Voice actor David Errigo Jr is no stranger to lending his talents to beloved projects. He voices Ferb Fletcher in Disney smash-hit Phineas and Ferb, with some of his other work including Ridley Jones, Detective Pikachu and Ranma 1/2, among others.
In this interview, David discusses his work as characters Plucky and Hampton on Tiny Toons Looniversity. Set in the Looney Tunes universe, it is a reboot of the 1990s series Tiny Toons Adventures.
To kick things off, how did you get started in acting? Was it a hobby at first or did you always see acting as something you wanted to do professionally?
David Errigo Jr: I went to a Bruce Springsteen concert with my Dad. I looked at my Dad, who’s a huge Springsteen fan [and he had] a huge grin on his face, that I think went up to his eyebrows.
That day, I said to myself, “I want to do that for people”. I didn’t know what that meant. I thought maybe I was going to be a singer. The next year in school, I started taking drama and choir. Just really pushing in that direction.
So then I performed through high school and as I performed through high school, I was like, “Yeah, this is absolutely what I need to do with my life”.
I thought I was going to do musical theatre. I kept on that path through college, got a degree in musical theatre. Moved to New York to try and make it happen. Had some great auditions, did some “off off Broadway”, did some original cast albums. Did a lot of regional theatre.
But when I was brought to voice over, my heart just beat faster. And I knew that was I had to do. So, I spent the next few years figuring out how to move to Los Angeles and make it happen.
Luckily when I moved to Los Angeles, it did.
How would you describe/explain Tiny Toons Looniversity to someone who has only just heard about it for the first time?
David Errigo Jr: So, you’ve heard about these guys the Looney Tunes. They’re great characters, they’ve been around for a long time. Imagine if it was the Looney Tunes, but they were kid versions of the Looney Tunes.
Not exactly kid versions, because it’s not like The Muppet Babies. But if there were kids who sort of modelled themselves after the Looney Tunes, that’s the kids. That’s the characters who are going to go to this school.
But then think about this, it’s a school. They’re going to go to college. So imagine, say, a TV show like Friends, it’s this group of friends but take ’em back and put them in college.
They’re these Looney Tunes sort of analogues, so you’re going to have a lot of fun. There’s going to be a lot of gags and a lot of jokes. A lot of really beautiful animation. That’s why you should watch the show.
On Tiny Toons Looniversity, you voice the characters Plucky Duck and Hamton J. Pig. What inspirations help bring the roles to life?
David Errigo Jr: The original incarnations, absolutely inspired the approach. I didn’t go back to the source material before I auditioned. I deliberately stayed away from it, because I knew they weren’t looking for voice matches.
In the audition, they were like, “we’re not looking for a voice match, so don’t do that, but we want something that evokes the same sort of thing.” The voices that came out were what I remembered the characters sounding like.
It’s way off, if you actually compare them side-by-side. But because I remembered enough about what was there, their souls sort of shone through. Even with these different sounding voices.
Did you study Don Messick and Joe Alaskey’s performances extensively, or try to do your own thing?
David Errigo Jr: Not directly, but yes. I watched the heck of the show as a kid. So, I was studying without studying. I was in the masterclass because I watched it over and over and over.
But then I hadn’t watched it for 10, 15, 20 years when I auditioned. All of those memories were in there. It was like picking up the box, dusting it off and looking at it.
Not even opening it, right? Because if I had opened it, I would’ve gone back to the show and watched it. It might have informed how I wanted the sound to go. But I deliberately just looked at the box and went, “That’s what I remember”.
I think keeping it closed is going to keep me making these voices mine. As opposed to trying to shoehorn myself into what was.
Do you have a preference for voicing either character more than the other? Whether that’s because of pure enjoyment, ease of doing the voice etc.
David Errigo Jr: I think, if I were forced to chose, I think I tend to trod out Plucky a little more. Because his bombastic personality is just fun to live in sometimes. Like, if I’m at a convention, meeting people, signing things and they talk about Tiny Toons, I will probably first go to Plucky’s voice, because it gives people this silly grin that I’m apparently just always pursuing in life.
You’re no stranger to stepping into iconic cartoon franchises – whether Looney Tunes or as Ferb Fletcher on Phineas and Ferb. Were these jobs nerve-wracking to take on or were you more so just excited to have the opportunities?
David Errigo Jr: I am nothing if I am not excitable about work. I have a great reverence for the source material, of whatever I do. If I am coming in to be a character, I will do the research. I’m voice matching on a different show and I watched every episode before I went in to record on my first day.
I watched so much Phineas and Ferb before ever getting the opportunity to play Ferb. I’m huge on character integrity, I think it’s very important to… it’s not my job, a lot of times, to make the character my own. I’m there to keep the character the same, that’s with the voice match stuff.
With Tiny Toons, it’s an interesting one because they weren’t going for voice match. The job was to take it and to make it my own. But I still wanted to honour the legacy of those characters.
I get very excited for the opportunities and that very much pushes away the nerves. The excitement combined with the preparation helps keep me on track, having fun and not getting worried. I know time has been dedicated to make sure it’s going to be a success.
When Courageous Nerd spoke to Vincent Martella [aka Phineas Flynn], he spoke about how the two of you had developed a great friendship in real life. Given the double-act nature of your characters, what has it been like meeting, working and getting to know Vincent?
David Errigo Jr: It’s the best gift I could ever get from a show. To be given a best friend, are you kidding me? We see each other almost every day, he’s texted me a couple of times during these interviews.
It has been a true pleasure getting to work with him, getting to know him, getting to travel to a bunch of conventions with him. I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Who doesn’t want a best friend from work? Especially in an industry where we’re generally so separated, right? Voice acting now, so much of it is recording alone. Phineas and Ferb has always been recorded separate, but doing the conventions together really helped develop a friendship.
What’s it been like? It’s been awesome!
A lifelong TV and Film buff, Conor founded Courageous Nerd in 2019. He has conducted hundreds of interviews for the site, as well as written comprehensive feature articles on a variety of topics. You can find him on X: @conorrcn.
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