Rob Paulsen

Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films.

He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program and three Annie Awards for his role as both Yakko and Pinky in the Animaniacs franchise.

Rob Paulsen was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 11, 1956, the son of Bob and Lee Paulsen.

He was raised in Grand Blanc, Michigan, where he graduated from Grand Blanc High School in 1974.

He sang in choirs throughout his youth and adolescence and began performing in plays in school, but his childhood idol was ice hockey player Gordie Howe, and he considered the arts to be a secondary career choice due to his primary interest in becoming an NHL player.

He briefly attended the University of Michigan-Flint, but later dropped out and moved to Los Angeles in 1978 to pursue a career in show business, much to the disapproval of his father.

He worked his first job as a musician, before pursuing voice acting full time.

During the 1980s, Paulsen also explored the field of live action films.

In the 1980s, he had been the announcer for the sitcom Cheers and continued to secure roles as an announcer.

Paulsen first voice acting role came in 1983 with the mini-series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, where he played Snow Job and Tripwire.

A few years later, his career launched into more roles such as Cobra Slavemaster and reprising Snow Job and "Tripwire" on G.I. Joe, Corky on The Snorks, Marco Smurf on the later seasons of The Smurfs, "Boober" on the animated version of Fraggle Rock, Hadji in The New Adventures of Jonny Quest and the title character Saber Rider and the villain Jesse Blue on Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs.

His first film was Eyes of Fire in 1983.

He played supporting roles in Body Double, Stewardess School, Warlock, and Mutant on the Bounty.

He appeared in television shows during this time as well, such as MacGyver and St. Elsewhere.

Paulsen became more prevalent in the world of advertising as well.

His other voice roles include Hadji in The New Adventures of Jonny Quest (1986–1987) and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (1996–1997); Raphael in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987–1996); P.J. Pete in Goof Troop (1992), A Goofy Movie (1995), and An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000); Jaq in Cinderella II: Dreams Come True (2002) and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time (2007); and Mac in The Looney Tunes Show (2011–2013) and Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run (2015).

From 1987 to 1995, Paulsen voiced Raphael and various supporting characters in the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.

Originally starting as a five-part miniseries, the series continued for ten seasons and 193 episodes.

It was a great success and became an instant pop culture symbol.

Paulsen has said that Raphael's voice is very similar to his natural voice.

He also reprised his role as 1987 Raphael in the multiple 1987/2012 crossover episodes.

Throughout the early 1990s, Paulsen continued to co-star in animated series, which allowed him to branch further into radio and television announcements and dropped live action acting from his repertoire.

The famous commercial, Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel?, aired in 1993, and launched the Got Milk? campaign into a monstrously successful enterprise.

Paulsen continues to be one of the most sought-after commercial voice actors in the industry.

He can be currently heard as the voice of singing Mr. Mini-Wheat in the Mini-Wheats commercials in Canada.

In 1993, he voiced "Antoine Depardieu" in ABC's series Sonic the Hedgehog, and "Arthur", an insecure accountant in a moth costume (wings included), in the superhero series The Tick in 1995, replacing Micky Dolenz, who had originally played Arthur.

In 1993, he starred as the title character in both Mighty Max and The Mask.

Also at this time, he starred in what became one of his most popular roles, Yakko Warner of Animaniacs.

He provided the voice of Dog in the Taco Bell kids meal commercials from 1996 to mid-1997, with Eddie Deezen as the voice of Nacho the cat.

However, Paulsen's most famous advertising role was in the original commercial of the now ubiquitous Got Milk? campaign.

He appeared as the voice of Mr. Opportunity, spokesman of Honda commercials on TV and radio, the announcer for Buffalo Dick's Radio Ranch, and the spokesman for Lucky Stores, a West Coast grocery store chain, before it was acquired by Albertsons in 1998.

Paulsen also provided the voice of Pinky from both Animaniacs and its spin-off Pinky and the Brain, a show which won him several Annie Awards and a Daytime Emmy in 1999.

He also did a number of characters in Tiny Toon Adventures, including "Fowlmouth", "Arnold the Pit Bull", and "Concord Condor".

In the direct-to-video film Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, he did the voices for Banjo Possum, Mr. Hitcher (who would also appear in other episodes), and Johnny Pew.

He returned to the franchise as Donatello for the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series on Nickelodeon, which ran for five seasons and 124 episodes from September 29, 2012, until November 12, 2017.

Paulsen serves as the voice director for the subsequent series, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which premiered in July 2018.

Paulsen continues to voice Yakko and Pinky in the 2020 Animaniacs revival on Hulu.

Paulsen has also provided voices for numerous other characters, including Steelbeak in Darkwing Duck, Brick and Boomer in The Powerpuff Girls, Atchan in Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost in The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, Ogden O. Ostrich in Channel Umptee-3, Hathi in Jungle Cubs, Jack Fenton, The Box Ghost, Nicolai Technus, and The Vulture Ghosts in Danny Phantom, Carl Wheezer, Butch and Skeet in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, Mark Chang, his father King Grippulon, Happy Peppy Gary, and Bucky McBadbat in The Fairly OddParents, Peck the Rooster in Barnyard and Back at the Barnyard, and Gordon in Catscratch.

He was also the voice of Rothchild in the early episodes of Samurai Jack.

Additionally, Paulsen provided the voice of P.J. Pete in Goof Troop, A Goofy Movie, and An Extremely Goofy Movie, as well as the voices of Ratchet and Dr. Debolt in the TaleSpin pilot television film Plunder & Lightning.