Hey dudes and dudettes, today I'm talking with a bodacious buddy, Robbie Rist. Who voiced our goofball Turtle Michelangelo in all three live-action movies!
Hello Robbie! Welcome and thanks for being here, it's an honour!

Hey Rutger. I am glad you asked me to do this with you.

I'm curious, did you always wanted to become an actor or were you into music much earlier?

I am pretty sure I was performing in one way or another since I was 3. And I was always doing both music and some kind of acting. I had a pretty nutty imagination.

So how did you get the role for Michelangelo's voice in the movies?

I auditioned for it!

Haha, clear and simple answer. So did you know anything about TMNT when you got the part for Mikey's voice?

Well I was in a band in '87 or '88 called The Orchids. They were originally from St. Louis. Bob, the lead singer, was a big comic book fan and he had all of the early black and white comics that Eastman and Laird had done. I perused them and thought it was a nifty idea and all, but it almost completely left my mind. Move ahead a couple of years and I see there is a cartoon on tv with those characters and I at first thought, "The TMNT I remember seeing was way darker than this, but it's still pretty funny."

THEN, I booked the audition for Mikey and all I could think about the whole time I was doing the actual gig was, "All of this because of Bob, from The Orchids."

About the voice you created for Mikey, did you lean heavily on how Townsend Coleman voiced him on the original 1987 cartoon, or were you told what he should sound like?

Actually no! I had been doing surfer guy voices on VO commercials and on top of that, I come from the San Fernando Valley where I went to the high school where val-speak was practically invented so, by the time it came around to work, there were a couple of tweaks on the first day but largely, they left me alone.

I did feel weird seeing Townsend at subsequent auditions and him kinda knowing that I was doing the movie. He didn't care. Townsend Coleman is not only ridiculously talented, but he's also a very nice guy.

Could you tell me something about the recording process for the three live action movies? Where you on the set or later in a recording booth?

They pretty much have the movie finished by the time they get to us. Then each of the main actors gets between 4 and 5 days to lay their voices over the puppeteers scratch voices. It's nutty to hear the guy in the suit over your headphones and you are trying to match HIS performance while still trying to sound like yourself.

They put us on a scoring stage and we watch the movie one line at a time and we record our lines.....one line at a time. It can get tedious but it's also really fun. I prided myself on Ooze, for getting outta there in three days.

So you didn’t get to work with Michelan Sisti, the actor in the suit much?

No. And I believe we have only met once. Are there TurtleCons yet? Maybe I will run into him at one of those......

Looking at your resumé on IMDB, it seems that you did some acting jobs and only after you voiced Mikey in the TMNT movies, you got more voice jobs. Does that mean you like voice acting more then screen acting?

I like all of it. To me there is no difference between doing voices, screen or stage acting, music (www.myspace.com/robbierist), producing (www.stumptheband.com), directing......I just like making stuff.

During the course of the three movies, did you try to tune Mikey's voice in anyway? Perfecting it or trying something new each movie?

For me it was so much easier coming up with alternate lines on the spot. By the third movie, there is all kind of improved things all through it.
For some reason....now I'm not sure if it was Michael Pressman or whoever was running the session....But I think it was him....anyway, he really wanted me to pitch Mikey's voice higher than before. It was tough sometimes because I'M NOT A REAL TEENAGER!!! Anyway, I think it turned out pretty great one way or another.

Did you got the chance to see the new CG animated TMNT movie, and what did you think of Mikey Kelley voicing Mikey?

Haven't seen it but if Mikey Kelly is doing it, chances are it's going to be well done. He's another really talented guy.

The TMNT are now celebrating their 25th anniversary, were you in any way approached to do something for this anniversary?

No...sigh...:(

Ah to bad. Last question, if you were asked to voice Michelangelo again for a new movie, would you do it?

Of course I would. Just don't make me pitch it too high.

Robbie I want to thank you for this interview, and keep up the great work!