And This Blog Loves The Great Bill Scott!

MUST tip a top hat worn by Bullwinkle J. Moose to writer-producer-animator-storyman-actor-voice artist Bill Scott, born on this day in 1920.







With apologies for the even more haphazard than usual makeup of today's post - my excuse is a no-fun, ongoing and derriere-kicking bout with a common cold virus this week - we mention with some sadness how much we miss Bill Scott and that team of amazing voice talents and writers he presided over at Jay Ward Productions, all chronicled expertly in the book The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose by Keith Scott.

Here, Bill, a musical theatre devotee, sings "Glad To Be Bullwinkle."



Among many accomplishments, he was the co-producer and head writer at of Jay Ward Productions.



First and foremost, we are happy to re-present Bill Scott: The Portrait of a Moose, the superlative documentary that British voice-over actress and chronicler of comedians, comediennes and improv aces in animation Amber Jones - whose many interviews with animation voice actors are on her You Tube channel - made, with assistance from film historian Kamden Spies of the Termite Terrace headlines website and The Spies Report on Cartoon Research. Thanks again for your outstanding work, Amber and Kamden!



Is it fun to see 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? Yes! Is the fellow who writes this blog pleased to be in the credits? Heck, yeah!

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



Our favorite? The WOSSAMATTA U story from Rocky & Bullwinkle!



Second favorite? Stokey The Bear!



Must call attention, as we did the last time Jay Ward Productions got covered here, to an outstanding 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 this piece, The Moose and the Showgirl: The life and times of the Bullwinkle statue, 1961-2021, Harry, a superb writer, has outdone himself here.

Jay Ward Productions 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.



I'll admit it - I'm a sucker for Jay Ward cartoons, especially Fractured Fairy Tales! Love the incredible roster of character actors/voice talents - Scott, June Foray, Paul Frees, Bill Conrad, Daws Butler, Edward Everett Horton, Hans Conried, Charlie Ruggles, Walter Tetley, Hal Smith, Chris Allen and more.







And Bullwinkle's Corner. . .





How much? Actually phoned the brilliant Jay Ward Productions producer, head writer and voice actor and conducted several interviews with him way back in November 1981.

Because we are indeed Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog, we won't go into Bill's pre-Jay Ward trajectory, from his time at Warner Bros. Animation writing stories with Lloyd Turner as part of the crew led by veteran animator Art Davis, to a lengthy stretch with UPA, teamed with Phil Eastman on numerous Jolly Frolics, including Gerald and at one point acting and writing for The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show.

Even the lesser-known series (Hoppity Hooper) that Bill presided over at Jay Ward Productions are frequently wonderful, in large part due to all of those incredible voice talents and the consistently brilliant comedy writing by the talented team of writers: Lloyd Turner, Allen Burns, Chris Hayward, Chris Jenkyns, Jim Critchfield and George Atkins.

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!

And This Blog Adores Jay Ward Cartoons

Having just made a cross country trip involving trains, planes and automobiles, the gang at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog has enough energy to. . . well, watch Planes Trains & Automobiles but even more likely relax on a Friday with some cool cartoons.



The series of Jay Ward Productions, starting with Crusader Rabbit in the late 1940's, are a perennial favorite.



I'll admit it - I'm a sucker for the cartoons of Jay Ward Productions, even to the extent of having tracked down Bill Scott in November 1981 and interviewed him at length.



Jay Ward Productions' incredible roster of character actors/voice talents - Scott, June Foray, Bill Conrad, Daws Butler, Edward Everett Horton, Hans Conreid, Charlie Ruggles, Walter Tetley - combined with the studio's satiric edge, still gets Mr. Blogmeister laughing after all these years.





In the TV cartoon field at that time, the Jay Ward cartoons were only equaled - in comedy mojo and voice work - by Pantomime Pictures' Roger Ramjet series.



Even the second string Jay Ward shows - Fractured Flickers and Hoppity Hooper - have much to offer in the way of big time belly laughs, in large part due to all of those incredible voice talents and the consistently brilliant comedy writing by Lloyd Turner, Allen Burns, Chris Hayward, Chris Jenkyns, George Atkins and head writer Bill Scott.





As far as the Jay Ward Productions commercials for Quaker Oats go, they were frequently wonderful and superior to the programs they sponsored.





The Jay Ward studio's last series, George Of The Jungle, also featuring Super Chicken and Tom Slick, certainly had moments of serious hilarity. Alas, the two decades after this went off the air, the 1970's and 1980's, would be a dark, dreadful, arid, awful and worst of all, boring stretch for American cartoons. . . a bombed-out wasteland.







June Foray's career in radio, recordings (Stan Freberg), movies and in the cartoons of Warner Bros. and Jay Ward Productions has been responsible for a gazillion laughs. Here she is with animator and writer Darrell Van Citters, author of The Art Of Jay Ward.



For more info, by all means get a copy of the Jay Ward Studio history, The Moose That Roared, A.S.A.P. The story of Jay Ward, Alex Anderson, Bill Scott and the multi-talented animators and voice artists involved in these shows has been painstakingly researched and very entertainingly written by character actor/voice artist/impressionist and film and radio historian Keith Scott.

My Favorite Cartoon Voice Artists Not Named Mel Blanc or Stan Freberg

I'll admit it - I'm a sucker for the cartoons of Jay Ward Productions, even to the extent of having tracked down Bill Scott in November 1981 and interviewed him at length.



Jay Ward Productions' incredible roster of character actors/voice talents - Scott, June Foray, Bill Conrad, Daws Butler, Edward Everett Horton, Charlie Ruggles, Walter Tetley - combined with the studio's satiric edge still gets Mr. Blogmeister laughing after all these years.








In the TV cartoon field at that time, the Jay Ward cartoons were only equaled - in comedy writing and voice work - by Pantomime Pictures' Roger Ramjet series.







For more info, by all means get a copy of the Jay Ward Studio history, The Moose That Roared.



The story of Jay Ward, Alex Anderson, Bill Scott and the multi-talented animators and voice artists involved in these shows has been painstakingly researched and entertainingly written by voice artist - impressionist - film and radio historian Keith Scott.