Question1: Wally, can you first tell us a little about yourself? Where you grew up, how you got into this business, what your first voice acting job was etc.

Wally: I GREW UP IN SOUTH DAKOTA, MOVED TO LA IN 1987 (A LOT OF OTHER INFO CAN BE FOUND ON MY WEBSITE AT WWW.WALLYONTHEWEB.COM). I STARTED AS A RADIO DJ AT THE AGE OF 16, AND STARTED DOING A LOT OF VOICES FOR MY RADIO SHOWS. I HAD ALWAYS PERFORMED AROUND THE HOUSE AS DIFFERENT CHARACTERS, WITH MAKE-UP AND COSTUMES (WITH A PARTICULAR AFFINITY FOR MONSTERS AND GHOULS), SO VOICE ACTING WAS A NATURAL. MY FIRST BIG JOB WAS AS A LOTTO ANNOUNCER ON 'FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR'.

Question 2: What other voice over jobs have you had?

Wally: THE VOICES OF CUBBY AND FLIK FOR DISNEY, NICKELODEON CARTOONS, SERIES ON MTV, GAMESHOW NETWORK, LOTS OF STUFF IN FILMS. AGAIN, MY WEBSITE HAS MORE COMPLETE INFO.

Question 3: How did you get the role of Side Burn in Robots In Disguise? Did you read for any other roles?

Wally: I HAD DONE A LOT OF WORK FOR JAMIE SIMONE AT SABAN (KIDS OF ROOM 402, SINGING PROJECTS, JASON AND THE HEROES OF MT. OLYMPUS, DINOZAURS, ETC.) AND HE RECOMMENDED THAT I COME AND READ FOR ROLES ON THE NEW TRANSFORMERS. I READ FOR RAPID RUN, SIDEBURN AND SKYBYTE. I LOVED SKY-BYTE, BUT PETER SPELLOS IS SO PERFECT FOR IT, I CAN'T BE SAID I DIDN'T GET IT. PLUS, SIDEBURN IS SOOOOO COOL.

Question 4: How do you approach your role as Side Burn? How did you come up with his voice?

Wally: ONE OF THE VERSION OF SIDEBURN I AUDITIONED WITH WAS A YOUNG ELVIS VOICE. BUT THEY SAID THAT ONE OF THE OTHER CHARACTERS WAS GOING TO BE SOUTHERN SOUNDING, SO I JUST DID A STRAIGHT-AHEAD, HORMONE-DRIVEN YOUTHFUL, FUN-LOVING GUY. (DID I GET ENOUGH HYPHENATES IN HERE?) HE'S PROBABLY MORE LIKE ME THAN ANY OTHER CHARACTER I'VE DONE.

Question 5: The early episodes, from what I have seen so far, feature alot of your character Side Burn. In fact, there is an upcoming episode with his name in the title. Does Side Burn play an important role in later episode of Robots In Disguise?

Wally: YES...BEING ONE OF THE AUTOBOT BROTHERS, HE ALWAYS SEEMS TO HAVE A LOT TO DO. WHEN HE'S NOT IN AN EPISODE, CHANCES ARE MY OTHER CHARACTER MIRAGE WILL BE FEATURED.

Question 6: : Now that Robots In Disguise has aired on T.V., the initial reactions from fans have hit the Internet. Overall, people seem to like it. How do you feel about the final product? Was it better/worse that what you expected?

Wally: I WAS NEVER REALLY A FAN OF THE ORIGINAL SERIES, AND DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT IT. I KIND OF LEARNED ALONG THE WAY. BUT NOW THAT I'VE SEEN THE SHOW FULLY MIXED AND PRODUCED, I MUST SAY IT'S VERY ENJOYABLE TO WATCH! AND THE TOYS ARE AWESOME!

Question 7: Before being cast for this role, were you aware of Transformers and the many thousands of fans out there

Wally: I KNEW TRANSFORMERS HAD A HUGE FANBASE WHEN IT WAS ACTIVELY BEING SHOWN ON THE AIR, BUT I HAD NO IDEA THE NUMBER OF FANS THAT CONTINUED TO BE INTERESTED IN THE SHOW WITH NO CURRENT SERIES. IT'S REALLY AMAZING!

Question 8: Do you visit any Transformer websites on the Internet? If so, are you surprised that there are so many of them

Wally: I LOVE THE INTERNET AND THINK THE FANSITES ARE GREAT. I ALSO VISIT THE INVADER ZIM SITES (THE NICKELODEON SHOW THAT I'M ON) AND DROP IN AND LEAVE MESSAGES ON THE MESSAGE BOARDS FROM TIME TO TIME. I DROPPED INTO ONE OF THE TRANSFORMER CHAT SITES RECENTLY AND JUST FOUND A LOT OF FOUL LANGUAGE AND BITTERNESS, SO I DIDN'T STAY AROUND LONG.

Question 9: I got one last question. Have you seen the Side Burn toy? If so, how does it feel to have a toy modeled after your character?

Wally: I HAVE SEVERAL OF THEM. I BUY THEM WHENEVER I FIND THEM IN THE STORES (WHICH IS VERY RARE SINCE I THINK THE CAR IS A VERY POPULAR TOY) TO GIVE AWAY AS PROMO ITEMS AND GIFTS. I'VE HAD SEVERAL TOYS COME OUT OF DIFFERENT CHARACTERS I'VE DONE, AND IT'S GREAT TO COLLECT AS MANY AS I CAN. I LOVE TO COLLECT TOYS ANYWAY (VISIT THE 'INSIDE THE CHANEY ROOM' PAGE ON MY WEBSITE) SO THIS IS A NATURAL HOBBY FOR ME.

I would like to thank Wally for taking the time to allow me to conduct this e-mail interview. I, along with many of the fans out there, wish you the best in your role as Side Burn and Mirage.

If you would like more information on Wally, or any of the projects he has done, please visit his site at www.wallyontheweb.com.