Toon-In Talk Episode 21: Interview with Marge Dean

Posted by :storysequence On : November 6, 2015
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Hello and welcome to twenty-first episode of Fanboy Nation’s Toon-In-Talk, your rendezvous for animation interviews.   It’s that time of year for the Ladies of Animation Month, Whitney Grace’s yearly tribute to women who work in the animation industry and mission to inspire girls to pursue their animated ambitions.  Whitney is a proud member of the Women in Animation organization and with their helped she rounded up great professional women who have made successful careers in animation.  To kick off Ladies in Animation Month, Whitney interviews Marge Dean, co-presdient of Women in Animation, general manager of Stoopid Buddy Stoodies, and former production manager at Mattel’s Playground Productions.  Marge discusses her past and present animation career accomplishments and then she explains Women in Animation’s mission.

Episode 21

 

  • Marge Dean has worked in the animation industry for over twenty years and she is currently the general manager of Stoopid Buddy Stoodios.
  • She was the only production manager on the Ren and Stimpy Show to deliver a show on time.
  • Marge worked at Mattel’s Playground Productions for three years and was responsible for Barbie, Monster High, Ever After High, Max Steel, Hot Wheels, and other lines.
  • Whitney admits her guilty pleasure: animated movies based off toy lines.
  • One of the keys to being successful with kid’s content these days is to have an ancillary license, like a toy line. Networks aren’t subsidizing shows anymore.
  • Seth Green, Matthew Seinreich, John Harvatine, and Eric Towner founded Stoopid Buddy Stoodies.
  • As a general manager, Marge will be taking over the front end of running Stoopid Buddy. She will be implementing in procedures to keep the workflow moving and freeing up Seth Green, Matthew Seinreich, John Harvatine, and Eric Towner to work on more creative projects.
  • Marge will also be tracking down more work for Stoopid Buddy Stoodios and Whitney can’t wait to see what the studio will make.
  • One of the biggest challenges Marge has noticed working at several studios is finding talent and with Stoopid Buddy she walked into it.
  • Marge Dean is also one the board of Women In Animation. She shares how when she started in the industry there weren’t a lot of women working in animation and that has grown over the past twenty years.
  • The entire goal of the Women In Animation organization is to empower women to become leaders, have studios rethink hiring practices, and encourage women and anyone to follow their dream for a career in animation.
  • Nowadays people are more sensitive to women’s issues in various industries, not just animation.
  • The newest generation of fathers is very dedicated to helping their daughters succeed in the world.
  • Marge wants Women In Animation to become so obsolete that it dissolves, because she wants women and diversity to become commonplace.
  • Women In Animation’s goal is 50/50 by 2025, meaning the workforce in the animation industry will be equal between men and women.
  • Marge and Whitney both agree that women are an untapped resource and if given
  • Whitney and Marge bond over their mutual love for chiweenies and The Godfather.

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Toon-In Talk Episode 20: Interview with Joseph Phillip Illidge

Posted by :storysequence On : October 9, 2015
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Hello and welcome to twentieth episode of Fanboy Nation’s Toon-In-Talk, your rendezvous for animation interviews. Whitney loves comic books and graphic novels, so when she’s not watching cartoons she’s reading comics.  One of her favorite cartoon sagas is the DC Animated Universe, including the fabulous cartoons Static Shock and Batman: The Animated Series. Whitney had the luck to speak with Joseph Phillip Illidge, who helped shaped the hero Static at Milestone Media and also reinvigorated he Batman comic book series.  Joseph continues to write and edit comics as well as expanding his talents into other creative endeavors.

Episode 20

 

  • Joseph is a writer, editor, and columnist. He writes a column at ComicResources.com called “The Mission” about diversity in comic books, he is currently the writer of the graphic novel The Ren published by First Second, and writes the series Solar Man.
  • Whitney is a huge fan of the DC Animated Universe hero, Static Shock. The founders of Milestone Media created Static in the 1990s. Joseph had the awesome opportunity to work at Milestone and with Static.
  • Joseph and Whitney discuss about Static’s character was a great superhero and identifiable for teenagers.
  • Joseph was an editor at DC during the Batman: No Man’s Land He delves into exciting details about how he shaped Batman as a series as well as the characters.
  • This is one of Whitney’s favorite sagas in Batman.
  • They discuss how the Joker has changed from his incarnations during No Man’s Land to the current version in the New 52. Both Whitney and Joseph agree the Joker has gone in some extreme directions.
  • The Suicide Squad is going to take Harley Quinn to new levels. The movie will be a good test to see whether or not if DC can face-off against Disney’s Marvel Entertainment.
  • The Ren is a teenage love story about a young bass player from Georgia who moves to Harlem, New York with dreams to become a famous musician and he falls in love with young dancer. It’s about what they go through from 1925-1926. It was written due to the lack of black romance graphic novels in the medium.
  • Joseph explains about the lack of graphic novels starring characters of non-European ancestry, how he wants to expand the offering, and some of his favorite graphics novels that do fit this niche.
  • Whitney talks about her own graphic novel and wanting to see more heroine-centric comics sans romance.
  • As comic geeks always do, Whitney and Joseph suggest titles to read to each other.
  • Joseph declares a desire for a better and friendlier comic book industry.

Toon-In Talk Episode 19: Interview with Craig Kausen

Posted by :storysequence On : October 8, 2015
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Hello and welcome to nineteenth episode of Fanboy Nation’s Toon-In-Talk, your rendezvous for animation interviews. Whitney is a huge Chuck Jones fan and she also loves to visit art galleries.  When she was at Comic-Con 2010, she learned about the Chuck Jones Galleries and their mission to promote animation and comic artwork.  She’s been following them ever since and she tracked down Craig Kausen, Chuck Jones’s grandson and head of all Chuck Jones related companies, to discuss how he is preserving Chuck’s legacy and spreading the message of creativity.

Episode 19

  • Craig’s grandfather was Chuck Jones ,one of Bugs Bunny’s fathers, and a significant creator in the Warner Brothers cartoons. He works in the family business of preserving Chuck’s legacy via his namesake galleries and the Chuck Jones Experience.
  • Whitney shares her experience at a Chuck Jones Gallery and together they express their appreciation of Bill Plympton.
  • Craig explains how Warner Brothers animators made cartoons for themselves and hoped the audiences would enjoy their humor.
  • Craig shares one of the questions he asks perspective employees and asks it of Whitney.
  • Chuck’s animation legacy left a huge impact on today’s animation industry, including on Pixar’s John Lasseter and Japan’s Osamu Tezuka.
  • Chuck was adamant that you learned the rules so you could then break them and he was always learning art technique.
  • Chuck Jones related companies started when he and his daughter, Linda Jones Clough, started an art company to present animation production material showcase artists, and more.
  • When Linda contacted Warner Brothers about Chuck’s production material, she learned the studio burned them.
  • Since then the Chuck Jones companies have preserved animation and art history, while nurturing new talent.
  • A new opportunity Craig is exploring is how to inspire creativity in people, businesses, and communities called the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity.
  • The Center is also associated with the Smithsonian, Museum of the Moving Image, and the Academy of Motion Pictures on a traveling exhibit called “What’s Up Doc?: The Animation Art of Chuck Jones.”

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Toon-In Talk Episode 18: Interview with Dragon-Con’s Beau Brown and Jake Trabox

Posted by :storysequence On : September 5, 2015
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Hello and welcome to eighteenth episode of Fanboy Nation’s Toon-In-Talk, your rendezvous for animation interviews.  Every year Whitney attends several of the biggest conventions in the US and one of her favorites is Dragon-Con held in Atlanta, GA.  Dragon-Con is a big convention with an intimate feeling, because it allows you to have up and close interactions with the guests and it never feels too over crowded.  The Dragon-Con staff are super organized and they are dedicated to ensuring fans have the best experience.  Whitney also loves Dragon-Con for its diverse programming, especially the puppetry and anime/manga tracks.  She was privileged to chat with puppetry track coordinator Beau Brown and anime/manga track coordinator Jake Trabox about the special events for Dragon-Con 2015.

Episode 18

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  • Jake Trabox heads the anime and manga track at Dragon-Con.
  • He missed the entire anime and manga boom in the US, because he was in Japan.
  • Jake has worked in the Japanese comics industry
  • Dragon-Con is a huge convention, but it hasn’t gotten outrageously huge as San Diego Comic-Con.
  • Voice actors Samantha Inoue-Harte, Josh Greel, and Melissa Fahn, and many more awesome people will be at Dragon-Con
  • There won’t be any Japanese guests this year, it is difficult to get guests from the land of the rising sun to visit the east coast.
  • There will be two rooms playing anime 24/7.
  • Funimation is making a special appearance and showcasing their newest shows and other great anime
  • Dragon-Con isn’t unique amongst anime/manga conventions, but you’re going to have a great time, meet great people, and be in the center of the action.
  • Anime and manga fans have encouraged other fans to cosplay and wear more elaborate and intricate costumes.
  • Darius Washington will hold a panel about how anime has shaped the animated heroine.
  • Jake and his staff are going to be working very hard during the convention. Jake keeps going by drawing on his inner chi.
  • Jake explains to Whitney how the convention scene works in Japan and it is practically nonexistent. There is one huge convention, Comiket, and then companies host smaller events featuring celebrities.
  • He also tells her how the European and Dubai convention scene is growing.
  • Beau Brown heads the puppetry track at the 2015 Dragon-Con.
  • There are thirty-eight hours of puppetry-related panels this year.
  • There are going to be many special guests from Sesame Street, including Carroll Spinney, Tyler Bunch, Leslie Carrera-Rudolph, and Pam Arciero.
  • The Sesame Street performers will be featured guests at panels as well as holding workshops on puppetry.
  • DJ Guyer and Steve True have their own LA puppetry studio and they make a lot of commercial puppetry. They’ll be handling workshops on construction and design.
  • Jim Henson’s daughter Cheryl Henson will be a guest along with Henson archivist Karen Falk.
  • They will be discussing Jim Henson’s unfinished holiday special Turkey Hollow.
  • Steve Whitmire who performs Kermit the Frog and Debbie McClellan vice-president of the Muppets at Disney will be appearing to speak about the new Muppets show.
  • Beau explains how Dragon-Con has worked with Henson guests in the past, including Fraggle Rock related guests from 2013.
  • Dragon-Con has the special focus of helping amateur puppets improve their skills and interacting with professional puppeteers.
  • Dragon-Con’s puppetry track has the biggest selection of puppetry material for at a comic convention.
  • Puppet professionals Matt Laird, Mike Horner. Madison Cripps will be featured in panels. There will also be a panel discussing the Center for Puppetry Arts expansion.
  • In the art show, there will be a special pop art exhibit featuring items from the Center for Puppetry Arts.
  • If you are a puppeteer and want to learn more about perfecting your craft, there will be workshops for adults only to learn more about improving technique.
  • If you want to attend an entertaining and mature show, check out the Dragon-Con Puppetry Slam, one of the most attended events at the convention.

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Toon-In Talk Episode 17: Interview with Adam Toews

Posted by :storysequence On : September 4, 2015
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Hello and welcome to seventeenth episode of Fanboy Nation’s Toon-In-Talk, your rendezvous for animation interviews.  What happens when an animation fan, an animator, and his crazy co-workers decide to have some fun during a podcast interview?  This is what happened during the seventeenth episode.  Whitney chats with Adam Toews, an illustrator on the hit series Archer.  Adam works at Floyd County Productions, an Atlanta-based animation studio.  They discuss Adam’s career, his work on Archer, and how Atlanta is becoming a bigger animation venue.

Episode 17

 

  • Adam’s last name is pronounced “taves,” although it’s spelled like “toes.” He will answer to both.
  • Adam works at Floyd County Productions on Archer and he was the art director on He started in animation for Cartoon Network’s Squidbillies, Aquateen Hunger Force, and even Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law.
  • Whitney and Adam talk about how animators are versatile artists.
  • Atlanta is a hub for animators and is becoming one of the new centers for animation in the US.
  • Adult Swim is probably one of the reasons why Atlanta is becoming an animation hotspot.
  • Adam got into animation through an internship he had at Turner Broadcasting (Cartoon Network). He was impressed by the casual dress code and they played good music. He also got really great animation experience.
  • His first job was at Radical Axis, an Atlanta-based animation studio, where he worked on Squidbillies and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Adam recommends brand new animators start out at a smaller studio, because you get work on all tasks on the pipeline.
  • The wonderful story about how Adam got to work on Archer is explained.
  • Archer is described as if James Bond met Arrested Development, the classic office comedy that just happens to be an international spy ring.
  • Whitney disliked the first two episodes of Archer, but after the third she was hooked. It was due to the character’s complexities and their bizarre approach to a the usually serious spy drama.
  • Adam and Whitney praise the animation style and how it so different from its contemporary mature cartoons, i.e. The Simpsons, American Dad, and Family Guy.
  • Each person in Archer’s animation staff has an important function and Adam explain each role in detail, including his own as an illustrator.
  • All of Archer’s key animation is done using Adobe Illustrator.
  • The show’s writer Adam Reed is like a unicorn in the mists, he appears one day with scripts and then disappears again.
  • This was recorded on a Friday night, so a few of Adam’s co-workers came to visit, Kim Feigenbaum and Adam Forbes. But due to craziness and recording difficulties, their pieces had to be edited out.
  • Adam does share that the Atlanta, Georgia animation community is like a family and how during the deadlines you can learn more about yourself and make some really strong friendships.
  • Also he declares that dance parties are fun.

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Toon-In Talk Episode 16: Interview with Bruce Reitherman

Posted by :storysequence On : August 27, 2015
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Hello and welcome to sixteenth episode of Fanboy Nation’s Toon-In-Talk, your rendezvous for animation interviews. Have you ever wondered what happened to kid voice actors when they grow up?  Whitney Grace has!  After watching Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book, Whitney wondered what happened to Mowgli.  It turns out that Mowgli is Bruce Reitherman, son of Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman, one Disney’s Nine Old Men!  Bruce was more than happy to discuss his experiences voicing Mowgli and growing up at the Walt Disney Animation Studios in the 1960s.

Episode 16

 

 

  • Bruce voiced Mowgli in The Jungle Book and he is also the son of Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman, one of Disney’s Nine Old Men.
  • Growing up in the Disney Studios was like being alive during the Renaissance.
  • Some of his earliest memories include that it was a very family oriented place and some of the people he ran into.
  • Whitney praises the Ink and Paint Club.
  • Bruce delves into the creativity he witnessed at the studio, including how individuals added to the big picture.
  • Woolie took over the art department after Walt Disney passed away. He was always eager to go to work  everyday, was a great father, intelligent, and talented.
  • Bruce stresses that all animators had the same attributes as his father and this made them great animators able to capture the illusion of life.
  • Woolie was in charge of the Xerox age of Disney animation. Whitney loves this era, because you can see the original pencil sketches and the animation process. Bruce gives a history of the Xerox process, why Disney implemented it, and what he enjoys about this animation process.
  • Bruce talks about his experience voicing Mowgli in The Jungle Book and the fun he had.
  • Whitney wonders how The Jungle Book changed from the original concept and Bruce explains how Disney was interested in making an enjoyable character film and take it in a new direction from the original story.
  • When Bruce got the Mowgli role, he wasn’t a child actor. His dad needed a regular voice from a regular kid and Bruce was in the right place: living under the same roof as Woolie Reitherman.
  • Bruce shares his views on Mowgli’s different relationships with the animals.
  • Whitney wanted Mowgli to go back to the jungle and live, while Bruce likes the ending where Mowgli goes back to the man village. He likes this ending, because it shows that Mowgli accepts growing up.
  • Bruce “wants to be like you!” and he has never seen The Jungle Book 2.

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Toon-In Talk Episode 15: Interview with Jez Stewart

Posted by :storysequence On : July 31, 2015
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Hello and welcome to fifteenth episode of Fanboy Nation’s Toon-In-Talk, your rendezvous for animation interviews.  During research for her book on Lotte Reiniger, Whitney was using the British Film Institute’s website for information.  She came across some great animation information, not just about Reiniger, but also about British animation.  Jez Stewart in the BFI’s Animation Animation Curator and during this interview he discusses British animation history, the BFI’s animation holdings, and other fun facts about working in a renowned film archive.

Episode 15

  • Jez Stewart is the Animation Curator at the British Film Institute (BFI) and he has worked there for fourteen years.
  • He started as an acquisitions assistant and slowly his worked his way up to his current position. Jez describes his work at a mixture of “spreadsheets and boxes of delights.”
  • He works with all the old goodies, including some of the earliest animated films ever made.
  • Jez explains the decomposition of old film stock and how they must store some films at very cold temperatures.
  • The BFI is the UK’s lead body of film, created in 1933, and its purpose is to ensure that all moving images are preserved, shared with people, and exhibit British culture.
  • The BFI’s collection scope if very large. They have work from studios that closed down, wanted to clean out their closets, and more. A large portion of the work is commercial, but they also include material from feature films and other entertainment venues.
  • Housed in the archive is Bob Godfrey’s work, WWI films that make fun of the Kaiser, public information films, the Halas and Batchelor films (they made Animal Farm).
  • Jex explains some of the ways the BFI preserves the films and how the BFI decides to share the material. One of the worst roadblocks is copyright.
  • British animation has gone up and down in the amount of popularity. It was very big in the 1950s when TV was new, then the funding dried up. Channel 4 money helped animation flourish again in the 1980s-1990s, but then it dried up again.
  • Aardman Studios, which made the Wallace and Gromit series and Shaun the Sheep, is the most well-known British animator.
  • Jez is also a fan of Michael Please, Harry Harlow, and others.
  • A lot of British animation exported to the US are children’s shows.
  • Whitney and Jez discuss how foreign feature films are viewed in the US and the UK. They also discuss how sometimes restoration can ruin a film’s integrity and how sometimes there is no school like the old school.
  • The BFI is trying to put more content on the Internet and share more animation film packages to share with audiences, and Jez wants to write a history of British animation.
  • Whitney and Jez both want to see more animation from British animators, especially a feature film.

 

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Toon-In Talk Episode 14: Interview with Jai Husband

Posted by :storysequence On : July 31, 2015
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Hello and welcome to fourteenth episode of Fanboy Nation’s Toon-In-Talk, your rendezvous for animation interviews.  Whitney is joined by animator, director, writer, and producer Jai Husband.  Jai comes from a great animation legacy, his father is famous Walt Disney animator Ron Husband.  Growing up in the animation industry inspired Jai to pursue animation as his own career.  Jai has been successful so far with is own projects inspired by African-American culture.  He directed Kasha and the Zulu King, but even more exciting is that he is working on an African princess trilogy with his dad!

Episode 14

  • Jai is a second-generation animator; his father was Walt Disney animator Ron husband. Since Jai grew up in the animation industry it feels very normal to him, while someone, like Whitney, geeks out when he describes his childhood.
  • Jai’s dad gave him advice, but didn’t hinder his individual creativity. Jai’s first animation job was in Disney’s CAPS department and he wanted to stay on at Disney, but his mom asked him to return to college.
  • Straight out of college, Jai was hired by Turner Broadcasting and he now has his own company where he produces his own and other people’s projects.
  • While Jai was at Turner, his show The Fabulous Ambitions of Vaughn Chocolat Éclair, starring RuPaul, got picked up by a new channel called Super Deluxe. However, Turner pulled the plug.
  • Jai left Turner, so he could have more creative control over his ideas and BET also wanted him to make a show.
  • Going out on his own wasn’t an easy decision for Jai, but wanted to try, even if he failed. He succeeded, however, and won a NAACP award.
  • Jai wrote his Academy Award speech when he was twelve-years old and he plans to still use it someday.
  • He formed his own studio in Atlanta, because he went to college in the city, had a job at Turner, he wanted to step away from his father’s legacy, and he wanted to live in an area with stronger African-American ties.
  • Kasha and the Zulu King is a South African take on The Prince and the Pauper. Jai wanted to make a movie with characters that have very colorful skin tones, ranging from light to dark.
  • Whitney and Jai want to see more animated characters from diverse ethnicities. They go into details about beauty aesthetics from different cultures.
  • Jai and Ron are working on an animated trilogy, starring African princesses. They are researching individual African cultures for inspiration.
  • Whitney recommends Jai watch Michael Ocelot’s Kirikou and the Sorceress, another animated film inspired by Africa.
  • The African princess trilogy will have a Disney look, because Ron worked at the Walt Disney Company for years, but it will also contain influences from some of his favorite styles.
  • Jai discusses his own individual style and how he pulls from other sources.
  • He hopes to release the films sometime in 2017 or 2018.

 

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Toon-In-Talk Episode 13: Interview with Rick Pickens

Posted by :storysequence On : July 16, 2015
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Hello and welcome to thirteenth episode of Fanboy Nation’s Toon-In-Talk, your rendezvous for animation interviews.  If you are listening to this podcast, you’ve probably considered becoming an animator at some point.  The traditional method is to attend a university animation program, but higher education isn’t necessarily the correct route for everyone.  There are dozens of online programs dedicated to teaching 3D animation, but there is only one that focuses on the
traditional, hand drawn method.  Rick Pickens discusses his animation career and his new animation program: “Animation in 12 BLANK Lessons.”

Episode 13

  • Rick worked in animation in 1987 at the same company as Doug TenNapel when digital animation started to gain traction.
  • He’s worked away from the animation industry for some years, but he continues to be involved with teaching, puppetry, training courses, and his own projects.
  • Whitney and Rick both agree that we are now on the edge of a new animation boom and it’s fantastic and exciting!
  • Joe Murray was the animator who branched out and tried to form his own content platform.  It was called KaboingTV.
  • The cartoons today are radically different from anything ever created before and people want to see new and different things.
  • One of the reasons Rick created his program is that he wants to see more cartoons and he wants to give people the opportunity to make them.
  • Rick explains that it’s better to start the process now then waiting.
  • He’s helping potential animation students get their feet wet by creating an online course through Udemy called “Animation in 12 BLANK Steps” and he also has a free online course.
  • Rick based his program’s name on Bob Heath’s book, Animation in Twelve Hard Steps.
  • What makes his program different from other animation programs is that it takes a student through the entire animation pipeline, ending with a finished project they can share.
  • “Animation in 12 BLANK Steps” is designed for fans of traditional, 2D animation.  You need to bring a desire to create something with old-fashioned drawing tools or a drawing program on your tablet.
  • The program isn’t a deep dive into technique, but rather to carry through your idea and finish a project.
  • Whitney has psychic powers, not really.  When she looks at people’s artwork, she can tell who has influenced them.
  • If you want to be animator or a comic book artist/writer, the way to do it these days is to get in it now!
  • Rick declares, “Let’s go make some funny cartoons!”
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Toon-In-Talk Episode 12: Interview with Veronica and Raina Taylor

Posted by :storysequence On : July 8, 2015
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Hello and welcome to twelfth episode of Fanboy Nation’s Toon-In-Talk, your rendezvous for animation interviews.  Whitney has a treat for all listeners today!  Not only does she interview the fantastic voice actress Veronica Taylor, famous for her role as Ash Ketchum on Pokemon, Astroblast, Welcome to the Wayne!, and Mofy, but she speaks with Raina Taylor.  Raina is Veronica’s uber cool daughter, so this episode is a first for the show: a mother-daughter interview.  Veronica discusses her career and Raina shares her input on having a voice actress mom.

Episode 12

  • For the first time ever on the podcast, Whitney interviews a mother-daughter duo!
  • Veronica has always been an actress and went to college for acting.
  • Raina was never starstruck having her mom being a recognized voice actress.  It was very normal for her, although they do funny voices around the house all the time.
  • Veronica’s first go into voice over dubbing for anime.  Her first big role was Amelia from Slayers, then she became the voice of the kid who has to be the very best: Ash Ketchum from Pokemon.
  • Veronica loves acting, no matter if she’s dubbing or voice over in English.  She wants to make the character come to life.
  • Raina thinks her mom does an awesome job every time and Veronica likes having Raina help her practice.
  • She got the role of Ash, because the same production company that distributed Slayers in the US also had the license for Pokemon.  All she knew about the series is that one episode gave kids seizures in Japan.
  • Raina is very down to Earth when it comes to being the daughter of an iconic character.  It’s also great to make her laugh.
  • Whitney thinks Ash’s Pokemon trainer skills are lacking, but Veronica begs to differ as he follows his heart.
  • The differences for voicing Ash in a movie and in an episode is that for the first few movies it was in an actual movie studio and the sessions were bigger, but later they were similar for recording episodes.
  • Veronica and Raina both voiced the Pokemon Sentret, while Veronica also did Diglett and a few others.
  • Raina and Veronica were both in the movie The Boy Who Wanted to be a Bear.  She remembers her mother read the lines for her when they were in the studio.  This happened when she was a very young, so spends a lot more time reading than behind the mic now.
  • Raina is a John Green fan!
  • Raina’s favorite Pokemon is Charmander and Evee, while Veronica likes Pikachu, Lapras, and Treecko.  While they think Jigglypuff and Mr. Mime are weird.
  • She was the voice of Ash for eight years before Pokemon USA replaced the cast with new people.
  • Veronica’s favorite memories associated with Pokemon is that she was pregnant with her daughter during the first season and she so happy to play such a positive character.
  • It’s not hard for her to transition between characters as long as she has a solid hook in the character.
  • Raina loves that her mom plays a cute little bunny character.
  • Raina doesn’t want to be a voice actress, but she wants to do something related to the arts or  an accountant.
  • Veronica is evading her taxes!  No, they both declare peace and to eat healthy!

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