Producer-writer-satirist-voice actor Bill Scott gets his due in new documentary

Jay Ward Productions, as well as the incredible work of comedians and animation voice actors in general, is on our minds here at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog.

We were thrilled and delighted to see the rough cut of a new documentary about the life, times and career of the great Jay Ward Productions producer, head writer and voice actor Bill Scott.

Bill Scott: The Portrait of a Moose is now up on YouTube. The film was put together by Amber Jones, the ultimate Jay Ward Productions aficionado, with assistance from Kamden Spies of the Termite Terrace headlines website and The Spies Report on Cartoon Research. Amber and Kamden have produced something special here.



I loved it and especially love seeing all these great people from animation - from Mark Evanier to Mark Kausler to Keith Scott to Frank Welker to Will Ryan, Corey Burton, Frank Welker, Billy West, June Foray, Daws Butler, Jay Ward, Skip Craig, Jymn Magon, Brian Cummings and more - who have made the world a better place.

Hope this will be merely the first of many documentaries produced and written by Amber Jones, a very talented filmmaker, researcher, historian, narrator and voice over artist from northwest England who has been posting splendid interviews with animation voice actors on her You Tube channel.

Invariably, Jay Ward cartoons will get the writer of this blog ROFL, only every time.



Looks like the Rocket J. Squirrel lovin' rapscallions at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog are not the only ones thinking frequently of Bill, Bullwinkle and legendary cartoon voice artists these days.



There's an amazing, beautifully written and exhaustively researched article on the celebrated Rocky and Bullwinkle statue on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood by journalist Harry McCracken.



Mark Evanier noted it on his excellent News From Me website.

In The Moose and the Showgirl: The life and times of the Bullwinkle statue, 1961-2021, Harry has turned up tons of information I was not aware of.







Not to be outdone, Keith Scott, radio and cartoon voices expert, impressionist, Jay Ward Productions historian and author of The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose, has penned an outstanding article about voice actors who worked on the cartoons of the Walter Lantz Studio.



Keith has a new book in the works on voice actors in radio and animated cartoons. Since he is the expert on that topic, we can't wait to read it.













The Jay Ward fans at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog recommend Maurino Amoruso's film Of Moose and Men: The Rocky & Bullwinkle Story, which begins with clips from the devastatingly funny "Moosylvania" story.



For more info, in addition to Keith Scott's book, we also highly recommend The Art Of Jay Ward Productions blog, especially the post on the Campaign for Moosylvania; unfortunately, the accompanying book is now out-of-print, so check your local used book stores for a copy.

Here's the one, the only June Foray at Larry Edmunds Bookshop with the author of said book and blog, animator and director Darrell Van Citters.



We respectfully tip a top hat worn by Bullwinkle J. Moose to Bill Scott and the multi-talented artists and actors involved in the Jay Ward shows: June Foray, Paul Frees, Bill Conrad, Daws Butler, Edward Everett Horton, Hans Conried, Charlie Ruggles, Walter Tetley, Hal Smith and Chris Allen.

We'll follow that respectful hat tip by watching a DVD of Fractured Flickers, a creative and HIGHLY irreverent use of public domain "found footage."

Fractured Flickers was hosted by an ever-incredulous Hans Conried and at one point included a 1918 clip in which Tarzan goes out for pizza.



Indeed, it is no great surprise that Lon Chaney Jr. did not see any humor whatsoever in seeing clips of his father's bravura, epic, unbeatable performance in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame entirely recast and featuring the tortured Quasimodo as "Dinky Dunstan, Boy Cheerleader" on Fractured Flickers.

Thanks for the laughs, Bill Scott and the ace writers at Jay Ward Productions: Lloyd Turner, Allen Burns, Chris Hayward, Chris Jenkyns, Jim Critchfield and George Atkins! And thanks for your superb documentary, Amber Jones and Kamden Spies!