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.
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!
It dawns on us, stuck for a topic as usual, that today, March 22, is International Goof Off Day. Yes, the experienced goof-offs at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog here are not kidding - there actually is a International Goof Off Day. Thank you, Sandra Boynton, for the following apt International Goof Off Day illustration!
Shall devote International Goof Off Day to weapons-grade goofing off by a certain favorite character from Walt Disney Productions, not Mickey Mouse. Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Clarabelle Cow or even the 1920's version of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit but (drum roll). . . Goofy.
The Goof debuted in the 1932 Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Revue as the chortling "Dippy Dawg."
We'll kick this International Goof Off Day tribute off with one of Disney's best short cartoons, Tiger Trouble!
There are three names I associate with The Goof. First and foremost, need to pay tribute to the artist responsible for designing the character's angular style and specific movements: the brilliant and gifted animator Art Babbitt. While it is difficult to determine where to begin, given Art Babbitt's many contributions to Disney animation history, Michael Barrier's interview with Art is a fantastic place to start.
Jack had a knack for directing the best of the best Goofy cartoons, starting with Goofy’s Glider. Kinney's direction, splendid animation and the always florid and sternly stentorian narration of the Jack Barrymore-esque John McLeish equals laughs.
Goofy then became, after the hilarious How To Ride A Horse segment in The Reluctant Dragon, the ultimate sports champion. Such classic "Sport Goofy" cartoons as The Art Of Skiing, Art Of Self Defense, How To Fish, How To Play Baseball, How To Play Football, The Olympic Champ, Tennis Racquet and Goofy Gymnastics followed.
Last but not least, the third name we associate with the Goof is the one, the only, the incomparable voice of the Goof, vaudeville and circus performer Pinto Colvig.
Very few in animation excelled as storyman, gag writer, musician, songwriter and voice artist. Colvig was all of the above with Disney, Lantz and Fleischer Studios.
Pinto's distinctive voice even turns up in a few Warner Brothers and Tex Avery MGM cartoons.
The Southern Oregon Historical Society devoted a one hour episode of The Southern Oregon History Show to Pinto Colvig
Big time thanks for the laughs, all of you, from Walt to Art to Fred Moore to Jack's brother Dick and pal Roy Williams to Pinto to Jack Kinney's crew of ace animators (John Sibley, Ed Aardal, Hugh Fraser and Jack Boyd, sometimes supplemented by "Nine Old Men" luminaries Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball and Woolie Reitherman)!
Today we respectfully tip the Max Linder top hat to one of the all-time greats from the cartoon voice world, the super-talented character actress Janet Waldo (a.k.a. Janet Waldo Lee), born on this day in 1919.
The cornucopia of clips presented here barely scratch the surface regarding her 5+ decade career in radio, television and as, along with June Foray, Martha Wentworth and Sara Berner, one of the top female voice artists in animated cartoons.
While diehard animation fans know all about the numerous roles Janet Waldo crushed in animated cartoons, especially those of Hanna-Barbera Productions, what is less known is that she also had a prolific career as an on-camera character actress in television and guest starred, as she had on radio, in many programs.
Lucille Ball was definitely a Janet Waldo fan and cast her in both I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show.
Fortunately, Janet lived to be 97 and did lots of interviews over the decades.
Today is the natal anniversary of voice artist extraordinaire June Foray, born on September 18 in 1917, the same year that brought John F. Kennedy and Dizzy Gillespie into the world.
Before her plum role as the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, June had a myriad of credits. Here she is on The Johnny Carson Show.
Of course, thinking of June Foray gets us thinking of cartoons by Jay Ward Productions, especially Rocky and Bullwinkle!
Am mystified as to why the previous graphic does not include one of June Foray's funniest characters, Nell Fenwick from Dudley Do Right!
June is all over the Jay Ward cartoons, playing numerous and varied roles, especially in the Fractured Fairy Tales.
Her "Marjorie Main" voice is particularly hilarious.
Being, as always, Way Too Damn Lazy To Write a Blog, today we'll post clips, beginning with June's appearance with Darrell Van Citters, author of The Art Of Jay Ward.
June is in a tie with Friz Freleng for the longest career in animation and was still working into her nineties.
The sheer number of credits across genres - radio (The Stan Freberg Show!), feature films, television, animation, recordings - is stunning, akin to opening a Wiki entry for Allan Dwan.
Many of us first became familar with June Foray's ability to ace any role with her contributions to Warner Bros. cartoons.
Check put the bravura performance in Tugboat Granny.
June was extremely active in ASIFA-Hollywood, the society devoted to promoting and encouraging animation and in establishing the Annie Awards, as well as the creation of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2001.
Recall reading that filmmaker Gavin Frietas was producing a documentary about June a few years ago. Don't know if this film is commercially available for viewing on Blu-ray or DVD. Here is a clip from it which was posted on Gavin's YouTube page.
Today is the natal anniversary of Warner Bros. cartoons storyman and voice artist Tedd Pierce (August 12, 1906 – February 19, 1972), seen in the following photo with fellow Termite Terrace story ace Mike Maltese on the left and producer Henry Binder on the right.
The thoroughly mind-rotted gang of magnificent but also mediocre, mush-mouthed and meandering Merrie Melodies mavens here at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog have wondered if anyone has posted about Tedd Pierce. The answer is, for the most part no, although Mr. Pierce is among those noted in Jerry Beck's fascinating and informative Cartoon Research post about the animation studio's internal gazette, the Warner Club News.
Tedd Pierce's voice work and writing for the Fleischer Studio, in between two stints at Warner Brothers, presents another topic of great interest to animation buffs. At Fleischer's, he and fellow gagman/actor Cal Howard both worked in front of and behind the cameras. Tedd Pierce plays the despicable Wazzir, uber-bad guy in the third 2-reel Popeye special, ALADDIN & HIS WONDERFUL LAMP.
He would also portray bombastic King Bombo in GULLIVER'S TRAVELS and several characters in the imaginative (yet ill-fated - released theatrically in December 1941) MR. BUGS GOES TO TOWN. Along with fellow story aces Cal Howard Carl Meyer and Jack Mercer, he would provide lively voice work for Fleischer cartoons.
Pierce also did a great job as the avaracious Edward Arnold/Lionel Barrymore style ultra-villain C. Bagley Beetle in MR. BUG GOES TO TOWN, played the crook with extra relish.
There are other Fleischer cartoons in which Pierce is given screen credit for story, such as PROBLEM PAPPY (1941), but this writer is momentarily stumped as to whether Tedd also contributed voice characterizations. No doubt such experts on voice acting as Keith Scott would know.
Back to the topic of articles which mention Tedd Pierce, who worked with Friz Freleng, Tex Avery, Chuck Jones and Robert McKimson, Don M. Yowp, on Tralfaz, wrote an excellent piece, The Cartoon That Jack Built, about a famous Warner Bros. cartoon Tedd worked on.
That would be The Mouse That Jack Built, one of two cartoons Robert McKimson made with the cast of the Jack Benny radio and TV show. I like the cartoon more than Yowp does, but will concede the difficulties in translating the verbal wit of radio, even with a cast full of comedy greats, to animation.
Devon Baxter of Peg Bar Profiles, in the Baxter's Breakdown's feature on Cartoon Research, devoted a fair amount of his post about Bob McKimson's very funny fairytale sendup, The Turn-Tale Wolf, to Tedd Pierce.
One voice Tedd Pierce was credited with on three WB cartoons was the Bud Abbott in Babbitt & Catstello.
"Give me the bird! Give me the bird! If only the Hays Office would let me, I'd give him the boyd, all right!"
In the 1940's Tedd Pierce's handiwork (story and voice characterizations) turns up in quite a few Chuck Jones cartoons.
On the sub-topic of animation directors and writers who doubled as voice artists (Pierce, Bill Scott, Ben Hardaway, Cal Howard, Jack Mercer, Tex Avery and, more recently, John Kricfalusi and the late, great Joe Ranft), the Wikipedia entry for Tedd Pierce, echoed in the Looney Tunes wiki, credits him with specific voices for a bunch of cartoons. Do not have studio records to confirm how accurate this, or the listing in Pierce's Behind The Voice Actors entry is. IMDB proves even more questionable and credits Tedd Pierce with voice work on Screen Gems cartoons. Don't know where IMDB got this information. Not under the impression that Pierce followed Henry Binder to Screen Gems (along with Dave Monahan, Cal Howard and, very briefly, Bob Clampett) during that studio's last gasp in 1945-1946. Would need experts to confirm. . .
By the 1950's, after teaming up with Mike Maltese, Tedd was the principal storyman for the Bob McKimson crew at Warner Bros. Animation.
When Warner Bros. animation closed in June 1953, Pierce would go to UPA and contribute stories to a couple of cartoons there.
As the 1960's progressed, Pierce & Danch would write WB and Walter Lantz cartoons and also be among the screenwriters who penned the George Peppard-Mary Tyler Moore romantic comedy What's So Bad About Being Good, co-starring New York City, a toucan and Dom DeLuise.
In closing, have read that Tedd actually wrote one of this blogger's all-time favorite jokes ever in a film, animation or live-action. That would be the "beavers damming the river" bit in the Chuck Jones cartoon, THE EAGER BEAVER.
While always dedicated vultures of 20th century pop culture, we're stunned that it took over 15 years of blogging to spotlight a titan of both the cartoon voice and character acting worlds: Ted Cassidy (July 31, 1932 - January 16, 1979).
Did not find many interview clips of Mr. Cassidy, an actor, musician and writer, but this one reflects that he was quite an interesting and likable fellow. Unfortunately, he passed before the late-night programs of David Letterman and Conan O' Brien, which very likely would have booked him as a guest, hit the airwaves.
Best known for his wry, deadpan portrayal of Lurch in The Addams Family TV show, he had a brief but very prolific career spanning movies, television, animation and commercials.
In a too-brief career, Ted Cassidy was nothing if not prolific. This even included some memorable TV commercials.
In case one needs to be reminded how Ted Cassidy's acting skills, excellent sense of humor and mastery of movement (as well as stillness) were driving forces behind the success of The Addams Family on TV, watch this. . . Lurch's guest appearance on the biggest TV show of the time, Batman, starring Adam West and Burt Ward.
Today's post will focus on the many characters Ted Cassidy played in addition to Lurch. His talent for varied voice-overs, reflected in the following demo reel, was impressive.
In television shows and feature films, Ted's acting and voice work enlivened many a science fiction, fantasy and action/adventure scenario. Tough to imagine the 1976 version of THE INCREDIBLE HULK without Cassidy's narration and growling vocals.
Speaking of science-fiction/fantasy, Ted made a vivid impression as Ruk the android in the seventh episode of the first Star Trek TV series, What Little Girls Are Made Of, written by Robert Bloch.
Here he is as the voice of the menacing Balok puppet in the tenth episode of Star Trek, The Corbomite Maneuver.
In Star Trek episode #18, Arena, he was the voice of evil reptilian Commander Gorn.
We remember Ted Cassidy's memorable sequence in the ultimate Paul Newman - Robert Redford vehicle, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid.
That was not Ted Cassidy's only appearance in a western, as he was a guest star in the Decision in Los Robles episode of Bonanza.
Mr. Cassidy was also responsible for lots and lots of cartoon voices, especially for Hanna-Barbera.
The incurable and beyond redemption animation and comics aficionados at this blog find that Hanna-Barbera's animated superhero series, especially The Galaxy Trio, offered a quality of unintentional humor that make them quite entertaining.
The H-B series which featured Ted Cassidy voice work included Moltar and Metallus in the 1966-1968 Space Ghost, Birdman, Fantastic Four, The Impossibles (which appear to owe a debt to Ralph Bakshi's The Mighty Heroes) and Frankenstein Jr.
After all, it would be most disappointing if Frankenstein Jr. had a cracking semi-falsetto voice.
Have a sneaking suspicion that Ted would have had a blast working on the often hilarious show produced almost 30 years later, Space Ghost Coast To Coast.
The Addams Family subsequently found their way into Hanna-Barbera animation in The New Scooby Doo Movies: The Gang Meets The Addams Family. Frankly, it would have been fabulous if The Addams Family killed Shaggy, the extremely annoying character who was even more irritating than Screwy Squirrel (who Tex Avery did away with in the snotty squirrel's last "sad ending, isn't it" silver screen appearance) - or at least substitute voice actor Casey Kasem's radio voice.
Of course, eventually this post would get around to Lurch, one of two parts he played on The Addams Family (the other was the sensitive hands of Thing).
Indeed, Ted Cassidy's musical talents are a key component in his acting. Lurch plays the harpsichord, but the off-screen Ted could rock the Hammond B-3. Too bad the producers of the show did not have Lurch play two keyboards simultaneously a la Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman a couple of years later.
At the peak of his popularity on The Addams Family, Ted Cassidy recorded an AM radio friendly single trumpeting a new dance craze, "Do The Lurch," and performed it on several shows.
The popularity of Lurch proved a mixed blessing, as this meant typecasting and no possibility of branching out into different types of parts.
For the flip side of the "Do The Lurch" 45, here is a FOR RESEARCH ONLY clip from Ted's appearance performing "Wesley" on Hollywood A Go Go (don't know if he made any more records that were not directly related to The Addams Family). Ted doesn't sing, unfortunately, until near the end of the song. While the narration is very good, it is noteworthy that Ted's singing voice was a terrific basso profundo.
Said basso profundo is comparable to the amazing voice of Thurl "Tony the Tiger" Ravenscroft. Wonder if Ted and Thurl ever worked together. Both did more than their share of cereal commercials.
Ted Cassidy did so many voices for animated cartoons and TV commercials, noted in Behind The Voice Actors, it would take an voice acting expert such as Keith Scott to provide a truly comprehensive list of credits.
So today, after wolfing down several bowls of Cocoa Krispies drenched with whole milk, we at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog tip our top hat to the great Ted Cassidy.
