Voice Lessons by Rob Paulsen

Author:Rob Paulsen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Voice Lessons
ISBN: 9781632281227
Publisher: Viva Editions
Published: 2019-09-17T16:00:00+00:00

Of all the characters I’ve done, Pinky holds a special place in my heart. He has not only charmed audiences of both kids and adults, but he so impressed the television community that he helped me earn three Emmy nominations in a row.

Here I have to clarify. There are Emmys and then there are Emmys. My friend Maurice has won two prime-time Emmys, in 2011 and 2012, for outstanding voice-over performance for a variety of characters on Futurama. These are the Emmys most people think about, the ones for shows like Game of Thrones and Modern Family that air after 7:00 p.m.

For a time there, Moe and I were eligible for a prime-time Emmy for Pinky and the Brain. The network bumped us to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday nights. Unfortunately that put us up against the CBS juggernaut 60 Minutes, which had dominated the ratings in that time slot for about a thousand years. It was a death spot, and we quickly died.

Pinky and the Brain returned to its rightful afternoon slot and did just fine, collecting all kinds of trophies at the daytime Emmys, the ones that honor shows that air during the day, like soap operas, talk shows, game shows, and children’s programming.

In May of 1997, I was up for my first daytime Emmy for playing Pinky. They threw a huge awards show at Radio City Music Hall, with Susan Lucci and Regis Philbin hosting. Fred Rogers got a lifetime achievement award for Mr. Rogers.

Although I didn’t stand a chance against the all-star nominees— Louie Anderson for Life with Louie, Lily Tomlin for The Magic School Bus, Dennis Franz for Mighty Ducks, and Rita Moreno for Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?—this was a big deal for me and my family. I brought Parrish, Ash, and, at Parrish’s insistence, my mother, Lee.

Of course nobody knew who the hell I was. But Mom got a big kick out of it, and so did I. From the first time she introduced “Robin Paulsen and his neckitar” in the living room, my mother was always my biggest fan. She would have been impressed if my career had ended with the Jack in the Box commercial. I wanted to give her a gift nobody else could.

We drove all of eight blocks in a limo then walked the red carpet, where the photographers of course had no idea who the hell any of us were.

When I was very young, my mom used to say, “If your horn is worth blowing, somebody will blow it for you.” So she turned to the photographers and said, “My son is here because he was nominated for an Emmy. Do you watch Animaniacs?” Then, to me: “Do the voice, Rob.”

After I did a little Pinky, my mom said, “That’s my son.”

Louie won the Emmy, but no matter. It was worth it just to see my sweet mom so happy in her beautiful dress, accompanying her goofy oldest child to this fancy-schmancy Emmy thing.

The next year, the show moved to Los Angeles, and I scored another nomination for Pinky and the Brain.

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