If you grew up in the 1990s, chances are you remember Yakko, the hybrid animal who sings all the countries in the world in a rapid-fire two-minute performance to the tune of the Mexican hat dance song “Jarabe Tapatío.”
Or maybe you know Pinky, a genetically enhanced lab mouse who speaks in a British accent and is constantly by his friend’s side as he tries to take over the world.
If you do, that means you grew up listening to Rob Paulsen, the man behind the voices of Pinky from “Pinky and the Brain,” and Yakko from “Animaniacs.”
And he’s hoping to take old fans back in time with “Animaniacs in Concert!” at the Downey Theatre on Friday, March 30.
“It’s an awful lot of fun, folks will go home exhausted from laughing for two hours,” said 62-year-old Paulsen, whose credits also include voicing Raphael (and Donatello) from the animated “Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles” series and Carl Wheezer from “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.”
New blood
The show will likely include many new fans, too, thanks to Hulu. The streaming service that isn’t just streaming all 99 episodes of the original “Animaniacs,” which first aired in 1993, but will also debut new episodes in 2020 with Steven Spielberg returning as executive producer of the series.
The cast for the new series has yet to be announced, and Paulsen couldn’t say if he would be part of the series.
But the fact that Spielberg would re-launch one of his previous projects says a lot about the show, Paulsen noted.
“When Steven Spielberg, who can do anything he wants, decides this is what he wants to do, that’s a big deal,” he said.
The live musical revue includes songs from the animated series which debuted on Fox Kids and moved to the WB in 1995.
The Emmy-winning show earned a devoted fanbase thanks to its catchy and often educational songs, including Yakko’s tune naming all the countries in the world.
“Animaniacs” also spawned “Pinky and the Brain” about two lab mice trying to take over the world.
Making people happy
Like the loyal fans of the show, Paulsen has embraced these characters and will break into the famous voices whenever he’s recognized, or even when he gets the urge to just make someone happy.
When he goes to the doctor’s office, for example, every once in a while he’ll get into character and say “Hellooo nurse,” one of Yakko’s catchphrases, just for fun.
“All it does is make people smile. It’s nostalgic, it’s entertaining and it’s fun,” he said.
Paulsen has been performing the live shows, usually with an orchestra, for a few years, teaming up with Emmy-winning composer Randy Rogel, who wrote and created many of the Animaniacs songs.
The concerts have also included original cast members Jess Harnell, the voice of Wakko, and Tress MacNeille, who voiced Dot. The cast performs the songs and tell the stories behind the various tunes.
Since the 738-seat theater is a relatively small venue, the Downey show will be a more stripped-down version of the usual concert, with just Paulsen on vocals and Rogel playing the piano and taking on the voices of the other two characters when needed.
Since the Downey show is more intimate, Paulsen is anticipating more crowd interaction.
“That’s going to be a much more intimate show in which the whole audience gets to participate because it’s not 3,000 people, we can answer questions. During the show I can interact with the audience and take the show in a different direction,” he said.
What are some of the questions he might hear?
How about “Why did Pinky and the Brain have accents?”
It turns out, Paulsen explained, that the Brain was modeled after Orson Welles, so it’s not as much an accent as it is dramatic flare.
Pinky’s voice was influenced by Paulsen’s love of British humor and comedians such Peter Sellers as well as the comics in Monty Python.
“I decided that it would be a fun thing to try and it’s just one of those things that worked,” he said.
“It’s a British sort of type of accent,” he added, in a full-on Pinky voice.
For the performance, scenes from “Animaniacs” will play in the background while the performers sing along in real time to animate the scene.
So yes, you can expect to hear “Yakko’s World” live.
With its lighting-fast lyrics and just having to remember all those countries, (it’s been updated, too) you would think it’s a nerve-wracking song for Paulsen to do live.
“It’s a showstopper, honest to god it’s a showstopper. People sometimes ask me if I ever get tired of it and it never gets tiring. The problem will be when people stop asking for the song. I think the only persons in the building who get more of a kick out of it than the audience is Randy and me,” he said.
If You Go:
When: 8 p.m. Friday March 30
Where: Downey Theatre 8435 Firestone Blvd., Downey
Tickets: $30-$40
Information: www.downeytheatre.org/
