Cartoons would never be what they are today without the talented voice actors that have brought some of the world's most iconic characters to life. From the hilarious screams of Tom and Jerry to the heartfelt emotions that can be felt in films like Coco, the voice acting is one of the most important forms of performing art in society today.
One of the voice actors that have been in the game for some time now is Robbie Daymond; currently his voice can be heard in Marvel's Spider-Man; however he has also been heard in countless video games and anime like Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna and Sailor Moon.
Recently, we sat down with Robbie, where he talked to us about his time in the latest Digimon film and also some of the challenges he has faced taking up legacy characters such as Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon. His answers in regards to what it's like taking up the mantle of Tuxedo Mask were insightful for both the world of Sailor Moon but also voice acting in general.
We would love to hear what you have to say about Robbie's responses and if you're interested in the full audio interview, tune in below to Literary Joe's Inner Child Podcast! Since we have been talking to many of his co-stars, we have also included our interview with Into the Spider-Verse director Peter Ramsey, fellow Avengers Assemble actress Julie Nathanson (Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay), and fellow Digimon voice actor Joshua Seth (Akira).
13m 33s Literary Joe: You mentioned you're the fourth actor to voice Tuxedo Mask?
14m 15s Robbie Daymond: The original run of the series was dubbed in Canada, and it changed hands three times during the course of it's airing. They never even aired stars. It was Rino Romano, Vince Corazza, and Toby Proctor. They all did great in their own way.
14m 15s Literary Joe: When did you start voicing Tuxedo Mask?
14m 19s Robbie Daymond: Viz announced the re-dub in 2014. I'd been doing voice-over for about five years before that, and I was disillusioned with the studio scheme. That same year I had done six pilots, and none of them went. I was getting to the point in my career where I needed to be a lead in a show.
Someone took me to an anime expo. I was like, people like anime still? I grew up on anime. I've watched a ton of It. I was into Toonami, Cowboy Bebop, and DBZ. I read Shoujo monthly on the back of my toilet all through college and grad school. I was into it. Then I went into the real world, and I was like, Oh, people are still into it. I went to AX, and I was like, I want to do some anime.
So, I called up the studio head that I know, and I was like, "Hey man if you have anything, send it my way. I would love to read for it" and then he was like, "you want to read for anime?" And I was like," yeah," he sent it to me. Then the first thing he sent me was Sailor Moon, and it was Tuxedo Mask and a few of these other bad guys from season one.
They cast me in that. And I didn't know, because I heard rumors that they were doing a reboot. They were like, "you're this guy in the show." I was like, "what show?", And they're like, "Oh, both of them. you're going to re-dub all 200 original uncut the way they were meant to be aired. And then, you'll also start Crystal six months later".
I've been doing that for the better part of six years now. We're done with the original series; I think Crystal has still got some stuff coming out. That was my first ever anime, being one of the most iconic out there. So I lucked out.
34m 15s Literary Joe: Is there anything else you want to mention about your other projects that you're allowed to talk about?
34m 25s Robbie Daymond: I'm always grateful for the people who are watching. I would be a weirdo screaming by myself in this room if it were not for you guys consuming that niche media that we talked about. It's more than that. It's the love people bring for it.
I love seeing fan arts, ships, discords, headcanon, and all the different opinions people have about these kinds of shows. They take these shows and games and make them their own. And I think that's what good art is all about.
Unfortunately, I don't have anything to promote. I'm in a bunch of stuff coming out, a bunch of really big games. I can't say what yet, but you're going to find out about it some way.
20m 59s Literary Joe: If you are an anime fan, you probably have at least heard of most of the anime in the last five years. There's been so much that's come out. But, anime has a much smaller group as well.
21m 14s Robbie Daymond: I think media, in general, is getting smaller, and fandoms are getting more niche. You could listen to a podcast, and it has 2 million listeners, and it's your whole world. Then you'll talk to somebody, and they'll be like, "the what podcast?".
You can even be at a convention and be like, "have you seen, I Dream of Slime in a Dungeon When My Left Apple's on My Shoe?" And everybody's like. It's the best anime ever. And you're like, "what is that? I had never heard of that".
There is so much media, and you see it in your Netflix queue, everywhere. You couldn't possibly consume it all. I think Game of Thrones was maybe the last water cooler show that everybody knew and talked about more or less. I think that was it. We might be done with that. There can still be hits.
You see it now, you see these amazing shows and be like, I'm not watching that. But, everybody was watching Game of Thrones. Everybody was watching the first two seasons of The Walking Dead. I think as TV fades away into whatever and we all unplug, and we all consume our own little niche media, we need things like conventions to come together and learn about new stuff.
22m 38s Literary Joe: Do you feel like that's going to change with the Marvel Cinematic Universe coming to Disney plus? Do you feel like they're still going to move into the niche category?
23m 52s Robbie Daymond: It's still a niche. Think about how good Mandalorian is. But if you're not a Star Wars fan, you don't give a s**t. My uncle will not watch the Mandalorian, but he's going to watch Game of Thrones or something like that. I feel like everything is made for somebody now, and you can see it in cartoons.
Now the demographic is changed. The seven to eleven demo for cartoons doesn't exist anymore. It's from six to ten. It's about to be six to nine. Kids are aging out of cartoons so fast because of things like watching YouTube, streamers, and other new forms of media. It's the same thing with streaming, though. Talk to somebody over 25, and they might be like, "who's Ninja?" but if you're under 25, and you don't know who Ninja is, what rock are you living under?
It's weird the way we're consuming media. It all feels personalized. If you've ever seen the Black Mirror where the guy's trapped on the bicycle, and they're all trying to get points for their little app. That's what I feel like we're becoming. The big show that everyone is watching shows that talent show is only in that one powerplant. Every other powerplant has its own little talent show that feels like the biggest thing.
That's the way I interpreted that. Because there are only 400 avatars in the audience, is that where we are going? That's how I feel like its being monetized too. I don't mean the dirty stuff, things like Onlyfans, Patreon, buy me a Kofi, all of those things where you can directly purchase from an artist. That is the way that the media is going, personally. So we'll see. I don't know. That's a much more in-depth conversation.
*This interview has been edited for clarity. Sister sites writer Comic Brooks and cosplay actress Darth Lexii co-host.*
Tai is now a university student, living alone, working hard at school, and working every day, but his future is still undecided. Meanwhile, Matt and others continue to work on Digimon incidents and activities that help people with their partner Digimon. When an unprecedented phenomenon occurs, the DigiDestined discover that their relationship with their partner Digimon will come closer to an end when they grow up.
As a countdown timer activates on the Digivice, they realize that the more they fight with their partner Digimon, the faster their bond breaks. Will they fight for others and lose their partner? The time to choose and decide is approaching fast. There is a short time before "chosen children" will become adults. This is the last adventure of Tai and Agumon.
Digimon: Last Evolution Kizuna is now available on both Digital and Blu-Ray/DVD!