and they were saying, “We
have to get these guys back and we have to bring more of them.”
Jess: “Right! We got Tress MacNeille and Dee Bradley Baker,
so I think we traded up.”
SotT: Yeah! So we’re excited
to have you guys back. [To Tress] Is this your first time in Salt Lake City or
have you been here before?
Tress: “Rob, Jess and I came here many years ago to the
Warner Brothers tour, when we were touring the country… That was quite a few
years ago. Yeah.”
SotT: Ok. Well, welcome
back.
Tress: “Thank you. It’s beautiful here!”
Jess: “Love it.”
Tress: “I [had] friends who live in Park City, for a while.
They’ve since moved … but I’m a little familiar with the state.”
Rob: “It is a really beautiful city.”
Jess: “Yeah, it’s beautiful.”
Rob: “…but everybody here connected with the convention –
and I’m repeating myself – but everybody is just ‘top shelf.’ The whole
organization is run so beautifully…”
Jess: “Yeah, it’s run beautifully.”
Rob: “…and we do a lot of these things – and I know, having [gotten
to know] these organizers – the minutia and the logistics of running something
like this…
Jess: “Oh my gosh.”
Rob: “…is freaking insane! So, to have it run so smoothly,
where people show up, they meet you at the airport…”
Tress: “Yeah, I can’t even imagine the logistics!”
Rob: “…you walk out a door and two feet… there’s a car and
you go and you’re checked in and your room is great and you show up… I mean, it’s
fantastic. And the fans are out of their minds with excitement! Such a joy to
be here!”
SotT: Well, we love you
guys!
Rob: “Thank you! It shows!”
Jess: “We love you right back.”
Rob: “Right back at you!”
SotT: Thank you. One final
question: if there was one character that you have not voiced yet that you
would like to – like a dream character…
Rob: “Perry the Platypus! [Looks over at Dee Bradley Baker,
who is sitting at the next table] Oh wait… [Rob and Tress laugh]”
SotT: Oh wait, hang on… he’s
here! [Laughs]
Tress [in Irish accent]: “He’s sitting right there!”
Jess [in Irish accent]: “He’s right there.”
SotT: [To Dee] You better
watch out for your job now! [All laugh]
Rob: “He wouldn’t have to worry.”
Tress: “You mean one that already exists or one that we
would like to do?”
SotT: Either one. Either
one. Just any character out there.
Tress: “Whose job do I want to steal?”
Rob: “You know, I got two call-backs for Fry on ‘Futurama’…”
Jess: “Oh yeah?”
Rob: “…which Billy West did, and they absolutely made the
right choice. And, also, I got a call-back for Klaus the Fish on ‘American Dad’…”
Jess: “Didya?”
Rob: “…and Dee Bradley Baker is the voice of Klaus the Fish.”
Jess: “Once again!”
SotT: He got that one, too?!
Rob: “And, again, they made the right choice!”
Jess: “I could answer briefly by saying that I would love to
at some point play either Batman or Superman, ‘cause how cool would that be?
And I’d also really love to do Winnie-the-Pooh because my dear friend Jim
Cummings, he does Winnie-the-Pooh and, like, girls lose their minds and I call
him ‘Pooh Hefner’ when he does that, so I’d like to do Winnie-the-Pooh.”
SotT: How about you, Tress?
Tress: “You know what? I do all the girls’ voices, so…”
Jess: “She does! That’s true! All of them.”
Tress: “So you know, I can’t really, you know…”
Jess: “She’s covering all the bases.”
Tress: "I'm good."
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Here is the nearly two-hour script read put on by SLCC15's incredible assortment of voice actors, which I missed because I was doing the LOST panel at the time. Enjoy it in its entirety below:
For more information about Salt Lake Comic Con or to purchase tickets to an upcoming event, visit saltlakecomiccon.com.
