Lost Sam Riegel "Don" and Darren Dunstan "Splinter" interviews

[pannoni1]

Well I have a couple more lost Ninja Turtles Network interviews to post here to share in case you missed it when these disappeared several years ago. Today I'll present these 2003 interviews of voice actors Sam Riegel and Darren Dunstan for the 4kids animated series.

SAM RIEGEL INTERVIEW

1)Donatello has an interesting case in Turtle
History, at least 6 people have voiced him in the past
20 years. Have you looked to any of the previous
incarnations for 'advice' on how to bring the
character to life, or did it just evolve naturally
after a while?

First off -- let me apologize for not replying
to this board sooner. I had CRAZY computer
problems last week -- I ended up reinstalling
Windows XP 3 times to fix it. And yes, I do realize
how ironic it is that the turtle with the most
computer knowledge is having the most computer
problems. Now, onto your questions... To tell you the
truth, I haven't really heard the other voices of
Donatello very much. I mean, I have seen the old
series and the first movie, but not in a long
time. I would have to say that my voice is mostly
based on early rehearsals with our excellent Voice
Director, Sue Blu. When I auditioned, I modeled
my voice after a college friend of mine from
Virginia who talks with a very nasal tone. Sue had
me tone that down a little and lighten it up, and VOILA!
The new Donatello.

2)I consider myself a bit of a Tech Head in training.
Basiaclly teaching myself HTML, how to use a computer
ten years ago to the point where I feel comfortable
enough to try and build one myself, and an advanced 3D
program used to make 3D turtle characters :). Are you
a fellow techy in training like Donatello, or are you
one of the computer illiterate?

Am I a techie in real life? Well, kinda, yes.
I own lots of electronic gadgets, and as I said
above, I've had computer problems this week, but
I did solve them all BY MYSELF. Thank you, thank
you, please hold your applause.

3)Expanding on that, so far, the show has been
rather light on Treknobabble, or Technobabble.
But, for the lines you did have, any trouble in getting
through them? Do you think you'd be able to get
through the really heavy stuff that might be coming
around when the Utroms are eventually introduced?
Even the seasoned Star Trek actors have trouble
with that stuff.

Regarding Technobabble. Despite the pretty out-there
things Donatello sometimes discusses on the show,
so far I haven't had to say anything that I didn't
somewhat understand. So far, the only problems I've had
recording the dialogue came when I had a terrible
sore throat. You can hear it in one of the episodes
if you listen really closely. I think it's around
episode 10 or 11. Also, there is an episode coming
up in Season Two that begins with Donatello talking
REALLY REALLY fast. That was tricky, because in real
life I usually speak slowly.

4)The King is one of my favorite episodes.
Donatello is really in his prime in this episode
as well, since he finally has someone as smart as
him to mesh with in the form of Kirby. Where you
a fan of Jack Kirby going into this episode? Or,
like me, did you learn about what he accomplished
only after the episode aired?

THE KING is my favorite episode, too. Not just because
it's all about Donatello! Because it's a story with a
lot of heart... an action... and good art... okay, okay,
and because it's all about me!

[pannoni1]

DARREN DUNSTAN INTERVIEW

Hello Mr.Dunstan , I have to admit, I was a bit worried about the voice for Splinter when I heard the clip on the original site. I couldn't place it, but some people thought the voice wasn't 'old enough' to ft the look of the character. Either that, or a 30 second clip wasn't nearly enough to judge an entire performance on.

But I must say, as soon as I saw the premier ep, it's become one of my favorite voices, along with Casey Jones. In each series, he seems to have a different stlye. In the movies it was old and raspy, in the next mutation, it was a bit of a Japanese flair, in the original series he had a generic American accent to it with a deep rumble, etc : ). Did the voice of Splinter go through any changes before settling on the current voice?

Hi there,

The reference I used for the voice of Splinter was a clip from the first live action film. It helped to place the accent and see how raspy he had been. I've tried to put some rasp on him but not to over-do it. He often springs into action and too much age on the voice would conflict with his agility.

As far as changes made to the voice, looking back on Episode 1, it has evolved a bit. I think a lot of voices in animation take a few episodes to settle and the Splinter in Episode 1 is a little different than in later episodes.

2)Splinter has some of the best one liners, and line deliveries of the series so far. One of my favorites being his comment to April about suddenly becoming a mother of 4 overnight, "Tell me about it." :). Do you wish you could inject a little more humor into this otherwise serious character? Or is it more fun to play the serious version of Master Splinter?

I think the one liners strike a good balance between authority and sense of humour. At first I was reticent to play his funny lines, mostly because his overall function in the show is to instruct and parent. It eventually became a great way to lighten him up - fitting in even better with the tone of the show.

I think all of the cast gets a kick out of the way each character has a distinct sense of humour - Mikey's silliness, Leo's good natured ribbing, Don's braniac skepticism and Raph's dry wit. They're a great group of funny guys.

3)How did you prepare for the role? If you whern't
a fan of the series originally, did you go back
and re-read any of the comics? Apparently rumor has
it that Splinter has an interesting plotline in the
latest issue, but I won't spoil it if you havn't read
it yet :).

To prepare for the role I watched the first
liveaction movie. I didn't want to watch the earlier
animated series because I knew its tone was lighter
than our series. Also, I didn't want to mimic any
of the previous Splinters. Even though TMNT has been
around for a while, it was nice for us to feel we
were creating something new. Growing up in the 80s
of course I knew the characters...and the live action
movie helped remind me of Splinter's relationship with
them. We'd also been told that some of the plot points
of the movie would be part of our series. That's about
all the referencing I did to previous TMNT stuff.
I used other references to help me with the voice
and/or role....Mr. Miyagi (Karate Kid) and Yoda.

4)In the original series, splinter was basically
a background character. A wise old sage who gave
advice when needed, and dropped back into the shadows
when not needed. Thankfully, the new series has given
him MUCH more to do. Can you fill us in on the plot
line for 'Search for Splinter', without giving
away any major details? I'm also interested in
hearing if he has any major roles in the season 2
episdoes that have been written/recorded...

Season 2 has begun recording but Splinter doesn't
appear right away. He joins the Turtles in the 6th
episode of the season. Probably can't give away
plot info but the Turtles take a trip w/out Splinter.
I'm excited to get back into the recording booth
next week. I'm really glad Splinter has a more active
role in the current series and hope that holds up!

5)Have you heard any rumors about the Hallmark
live action series? CGI Turtles and a costumed Splinter
are apparently being used, and I was wondering if any
of the current voice cast might be reprising their roles?
I've also been told that Splinter is apparently going to
have a a large role in the series as well..

I've only heard rumours that there was a Hallmark
production in the works. Is it true??!! I suppose Mirage
has something to do with the production, but our animation
company isn't involved with it. I'd be interested to hear
more about it.

)from the message board..
'Which do you like working on more: episodes that
focus on a central character (like the episode "The King"
which focused solely on Donatello) or episodes that are
more of a ensemble (like "The Shredder Strikes" or "The
Shredder Strikes Back")? '

I definitely prefer the 'ensemble' episodes where everyone
contributes an equal amount. First of all, it's nice to be
in the booth with the Turtles when they record (the five of
us sharing 4 microphones) and those ensemble episodes require
that. Episodes that feature one person more than another
usually mean Splinter records his lines seperately after the
Turtles have recorded. I think we all have theatre backgrounds
and like the idea of interacting with one another as opposed
to recording our lines without other actors around.



7)Also from the Message Board: Probably covered before, but enough of a variation to make it interesting...'are you playing the voice of who used to be your favorite turtle/character? Would you rather be someone else on the show, or are you happy with the choice that was made?'
I'm glad I play Splinter. I tend to enjoy the more adult characters as opposed to the young, spry ones. Splinter's a nice mix or being authoritative and also kicking a little butt.

8)What was it like voicing Splinter for the videogame? Was the entire cast present and accounted for for the recording? I'm also interested in how the in game animation looked. Does it match the show? Also, is there a plot line in the game, or are the scenes recorded just to tie the levels together?
The videogame was recorded in three different sessions, each a couple months apart. We may even have one more recording session for fixes. There are two different versions, one produced by Konami Japan and one produced by Konami Hawaii. They have different writers, producers and also have different formats. The Japan version has little vignettes/scenes interspersed throughout the action. We got a chance to play the demo version of the game and even though I'm not a videogame freak, I thought it was really cool. The Hawaii version is more thorough and seems to incorporate a lot of dialogue throughout the entire game. There are even outtakes in the Hawaii version. The Japan version we more or less recorded as a group (all Turtles in the booth at once, often with April, Casey, etc joining them). The Hawaii version was recorded actor by actor (each actor in the booth alone). Japan's videogame characters are Turtles, Splinter, Shredder, Casey, April, Hun, Stockman, Harry, Quarry, Thug and Razor Fist. Hawaii's are Turtles, Splinter, Shredder, Hun, Casey, April and a Foot Ninja.


9)How boring do retakes get? I've always wondered this when they show actors in the movies redoing a scene OVER AND OVER again. Are retakes just as tedious in the animation buisness as they are in the live action buisness?
Retakes aren't so bad. We do a few in the initial record sessions to improve upon our immediate reads. We also do fixes when an episode is close to being completed, adding some fight reacts and tweaking a few lines. It's all a fun process and rarely is slowmoving.

10)Are there any bloopers that might happen during recording that are kept for later DVD use? Mabey even have them animated for DVD extras like the Toy Story stuff. I'm sure by now most fans of the series have heard the infamous Thundercat bloopers, wich has Panthro's VA interupting his own reading by saying, 'What the F#ck is a samo flange?' Anything like this for the new turtle series?
I doubt there'll be bloopers on the DVD (see them in the videogame), but the DVD will be full of lots of other cool stuff. I've seen some of its process and it's gonna be great. I think it comes out in the fall (?).