The wonderful voice actor for Baxter and Barney (and Krang and Burne Thompson and many others!) very kindly agreed to give me an interview! Thank you so much, Mr. Fraley!
Lucky_Ladybug: On your interview about Krang and Slash, you spoke of how Krang was described to you during that audition. Did they describe Baxter's personality to you at all or did they just hand you a picture of him?
Patrick Fraley: Yes, I was handed a drawing of Slash at the session.
The producer described Slash as intense and crazy.
Slash was drawn with splayed-out teeth. So, I decided to base his character on actor Kirk Douglas (Michael Douglas' father) who was know for passionate, intense role.
Then I made his "S's" like Daffy Duck.
That was it.
We had to really move on characters, and we didn't have many guests on the show, so we cast members were assigned guest characters right before the sessions. As far as a description of Baxter, I believe they laid out his circumstance, and the lines and relationships he had guided my way.
LL: You also described certain actors' voices you used to help you develop voices for Krang and Slash. Were there any particular actors who inspired you in developing a voice for Baxter?
PF: No, I didn't have an inspiration from an actor.
In the design/drawing of Baxter, he looked like a scientist, so I pitched up his voice.
Also, he was a pretty intense character so I played him emotional.
For the "fly" effect, I took hold of my skin at my throat, and wiggled it a bit ever so often.
LL: One confusion among viewers is why the Baxter of this series is white while all other Baxters are black. One explanation going around is that they didn't think it wise to have a black character so meek and mild he's being abused left and right. Another is that they were just trying to cash in on the Back to the Future/Doc Brown phenomenon. Do you know what the true explanation is?
PF: I have no explanation. I was not familiar with the comic books, and just went by the design given to me.
LL: Baxter's human character design changed between seasons 1 and 2 (his hair darkened and grew longer and more wild). Do you know the reason why they changed the design?
PF: No reason for the design change was given.
I was unaware of the change, and I played him the way I started with his character.
It was very early in the series.
I remember that.
LL: The voice actors often speak of the ad-libs they made in the early seasons. Did you ever ad-lib any of Baxter's lines?
PF: I probably did ad-lib.change lines.
Rob Paulsen and I loved changing dialogue lines, and improvisation, and early on in the series, they let us get away with murder.
LL: Do you ever come up with thoughts about hobbies and things your characters do in their spare time? If so, what do you think Baxter's hobbies were when he was human?
PF: I didn't.
That might have been a good idea, but as I wrote, we were under the gun to come up with characters ASAP.
LL: When it was presented to you, did you like the idea of Baxter having the accident that turned him into a fly creature? Have your feelings changed since then?
PF: I liked the concept.
It was fun to transition the character and add the fly aspect.
LL: In several of the fly episodes, Baxter had a companion in an alien computer he found. How did you see their relationship? Do you think the computer actually thought of Baxter as a friend or was he just using Baxter for his own goals?
PF: Honestly, I can't remember.
I was doing several different shows at the time.
It was a busy era for many of us, and it was all we could do to remember characters for each show, and not get confused.
LL: In season 4, the writers decided to give Baxter a twin brother, Barney. Did you approach him the same as you did human Baxter or did you do anything different with his voice and mannerisms? He certainly seems much angrier than Baxter.
PF: Again, I can't recall.
I probably focused on separating the sound of the characters with pitch, and perhaps intensity.
LL: Even though Barney was only in one episode, did you have any thoughts on what his and Baxter's relationship was like?
PF: Just can't recall, Christina.
LL: Baxter is often seen as a sympathetic and/or tragic character. Do you see him that way or is he a villain to you?
PF: He was a damaged character, as I recall, and I remember that his journey made him that way.
I didn't see him as a villain.
LL: Did you ever feel that Baxter was being treated unfairly by the writers because he was never allowed a second chance while other victims of Shredder's trickery got one?
PF: I remember feeling that Baxter got a raw deal, but knowing it was a comedy, played for the best way of getting the laughs.
LL: Baxter's story ended without any real resolution. Do you wish there had been some closure?
PF: Not really.
I do recall that I wanted to play him more, but understood that TMNT need to progress, and accepted that.
LL: If you could give Baxter's story an ending, what would you choose to have happen to him?
PF: I would have liked him to have cameo appearances every so often as a full-on fly, trying to get attention, but getting smacked by a fly swatter.
Then I remembered I'd forgotten a question I wanted to ask. I also thought of a couple more. When I contacted him again and asked if he would be willing to answer those few more, he very graciously said yes.
LL: You mentioned on the Lionsgate interview that you sometimes got auctioned off to call kids' birthday parties in character as Krang or Slash. Did you ever call up as Baxter?
PF: No, just as KRANG and Buzz Lightyear.
LL: What was it like when you had a scene with two of your characters in it, like Krang and Baxter or Baxter and Burne Thompson? Did you record all of your lines as one voice and then record the other voice, or did you record both at the same time, switching back and forth between them?
PF: It was not hard.
Many of us had to do that over the years and series.
We just took our time, and "ping-ponged" from one voice to another.
SELDOM did a VO pro request to do one character fully,
THEN, do a different one.
We knew that would cause much work for another.
LL: Do you have any thoughts on interacting with James Avery?
PF: James was wonderful.
As facile an actor he was, he ONLY played one level...ANGER.
As Krang, I played much subtext.
It worked out wonderfully.
Miss him so much.