Alicyn
Welcome to Alicyn's Wonderland. I'm your host, Alicyn Packard. Join us as we journey through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole into the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games.
Hey, do a girl a favor, and please subscribe to this podcast and go on iTunes and leave us a good review. If you like the show, please help spread the word. It really helps us to get heard by more people. Thanks so much.
Hey everybody, you're watching Alicyn's Wonderland, that show that takes you inside the world of animation and games. Oh, yeah. It's fun here. Whether you're listening on YouTube or on the air. Hey, improv, guys. Thanks, iOS.
Anyways, today we are here with a very special guest. I'm so excited to be sitting down with voice actor Frank Todaro. You might know him as one of the stars of the new Cuphead show for Netflix. He plays Mug Man and we're so excited to have him on the show as well. Frank and I are co stars on the amazing Crunchyroll animated series anime, The Vampire Dies In No Time! Check it out. He's also been on a ton of Transformers series. So we're gonna chat all about that. Thanks for tuning in. Share this with a friend if you want to put your hands together for Frank Todaro!
Frank Todaro
Geez. Face for radio.
Alicyn
Haha.
Frank Todaro
You guys gonna finally see what I look like. I'm used to hiding in boxes!
Alicyn
Uh-huh, and see like -
Frank Todaro
Little Hobbit Holes, hiding away from the world. This is nice!
Alicyn
And all your like, tchotchkes and stuff.
Frank Todaro
Oh, yeah.
Alicyn
Let's see what's - this is, it... this is a peek inside Frank's person always just...
Frank Todaro
I'm I'm too indecisive for a tattoos. Whatever, you say, [unintelligible] something on. I can take it off the end of the day and watch myself. Yes. Nice.
Alicyn
Oh, is that a kraken right there?
Frank Todaro
That is I believe that's a dragon.
Alicyn
A dragon, ah...
Frank Todaro
Crew over there.
Alicyn
Ooh, fantastic!
Frank Todaro
Yeah, there we go.
Alicyn
That's a little, little bit of a dark side, huh, Frank?
Frank Todaro
Oh, I only wear black. It's easier to match in the morning. So I guess so.
Alicyn
Is that true?
Frank Todaro
Yes. Yes.
Alicyn
Fun fact!
Frank Todaro
Yeah, absolutely.
Alicyn
That's amazing.
Frank Todaro
It's all I own!
Alicyn
It's all you own?
Frank Todaro
Yeah.
Alicyn
And black underwear too?
Frank Todaro
Well.. plaid, I guess.
Alicyn
TMI.
Frank Todaro
Is this that kind of show?
Alicyn
Ha ha! We should be like, "What'd you do on the weekend?"
Frank Todaro
Ooh. Fantastic whiskey. Thank you.
Alicyn
Thank you. Thank you.
Frank Todaro
Cheers, cheers.
Alicyn
Nobody knows what's in here, actually. And
Frank Todaro
Blast, these cups are amazing!
Alicyn
Thank you. I'm so glad you like the cups. These cups were actually purchased at Disneyland.
Frank Todaro
Oh yeah?
Alicyn
I went there with my family and I saw them and of course I was like, "Oh Ali - Alicyn's Wonderland!" I just love Alice in Wonderland but these were created by the artist Mary Blair. So she was the original production artist for... she did the production art for Alice in Wonderland 75 years ago. It's the 75th anniversary. And so her these are her original sketches that they based the look of the show off of, yeah.
Frank Todaro
And it matches the aesthetic of this show. There we go.
Alicyn
Yeah, that's just kismet though.
Frank Todaro
Really.
Alicyn
We're here at Real Voice LA Studios at a... I was gonna like shout out the phone number. Call us now at 323 I'm not sure...
Frank Todaro
If you're quick enough, we'll still be here.
Alicyn
Yeah. Anyways, we love Real Voice and they're very good to us. So but this I did not create this. Mike Del Ray actually built this. Hand built this.
Frank Todaro
Oh God, it's gorgeous. Gorgeous.
Alicyn
Yeah, thank you. But enough about Mike. Let's talk Frank.
Frank Todaro
My god.
Alicyn
Frank! I bet you recently at Pat Brady's retirement party.
Frank Todaro
Yeah.
Alicyn
And it's so cool because we are on the...?
Frank Todaro
The Vampire Dies In No Time!
Alicyn & Frank
[laughing in-character]
Frank
Oh my god, I love your character on that. I love that we get kind of have that little back and forth.
Alicyn
Oh, yeah, we have quite the unique relationship!
Frank Todaro
Unique relationships. Good. That's a good way to put it.
Alicyn
You're kind of love with me.
Frank Todaro
Just a little bit.
Alicyn
And I'm kind of in love with your cookies, sweets and other treats.
Frank Todaro
Yeah, there's that weird like dream sequence with a shoe that was missing and stuff. Is this happening? It's like very Twin Peaks. Yeah. I loved it.
Alicyn
I was curious about that. Because then you save the day potentially.
Frank Todaro
On the astral plane.
Alicyn
Well, yeah. Do you lucid dream or anything like that?
Frank Todaro
Do I? Do I like try to control myself in the dreams? Not on purpose.
Alicyn
Uh huh.
Frank Todaro
Sometimes it happens.
Alicyn
It's pretty fun.
Frank Todaro
Oh gosh.
Alicyn
Can you train yourself to do that?
Frank Todaro
Uh...
Alicyn
This episode's already getting weird. Let's get in there. So what's your favorite? What was the casting process like for you in the for the Vampire Dies In No Time?
Frank Todaro
For the vampire? I mean, it was found out to Sam over its CESD and we that that awesome audition and I just as you can tell it's theoretically a kind of like Vampire so I just did my worst Bela Lugosi impersonation. I think the the actual sides gave like a list of like the count from Count Van Count, and every like, cheesy vampire. Like, can you mix all these together? And I went all over the place and sometimes it gets scary and sometimes he's a little bit over here. And one of the things that I kept thinking of was Balki Bartokomous?
Alicyn
Oh!
Frank Todaro
From Perfect Strangers.
Alicyn
Of course.
Frank Todaro
We're Latka from I'm sorry, I gotta talk into this thing. Sure. Surely, we should do that.
Alicyn
[unintelligible] A microphone for sure, worked with one before but...
Frank Todaro
But yeah like a lot of these ladies locker from taxi a lot of these like fish out of water odd couple sort of situations and oh my god of all the animes, an anime that's like a situational comedy where like, "And these two used to share an apartment together without driving each other crazy". And like there's even kind of like a little bit of a Felix under there when Draluc shows up in the apron. He's really good cook and stuff. It's right up my alley. I love it. I love it.
Alicyn
Yeah, it's so funny. It's funny to the characters... one of the first roles I ever played for television was Cartoon Network's the Mr. Man Show and I played Little Miss Naughty and she's like, "Sometimes I just can't help myself, mwahahaha!" I feel like they would be friends in real life.
Frank Todaro
They would just maniacally laugh at each other.
[Alicyn and Frank Todaro laugh maniacally together]
Frank Todaro
See? Nice! Ah, good. Cheers!
Alicyn
Cheers. Oh, yeah, yeah, it's so fun. How's the fan response been to The Vampire Dies?
Frank Todaro
Oh my god. Some of the fan art and cosplay is...
Alicyn
Yeah.
Frank Todaro
Sick. It's just sick. Some some people actually get like the cell shading. Like it looks like the cartoon with the lines and stuff and like constantly impressed constantly.
Alicyn
Yeah, guys, send me that if you if you can, because I do fan art Fridays on Instagram and live to share that stuff. So if you're out there and you're a vampire fan, you know, send me... DM me.
Frank Todaro
There's a lot of John.
Alicyn
People love John.
Frank Todaro
Best boy. He is the star of that show.
Alicyn
He's the best star of the show, John.
Frank Todaro
I think so, yeah.
Alicyn
He's the best looking one too.
Frank Todaro
Oh gosh.
Alicyn
He is second.
Frank Todaro
Spherical boy.
Alicyn
Yeah, so now you actually grew up in New York. You're not in LA boy.
Frank Todaro
No.
Alicyn
So surprising. Just kidding. It's the Sunshine State.
Frank Todaro
Oh, gosh. Yeah.
Alicyn
It's not the good night state.
Frank Todaro
I moved here in 2017.
Alicyn
Okay.
Frank Todaro
And believe it or not, I've still not been to the beach. Not once. First couple of weekends. We drove the other direction went up a mountain tried to find some snow, you know?
Alicyn
Yeah.
Frank Todaro
Sort of get back to our roots. Literally the trees just kinda...
Alicyn
Yeah, yeah.
Frank Todaro
No, I went to the beach once. I'm lying. We went once because there was bioluminescent algae -
Alicyn
Oooh yes.
Frank Todaro
That was coming in. And like was it was glowing tea at the top of the crest of the waves and stuff was gorgeous. But it was at nighttime. So that doesn't count.
Alicyn
It doesn't count.
Frank Todaro
No, no, no, not at all. But yeah, I'm from Queens.
Alicyn
Did you - born and raised there?
Frank Todaro
Yeah. Born and raised in Flushing. Yeah.
Alicyn
That's amazing. And you grew up as an only child?
Frank Todaro
I did. Yeah.
Alicyn
Ah.
Frank Todaro
That's why I'm a voice actor. You talk to yourself a lot.
Alicyn
Ha, yeah. Makes sense. Me too. It's pretty funny. So what were your parents like? Were they in the entertainment industry at all?
Frank Todaro
No, no. My father is a contractor and an architect.
Alicyn
Oh wow!
Frank Todaro
And he taught for a bit and my mother's a science teacher. For a good long time. Now they're retired and they moved upstate for, you know, live out there.
Alicyn
Upstate New York.
Frank Todaro
Yeah, upstate New York. Yeah, that's what upstate, I'm just gonna say that as if everybody knows what I mean. I'm just gonna mention specific streets. Which is weird. Because since being out here, I have ended up working with people that lived a block away from me two blocks away from me, we talk about which comic stores we went to Yeah, it's weird, right? Like everyone just kind of? Repositioned themselves out here. Yeah.
Alicyn
Wow.
Frank Todaro
Still can't find a - though.
Alicyn
Well, we'll keep looking. Please drop them in the comments. So were you what did your parents think that you were like born as a performer? Because you've been performing like your whole life? Or at least part of that? Right?
Frank Todaro
Good part of it? Yeah. Yeah. Very encouraging. Yeah. I mean, of course, there's always those like, when you're gonna get a full time job as a, as a voice actor, when you're first starting out, you're like, that doesn't really work that way. But that's all parents are very, very happy. Very, very proud. You're my mom, one of those people that really, really loves his parents and kind of a family guy. Yeah.
Alicyn
As a mother of an only child. I love to hear that because I just love my son so much. And I hope he always loves me forever and doesn't go through that. You know, that phase. I know. There'll be a part of that. But I have a dark period.
Frank Todaro
I forgot to rebel, really? Like? Oh, yeah, I guess. Yeah, nothing really too crazy. You know, like breaking into old buildings and stuff, pretending I'm Indiana Jones, but not like anything untoward or anything like that. I didn't even drink until I was like 19. I mean, I mean, 21 years old. I mean, I was playing Dungeons and Dragons in someone's basement every Friday. We didn't we didn't really run around.
Alicyn
Nice!
Frank Todaro
And break things.
Alicyn
No, I hear that you still play D&D with that same crew on Zoom? Is that true?
Frank Todaro
I do.
Alicyn
Wow. Tell us about that.
Frank Todaro
Oh, gosh. The nerdy stuff.
Alicyn
The nerd runs deep.
Frank Todaro
Yeah. So...
Alicyn
You're not alone.
Frank Todaro
It gets better. So yeah, I mean, we're in the same game second edition Dungeons and Dragons game since 1991. I am playing a character. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. It's, it's something that's made sense when you were 13. You know, so he's like part every dragon and a dwarf and umber Hulk and a Beholder he's got the big giant bat wings and forearms and it looks like Sam Keith drew him but his name was Pax, which means peace and Latins.
Big tusks and stuff and I made the character before I rolled the character before I made the cat like actually, you know, made the character sheet because before that for meeting these guys, and none of us could afford the books. We may had a marble notebook that we wrote and used dice from an old sorry set, you know, so I'm they're coming in, I'm gonna make this thing cool. I rolled my highest roll was a 12. So I couldn't support my own weight. And that was that character.
So I had to polymorph into an elf. So it was pretty lame. Not as cool as you think. Besides that, I'm currently in a like a white will vampire game or rifts game which is just a bunch of math of Marvel game made a spell jammer game with another group...
Alicyn
That is ... you're busy! You play every week?
Frank Todaro
Yeah, there's, it's every week we cycle we wait a week. It's one of those things where when the pandemic happened?
Alicyn
Yeah.
Frank Todaro
And everybody started zooming everywhere. Yeah, we realize how easy it was, you know. So we got one guy up in Seattle, and the persons in Florida, we've got upstate New York, New York, all over the place, but someone from Chicago at the time, yet we could coordinate and hang out the way that we did in the basement back then. So one of the small blessings that came from Yeah, terribleness that was the past couple of years is I think we all realize how easy it is to stay in touch that way.
Alicyn
Yeah. And so you had pretty much only been in LA for like, two, three years when the pandemic hit. How did that affect you at the time?
Frank Todaro
Ooh. I mean, the way that it affects everybody else, there's very kind kind people in our industry that put together I don't know if you talked about this in the show already put together like this like 400 person zoom call to get everybody kind of up to snuff sort of like standardized so we can all keep working, keep paying the rent. And you know, thanks maker, I was able to do that. A lot of scrambling a lot of updating of your equipment, I think they had to like tie the components to the murder bees fly them over to build the actual solid state logics that eventually came over here, but it's actually funny just voice acting thing. I've got the fancy... whatever...
Alicyn
Apollo twins?
Frank Todaro
Yeah, the Apollo twin. But I use that by my desk to play D&D because I liked solid state better and because it's easier to kind of like ride the game when you're doing stuff and the guys scream a lot. So yeah, so that's a little fun. Fun thing there that $1,000 one is just used to pretend to be a giant space hippo with him.
Alicyn
And now everything's from home.
Frank Todaro
Yeah. Except for here.
Alicyn
And so then you recently... Except for what?
Frank Todaro
Except for here.
Alicyn
Except for this! We're back!
Frank Todaro
This is new. We're out. We're back in action.
Alicyn
It's good, it's fun, yeah.
Frank Todaro
Tagline for a movie. We're back.
Alicyn
We're back, Ali and Frank, back in action. So I know everybody's probably dying to hear about your brand new series on Netflix. It's been out what like about a month or six weeks?
Frank Todaro
Yeah, yeah, it...
Aliycn
Time is an illusion.
Frank Todaro
Yeah.
Alicyn
The Cuphead Show based on the hit video game franchise!
Frank Todaro
Terribly hard, very difficult video game franchise.
Alicyn
I saw some like video reels of you guys. You and true trying to play it.
Frank Todaro
Yeah. Trying. It's a good way to but we're trying to tell you want some old DVD extra background info on that. Yeah, please. So we sucked. We were terrible. It got to the point where we kept dying so much and riffing off each other, but we're just riffing on dying. So playing a pre-recorded thing of somebody else playing and having us be like, "Hey darling! Thanks bro!"
You know, all around. And like, I think the clip that finally came out, like there's something where I'm like, "This is gonna take crackerjack timing!" Like that was not like will you actually see the screen is just like
Alicyn
Yeah.
Frank Todaro
So we were terrible. Oh, but it's like, you know, you kind of want to keep playing. It's like, uh...
Alicyn
Yeah.
Frank Todar
It's terrible. You keep losing but it's wonderful. So you want to keep it's like being a Mets fan. You know? Like it's there's a passion there. You know, and it's just so gorgeous. The blame - the game, the game, the game, I'm a voice actor...
Alicyn
The blame, ooh!
Frank Todaro
Yeah, yeah, that was rambling.
Alicyn
And how did that how did that come about that? Did you just audition? Had you heard of the material before?
Frank Todaro
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I definitely, definitely heard of it before. I remember when they first started talking about it online and revealing these like early images following it. I remember sitting from the game or from the game from the game. Okay, I found out about the show being made when I got the audition.
Alicyn
Got it.
Frank Todaro
From Shadow TV and stuff getting... Uh, God just a quick moment you mind if I go inside, please, because we're at the same agency. When I came out here, I said to myself, you know, besides like, you know, don't let it change, et cetera, et cetera. Do you want to surround yourself with just kind people...
Alicyn
Yeah.
Frank Todaro
And gosh, you can do that in spades it where we are like everyone there everyone who is there currently and the people that we you know, very luckily got to work with for they left people in mind that they don't want to say that just rays of sunshine, you know? Yeah, like really, really? Like you can do it. You can do this and just stay kind surround yourself with kind people work with good people. And, uh...
Alicyn
Why would you want to be any other way? I think any other ways just coming from like old wounds and patterns that people have built and made into a part of their personality, you know, because that's absolutely not, in my opinion, the way to be. We all make mistakes and we all you know, we're all human, but kind is prioritizing that I think is so important.
Frank Todaro
Yeah, very much so. Well said and our industry our little weird corner of the industry. Yeah, I feel like you're able to do that. Even more so because yes, there's so many good people. I there's so many stories of people that you've met like 10, 20 years ago that were just like, nice to you. And these things stick with you and you just kind of want to push them forward. It is yeah, like something something that if I think about it too hard, I'll tear up like very, very amazing it right.
Alicyn
We can cry together, Frank. It's a safe space. Right, Mike?
Frank Todaro
I apologize for making your mic. Sorry. But back to the question. Sorry about the tangent. Yeah, I got the audition from Kathy.
Alicyn
Had you worked with Sarah Sherman before?
Frank Todaro
No.
Alicyn
Emmy award-winning Sarah Sherman. She was in a previous episode, too.
Frank Todaro
You want to talk about kindness? Yeah, like, I joke that every time we have a session, it's like therapy. They're just like, such nice people, her and Dave and Cosmo and everybody else is part of the show and the team at out loud just and it's just wonderful. Just like this kind of like awesome. Like we're all family team making this thing and helping and I'm like a little like the the oregano that you put on top and then like this is just nice for the meal. It makes do can't do without like isn't really put a ring on the bayleaf and the baby that's we're talking about beef stew before this. Yeah, don't just start talking. Nevermind.
Alicyn
Are we going beef stew?
Frank Todaro
Yeah. So you? Yeah, on the sides are one of the suggestions they had put there was Lou Costello. Okay, big fan of Abbott and Costello and things of the time period that I'm clicking a lot. Let me do that, yeah.
Alicyn
That's what it's here for. A nice -
Frank Todaro
I feel better.
Alicyn
Beverage.
Frank Todaro
And he kind of sounds similar to some of my family members, just because I've come from an Italian-American family in New York. And there's a lot of little like idiosyncrasies that kind of match up with my grandmother and my uncle.
In fact, if you watch the show, have you seen the show through?
Alicyn
Which one?
Frank Todaro
The Cuphead.
Alicyn
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Many times.
Frank Todaro
The eggplant bouncer.
Alicyn
Uh huh. Okay.
Frank Todaro
And I was like, around the list. That's my uncle George. You know, like, that's these there's all like little bits of my family, they got to get to throw in there because they're from that time period. So the sentimentality of that is that now there's like little chunks on my family because going around the world, people are watching in like Timbuktu and like, you know, they're it's my grandma. Just part of Mugman!
Alicyn
Yeah!
Frank Todaro
Man. It's kind of fun.
Alicyn
Create this essence. When you read, did you just read for Mugman or did you read for both?
Frank Todaro
I read for all of you read for all and for all, and like, Good lord, I had the people that got those other roles are perfect. Yeah, they're perfect. And like...
Alicyn
Did you resonate more with Mugman?
Frank Todaro
Kind of?
Alicyn
Yeah.
Frank Todaro
Kind of, for lack of a better term? A little nerdy? The, I don't know, confirmed 1950s Missile Command glasses. fool you. But yeah, so there's definitely, especially with episodes that haven't come out yet. Like in the next drop, there's some that I'm likely relate a little bit yeah. Oh,
Alicyn
I'm excited. Meaning a lot.
Frank Todaro
Yeah, to Mugman.
Alicyn
So yeah. And so then was... Did you have a callback? Or did the voice change much from the first?
Frank Todaro
Yeah.
Alicyn
Yeah?
Frank Todaro
We did have a callback, we had a callback that involves singing.
Alicyn
Oh.
Frank Todaro
And I had done like an eight hours of just like Monster noises the day before so do a lot of creature stuff. Yeah, so like I woke up sounded like toned look like funky cold Medina and I'm like, Oh, God, am I gonna medical as well. So I go there. And like I was saying, they're just the nicest people in the world. Super complimentary.
Alicyn
Are you a good singer? Is that...?
Frank Todaro
Yeah, I used to. I used to be in a bunch of crappy garage bands and stuff back in the day. Emphasis on the credit they cut to the tape. Thankfully, this was before like, we're still learning how to use the wheel and stuff. But yeah, they were just super kind. I had to sing "Ain't She Sweet" as Mugman.
Alicyn
Let's hear it!
Frank Todaro
Oh, ain't she sweet? Well, see her walking down that street.
Alicyn
Oh yeah?
Frank Todaro
Yes, I ask you very confidentially. Ain't she sweet?Just cast an eye! In my direction. Oh me, oh my!
Alicyn
Oh my!
Frank Todaro
Ain't that perfection?
Alicyn
Oh, yeah.
Frank Todaro
There you go. So something like that only in my mind because I just you know, done this, you know, I didn't know what actually sounded right. Yeah, I'm like [sings Ain't She Sweet with a gruffer voice].
Like, I walked up like, I don't know what happened, but I really are really nice. And I want to work with them because they're nice people. And a good while later, I got the call. I was the Mug...man. Yeah.
Alicyn
Whoa!
Frank Todaro
Thank you!
Alicyn
Congratulations!
Frank Todaro
Thank you. Amazing. It's such a fun show.
Alicyn
Did you intro record together, you and Tru Valentino?
Frank Todaro
Once.
Alicyn
Once!
Frank Todaro
Only one just once... we...
Alicyn
Okay.
Frank Todaro
And this is like a testament to Sarah, right? There's no way that you would want that show and not think that we were all like sitting in a room together riffing off each other right in because of her direction. And it's amazing like some especially with something that's so quick, like the show is very quick witted. And there's a lot of like back and forth and stuff like when they're walking through the graveyard like I want to live here. I I love this. But yeah, we were not in the same room together. And then half of these things that we did through the pandemic to like we were, I was in a box with no pants on like this is [chuckles].
Alicyn
You're allowed to wear them. Optional.
Frank Todaro
I'm actually a weirdo. Like for zoom calls. I put shoes on, just like for the mentality of it.
Alicyn
Oh!
Frank Todar
So it's very strange.
Alicyn
Interesting. Shoes but no pants?
Frank Todar
No, no. I mean, you can't see me from the waist down, right?
Alicyn
Well, it's not in the two shot. That's so fun. Yeah. And so what is the what is the reaction then? From some of the fans and everything? Seems like people are loving it. They love
Frank Todaro
it as much as I do. Yeah. And that's, that's all you can ask for. I think the best fan reaction was my godson and his sister, learning all the lyrics to the theme song, and their mother's ending the video of the two of them, like, you know, come with me to the world. And that's it. Crystal Clara. What's up? Yeah, it was pretty cool.
Alicyn
Yeah, it's, I mean, he's 27 years old. Okay. Yeah. Wow, that's so amazing. And so any reports of the future when we're gonna get new episodes or?
Frank Todaro
I think there's another drop this summer. There's another drop this summer.
Alicyn
Ohh! Very exciting.Well, we'll be standing by for that my son loves that show. It's a good one. They have so many options with television these days. You know if they are watching multiple episodes, I feel like it's always a good sign. Oh, gosh, you can watch them with them. That's always great.
Frank Todaro
That's the best part of the show is that you fight less over the remote control or remote I don't think any we use the royal controlled train showers anymore. Oh, we fight less over the smartphone because everybody has something for everybody.
Alicyn
What do you use to change the channel then? Like the clapper?
Frank Todaro
Know your mental very way lab something?
Alicyn
Yeah,that's great.
Hey, guys, this is Alicyn Packard. Sorry to interrupt, but I just want to let you know that if you like the show, please, please, please remember to subscribe to this podcast. And leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps us to get heard by more people. Thanks so much.
Yeah. So in addition to Cuphead, you also were on a handful of shows for transformers. Yeah. Including Transformers Prime Wars Trilogy. That was your first Transformer show?
Frank Todaro
So it was but technically here's the other DVD extra I did a voice for because this is technically canon. Like when you're starting out, you did a bunch of fan dubs and stuff. So I did some of the fandoms line. This is 20 years ago.
Alicyn
Oh, you know John Bailey? Very similar.
Frank Todaro
Yeah.
Alicyn
Oh, you guys.
Frank Todaro
Yeah, there's a couple a couple of guys that are out now, here e did those fandoms back in the day to Daniel Ross was one of them. Right? vegtable knowing where this I was in one fandom with him where he played Star Sabre and I was Victory Leo and I transformed into his pants. Basically, there's because that's what Transformers do. But yeah, the first like official official canon one was, it was this really quick, like prequel to Beast Wars that was done for BotCon, but through Hasbro using the designs of the actual toys. And he was in that too.
Alicyn
So how did they cast for that?
Frank Todaro
It was the guy who made it cast me on his like, first draft. So it was just from back in the...
Alicyn
Through YouTube?
Frank Todaro
Pre-Youtube days.
Alicyn
Oh, so through your agency or?
Frank Todaro
No, n this is just through because I've been in the fandom for forever. Yeah, like I literally met family members through Transformers, conventions and stuff. Through the 90s. That's a whole 'nother story.
Alicyn
They became family members.
Frank Todaro
No actual family members. That's how crazy it is. It's like you're on like mIRC. And like, everybody's got the little handles. My mom looks over my shoulder is like, oh, maybe they relate it to your uncle tears. Like I would use their real name on the internet mom, because that's what I want. And yeah, it turns out like we met at like, Fort Wayne, Indiana at a convention. And now it's like one of my favorite family members. She's like a sister to me. Rose Darcy. Hello. How are you?
Alicyn
Hey, Rose. Thanks for tuning in!
Frank Todaro
Yeah.
Alicyn
Yeah, so you were really involved in a Transformers community and then producer reached out? Hey, I just need a couple quick voices. Can you help me out?
Frank Todaro
Yeah. And I did a I did sort of like there's like a Maltese Falcon sort of thing. I did one of the voices and that has nothing to do with whatever's happening today. But like David Cage played Megatron, like I'm in the theme with David and he's like the nicest man, too because I love Beast Wars, love Beast Wars!
Alicyn
Exciting! You'll have to let me know because now I'm going in the new Transformers reality VR game!
Frank Todaro
So cool!
Alicyn
Doing couple of voices there so that's that would be I want to go to these cons and join you there and see see what the crowd is like.
Frank Todaro
Oh, absolutely. Who exactly are you playing or can you say that yet?
Alicyn
I'm playing Wind Blade.
Frank Todaro
Wind Blade!
Alicyn
Yeah.
Frank Todaro
An AutoBot. Camino and come in and whatever is called. That's fantastic. We'll have to fly one day together. In formation, just the two of us.
Frank and Alicyn
Formation!
Alicyn
So are you then you started doing this little thing? And then yeah, how did it was this before you still actively doing VO at the time it was this kind of one of your first Yeah, this was in New York.
Frank Todaro
I mean, in New York early on, like nothing too sexy. A lot of like medical journals with words that have 17 syllables and stuff you know what to do when you're especially when you're starting out but yeah, that was back, back then. Yeah. Then years later Prime Wars was the first...
Alicyn
What was the story behind that?
Frank Todaro
Gosh story was the story a young Obama was in the White House. The story there is I auditioned for this thing and Eric Holder on
Alicyn
the show runner. Oh, right on Yeah, it just was a baby. Yeah, he
Frank Todaro
did a very very adorable little baby and and Sonny, I think I can say the name of baby um, this thing. Well, so he called me I was living in Queens at the time. So he called me basically to give me the bad news that probably not gonna be able to use me but he didn't know what he wanted. And I was in Stop and Shop on Metropolitan Boulevard and Metropolitan Avenue in the middle of Forest Hills, Queens.
So I gotta go do the talk in the parking lot of your back. Right. So let my poor girlfriend park in the thing. And I'm standing next. haven't found it yet. Yeah, mom's he's still roaming around somewhere in the frozen food section. That's if anyone sees her.
Yeah. So I go out and I'm standing next to a dumpster. And he's like, No, I don't really know what I want. And he's not he doesn't sound like the G1 guy was Did you ever see Game of Thrones, it's, you know, viruses. And we start going back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth. And I'm making new voices. And he's like, Oh my God. That's it.
So he gets off the phone gets back on the phone with FJ, who is the showrunner of the Netflix series? Right? We're also working on those series. Yeah, FJ DeSanto wonderfully me. And we're talking back and forth and back and forth. That night, I was cast that next morning I was on a plane and the next day I was recording for my first session in Burbank at Bang Zoom!. So and I this is way before I moved.
Alicyn
What! That is a crazy story. Exactly. Right. But if they hadn't found you,
Frank Todaro
luckily, I picked up the phone when I was like, I was picking up a brisket at the time and that's anyway.
Alicyn
Yeah.
Frank Todaro
That's why I love brisket now.
Alicyn
Who doesn't?
Frank Todaro
Right, gosh, the Swining Door in Burbank? Delicious stuff.
Alicyn
No way. I should get some brisket after this. Should we get some Brisket?
Frank Todaro
Sounding like Miss Maisel here, so and then speaking of dumpsters. I was in where the old Toys R Us is.
Alicyn
Aww! Yeah, over here.
Frank Todaro
Yeah, right. Of course you were of course, verbal to just just herbal teas. Nice. Gotcha. So I was at the old toys r us parking lot. But back when that was Toys R Us. And that's when I got the call from Fj. being like, hey, I want you to come back for Starscream for a new show on Netflix. So good things happen next to dumpsters.
Alicyn
Dude, I'm gonna play a dumpster it's either going to be a dumpster fire or dumpster hi-yuhh!
Frank Todaro
That's weird. Fun. Thanks for having me.
Alicyn
Yes!
Frank Todaro
Rambling...
Alicyn
Me we have to end on that right? If you want oh, well, it's been so great. I don't want to keep you too much past your time. But this has been such a great interview and I'm looking forward to the Vampire Dies In No Time Season Two!
And I hope you guys all catch it at kick it out. Funny story about Vampire Dies In No Time is I tried to showed an episode of my son and I was like, "Oh! Well, this is not for ya. Not for little children."
Frank Todaro
Yeah, yeah.
Alicyn
Not for little children.
Frank Todaro
Yeah.
Alicyn
But spicy, guys. I'm gonna say that spicy. Is that how? How you'd describe...
Frank Todaro
Like Sriracha spicy.
Alicyn
Yeah, yeah.
Frank Todaro
It's like it's not it's like flavorful spicy.
Alicyn
Very flavorful. Yeah, a little bit of a kick. A kick, a kick.
Frank Todaro
Like a mule. Yeah, yeah.
Alicyn
But it's been so great having you and congratulations on Cuphead. Congratulations on Transformers. And I hope we get to work together again soon.
Frank Todaro
Gosh I hope so.
Alicyn
See you next time. Bye!
Outro
Thanks for tuning in to Alicyn's Wonderland, where we explore the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games. Please remember to subscribe and leave us a review. For more episodes of Alicyn's Wonderland. Please visit us at www.AlicynPackard.com See you next week.