THIS Is an interview with Renae Jacobs – the voice of April O’Neil

The voice of April O’Neil, I never never would have thought… and that character definitely impacted my life. This is the word heavyweight champion Mr. Joe Walker at the geeked expo in Lansing Michigan at the Lansing Center. Proven game tournament is coming up but right now I am standing here with Renee Jacobs the voice of April O’Neil from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Lord I feel like a kid again how are you I’m good I’m having a great time here in Lansing Michigan and I heard a rumor that you’re actually from Lansing is that true well I was born in Chicago but I actually came here when I was 2 years old grew up in East Lansing Michigan, White Hills woohoo! So tell us what it was like being April. It was amazing I have had the best time being April because I got to work with some of the most talented people in the business: Rob Paulsen, Cam Clark, Barry Gordon, Townsend Coleman, the amazing Pat Fraley, of course James Avery, and Peter Renaday and so many other people guest-starred. It was a great nine years, and it was so rewarding because people still remember the Ninja Turtles and tell me stories about how it affected their lives we had no idea. I have a few yeah can I tell one oh you made okay check this out perfect opportunity for me to tell this story so when I was in sixth grade I think if I remember right sixth grade I was I don’t sleep much and when I sleep I don’t sleep long so I woke up one morning about 6 o’clock in the morning it was a Saturday and I usually get up and watch this cartoon car trouble tech Robo tech just didn’t come on this Saturday this cartoon called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came up it was awesome your voice was him and I went to school Monday and told all my classmates about it and they swore on the Bible I was lying that I’ve made it up it’s not a real thing and like less than a month later Ninja Turtles was the hottest thing in America so you know your stuff I do good thing when you spot it I think so kind of what was your was what’s been your favorite part about doing that voice well aside from being able to be involved in an iconic show for nine years I think my very very favorite part of it is actually doing comic-con because I get to meet the fans and I got to hear about how the show affected their lives we we had no idea I think the I think being Turtles and being mutant and being different and being outcasts play to the heart of so many people you know we all think we’re the ones that are the outcast but everybody feels that way everyone feels that they’re not good enough or they’re not popular enough and it helped people get through very difficult times and we just had no idea and by doing these Comic Cons I’ve just gained a whole new appreciation for fans and for the show itself and I’m really proud of the work that we did it gave a lot of people the courage to overcome great difficulties tell us about the evolution of the character because at first she was just more of a damsel in distress and then as the series progressed she got more and getting in action more so like what was your thought on that just how the character changed over the years thank you for saying that because you know early on in my career I did a lot of shows like moon dreamers and My Little Pony and strawberry shortcake a rose petal place and they were all little characters with funny little voices and you know they didn’t know very much except run around and April did evolve now it was the sign of the times but it was also the strength I hope of what I brought to the character I’ve had a lot of young women come up to me doing comic con saying you gave me the courage to go into the military become a nurse become a teacher I think that women in that era were not encouraged to do things out of a certain confines and I’m really glad he gave them that strength I hope that part of that came from me because that was what I wanted to bring it to the character and I was lucky enough that the writers and the director put her in that direction and but you know our director was soo blue a woman one of the first female animation directors there was Andrea Romano Jenny Higgins and a few others but these are trained ears in this in this field of directing so I hope they brought it into that direction too yeah and I think one of the things that people overlook about April um you know and why the character resonates with me is because she worked in me and she worked in the media in an era where was so male dominated and she didn’t give in in it she was very opinionated she was very upfront about everything and she did the stories that she felt was important in that what she was told was important for a woman in that role just like me so um now that you’re back in Lansing Pike tell us some of the stuff you want to do here before you leave well I’ve actually gone back to my neighborhood I’m here visiting my very best friend and we went to go see my first house we went to go see the places that I knew and remembered as a child and of course things have changed but my house is still there and what of reminiscing it was really it’s really a lovely town really enjoying it Lansing has changed a lot because classic group is here now and we’re gonna make it fun well thank you very much for stopping and interviewing me and I wish you all the best with your show this is seriously like one of the coolest moments for me as a writer somebody has been involved in media for two decades I never thought I’ve met a lot of people that I never thought I would have ever met Al Jarreau Chaka Khan the Miss the voice of April O’Neil I never never would have thought and that character definitely impacted my life so this is really cool well let me close you out how about that thanks everyone this is April O’Neil from Channel 6 News bye-bye [Music] you