(This is kind of a lengthy one, so sit down and have a snack. lol)
Recap:
Back in September when Bubble Scrubbies! and Swimtastic Check-Up! premiered, many people, including myself, noticed that something about Mr. Grouper's voice sounded different. In BubScrub, it made sense because he was suppose to sound sick but he still had a similar voice in SCU when he was supposed to sound how he normally does.
Why did he sound different? What happened to Mr. G's voice?! Was it really Tino Insana? Or...was it someone else?
Dun, dun, DUUUUUUUN!
Thoughts, Facts and Discoveries:
At first, I thought that maybe Chris Phillips was filling in for Tino Insana for some reason since he plays Mr. G during the songs, but this voice didn't sound like him doing an impression…Then I was convinced that it was still Tino Insana voicing Mr. Grouper; that maybe he really was sick during that time of production and his voice was recovering, thus making him sound off. I soon discovered that there was a five episode gap in between BubScrub and SCU. After this, I started thinking that maybe the voice actors record for multiple episodes in a day or even a week. He could have easily done that and his voice gradually got better since it didn’t sound as sick in SCU.
I’ve been checking the credits for this part of Season 3 that has aired and a voice actor named Fred Tatasciore has shown up in all of them along with Tino Insana and Chris Phillips. I thought maybe he was only doing some background voices. He probably was.
BUT THEN
I was looking through YouTube one day for BGs stuff, when I found a video of the A Grumpfish Tale storybook app. Mr. Grouper narrated it and it was the same voice from the recently aired episodes! The app was released in October last year in 2013 and Season 3 was recorded somewhere in the time period of 2012-2013. This was late in the year…was the Season finishing up at this point? If Mr. Insana was still playing his role, was he recording his lines during a time where he actually got sick or was recovering from being sick so he would sound more…authentic? I hear you’re not really supposed to act when you’re in that type of condition… so this is starting to look less likely.
I gave Fred Tatascore’s voice work a listen and this other Grouper voice sounds like something he would do…(Listen to his voices for Pacha and Obadiah Stane.) He already has connections with Nickelodeon; he voices Master Shi-Fu in their Kung Fu Panda TV series, multiple characters in Sanjay and Craig and a few other Nick shows, so it wouldn’t be hard to get him to fill in for someone else on another show from the network.
I can’t find anything on the web stating that Tino Insana left, if any auditions were being held for Mr. Grouper, nor can I find anything about Fred Tatasciore’s involvement with the show.
Conclusion:
If a new game, app or whatever is released and/or if Season 3 is done airing and the first episode of Season 4 premieres with Mr. Grouper still sounding the way he did during those episodes I mentioned…it’s very likely that Fred Tatasciore has taken over the role of Mr. Grouper permanently or temporally. If he truly did, I wonder why he was given the role all of a sudden and how long he’s been playing it. Party at Sea!, the last episode before we heard Mr. Grouper’s voice change, was #19 in order of production. The change may have started in episode 18, which hasn't aired yet. Also, if it’s true, then why does Tino Insana’s name still appear in the credits? Was it because of the "Lunchtime" song? Mr. Grouper sounds normal during that but when a voice actor takes over a main character in the show, the song that character usually sings is re-recorded! (Ex: The theme song) GAH! Now I’m confused! There’s no official word on the whole situation but I’ll keep looking for one and other pieces of this crazy puzzle. Whatever happened, I hope Tino Insana is ok…
For those out of the loop or can't exactly remember what Mr. Grouper sounded like in the past few eps, here's a couple of videos to compare:
- A Grumpfish Tale, where he was possibly voiced by Fred Tatasciore
- Animal School Day, where he was voiced by Tino Insana
What do you guys think about this?