Brian Hull: Voice Actor, Impressionist and Disney Parks Enthusiast
From voice actor to impressionist, Brian Hull is a man of many artistic talents. With a degree in vocal performance from Dallas Baptist University, it is no wonder that Hull’s creative career was taken to an entirely different level when his unique cover of “Let It Go,” as sung by numerous Disney characters, reached over 33 million views on YouTube.
As his YouTube career continued to grow, Hull soon connected his talent as an impressionist to his love of the Disney Parks by doing impressions to characters and cast members. His natural ability to imitate the voices of classic Disney characters soon led him to be a source of magic for Disney Park goers around the world — from the American parks of Disneyland and Disney World, to Disneyland Paris.
It wasn’t long before Hull’s knack for vocal work led him to be cast in animated productions. While he is known for his role as young Sideburns in “Tangled: The Series,” his most notable performance is that of Dracula in “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.”
I was blessed with the opportunity to interview Hull via email to discover what led him to do impressions to characters at the Disney Parks. During the interview, we discussed how Hull first learned to do impressions and how this talent propelled his career as a voice actor. We then talked about how Hull does impressions to characters at the Disney Parks, some of his favorite character interactions and even some of his favorite things to do at Disneyland.
Klane:
So, Mr. Hull, or may I call you Brian?
Hull:
Absolutely call me Brian, Mr. Hull is my father, haha!
Klane:
So Brian, you are definitely a talent. One of the most prominent things that you are known for is your ability to do impressions of Disney characters. What led you to become an impressionist?
Hull:
That started just because I watched cartoons too much and I had an overactive imagination and, for some weird reason, I believed every adult could do impressions, they just never did them around me. I watched too much Robin Williams and Dave Coulier, I thought everyone could do it!
Klane:
Watching two talented actors and impressionists definitely sounds like it would prompt someone to want to do impressions. While you were learning how to do impressions, what was one of the most challenging characters for you to do?
Hull:
Donald Duck was a MASSIVE pain to learn. He and Winnie the Pooh were probably the most difficult for me to learn.
Klane:
Why were these characters such a challenge?
Hull:
Well for Donald, I had to learn how to speak through an air pocket of my mouth, and Pooh, getting that mixture of head voice and chest voice is super tricky. And there’s a fine line between cute and creepy with that register of the voice.
Klane:
Of course. This balance was especially evident when you mixed Pooh’s voice with Batman in one of your “Frankenvoices” videos. That created a totally different character! Now as time has progressed and your voice acting career has taken off, is there an impression that resonates the most with you, or do you find that your preference changes?
Hull:
My preference doesn’t change too much, I just keep adding to my top favorites. None get demoted, just other voices escalate. Right now in the top is Pooh, King Julien, Scooby-Doo and most recently Dracula from “Hotel Transylvania.”
Klane:
And of course you played Dracula in “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.” Congratulations on getting cast as this role. How did you feel when you found out that you got this part?
Hull:
I was beyond elated! It was my dream to be a voice in a feature animated film, but to be the lead?!?! Just insane! I was on cloud nine for months. Still to this day, it’s the thing I’m most proud of.
Klane:
You have reason to be. You did an amazing job in that role. But before you were known for Dracula, one of the ways that you gained popularity as a YouTuber was through doing Disney impressions to characters at the Disney Parks. What gave you this idea?
Hull:
I literally came up with the idea in the shower one day. I thought they’d be easy to shoot and edit and had no idea how the characters would react. I thought it was worth a shot to try!
Klane:
It’s a good thing that you did since this is something that you soon became known for amongst Disney fans. Since you have traveled to both Disneyland and Disney World, which park do you prefer to do impressions at?
Hull:
I prefer Disneyland to World. It’s less chaotic because Disneyland is mostly locals who aren’t too rushed, whereas World is full of tourists from around the world who only have five days to do everything, so everything just feels more hectic and I feel I have to rush talking with the characters.
Klane:
That makes sense. I do recall that there was a time when you did Winnie the Pooh impressions to Pooh and Tigger at Disney World. However this interaction was different because the audience decided to get involved by asking you to do impressions of other Pooh characters. What was that experience like?
Hull:
It was validating and it put me at ease. It was no longer about doing this fast to get out of the line, because the line was long that day, but it felt more like everyone in line was having fun which helped so much!
Klane:
I bet it did. One of the many joys of performing is knowing that one’s work makes people happy. Eventually you were able to further spread that happiness when you ventured to Disneyland Paris. When you were there, you, of course, did impressions to the characters. How did doing impressions at Disneyland Paris vary from doing them at the American parks?
Hull:
First off, the characters were a lot tougher to find! They didn’t have set times, they just kind of came out when they did and you just had to get lucky. That’s why one of them was at a character meal, my cameraman and I weren’t having luck finding many that day so we figured that would be a better place to guarantee content. But other than that, it was mostly the same, except when fans found me at the park they were much more shocked!
Klane:
I can imagine! Did you find that there was a language barrier when you did impressions?
Hull:
Not really. I figured out very quickly that a lot of the cast members were actually from the U.K. and not France, and even then the French cast members spoke fluent English.
Klane:
That must have made it much easier to interact with the characters. And that actually leads in to how you did impressions to Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Pluto when you were at Disneyland Paris. I just want to say that it was so magical to watch how the characters sat in front of you and listened to you do impressions. Now, towards the end of this interaction, you mentioned that this was one of the best impression meet-ups that you’ve ever had. Why is this?
Hull:
They seemed to be the most genuinely moved by the impressions. There was some magical spark while talking to them and then getting a private picture taking experience with them later?! It’s something I’ll always treasure! I was told later that this meant a lot to the cast members, but it also meant a lot to me. That one is still my favorite encounter.
Klane:
That’s so wonderful. So to build off of that, what makes an impression meet-up memorable for you?
Hull:
Well, it’s when I can see some sort of impact on the person or character I’m meeting with. More than just a “oh that’s cool,” but if we can actually start going deep into characters, I love those moments, anything that just sets itself apart from other meet-ups.
Klane:
What are some of your most memorable impression meet-ups?
Hull:
The Paris one you mentioned earlier, doing Ray the Firefly for Tiana for the first time and Mushu falling over himself with laughter. Those three are very special to me.
Klane:
What made them special?
Hull:
They all just felt so genuinely excited to hear the voices and they just felt like they wanted to play and have fun. They just made it feel special for me too.
Klane:
It’s so nice that doing impressions can be a gift that you can both give and receive. On your YouTube channel, you have uploaded so many memorable character interactions. One of my favorites is the one that you just mentioned with Princess Tiana. It was just so much fun to watch the two of you improvise off of one another. So I can’t help but wonder who your favorite characters are to do impressions to?
Hull:
My favorite ones are the ones where I can actually do their voice. Such as Pooh Bear, the Fab Five, all that jazz. I normally don’t like the princesses as much since I can’t do them specifically. But Tiana showed me sometimes it’s more fun to not do that character, but their friend in the movie.
Klane:
It is so cool that she taught that to you and that she gave you a new way to do impressions to characters. During your Disney Parks adventures, if I am correct, you usually bring your best friend along with you.
Hull:
Yeah, he does, he doesn’t do all of them but he’s done most.
Klane:
Does being with him make it more fun to do impressions to the Disney characters?
Hull:
Yeah it does. In between meeting characters it’s great to be with someone you like and we’d have fun riding rides and everything. He’d also push me to get out of my comfort zone a time or two to talk to characters I wouldn’t have otherwise, or to do a voice I wouldn’t have.
Klane:
I can imagine doing that can be a bit nerve wracking. Is there a time that stands out to you when you were encouraged to meet a character that you normally wouldn’t? Or a time when you did a voice that you normally wouldn’t?
Hull:
He was the one who encouraged me if I couldn’t do their voice, I should do the Fab Five and that worked! It was a think a few of the princesses, I can’t remember exactly which ones.
Klane:
Was the experience different from what you expected?
Hull:
It was a bit different but still fun, they rolled with the character choices and that helped.
Klane:
Does your friend ever give suggestions for which characters you should do impressions for?
Hull:
Sometimes, he will sometimes get bored of the same voices over and over and encourage me to try some different ones or mix things up a bit with who to talk to and how.
Klane:
It must be nice to have someone to help you with that creative process. What makes doing impressions to characters so magical?
Hull:
I have spoken to some cast members who have said getting to talk with me is a magical moment for them. They get to have fun with someone who actually knows the characters, knows the lore and they can be creative and have a bit of fun.
Klane:
That connects to what we were talking about before with how the audience got involved when you did impressions to the Winnie the Pooh characters at Disney World. Are there any other times where you have had an interaction that was more impactful to the cast member than to the character?
Hull:
Many handlers of the characters have reached out to me while waiting in line or afterwards to say what it meant to them and those are always super special. And I remember one day I spoke to some characters not on film and later one cast member who was “friends” with Ariel found me after her shift and told her what it meant, it was super sweet!
Klane:
It must be amazing to know that cast members are telling each other how meaningful it was to hear you do impressions. Now even though doing impressions to Disney characters is what you primarily do when you’re at the Disney Parks, what are other things about the parks that you enjoy?
Hull:
I love the atmosphere, the rides, just a little escapism is always nice!
Klane:
It really is. In many ways, it feels like walking into a different world where magic is everywhere. Unfortunately, when the coronavirus hit, all of the Disney Parks temporarily shut down, and for many, that escapism was temporarily lost. How did this impact you since there was a period where you were not able to do impressions to Disney characters at the parks?
Hull:
Well, that part of my channel couldn’t happen for a while and all of this hit at a time where I really had to rethink most of my content and everything I did on the channel. So although at one point this was the main thing most people wanted on the channel, I had to get creative and find new avenues for content besides that.
Klane:
What were some of the ways that you did that?
Hull:
Some of it was just stepping back and reevaluating how I wanted to reinvent the channel. I already felt like I was in a rut so I just began experimenting with anything that caught my interest.
Klane:
And how did it feel to have to change such a big part of your YouTube channel?
Hull:
It was hard, but I’m glad I had that time to really let go, and now as I rebuild, I think it’s all working out.
Klane:
I hope that it continues to get better for you. The pandemic had a way of influencing so many areas of life. One of the most prominent memories for me during this time was when Disneyland reilluminated Sleeping Beauty Castle before the park reopened. In many ways, this served as a reawakening of hope, as if people could actually see a light at the end of the tunnel. How did you feel when Disneyland reopened in April of 2021?
Hull:
Honestly a bit of confusion. On one hand I was happy to have it back, but on the other, there was still so much going on and so many issues it was harder to use that escapism than it used to be. I still tried and film a few of those videos post re-opening, but so much about character meet-and-greets changed and it was so different many fans didn’t enjoy them as much and I didn’t enjoy making them as much. All around, I sopped going to Disneyland as much, I still go from time to time, but I used to go every other week. Now it will be more like a few times a year.
Klane:
I bet that was quite an adjustment for you. It’s sad to see how the health guidelines have effected the Disney Parks. While it is important to adhere to these requirements, it definitely does change the Disney magic as it’s harder to get an impactful character interaction from a distance. Do you think that character interactions will ever return to the way they were before the pandemic?
Hull:
Oh, I’m sure they will, there’s too many people who want to see that go back to normal for Disney to not do that.
Klane:
Definitely. Since we’ve been talking about the heavier side of the Disney Parks, this next question will be a bit more lighthearted. Imagine that you just entered Disneyland. You can smell the churros and the ice cream, and you can hear the classic Disneyland music playing down Main Street U.S.A. Between all of the rides and character meet-and-greets, what do you do when you first enter the park?
Hull:
Space Mountain is usually my first go-to, so I say that one!
Klane:
That’s a great way to start the day! Since you start your time at the park on an attraction, is there another ride that you must go on before you leave Disneyland?
Hull:
Not really, I used to go so frequently I’ve ridden everything dozens of times. I’m just happy to go on a trip where I can turn my brain off and just chill.
Klane:
That makes complete sense. Disneyland has a way of immersing people into the magic that it’s easy to forget about the daily to-dos. Is there a place at the park that you specifically go to to chill? Or does it just happen?
Hull:
Yes, in California Adventure I will sit in the Animation Building for hours, be engrossed in the music, do a turtle talk, do art academy, or my fav, go downstairs and animate something to spin on the zoetrope.
Klane:
Plus, the Animation Building has air conditioning, so that must be a bonus, too. Speaking of animation, let’s talk about the man who started it all with his creation of Mickey Mouse. Walt Disney must be a very important figure to you, especially since you did a cover from the Broadway musical “Hamilton” that paid tribute to him. If you could ask Walt Disney anything about Disneyland, what would it be?
Hull:
I’d ask him with all this technology at your disposal, what would you do in this day and age. I don’t think anyone could really predict his answer since he was such an out of the box thinker.
Klane:
Indeed he was. In many ways, it’s his original vision and ideas that continue to make the Disney Parks so unique. It would be fascinating to discover what he would do with the technology that we have today. But with all that has been done to the parks since Disney’s time, is there something that stands out to you that you think he would be proud of? Like how the parks got through the pandemic, new ride updates, Disney World’s 50th Anniversary, projections on the castles during firework shows, etc.?
Hull:
I think it would be “Fantasmic.” The idea of dreams defeating nightmares, seeing storytelling and technology blended so well, the heart of that is one of the strongest things I’ve ever seen in the parks. I’d think he’d love that the most.
Klane:
“Fantasmic” really does have an inspiring storyline that connects to the foundations of Disney. Thank you for sharing that. Now we have covered a lot, from your beginnings as an impressionist to how you do impressions at the Disney Parks. But before we end our interview, is there any question that you wish I asked you? Or, is there anything that you would like to share with me?
Hull:
Not particularly, just the notion to enjoy what you have and be thankful for the time you had it. Don’t know why but that was on my heart while answering these questions.
Klane:
I think that’s beautiful. And it’s so true, if the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that life can change in an instant. Thank you so much for your time, Brian. It was an honor to learn more about you and your connection to the Disney Parks. Good luck in all of your future endeavors!
