Best voice for tMNT character ever
 

Since TMNT has had many incarinations in the media, I'm going to ask which is the best voice for the following characters:

Leo
Don
Raph
Mikey
Splinter
April
Casey Jones
Shredder
Leatherhead

Feel free to add your own.

Good topic, especially since we have the new movie actors to choose from now. We should also state WHY we choose who we do.

Leo - Mike Sinterniklaas (I hope I spelled that right). This was hard because Cam was so dynamic and I can't here Cam doing anything else without hearing Leo. But Mike S. has taken Leo further that even Cam, he sounds just like Cam, but his performance in season 4 really evolved Leo futher than I've even seen Leo go before. New toon Leo is probably my favorite incarnation of Leo. Mike S. makes him believable both as a teenager and as a warrior.

Don - While I greatly apreciate Sam Regal, Barry Gordon *is* Donatello to me. He's so distictive. Much like Cam, I can't hear Barry in another role without thinking Don, but Barry's voice is just so unique than you could never mistake him for anyone other than Don.

Raph - To me Raph isn't complete without that NY accent. It sums up his attitude and everything about him. Frank's got the accent but his voice is so deep not quite teen enough, Paulson has good delivery but no accent or anger Josh Pais and Nolan North epitomise Raphael for me. Movie Raph has always been my favorite Raph.

Mikey - Wayne Grayson. I think Wayne has taken the best of the Mikey actors before him and really make Mikey his own. He has the fun without the annoying surfer qualities. Props also go to Robbie Rist but after six seasons of hearing Wayne I really can't hear anyone else as Mikey in my head anymore.

Splinter - Kevin Clash. While it was really cool to hear Mako, an actually Japanese actor play Splinter, Clash had more warmth to Splinter somehow. The campfire scene is a maginificent perfomance. I'm just in awe that the same guy that does Elmo also does Splinter.

April - This is akward cause I can't even remember her name, but old toon April will always been the best to me.

Casey Jones - Less choices here. I'd say Elias, but he was playing the live action character and didn't actually do any voiceover work, so whoever does new toon Casey I guess, I really like his performance.

Shredder - James Avery, he's not as scarry as new toon Shredder, but he's just so classic.

Leatherhead - um, the new toon guy

Karai - Ziyi Zhang. It was great hearing her. I love the actress. Again, casting an actual Japanese actor for the character helped. I hope she returns if there is a sequel.

Hey, this is a pretty neat idea. I'm tempted to go the easy route and say that I favor all the actors on the new movie the most, but it wouldn't be totally true even though I think they all did a phenomenal job. Here are my choices, and forgive me, but I don't know the names of very many of the actors so I'm just gonna go by series or movie to describe my faves.

Leo, Don, Raph, Mikey - The new TMNT movie voice actors were my favorite renditions of the turtles. None of the old cartoon voices or the old movie voices cut it for me. The old movie Raphael is pretty close, though, so probably a tie for him. The 2k3 toon voices are okay, but I don't like Mike or Raph as much in the toon. Leo and Don are pretty good IMO, but the new movie wins for all the turtles for me. I really found them to be perfect in every way.

Splinter - It took me a while to get used to the new movie Splinter with Mako. I like him now, but my favorite Splinter is definitely the old movies version of Splinter. It just felt more elderly, natural, and real to me. Neither of the toons felt quite right either.

April - I'm gonna have to go with Time Mistress here. Old toon April was the best, but I can't really explain why.

Casey Jones - Definitely the old movie Casey. New movie Casey is cool too, but the old Casey was absolutely perfect for that role. Perhaps if they put more classic Casey lines in the new movie like "Two minutes for high sticking," the new Casey would have made the cut.

Shredder - I honestly don't really have a favorite here at all. None of the Shredders has sounded perfect to me. 2k3 Shredder is probably closest for me, though, with old movie Shredder in a close second.

Leatherhead - Don't really know. Never paid much attention to be honest, but I'd probably have to go with the 2k3 Leatherhead.

EDIT: Oh, and Karai - No preference really, but probably the movie Karai because it sounded so unique to me.

Not to be nitpicky, but she's Chinese. :)

D'oh! I did know that. I meant to say Asian. I got the actress's nationality confused with the character's.

Hmm...

Don - I would go with a close tie between Mitchell and Sam.
Leo - Mike and James, again, a tie.
Raph - Frank and Nolan
Mike - Wayne and Mikey.

The new movie and 2K3 series voice actors were perfect.

And, for April? I'll go with Veronica.

Leo: James Arnold Taylor. He portrayed Leo as strong and dynamic, but not stiff and borring. He gave Leo a personality. Michael would be my second favorite Leo.

Raph: Nolan North no question. It's like he took Josh Pais' and Frank Frankson's interpertations and blended them into the perfect Raphael.

Don: Mitchell Withfield. I just loved that geeky yet sarcastic tone he gave Don. His performance truly stands out among the other Don actors. Kinda remniscent of Barry Gordon's Don, but still unique.

Mikey: Mikey Kelley was taylor made for Michelangelo. He played Mikey as full of energy, but still pretty easy going. He sounded like a regular teenager.

Splinter: Tough choice. Kevin Clash definatley gave Splinter age, but Mako brought a new dynamic to the character. All in all, I think Darren Dustin's portrayal was a good mixture.

April: Probably a tie between Veronica Taylor and Rene Jacobs. I can't choose.

Casey Jones: Elias Koteas, nuff said.

Shredder: Nothing beats the menacing tone of Scottie Ray. His version gave Shredder his balls back.

Leatherhead: Well, since there were only two versions, and only one was faithful to the character, Greg Carey.

great topic,

Leo- Tough choice between 2k3 or TMNT 4, but I'll give it to James A Taylor. Probably one of the most well-rounded Leos of all the actors.

Raph- I love North, but his and Frank portrayal were influenced by Josh Pais.
PAis accent may be a bit thick, but I feel his depseration/frustratio better than the other too. Josh wins

Mike- Mike KElly for sounding young, yet the least surfer/stoned of the mike actor.

Don- I really liked mitcvhell , but Sam Regals imo the best Don. I grew up woth Barry Gordon, and Feldman , but don is more introspective and thoughtful and it isnt necessarily mean high-pitched.

Splinter - Kevin Clash brough the most warmth and sounded somewhat Japanese /old. 2nd though is PEte Renady, who conveys wise master well.
Mako is a great actor and I see him as a different take on splinter that isnt the definitive one, but it didnt bother me. Not tosound hater, but Darrens voice doesnt do it for me for some reason. Kevin ftw

Shredder-I guess Im a minority, but david Mccharen(voice actor for Shred in live action movies 1/2). He screams evil, bad ass ninja lord. scottie Ray is good, but doesnt seem too distinctive to me. I love James Avery with a caveat.
If his char/voice performance had remained as in the first season(Best parts:when he tries to coax the turtles to joining the foot in enter the shredder,)He would be a close second to McCharen. But the whiny goofball shred is too lame for me, so he goes to 3rd place.

april - Judith Hoag. Renae JAcobs was too girly , gellar is too young, 2k3 actress is jut ok. With that , its one of the few categories with a clear win.

Casey - Elias Koteas

Leatherhead- Greg Carey

Leo: James Arnold Taylor is best. But Cam Clarke had a nice voice. :)
Don: Mitchell, hands down
Mike: Um ... Townsend's voice was great for the character, but the old toon Mike was not really Mike. I guess Wayne or something.
Raph: NOLAN
Splinter: Whoever played him in the old toon. WAY the most dignified.
Shredder: The voice in the first movie
April: Is it bad that I think SMG was pretty good?

this is tough

for Leonardo I think it is a toss up between James Arnold Taylor and Mike Sinterniklaas. they are both flippen awsome and make Leonardo very hard core. Cam Clarke is in a catergory all his own.

For Donatello Barry Gordon, Sam Regal, amnd Mitchelle just bring so much to Donatello you can't compare. Although I like the mildly sarcastic flare he gave to Movie Don

Karai: Ziyi Zhang, no contest
Baxter Stockman: The 2K3, also no contest(for obvious reasons)

I thought I was going to be too clicheed but for Donny I liked Corey. Feldman was able to add that sarcastic tone to Donny that made him just a bit more edgier than his other counterparts (meaning other versions of Don)

Now bare with me, as I'm doing this from memory and don't know all the voice actors names as well as you do.

Leo - The 2k3 version. Like Shredder in 2k3, he's able to show a lot of angles of Leo.
Raph - While Nolan had the attitude and edge, I think I'm going to have to go with Pais.
Mike - Rist. He was able to do Mike without too much surfer talk and still make him loveable. The 2k3 version is a close 2nd.
Splinter - Kevin Clash. While Kevin does do Elmo, who I think has gotten too much air time on SS lol, I think he was able to do a very fatherly and wise Splinter. Mako is good and makes him more believeable in the fact that Splinter came from Japan.
April - Paige Turco was cuter than Hoag, but Hoag had that fiestiness Turco didn't.
Shredder - I like the 2k3 version, it's a perfect mix of business man Saki and the evil Shredder.
Casey - Elias all the way. He even had the look.
Karai - While I agree that Ziyi did a great job as Karai, her accent just threw me and I think, tiny bit, even annoyed me too a point. I'm going with the 2k3 version.

The all time best voice ever was Pat Fraley as Krang!
James Avery as Shredder. Yo Uncle Phil!
Kevin Clash was an awesome Master Splinter...
for Mikey, I'd have to say my best friend Sam XD (She's going to get me one of these days.)

I don't really have favorites for the others. I had some I didn't like, but I don't really know names, so I won't mention them ^_^;

My choices:
Leo: Mike Sinterniklaas
Don: sam Regal
Raph: Tough one...I like both toon Raphs because of diffrent character needs. Rob worked in the OT and Frank works in the NT.
Mikey:Townsend Coleman
Splinter: Kevin Clash
April: er...um...I dunna...either cartoon April.
Casey Jones: Elias Kotaes
Shredder: James Avery
Leatherhead: NT, sorry Mr. Cummings, but I like the original character better.

Dudes, was Krang voiced by a woman? Was Krang supposed to be male or female, or neither?

Leo: Mike Santaclause..err Sinterniumwhatever...I can't spell his name!! I DO like the new movie leo...i forget his name. :ohwell:

Don: anybody but Cory.

Raph: Nolan North AND Josh Pais. Josh's Raph was like the foundation of the real representation of the turtle, then everybody after him took that and ran with it. I like 2k3 Raph alot, but oh man..Nolan beats that easy. I was glad he didn't have this gruff gravelly voice of a smoker; it ruins the voice. I'd like to hear John do Raph without the gravelly sound, just have the accent and it's fine.
Mikey: I think I like Wayne's Mikey, but the new movie is good too.

Splinter: MAKO! I LOVED HIS VOICE! I do like Darrens' Splinter, his fits well for the toon.

April: Judith Hoag, i wish she could have voiced her in the movie
Casey Jones: Elias Koteas, he so WAS Casey in TMNT1. He'd have been better than Flameboy.

Shredder: dont care
Leatherhead: dont care

Pat Fraley is a man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvkHm87se2U

Ha, okay, good to know. When I used to watch the old cartoon, I thought Krang was female. I was a dumb little kid.

Or it could be that Krang was Shredder's nagging wife >.> *hides*
I love Krang, really. :evilgrin:

Just to stay on topic, I HAVE decided, my favorite Mikey voice, was the first movie version. ^_^ so cute.

For Raphael Rob Paulsen all the way. He did such a superb job on old toon Rapahel and really gave him a slick personality, even though OT Raphael is worlds diffrent his orginal concept, he was represented well. Rob Paulsen is in a league all his own.

As for edgy tough Mirage-ish Raphael I'd say it is a toss up between Josh Pais and Nolan North. Although I think I lean more toward Nolan North if for nop other reason than for that emotion filled confession he gave to Splinter after his fight with Leoanrdo.

As for Michaelangelo...guh, it is a toss up between Townsend Coleman and Wayne Grayson. Both gave so much personality to Michaelangelo, and both are such good actors. Over-all as far as "sound of voice" goes I think Townsend Coleman. Despite the cliche surfer sccent Townsend Colemane gavevMichae;angelo a good voice that ewas distinct from other two-D suffer voices...he actually gave Michaelangelo a very nice mellow/calm voice that was actually versitle with emotion. Wayne Grayson, despite the tendacy to be a bit on the shrill side in the "sound of voice" department, I think gives Michaelangelo more depth. He seems to play michaelangelo on several levels that hint at other facets to Mikey's character. He performance mmakes Mikey a well rounded character, so you actually think Mikey acting diffrently is still true to his character...like his performance with Mikey's voice in Same as it Never Was ...So tye between Townsend and Wayne, since they both do superb jobs.

Josh Pais' Raph Movie I, hands down. One word, *pans to overview of New York city* "DAMN!!"

Ah, lets see....

Leo: James Arnold Taylor

Raph: Tie between Nolan North and Josh Pais (Perfect, simply perfect.)

Donnie: Tie between Mitchell Whitfield and Sam Riegel (Both were techno-geeks, but you still easily relate to them.)

Mikey: Tie between Mikey Kelley and Robbie Rist (Both of these actors were perfect for the character. Funny and adorable at the same time!)

Splinter: Kevin Clash (I love Mako, may the man RIP, but I liked Kevin's Splinter better.)

Casey: Elias Koteas (No one has ever topped his performance as our favorite crazed vigilante!)

April: Tie between Sara Mitchelle Gellar, Judith Hoag, and Paige Turco (Each had a slightly different personality, and each were likable.)

Shredder: Tie between David McCharen (1st movie voice actor) and Scottie Ray (Both were badass!)

Karai: Ziyi Zhang

Ok. I don't know the names of each voice actor, so I'm not going to name them.

But.

Raph. Before the new movie, it was OT Raph. But now, new movie Raph all the way! He's the best voiced character in the entire franchise as well, in my opinion!

Leonardo, before new movie Leo, I liked the 2k3 toon version. But again, the new movie brings out emotions and a new life to the character that I have never seen before.

Donny, I like the new movie and 2k3 toon about the same. They sound alike to me.

Mikey, I still love the older movie voice overs the best. He actually sounded witty and smart. All the other voice overs for Mikey bugged the living hell out of me. Including the new movie. He sounded like he was on drugs half of the time.

April and Casey, I like Judith Hoag and Elias Koteas the best.

Splinter, I like new toon the best.

Shredder. I like the first movie the best.

Karai, new movie.

That's all I can recall.

I wouldn't go that far. :ohwell:

I do think that new movie Leonardo is a vast improvement compared to his Live action voice. Leonardo in the Live action movie sounded way to high pitched and he sounded like a geeky teenager for me to take seriously. New Movie Leonardo although certainly sounds like a teenager, sounds much more authrotive and commanding than he ever did in the live action movies, yet still manges to sound like a good natured down to earth guy.

I like that mildly disdainful, sarcastic way New Movie Donatello speaks. It gives Donatello some edge that he didn't have in other incarnations. And this really comes out when he is haveing that brief spat with Raphael. He just speaks with such reprouchful superiority while talking to Rapheal that I found my self grinnng.

I don't know why so many people love Live Action Michaelangelo's voice so much. It still had that pronounced surfer "twang" to it that was similar to old toon Michaelangelo. Maybe its been to long since i've heard Live Action Michaelangelo's voice but but i didn't think Robbie Reist's voice wasn't to orginaly spetaculor.

I actually liked old toon Aprils's voice pretty well. I thought she sounded spunky and spirited and also sweet gentle when she wanted too.

I am going to have to go with Mako on this one. He just makes such a great Splinter and he sounds athentic which I like. He had the perfect grainy old mans voice but still sounded terse and viril. Like he still has alot of spunk and life left in him despite his age.

I like New toon Splinter voice because Dustan gives Splinter such a cool bad-ass personality and a great dry sence of humour. but at the same time he is great for nailing those sweet "aww" inducing fatherly emotions that shows Splinter's great love and tenderness toward his sons. My only gripe is that New toon Splinter sounds to much like a young dude trying to sound old, which doesn't make him sound quite as athentic.

James Avery all the way baby!!

I completely agree love new Movie Karai over new toon!

I totally agree there, I'm not caught up with a lot of the new toon stuff but from what little I've seen, I'll have to say first movie Mikey is my fave followed closely by new movie Mikey.

Oh Mikey. <3

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!

Okay...I can agree with that XD

I have to go with Pete Renaday for the voice of Splinter...I'm partial because he's a good friend of mine, but I was a fan long before he and I ever met. Last Christmas he sends me an original carded Splinter signed to me...couldn't hope to meet a nicer guy.

Hmmmm....if i had to pick one voice. Even though I'm a huge hardcore fan of Raph, I do have to pick Mikey's voice from TMNT live action 1-3. It just worked so damn well :D and always creates a few laughs from me.

But second fave is definately Josh Pais as Raph from TMNT 1.

And 3rd but definately not least....Elias Koteas as Casey Jones. Now if only they had made a seperate Raph/Casey live action flick with Josh Pais as Raph and Elias as Casey...THAT would have been something :D

Out of curosity, how come you singled out my post to compare your opinions with?

Ah HAH! Found the Thread! Now I'm going to Bump it.

This was what I had written down, but I need to rewatch the various versions of the turtles to get a more accurate picture. I have never seen Next Mutation and don't intend on breaking my streak any time soon, and its been a while since I have seen the original movies.

Splinter - 2k3
Leonardo - 2K3/TMNT 2007
Donatello - 2K3
Raphael - 1987 Series (I'm a hopeless Rob Paulsen Fan)
Canon Raph - The voice actor for TMNT 2007 was awesome
Michelangelo - Call me a sucker for nastalgia, 1987 Mikey, complete with the surfer/stoner hybrid dialect.
April - 2k3
Casey -1987 (very different from every other version)
Shredder - TMNT 2007 (eh, just kidding :P )

Resurection! ok now that I'm tempted, I'll give it a shot.

Splinter - Mako. Simply put, I loved him

Leo - Mike Sinterniklaas. I think Sinterniklaas makes Leo sound much more masculine than the first live action version.

Don - Adam Carl.

Mike - Mike Kelley. I liked how his dialect was so over the top. OT Mikes sounds way too "surfer." Where could OT mike have possibly picked up that accent?

Raph - Josh Pais. Josh did it the way I wanted it done.:)

April - Judy Hoag. She is smokin!

Shredder - James Avery. "What the devil!"

why do you make it seem like I was doing it in a negative way? I guess I picked yours because yours was the post on the last page that had the most detail in it. I do this all the time, where you offended by it?

Leo: James Arnold Taylor. He gave a sense of youth and seriousness and exasperation angles to his character. You can tell he's a teenager who has to be the one to take up the slack as the eldest (new toon Leo made me think he's actually older than he should).

Don: Mitchell Whitfield. Sarcastic, geeky Don who isn't afraid to pick up a fight. Love it.

Raph: Nolan North. Hands down. I love his emotional performance (he was stammering and everything, wow) when he went to Splinter after Leo gets kidnapped.

Mike: Mikey Kelley. The fact he made me laugh everytime with the dumbest cliched line ever "it looked like your mom, dude!". So juvenile. XD I never laughed at the other Mikeys' jokes, oddly enough.

Splinter: Mako. He gives the vibes of a stern sensei and a loving father.

Shredder: Well, the new toon guy's pretty good. But I like the voice of the guy who played him in the live action.

April: the one who voiced the old toon.

Casey: I actually like the new movie one. New toon Casey is... a bit of a bonehead... though I'm sure he got better. New movie Casey acts as a big brother/friend for Raph and a guy settling down with April. Definitely a break from the rough brute from his past incarnations.

Karai: Ziyi Zhang. She sounds Asian and deadly and sexy. What more can you ask?

I wasn't offended, I just felt like I did something wrong for a second:ohwell:

But I guess I did make myself standout by color coordinating my answers. My bad.

I think Nolan North is BY FAR the best Raph I've ever heard. He wowed me with his first breath. Not only does he make Raph actually sound like a 19-year old (imo the only Raph thus far who has sounded his age) but what great acting in all emotive contexts! WOW!!! While I do think Rob Paulsen was hilarious (he consistently made me laugh as a kid moreso than Mikey) I just can't take the old toon seriously and rarely, if ever, watch it now. Josh Pais is great too, I just prefer Nolan's acting and the sound of his voice. It's smooth yet commanding.

And I know we've only had TMNT for a little over a month... I do like James' reading of Leo. It doesn't sound forced at all. The new toon is generally good but acting-wise I think I like James a lot better.

I'm not sure if I have preferences for Don... well, scratch that. I hated old toon Don's voice. It always annoyed me the way it sounded naggy and know-it-all. Ick. I love new toon Don a whole bunch (he's probably the best actor on the show) and will always have a soft spot for Corey Feldman's Don even though it's a tad out of character. And of course Mitchell was so great with the few lines he had. I'm torn!

And...actually I like all of Mikey's actors :)

I loved it when Corey Fledman voiced for Don. I do like the new movie better, it just fits his character better, but I still loved Corey for what he had to work with. And I was Corey fan as well. Too bad they couldn't figure out to get him as a cameo in the new movie, for old times sake.

It would be nice to get Keno's character in the sequel. He was a great addition, a kid the same age with the exact same interest as the Turtles. It was a nice little touch in the second movie.

ANd Earnie Reyes Jr is still around. Even though the last movie I saw him in was the little guy that beat the sh!t out of the Rock in the Rundown.

My choices are:
Leo: Mike Sinterniklaas
Don: Sam Regal
Raph: Rob Paulsen all the way! If he had been able to give Raph more of an edge, he it would have been even better!
Mikey:Mikey Kelley! The dude was hilarious and captured Michelangelo's personality so well!
Splinter: Peter Renaday
April: Renae Jacobs. She will always be April to me.
Casey Jones: Elias Kotaes, well even though he played live action Casey, but he was pretty awesome!
Shredder: James Avery is absolutely awesome & made the show for me, but Scottie Ray is pretty cool too. Uncle Phil totally rocked it!
Leatherhead: Jim Cummings. I guarantee! :)
Karai: Ziyi Zhang. I totally HATE Karai in the new cartoon and I really just want to smack her, but I actually really enjoyed her in the movie. I think it's because Ziyi Zhang is more softspoken and the girl in the tv cartoon has a voice that grates like a cheese grater! (or "shredder" if you will?? Sorry, bad pun. Comes from my dad's side of the family :) )

That would have made me squeal with delight!

Yeah, I liked him a lot. I'm still crossing fingers for a sequel, who knows what tidbits they might give us ;)

That can't be too "cheesy" a pun... I laughed XD

My answes are going to seem a bit new film orientated but I did think that the turtles voices in the new film were by far the best ever.
Leo - James Arnold Taylor (Mike unpronounceable a close second) (Brian Tochi was a bit too passive)
Don - Mitchell Whitfield (also liked Barry Gordon and Sam Regal) (i did like Corey Feldman's Don, but not to the extent where I would rank him with Mitchell)
Raph - Nolan North - superb!! (find Frank Frankson / John Campbell (whatever) too gruff and lacking sensitivity, and Josh Pais a little too hysterical so Rob Paulson after Nolan (actually quite liked Michael Gough as well))
Mike - Mikey Kelly (Robbie Rist second) (did not really like Townsend Coleman)
Splinter - Mako
April - Veronica Taylor
Shredder - Scottie Ray

Prize for the best VA ever goes to Nolan North. Plus, a nice sexy voice like his never hurts.

BWAHAHAHA! Cheesy!! you've got the curse too!:lol:
I also wanted to add that Nolan North rocked as Raph in the movie. I like my Raphael nice and angry;)