Ever since the Nerdist podcast had Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche on as their guests back in April, I’ve been obsessed with Paulsen’s own podcast, Talkin Toons.
I was just graduating from high school when Animaniacs first aired and my 17-year-old self was instantly and completely in love with the show. (Rob Paulsen, in case you are completely out-of-the-loop, was the voice of Yakko Warner and Pinky among his zillion other voice credits.) This was written for me. My humor was splashed all over the screen both in dialogue and visuals. In the post-He-Man years I had drifted from cartoons as they became something for my younger brothers. I was “way too grown” up for what was airing at the time. Yes, in high school I enjoyed Tiny Toon Adventures… I’m not going to lie. But even with its sporadic adult jokes it still felt very much geared toward the 10-12 crowd.
But here, jumping forth from the Warner Bros. water tower, were three ambiguously specied siblings bouncing around, causing chaos and alluding to more adult themes (oblivious to a child’s innocent eyes).
Even beyond the Warner brothers and their sister Dot, for me the two genetically enhanced (or de-hanced as the case may be) stars of the show were Pinky and the Brain, voiced by Mr. Paulsen and Mr. LaMarche… bringing us back to the podcasts mentioned above. These two men have lists of credits that are beyond incomprehensible. The characters that they’ve lent their voices (and dare I say, souls to) will blow your mind and once you’ve recovered you will melt with aww and endearment remembering how so many of their characters have shaped your childhood (and young adulthood).
Recently, while listening to Talkin Toons, Paulsen and LaMarche were discussing Orson Welles’ famous “Frozen Peas” recording session and how LaMarche often uses it as a warm up before a recording session. (LaMarche does an incredible Orson Welles… need proof… scroll down to see the Brain, himself, reenact/reinterpret the “Frozen Peas” session.) I had to check it out for myself and was happy to see that Wikipedia had an entire entry on Welles’ recording session. Including the much of the original audio, included below for your amusement.
AUDIO: Orson Welles’ Frozen Peas Recording Session
I was certain that I’d heard this before but where… where would I have heard this famous yet, to me, obscure bit of entertainment history? And then it struck me and everything came full circle. It was on Animaniacs when Pink and the Brain did their own hilarious take on the same (well, almost exact… the replaced a particularly adult moment of Mr. Welles with a slightly more daytime TV line) dialogue.
If you aren’t already subscribed to Rob Paulsen’s podcast do yourself a HUGE favor, click here and do it now. He has the best line-up of guests you will ever get from Hollywood, from Laraine Newman, Mark Hammill, Bill Farmer, Kevin Michael Richardson and Debi Derryberry to many, many more. And every single episode is filled with warmth, laughter and obvious love for the art and for the fans.
More links:
IMDB: Rob Paulsen
IMDB: Maurice LaMarche
Tommy Karr 