Rob Paulsen's European Vacation

[MikeandRaph87]

I am aware why Michael Gough stepped in as Raphael at the end of the series run,but I never heard why Rob Paulsen did not voice Raphael in the European Vacation set of episodes. I appreciate the episodes for the most part except Hal Rayle's voice falls flat when matched with the great one.Has Rob ever addressed why he did not voice Raphael in these episodes? Thanks.

[ssjup81]

If I'm not mistaken, Barry wasn't around for some of them too. Anyway, it could've been a situation where he was busy with other things or a scheduling conflict at the time of recording. That's always been my assumption. I know this has happened for Krang, Shredder, Donny/Bebop, and Splinter. The only ones who kept the same voice actors from beginning to end were Leo, Mikey, and April.

[Spitfire]

Seriously this is the only series I've ever watched that had subbed voices when an actor wasn't "available" to record lines. I've seen people be replaced entirely but never this. It's so weird.

[pannoni1]

That's a good question and if anyone has a chance to contact Rob would be a good thing to discuss. These episodes seemed like they were rushed to be produced anyways. The best reason is probably the scheduling conflict, since 13 episodes take at least three weeks to record even if they were rushed. The other possible reason was that Rob had an illness, though it seems pretty farfetched that he had one at the time. I heard Rob in one of his podcasts mention that Animaniacs recording sessions began in 1992, which may have been when the European episodes were recorded (though it could have been as early as 1990), since the 1992 background music cues are used throughout that season.

[Master Splinter]

Maybe he couldn't get his passport in time?

-ms

[MikeandRaph87]

That's a good question and if anyone has a chance to contact Rob would be a good thing to discuss. These episodes seemed like they were rushed to be produced anyways. The best reason is probably the scheduling conflict, since 13 episodes take at least three weeks to record even if they were rushed. The other possible reason was that Rob had an illness, though it seems pretty farfetched that he had one at the time. I heard Rob in one of his podcasts mention that Animaniacs recording sessions began in 1992, which may have been when the European episodes were recorded (though it could have been as early as 1990), since the 1992 background music cues are used throughout that season.

The question came when I was watching Elementary, My Dear Turtle. It is said to be 1991 as present day despite it airing in 1993. I would take it as being produced in 1991 since it was mentioned as present day in the episode set. I too thought he was overbooked with his voice work and the production came up sudden instead of a set record date like usual. I assume the same with James Avery having to report to taping of The Fresh Prince of Bell Air butting heads with something that was not originally on the schedule. Its just nice to have the confirmation.

[ToTheNines]

Seriously this is the only series I've ever watched that had subbed voices when an actor wasn't "available" to record lines. I've seen people be replaced entirely but never this. It's so weird.

Wow... kinda mindblowing that I've never noticed that fact.

[Cure]

Subbed voices? Like...subtitled? I don't get it.

EDIT: You mean substituted, haha. Silly me.

[MikeandRaph87]

In the 2003 series Greg Carey voiced original character Hun,but in Enter The Dragon part 1 and his small vit in part 2 either Carey was sick or there was a sub voice actor for that appearance. Aside from that I can't think of any in the 2003 cartoon. But yeah, this is one of the few faults of the '87 cartoon, sub voice actors. Bill Martin in Shredder's last seven episodes and Michael Gough did really good even if I do love who they replaced much more. The rest of the voice subs, meh.

[Xav]

I know this has happened for Krang, Shredder, Donny/Bebop, and Splinter. The only ones who kept the same voice actors from beginning to end were Leo, Mikey, and April.What about Baxter Stockman, General Traag, Irma, and Rocksteady ?
In the 2003 series Greg Carey voiced original character Hun,but in Enter The Dragon part 1 and his small vit in part 2 either Carey was sick or there was a sub voice actor for that appearance. Aside from that I can't think of any in the 2003 cartoon.The was still Greg Carey. A 4Kids guy on this board said so. A few I can think of for the 2003 cartoon are Leatherhead, Angel, and Silver Sentry.

[ssjup81]

What about Baxter Stockman, Carter, Casey Jones, General Traag, Irma, Lord Dregg, Mung, The Rat King, Rocksteady, Slash, Zach?. I was only referring to main characters that were around at the very beginning and Cam voiced Rocksteady/Leo. Leo and Mikey were around for the entire duration and never had an alternate voice actor for their characters.

[Luke795]

Seriously this is the only series I've ever watched that had subbed voices when an actor wasn't "available" to record lines. I've seen people be replaced entirely but never this. It's so weird.

Inspector Gadget also had subbed voices for Dr. Claw, Brain, and MAD Cat.

[Jester]

Really...Frank Welker missed some episodes of Inspector Gadget? Not seeing it....

I never understood the voice subbing in the FW series. I almost always noticed, even as a kid. The only time I've heard a great explination is when Townsend subbed for a sick Peter Reneday who was out for a while...Towny also had his checks for playing Splinter sent to Peter. Sweet story from the TMNT Rob-cast.

[Spitfire]

What about Baxter Stockman, Carter, Casey Jones, General Traag, Irma, Lord Dregg, Mung, The Rat King, Rocksteady, Slash, Zach?
The was still Greg Carey. A 4Kids guy on this board said so.
Yeah they just didn't slow it down like they normally did.

Inspector Gadget also had subbed voices for Dr. Claw, Brain, and MAD Cat.
Never watched Gadget enough to notice but that's still weird to me haha.

[CyberCubed]

The sub voices are simple

The show has to record the lines to move ahead with production and if the VA was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts, being sick, or whatever, they would quickly use a sub for that particular episode. They would obviously miss pay for that episode too, however they had no intention of firing the actor overall.

[Jester]

Yes, we "get" why they did it, we really just don't like they did it. There's really no reason that they couldn't just do the record without the missing actor and have them replace their lines at a later date. Were they really so desperate to release TMNT episode that they didn't care about the qualit....oh...I can't even finish, the answer is so obviously "YES!"

[gobo]

Fred Wolf is a cheapskate.

[Xav]

Yeah they just didn't slow it down like they normally did.I read where Scott Williams (Baxter Stockman) said Greg's voice is actually deeper in person. Which makes me think his voice was actually spread up.

[Spitfire]

The sub voices are simple

The show has to record the lines to move ahead with production and if the VA was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts, being sick, or whatever, they would quickly use a sub for that particular episode. They would obviously miss pay for that episode too, however they had no intention of firing the actor overall.

Sure but besides TMNT and I guess Inspector Gadget name more nationally broadcast animated series that just subbed out voices randomly and then returned back the original VA the next episode? It makes no sense and they didn't even pull that in the infamous Hannah and Barbara era of animation that brought the whole industry standard down to an all time low. You want to talk cheap it didn't get much cheaper then that.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

The question came when I was watching Elementary, My Dear Turtle. It is said to be 1991 as present day despite it airing in 1993. I would take it as being produced in 1991 since it was mentioned as present day in the episode set. I too thought he was overbooked with his voice work and the production came up sudden instead of a set record date like usual. I assume the same with James Avery having to report to taping of The Fresh Prince of Bell Air butting heads with something that was not originally on the schedule. Its just nice to have the confirmation.

They aired in Europe in 1992. But are you really sure he says "the same 1991" and not "the same 1990 one".

[ABrown]

The weirdest thing is when you hear Scooter(the muppet baby)'s voice out of Donatello.

[Jester]

I hate the episode Mutagen Monster for just that reason...

"Those chemicals are mixing together to make mu-tuh-gin!"

[Spitfire]

I always imagined Don had a horrible sinus problems during those episodes.

[MikeandRaph87]

I always imagined Don had a horrible sinus problems during those episodes.

I always pretended something similar, the fact he had a cold. Bebop does not sound that bad though.The only problem is the six non Barry Gordon voice overs are spread out some through the third season. I always assumed his six missed recording had something to do with the fact he was named the SAG President at that same time.

[MrPliggins]

It's so weird in The Ninja Sword of Nowhere..when Raph starts talking, nobody screams imposter! Totally unrealistic.

[CyberCubed]

I wish the guy who did Raph's voice in Season 10 was able to do his alternate voice in the Euro episodes, they would have been much more tolerable.

[gobo]

Funny. I always preferred his Euro-Cruise alternate to his S10 alternate.
It's so weird in The Ninja Sword of Nowhere..when Raph starts talking, nobody screams imposter! Totally unrealistic.
I'd rather tell myself Raph had no speaking lines in that ep. >_< That was the worst Raph voice ever.

[Jester]

Thankfully he did have very few....:P

[CyberCubed]

Funny. I always preferred his Euro-Cruise alternate to his S10 alternate.

S10 Raph was very good, he got the sarcastic pitch down perfectly.

[ssjup81]

The prob with Euro-vacation Raph voice wise, is that the alt voice actor sounded like he was trying to hard and came across like a Groucho Marx reject. Even as a kid, I noticed how bad he sounded, and I usually never paid much attention to that stuff when that young, but Raph stood out for me. I think that's why I've always had a dislike for those batch of eps, even though I hadn't seen them in years. Those eps (and the one with the future turtles) I really disliked from when I originally saw them.

Season 10 Raph's voice actor was really good. I agree with those who said it would've been nice if he'd been around for those European Vacation eps.

[Jephael]

I wish the guy who did Raph's voice in Season 10 was able to do his alternate voice in the Euro episodes, they would have been much more tolerable.

Better yet I wish Rob Paulsen had never missed an episode.

[pferreira]

Rather weirdly soap operas pull the same trick and recast characters for three to six months but at least it's one substitute. It's very strange to watch.

[gobo]

I was watching S10 and decided that I was mistaken all this time that I claimed to enjoy his Euro-Cruise alternate better. But, I figured out it must have been a dream I had when I got to S10 in my marathon this past weekend, and realized that there was no contest that Hal Rayle was my favorite.

[Lisardo]

I know this an old thread, but I was searching for info on the voice actor for Raph on the Euro eps, and this thread came up in my Google search, ;) I'm rewatching the Euro eps now and I wondered why Rob Paulsen was replaced during that entire (short) season. Wiki said the eps were produced before S4 came out, but didn't air till 1992 or 1993 (depending on the country). So if these eps were in fact made in 1989/1990, what was Rob doing then that he couldn't voice the character? Just wondering.

[mikezilla2]

im also wondering this

Suffice to say pretty much all the Replacement actors stuck out like a sore thumb.

[MikeandRaph87]

I never got a real answer to this question like I did for why he left the series nefore the final season. Could someone who has a Twitter account ask Rob Paulsen himself? Thanks in advance to who does so.

[Lisardo]

I always figured by S10 Rob Paulsen was a known voice actor and was getting more involved with other cartoons, hence his dropping TMNT. Not sure.

[MikeandRaph87]

I always figured by S10 Rob Paulsen was a known voice actor and was getting more involved with other cartoons, hence his dropping TMNT. Not sure.

No, it was because of a pay issue. The salary for what became the last season was lower than it had been and Rob felt insulted due to the longtime association and fact he had a big star rise during the run of the 1987 cartoon so he just decided not to sign.

[sdp]

How many different VAs did the OT Turtles have? You'd think they would've just kept one official "back up" VA turtle for each one instead of constantly having different ones.

[Andrew NDB]

I never got a real answer to this question like I did for why he left the series nefore the final season. Could someone who has a Twitter account ask Rob Paulsen himself? Thanks in advance to who does so.

I always figured by S10 Rob Paulsen was a known voice actor and was getting more involved with other cartoons, hence his dropping TMNT. Not sure.

No, it was because of a pay issue. The salary for what became the last season was lower than it had been and Rob felt insulted due to the longtime association and fact he had a big star rise during the run of the 1987 cartoon so he just decided not to sign.

I guess that's fair, though I wonder if it can be that simple, as the FW cartoon was a unionized production. There's no way his union would have let them reduce his pay like that willy nilly, unless everyone else's got chopped, too (so, maybe that?). And there's no way it was a scheduling thing.

Still, at the end of the day probably the amount of ratings falling as a direct result of his leaving/recasting: 0.

[CyberCubed]

How many different VAs did the OT Turtles have? You'd think they would've just kept one official "back up" VA turtle for each one instead of constantly having different ones.

Leo and Mike never had any alternate VA's, only Don and Raph did.

And Don's alternate voice is only in about 5 episodes, it only feels like more than that because it was mostly during Season 3 which people watch more than the other seasons.

Raph's alternate voice was in two Season 3 eps and the Euro eps. His new voice in Season 10 was actually pretty decent for the last 8 eps of the show.

[MikeandRaph87]

I guess that's fair, though I wonder if it can be that simple, as the FW cartoon was a unionized production. There's no way his union would have let them reduce his pay like that willy nilly, unless everyone else's got chopped, too (so, maybe that?). And there's no way it was a scheduling thing.

Still, at the end of the day probably the amount of ratings falling as a direct result of his leaving/recasting: 0.

I read it on a website in the form of an interview sometime ago. I can't find it in an initial search. If you like I can dig some more. I read it then created this thread to answer this second question....five years ago.

Perhaps dropping ratings allowed for reduced pay? Just guessing.

What would Rob had been up to in 1990 to prrvent his VA recording? Really sick? Really booked?

[Lisardo]

Raph's alternate voice was in two Season 3 eps and the Euro eps. His new voice in Season 10 was actually pretty decent for the last 8 eps of the show.

There's actually four different Raph voice actors (including Rob). I think Don's/Bebop's alternate VA was just the one guy.

You'd think they would've just kept one official "back up" VA turtle for each one instead of constantly having different ones.

Yeah that was weird and inconsistent. I dunno why Raph had so many alternatives and Don/Bebop didn't.

What would Rob had been up to in 1990 to prrvent his VA recording? Really sick? Really booked?

Yeah see that's what I was wondering. I don't think back in 1990 he was that big yet, but I'm sure he had a few other projects.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I think there's like 3 alternate Raph voice actors. One for S3, one for the Euro eps, and one for S10. And I HATED the VA for those few S3 eps! Esp. in the Ninja Sword of Nowhere ep.

He was my least favourite of the three. I liked the one in season 10 alot while the European vacation one I found just ok just like Jim Cummings as Shredder who is good despite not sounding like Avery.

[Lisardo]

He was my least favourite of the three. I liked the one in season 10 alot while the European vacation one I found just ok just like Jim Cummings as Shredder who is good despite not sounding like Avery.

I rate them all the same too. I also found it interesting how Townsend Coleman substituted for Splinter a couple of times. I could barely tell actually. And Townsend wasn't bad as Krang either, tho it sounded a bit weird.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I rate them all the same too. I also found it interesting how Townsend Coleman substituted for Splinter a couple of times. I could barely tell actually. And Townsend wasn't bad as Krang either, tho it sounded a bit weird.

His most hilarious moment as Krang was in the love potion episode. He even said in an interview he regrets doing Krang. Not surprising, since his Krang impression is so bizzare and random its hilarious.

[pferreira]

I never got a real answer to this question like I did for why he left the series nefore the final season. Could someone who has a Twitter account ask Rob Paulsen himself? Thanks in advance to who does so.Just to add to this the network said he could be replaced and that's what they did.

His most hilarious moment as Krang was in the love potion episode. He even said in an interview he regrets doing Krang. Not surprising, since his Krang impression is so bizzare and random its hilarious.I never liked his Krang. It was far too bubbly and high pitched.