I Wonder If Rob Paulsen Is Dreaming Too

I Wonder If Rob Paulsen is Dreaming Too

Before I went to sleep last night, I was awake for a few long minutes with my hands hugging a pillow, and my mind lingering on the humor and brilliance brought about by watching Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain episodes.



I had just recently re-discovered these shows of my early childhood, and this was one of those wonderful moments where I say, "God, thank you for the gift of entertainment..."



...and creativity." It's the way I get after watching or finding a piece of art crafted by human hands and made alive by human imagination. The two shows I mentioned are great examples of classics that thrive with color and imagination and basically tug at our heart strings' nostalgia.



I've didn't always dream of being a director and writer (I wanted to be a priest, actually, I know, right?), in fact, I didn't always dream. I just survived.



But now I know what I want to be, and what I always dream of being (I mean besides being buff): a person who can give joy to someone after a stressful day at school, and have a bunch of people come together for some quality time through a silly tale of edurtainment. I was dreaming about going back in time, and becoming a part of something as multi-generationally enchanting as Animaniacs.



Do you know what I would do if I could go back and experience what it would be like to be a part of an Animaniacs family? I mean, to play a character, or to have written an episode...to be one of those people who gave people a hundred or more hours of laughter in their life...do you know what dreamers like me (and you, but you might have a different dream) would have done? Well, anything, I guess, as long as I get to keep my clothes on and stay out of jail.



But that's not what I wanted to leave here. I wondered if Rob Paulsen was dreaming too...



Rob Paulsen is the actor who played Yakko Warner, Dr. Scratchandsniff (so he was talking to himself in my earlier post) and Pinky the mouse. My (unreliable) source (Wikipedia) says that when he was a kid like me (and many of you, both physically and at heart), he dreamed of pursuing the arts (but before that he wanted to play hockey).



I wondered if he thinks about how many people he made smile when he decided to take on the roles he did. I wonder if he knew how much hope he is giving to dreamers like us. I wondered if how he felt, knowing he had not just fulfilled his dream (of being an actor), but took it to the top...



...I wondered if he was dreaming about being a hockey player.



I got the most touching thought when I realized, as I lay down on my bed, many other of my heroes, be it a famous actor or a friend across the street, will be doing the same thing when they go to sleep at night.



Actors are still people, so are doctors, lawyers and even politicians. I know we may all experience a dream where we're being chased by mutant alligators or something, but do we all continue to dream of the things we hope to see in the future, when we're already there in the future that we dreamt about in the past?



I don't know. I don't think it's part of a person's job to have the answers to all his questions. But at least I can have the answer to this one:



Can I turn back time and be a part of the things that made me happy? No. But I can continue to be happy, even if I know I cannot do it.



To all the people who made the things in my life, the shows, books, songs and movies, that made me happy, and probably made millions of others happy, thank you (though I am well aware that you may never read this). Tonight, and for many other "tonights" to come, I will dream though life's hardships continue towards those distant dreams. And that is because you have already kept me from believing that dreaming is unimportant. It may not be the most important, but, hey, it doesn't become a reality unless it starts as an aspiration, a goal...a dream.



"Goodnight, everybody!"



-Yakko Warner, played by Rob Paulsen