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Galaxy High owned by

GALAXY HIGH INTERVIEWS!


Neil Ross's website


NEIL ROSS (voice of Rotten Roland) shares his memories of working on Galaxy 
High 

-Where were the voice recording sessions done at?
   We recorded at B&B Studios near the corner of Magnolia Ave. and Hollywood Way    
   in Burbank. A lot of animation was recorded there in the eighties. That's 
   where I recorded the part of 'Honest John' for the Spielberg/Bluth animated 
   feature 'An American Tail.' That session was engineered personally the late 
   Kenny Berger who owned the studio. A lovely man.
 
-What was it like working with legends Howard Morris and John Stephenson?
   Just great! I had watched Howard on the old Sid Caesar shows on television 
   and in some of Mel Brooks' movies so it was a thrill to meet and work with 
   him. He was a wonderful, actor friendly director. Endlessly supportive and 
   very funny. Some sessions were like being at a great party minus the alcohol. 
   I always enjoy working with John Stephenson. He exudes this aura of calm 
   confidence which I appreciate. He also has an extensive background in radio 
   drama which is something I had always wanted to do. Unfortunately it was over 
   before I even got out of high school so I never got a chance to do it. 
   Animation is as close as I got. Whenever I work with John I quiz him 
   endlessly about radio's 'golden age.'

-Did you ever meet Chris Columbus the series creator or Don Felder?
   Not that I recall. People come to sessions and mill around in the control 
   booth but are usually never introduced to the actors. So they might have been 
   around but I don't recall meeting them.

-How did you come up with the particular voice for Rotten Roland?
   I don't recall specifically but I'm sure it happened at the audition. You 
   show up, look at the artwork (if there is any), read the character 
   description, formulate an idea for the voice and then record a few takes. The 
   director may make a few suggestions which change the original concept. I'm 
   sure that Howard probably put in his two cents worth and gradually 'Rotten 
   Roland' emerged.

-What other shows were you working on at the time?
   That was the spring and summer of '86. I was pretty busy in those days. 
   Around that time I was probably doing either 'G.I. Joe' or 'Transformers'. 
   Also worked on 'Centurions' and 'Rambo' that year. Might have been doing 
   'Visionaries' then too.

-Do you know if Galaxy High was supposed to be renewed for another season or  
 what was planned beyond the first 13 episodes?
   We're not privy to those things. They either book you for more sessions or 
   they don't. In this case they didn't. Don't know how close we came to getting 
   picked up.

-Were you impressed with the animation and how the show turned out?
   I think so. I honestly don't recall. I'm very bad about tuning in. For me 
   it's all about the work and by the time it gets on the air I've moved on to 
   something else. As a result I haven't watched a lot of the finished product 
   on anything I've done.

-Were you happy with the storylines and messages of the show?
   Yes, I think so. I remember working with Howard Morris on another show and he 
   was very vocal about how inferior he felt the scripts were on that one. But 
   as I recall he was quite happy with the 'Galaxy High' material as was I. The 
   only beef I had was that they never wrote Nancy Cartwright's character 'Flat 
   Freddie' enough good lines. She was doing a voice very similar to the one she 
   would eventually use for Bart Simpson. Every time she did a line the whole 
   cast would crack up. I used to think: "Why don't they write this character 
   more lines? - it could be the hit of the show." The voice was just so 
   naturally funny, They didn't realize what they had.

-Did you all have outtakes and have fun recording your voices?
   Not really. The engineer would have to save it and make a copy and they're 
   usually much too busy. The only outtakes that get saved and passed around are 
   the celebrity ones. I have a nice collection of those. At one point I got so 
   busy and was doing so many shows that I had to carry a small portable tape 
   recorder around with voice references of all the characters I was doing so I 
   could refresh my memory before I went into a session. Ah, those were the 
   days.

-What are you working on these days?
   Very little animation these days for some reason. I've done voices for quite 
   a few video games. I'm doing a fair number of promos and commercials. I'm 
   also quite active in narration work. I'm proud to say I've narrated about 
   fifteen Novas for Public Television in the past couple of years. Also 
   narrated shows for the Discovery and History channels as well as A&E 
   biographies and 'E' True Hollywood stories. I love narration work. It's just 
   about the most rewarding part of the business for me.
 
-Do you think a revival of Galaxy High could happen in these times?
   I always thought the show was ahead of its time. I think it would work just 
   fine today with a few modern touches. Whether anyone would be interested in 
   giving it a shot I don't know. 

-Do you own any of the episodes to watch or have you been able to see the show   
 recently?
   No and no.

-Do you anything else to share about Galaxy High?
   Only that while it didn't last very long, it was one of the most enjoyable 
   experiences I had in the animation phase of my career. Good times. Good 
   people. I'm glad I got to be a part of it.

Thank you so much Mr. Ross!
Mar 7, 2006



  

This site created on Feb 26, 2006