And This Blog Loves Cartoon Voice Artists

Am pondering the outstanding animation voice artists of yesteryear yet again. . .

After all, all-time greats Walter Tetley and Janet Waldo recently received richly deserved and long overdue spotlights on this blog. We'll kick today's cornucopia of cartoons and clips off with Jim Backus!





Another inspired cartoon voice artist many of us animation buffs first encountered (as was the case with Mr. Backus) via starring roles in 1950's and 1960's sitcoms was Bea Benaderet.



And then there's Sara Berner, Bea's fellow female voice ace from Warner Brothers Animation (with June Foray) and Tex Avery's MGM cartoons. Don Yowp penned a terrific post about Sara on Tralfaz a few years ago.



Another ubiquitous actress in animation, especially with Walt Disney Productions, was Martha Wentworth.



Martha Wentworth and character address Elvia Allman, later in Tex Avery's stock company of stellar voice artists, play the two witches in the following Hugh Harman MGM cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng. Mel Blanc is also on hand as the gravel-voiced raven in this most Gothic piece.



Frank Graham, due to a brief albeit very prolific career and the tragedy of his untimely passing in 1950, is not as well known as the Daws Butlers, Mel Blancs, June Forays and Bill Scotts of the animation world, but did amazing work for several cartoon studios, as well as on radio (for which he created the Cosmo Jones show).



Have a Captain Obvious hunch that the superlative voice work in the following Fox & Crow cartoon is Frank Graham, whose "Lionel Stander" impersonation as the wiseguy crow fits the diabolical quality of this Screen Gems opus beautifully.



Graham also worked with Tex Avery at MGM and played Tex' signature character The Wolf to a T.

Graham's portrayal of the tough guy mouse in Slap Happy Lion is one for the books!



Thinking of Walter Tetley, June Foray, Bill Scott and the many hilarious cartoons made by Jay Ward Productions inevitably leads to a respectful fedora tip to the brilliant Paul Frees!





We'll finish this binge-watch of cartoons and cartoon voice artist clips with the one, the only, the incomparable Mel Blanc.









With apologies to Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Margie Hines, Kent Rogers, Billy Bletcher, Dayton Allen, Danny Webb, Arthur Q. Bryan, Sterling Holloway, Dallas McKennon, Clarence "Ducky" Nash, Jackson Beck and any other cartoon voice artists we inadvertently left out of today's post, Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog extends big time kudos, bravos and huzzahs to the following: Behind The Voice Actors, Don Yowp, Keith Scott, Devon Baxter, Jerry Beck and the Cartoon Research website for much superlative work chronicling this corner of the cinematic universe. If you haven't done so yet, buy Keith Scott's Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, 1930-70 books, the last word on these super-talented performers from animation and radio!