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A Conversation
With Bob Doucette
Ed, Edd n Eddy
1999-2009
July 23, 2014
JXP: How did you get interested in animation?
BOB: I loved animation since I was a kid my favorite cartoons on TV were The Bugs Bunny Show (especially ones by Chuck Jones) and anything Disney. I would draw characters all the time and I even tried to animate a bit!
JXP: What animation techniques did you learn?
BOB: When I was a kid I experimented with drawn animation and claymation. In college I focused on 2D animation with an emphasis on design. I love design and art direction.
JXP: What are your animation influences?
BOB: I really think my character taste came from Chuck Jones, I love his posing, acting and the personality he puts in every character. I especially love "The Grinch" and how wicked his expressions are and his cute dog Max. I think cartoons have too much talking these days not enough acting.
JXP: When did you became interested in painting and other arts?
BOB: I was a shy kid and didn't have many friends so I started drawing to entertain myself, my Dad always encouraged me to make a career of my art because he was never able to. I started painting when I was eight and I have never stopped!
JXP: You created Detention for Kids' WB correct? What was it like controlling your own show for a change?
BOB: It was the best fun but also the worse responsibility because everything lands on your shoulders and you have to make some difficult decisions. It was the first show I had to work with the Kids WB directly and they were really rough to work with and made many arbitrary changes that did not improve the show! I had fun on the creative side and had great artist to work with!
JXP: What was it like to work with Tara Strong, Billy West and Carlos Alazraqui?
BOB: Tara Strong and Billy West are two of the best voice actors ever!
I loved Billy from "Ren & Stimpy" and knew I would have a part for him. Originally we cast him as Gug too, who was the hispanic boy but the network said that he needed to be played by a real hispanic actor-- I loved this idea but none had audition originally so we brought in Carlos who was playing the Taco Bell dog on commercials at the time and hired him on the spot! He is very funny. Billy really did a great job as Emmitt and is a real comic genius and also a real gentlemen to work with. Everyone loves working with Billy.
Tara I met on this show and I just loved her right away, we wanted Shareena to be unusual but still be lovable at heart. Tara has an adorable quality to her voice and has a great sense of humor!
JXP: You were also the voice of Duncan Bubble's yoyo, correct?
BOB: Yes I was the YOYO and I played a few other voices but some were cut out! I was Mr. Fetcher, Mr. Beal and The Art Teacher but the WB made me replace the art teacher and Mr. Beal for ridiculous reasons I can't mention here! I love working with actors and have since done quite a bit of voice direction.
JXP: To your perspective, why did Detention end or got cancelled?
BOB: This show was not what the network wanted even though it got the largest ratings of a new cartoon series on the network when it started. The WB were VERY difficult to work with, I was assigned my story editors from the animation department and the WB hated them from the start and I spent the whole time defending them and trying to keep them from getting fired but in the end the scripts suffered terribly because no one could agree on what the show should be about. Its too bad, I loved the characters and would love to give them another chance!
JXP: What projects are you working on now?
BOB: This year I am working on painting only, I am taking a break from animation, it has been so exhausting that I wanted to get away from it for a while so I could do my own work and start selling my paintings.
JXP: What are your art influences?
BOB: I have so many art influences I couldn't list them all, but if you go to my PINTEREST page you can see some of the ones I most admire.
JXP: Have you ever heard of Margaret Keane because your art is so similar to her's?
BOB: I love Margaret Keene she is a huge influence on me! I am painting less of the big-eyed girls these days and going for a more cartoony approach that people seem to be liking so far.
JXP: Have you ever met or worked with Tom Ruegger, Tim Cahill or Steven Spielberg?
BOB: Yes. Tom is a friend of mine, we worked on many shows together, TINY TOONS, ANIMANIACS, ROAD ROVERS, HISTERIA! to name a few.
Tim and his lovely wife Julie were the story editors on DETENTION, they are both really funny nice people.
Spielberg was very involved with Animaniacs and Tiny Toons and I got to meet him twice and one time he actually paid me a great compliment on a scene I storyboarded and did the layout for.
JXP: Who is Eugenie P. Kisskillya based on?
BOB: Miss K. is based on my 6th grade teacher who was actually a nun.
JXP: Are the LeBone twins based on Sister Sister since you got the two girls to voice them?
BOB: The twins were characters I made up and we had cast someone else to play both of them but the network wanted names and that is why we went for Tia & Tamara but no regrets they are both great actors!
JXP: To your perspective, you are the villains? The students or the teachers? The students claim that the teachers are bad but we see the students prank the teachers too often?
BOB: The point of the show was that the kids are all good at heart but all do things that get them in trouble, which often happens to really smart kids.
JXP: Is Jim Kim Asian and does he like the Avengers or Marvel as well as DC?
BOB: Jim Kim is Korean and he likes all comic book characters ( or most)
JXP: Who does Shareena have a crush on?
BOB: This changes from day to day!
JXP: How come Duncan can't talk?
BOB: At the time we made the show I had a good friend who was deaf and I wanted Duncan to be like him.
JXP: Do you have any copies of Detenton clips/epps?
BOB: No.
JXP: What paint style do you mostly handle?
BOB: I paint with acrylic on canvas most of the time.
JXP: Have you had any of your paintings displayed in museums?
BOB: Not yet. Thanks for the fun questions.