Ahh, the final day of ‘con.  Always an exhausting day, but that’s only because you had so much fun.  Right?  (Hey you — I understand hangovers.  But we’re not talking afterparties right now.) Gotta admit I was torched by Sunday noon.  But did I get some pony intel?  You bet I did!  Straight from Bulk Biceps.  Yeeeeah! Or Michael Dobson, as you do.  Here’s the nitty-gritty of his press conference, which was 20% cooler than the rest of my day.  (Which involved napping, btw. I roll deep.)

* re: his background – his parents were both military (mom was a nurse, dad was in avionics), Dobson started off in theater.  But even before his theater days, he and his brother read comics aloud and recorded their readings.  So he definitely got an early start in voice acting!  From theater to radio ads to meeting Scott McNeil (G.I. Joe, X-Men: Evolution) who asked Dobson if he’d ever considered voice acting…and the rest is history!

* re: how he nailed the part of Sgt. Savage in G.I. Joe Extreme – after the scene, Dobson felt that there wasn’t a definite ending.  So he ad-libbed, which he later found out impressed the audition judges and got him the gig.

* re: voice-work vs. other acting gigs – “It’s the closest thing to a normal job that you can have in the acting profession.”  Dobson also says the hours are typically 9am-6pm, and he gets to stay close to his family and watch his kids grow up, rather than constantly heading off to one film location after another.

* re: voice actors and range – a lot of people don’t realize the range of a voice actor’s abilities, and simply think that if an actor does baby/angry/soft voices in one thing, that’s all he or she can do.  But a voice actor’s voice is an instrument just like any other, and they can produce many different types of accents, tones, volumes, etc.  They have to; voice acting gigs are very competitive, so these actors have to be able to flex.

* re: saving his vocal chords while voicing Bulk Biceps – the first time he did BB, the producers were asking for more and more oomph.  But when a character becomes more than a quick cameo, it’s all about exactly where to hit those sounds.  Not to high up in your throat, not too near your chords.  “You do find the sweet spot…without thrashing your vocal chords.”  That said, during conventions he’s gotta go all-out, because he doesn’t want to disappoint his fans.  And of course, after putting in 110%, he’ll be scratchy for a while.  But the fans are worth it.

* re: his background playing a role in how he creates a character – Dobson was in ROTC, on the drill squad, and was even a drill instructor! Their drill squad won a lot of competitions, so he draws on those experiences for characters.

* re: watching MLPFiM – “Yeah!  The musical numbers are outstanding!” “The attention to detail is remarkable.”

I’ll have more on the Brony Bar Trot, and will of course post on the winners of the cosplay contests once I get the scoop.  For now? Check out some of the awesome cosplay from BronyCon 2015 after the jump — and I hope everypony had a great time!