Guest Blog – Ash Paulsen – Growing Up With a Turtle For a Dad

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to grow up with a dad who also happens to be a Ninja Turtle? If so, you’re reading the right article, because I’m in a position to tell you just that.

My name is Ash Paulsen, and my dad’s name is Rob. I’m guessing that all of you TMNT fans reading this have already put two and two together and figured out that my dad is Rob Paulsen, the voice of Raphael from the original TMNT cartoon. So what is it like when your dad is an integral part of a pop-culture phenomenon, day in and day out?

Well, it doesn’t affect your own fandom, for one. Growing up, I was as huge a TMNT fan as any other kid growing up back then, and I displayed my fandom through the purchase (or rather, my parents’ purchase) of countless TMNT action figures, VHS tapes, video games, and more. I clearly remember having TMNT-themed birthday parties. I think there even might have been some TMNT-themed lip balm — Raphael cherry flavor! — that I might still have for some reason. Being presented with a fantasy-destroying, real-life connection between one of the Turtles and real life didn’t affect my immersion in the TMNT universe one bit, and I’m glad to still call myself a TMNT fan to this day.

But I won’t lie and say my experience wasn’t any different from anyone else’s. Having a dad who’s also a Turtle was definitely a unique influence on my childhood, in both good and bad ways.

Here’s one that might surprise you: other kids are all too happy to be friends with you… for completely wrong, self-serving reasons. I’ve always been kind of a geek (at least in terms of my interests), and that was never truer than when I was a kid, so I wasn’t exactly the most popular kid growing up. Yet kids would line up to be my friend just long enough to ask for an autograph from Raphael, and then turn right around and act like they never knew me in the first place as soon as they got one. Sure, I eventually learned, but I definitely have a clear memory of just how many kids used me to get something from my popular dad.

But it was also a legitimately cool thing for me that my dad was who he is, and I always liked showing him off (especially at those take-your-parents-to-class days!) — and as bad as I made things sound above, I always had a small, but reliable circle of friends who thought my dad was awesome, but also kept things in perspective.

Honestly, those of you reading this are probably imagining a much more radically different childhood than what I actually had. I get that a lot; people hear that my dad was Raphael (or another one of their favorite characters) and think that my childhood must have been completely awesome or privileged because of it… and in truth, things weren’t really that different, at least from my perspective. I had the same advantages and difficulties of other kids with backgrounds similar to mine. My parents still expected me to be a good kid and do well in school. I still got in trouble sometimes. And no, contrary to popular belief, my dad did not talk in his various characters’ voices day in and day out — my mom would have killed him, were that the case. 🙂

And as I grew up, that is how things stayed — I had a mostly normal childhood experience, with a few standout exceptions. One of those exceptions was that my dad was invited to the annual Comic-Con at the San Diego Convention Center for panel appearances, and he started taking me with him at an early age. These trips became some of my most precious and influential experiences growing up, and I’m 24 now and still haven’t missed a Comic-Con since (though I usually go with my own friends and for my own reasons now). But these and other, similar trips did afford me small chances to be a mini-celebrity in my own right as people literally revered me just for being the kid of a guy who gives awesome characters their voices, and I thoroughly enjoyed that privileged bit of fame that was uniquely afforded to me (and other kids of other pop-culture figures).

Another way in which my dad’s influence significantly changed my childhood was that I found a unique group of much older friends in my dad’s fellow voice actors. Sometimes I almost feel as if I had a second family comprised entirely of popular voice actors who watched me and supported me as I grew up, and today, I’m proud that I can say I’m friends with no less than the likes of people like Jess Harnell (voice of Wakko from Animaniacs, etc.), Tress MacNeille (Babs Bunny from Tiny Toons, Dot from Animaniacs, etc.), Jeff Bennett (voice of Johnny Bravo), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker!), and more. These are all people that I was and still am on a first-name, casual basis with, and that has been a very cool experience for me.

But other than experiences like those, the day-to-day life of being Raphael’s kid was pretty much as unspectacular and normal as many other childhoods. That extends to my 24-year-old present self, as well; I appreciate who my dad was and who he is now, and he’s still a popular, successful voice actor who I love to show off sometimes. But that doesn’t change too many things for me; I’m not coasting on his fame, and though I do have connections into the entertainment industry through him, they’re not automatic guarantees of career success. Just like everyone else, I have to pay my dues and get in at the ground level wherever I can, and the fact that I’ve finished college only to go right into a crappy retail job during this recession is proof of that. And in some cases, my dad’s pedigree can make things a little harder for me (as it did in my childhood); successful parents cast the largest shadows, and I’ve had to work extra hard not to get lost in that shadow or let myself be discouraged by those who would discount my own successes simply because I don’t aspire to be the next Rob Paulsen (voice acting isn’t quite for me), and believe me, there have been many discouraging people.

But all in all, having a dad who’s also a Ninja Turtle (and an Animaniac, Tiny Toon, lab rat, badass cyborg ninja, and more) has been a wholly great experience, and one that I would never give up or trade for anything. As I’ve explained, it’s definitely come with its own unique set of privileges and challenges, but I don’t think my day-to-day experiences were really so different from those of many other children. If anyone out there has any questions that aren’t covered in this article, though, please feel free to contact me and I’ll do my best to answer them!

You may contact Ash at [email protected]
Also, check out his blog @ http://www.examiner.com/x-6263-LA-Console-Game-Examiner