-INTERVIEWS-

Interview with Samatello! :-D Here are the questions and the answers to the interview with Sam Regal, the voice of Donatello off the new TMNT show. Please note that I wrote the answers in first person to make it easier but these are not the direct replies that he made. I’ll put anything that he exactly said in quotation marks. Thanks again to Mr. Regal for making this possible!!

u1.) Who figured out that you had such a unique sounding voice? Did you find out yourself, and did you consider ever doing voice overs growing up?

I have been an actor since I was 6 years old. I have done English as a second language books. Someone from the company said that I should do cartoons. I love cartoons and often-fantasized doing voices but never really thought of actually doing it as a job. My first voice-acting job was on Yu-Gi Oh.

u2.) According to the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), this is your first voice acting work. How do you like it? Would you like to lend your voice to other shows? Is there another animated show you would love to do?

Voice acting work is great and really fun! It's more fun working on TMNT because you work together as a group. Most of the time I work with the other guys who play the voices of the turtles. Most cartoons do one part at a time but turtles don't.

u3.) Do you do any other voices off the turtle show that are minor characters? For example, in the episode "The King" did you do the voice of the Chinese Take Out delivery guy?

Yes I did. "Someone must have a great ear!" We actually record the episodes months before they are drawn out. Previously someone else had did the voice of the delivery guy but when the episode was finished, his voice really didn't match the actually person so they changed it. I was there so they had me do it. I also play the voice of the Guardian and later on I'll play the voice of Zog, the Triceraton. At first I was actually was going to play the voice of Michelangelo and Mike's voice actor was going to play Donatello but it really did not work out that way so I stuck with Donatello.

u4.) What was the funniest fumble you ever did while you were recording your voice for Donatello?

Actually it just happened from the episode that aired I think last weekend. Return to New York Part 2. Don said "My guess recombinant mutation of Shredder DNA." I could not say recombinant right so finally they skipped that part and I recorded it later on. Course the guys were making fun of me for not being able to say it right.

u5.) Do you guys end up with a lot of outtakes from the show? Do you have a favorite?

For some reason during the trap scene in Return to New York Part 2, we came up with "trappy." So when Raph said "There ain't no traps down there." We all went "Trappy!" Also Leo's voice actor does the burps for Michelangelo. He can burp at will.

u6.) Do you think TMNT is paving the way for a new standard in American Children's animation? I mean just a few years ago one would never see the fights the turtles have or hear a main character (Mike from Tales of Leo) use the word "sucks." Have you been surprised by the way the show has been allowed to push the envelope?

I was very surprised actually. I knew that the show would be based more on the action then they were in the old show. But I was very surprised when Mikey said, "This sucks!" Also whenever the turtles go "What the shell?" It sounds like cursing. I guess the producers respect the audience a little more since they know kids do say this stuff.

u7.) Were you surprised at all by the rabid fan base the Turtles still have...in particular were you surprised by the sheer amount of fan girls each of the guys have?

I was not surprised by the all the fans that the turtles have. I actually watched the old series and just liked it! I am very surprised however by the fan girls and almost shocked.

u8.) I have seen that Mr. Sinterriklaas, Mr. Grayson and Mr. Campbell attended a convention in NYC this month. Do you have plans to attend a convention? Is this something you think you would enjoy?

I actually attended a convention a couple months ago at the anime convention of the Big Apple. I was on a panel of voice actors since I actually did some voices for anime. But when they announced who I was and that I did the voice of Donatello off the new TMNT show, a lot of people were cheering. I would definitely go to a convention again.

u9.) After the TMNT episodes are finished, what other plans do you have? Will you go into acting or stick with voice acting or something different?

I definitely hope that TMNT won't end for a while. Right now I think we aired 20 episodes but we have twice as many done so I am sure they show will continue on for a long time. I will definitely persue other types of shows to do voice acting.

u Sam Regal even did a line of Donatello for me on the phone. He said he always does this line before he does his lines to get his voice sounding just right for his character. He said it's the part off the first episode when Michelangelo goes "Earthquake!" Then Don replies, "In New York? Possible but not likely."

Original characters, April O' Neil®, Leonardo®, Donatello®, Michealangelo® & Raphael® are © of Mirage Studios, Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird. 1984-2003.