Rocky Memories Update

My book has come a long way. This book is a labor of love. One year ago, I began this book. Today I have nearly 40 interviews with animators, historians, friends, and voice artists. I also have archival interviews with June Foray, Bill Scott, and Chuck Jones. Also, I am going to have rare photos in my book. I am looking for a photo of June and a fan. If you have one please comment and I will contact you about it. (Note: You don't need to give your email. You will be spammed!)

When Brer Rabbit Went to Screen, Hollywood Called Him Bugs Bunny

Here is a newspaper article from 1953. This isn't the first time Disney was creddited. My regular readers will remember the Bugs Bunny comic strip issue in North Carolina where a newspaper changed the credits for Bugs' comic strip to Warner Bros after the editors 12 year old son said that Disney isn't the owner of Bugs Bunny.

Top 20 in My Opinion---Golden Age Cartoon Voice Actors

A while back, Mark Evanier did a top 20 golden age of cartoon voice actors. I'd like to do the same thing except mine will be listed and will be ranked. These men and women must be from the golden age of animation or from early television animation. These men and women were voice actors most known for work from 1929-1970.

Before I begin the list, here are a few honorable mentions:
A. Sterling Holloway---The original voice of Winnie the Pooh
B. Hal Smith--Voiced Winnie the Pooh and Owl
C. Sid Raymond---Voice of many of the Harvey and Terrytoons characters
D.Jim Backus---The voice of Mr. Magoo.
E. Verna Felton-- The voice of many female Disney characters until she died.


Now on with the list!

20. Jackson Beck--
Jackson Beck was the voice of Bluto, King Leonardo, Buzzy the Crow, and many others. He was actually a voice actor in New York. He voiced many characters for Fleischer, Terrytoons, and Total Television.
 

19. Dick Beals--
Dick Beals did all sorts of Little boy voices throughout his life. He was the voice of Speedy Alka-Seltzer. He also played Ralph Phillips.


18. Pinto Colvig---
Pinto Colvig is most known as the voice of Goofy. He also voiced Pluto. He was in the two first animated features ever: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Gulliver's Travels.


17. Hans Conried---

Hans Conried is known for playing very evil characters. He voiced Snidley Whiplash in the Dudley Do-Right cartoons. He also was a regular Disney voice actor as the voice of Captain Hook.




16. Howard Morris---

While he is most known as Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show, Howard Morris also played a whole slew of cartoon roles as well. For Hanna-Barbera, he played Jet Screamer, Atom Ant, and Mr. Pebbles. He was also the voice of Beetle Bailey.


15. Alan Reed---

Alan Reed was the voice of Fred Flintstone. While he did other characters as well, he will always be known as the voice of Fred Flintstone. He invented that voice and there is no other person who I can picture playing Fred perfectly. No offense to Henry Corden whose voice was too Jackie Gleason like.


14. Gary Owens---
Gary Owens was in thousands of cartoons. He really is a character actor using his voice as Space Ghost and Roger Ramjet.



13. Paul Winchell---
Paul Winchell is more known for being a puppeter. He also voiced many cartoon characters. He voiced Tigger of the Winnie the Pooh franchise. He also voiced Dick Dastardly and Gargamel for Hanna Barbera.



12. Stan Freberg---
Stan Freberg is a comedy legend. The first thing he did was voice in Warner Bros Cartoons. He played Cecil on Time For Beany. He also voiced many characters for Warner Bros such as Pete Puma, Junior Bear, and all of the voices in the Three Little Bops short.



11. Clarence Nash---
Clarence Nash is the voice of Donald Duck. He is known for voicing Donald and is the only person we think of when we think of Donald's voice.


10. Jean Vander Pyl---
Jean Vander Pyl voiced a ton of women in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Some of them include Rosie the Robot, Pebbles Flintstone, and Winsome Witch. Her most well known role though is of Wilma Flintstone on The Flintstones.


9. Jack Mercer---
Jack Mercer may not have been Popeye's first voice actor, but he certainly was his best. Jack Mercer voiced many New York cartoon characters including Popeye and Felix the Cat. He also wrote for the Fleischer Studios which is how he became Popeye after Red Pepper Sam was fired.


8. Janet Waldo---
Janet Waldo not only voiced teenagers but she even sounded like one. Janet Waldo was the voice of Judy Jetson, Penelope Pitstop, and hundreds of others.


7. Bill Scott---
Bill Scott was just a writer for Jay Ward Productions. When he asked Jay, "Who is going to play Bullwinkle" Jay responded "Oh, I thought you were". Bill Scott also voiced Dudley Do-Right, George of the Jungle, and Mr. Peabody.


6. Mae Questel---
Mae Questel was probably the first female voice actress ever. She was the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. She even looked like Betty Boop.

5. Paul Frees---
Paul Frees was one of many voice actors in Hollywood. He was a regular at many studios. He is most well known for his voices for Jay Ward as Boris Badenov and Inspector Fenwick. He also played characters for animated commericals, Hanna-Barbera, and Rankin/Bass.


4. Don Messick---
Don Messick voiced a ton of characters at Hanna-Barbera. He voiced Scooby-Doo, Boo Boo, Ranger Smith, Bandit, Scrappy Doo, and Dixie.


3. Daws Butler---
Daws Butler (along with Don Messick) voiced probably over 2/3's of Hanna-Barbera's characters. He voiced Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw Mcgraw, Wally Gator, Augie Doggie, Snagglepuss, Elroy Jetson, and many other characters for Hanna-Barbera and Jay Ward. He also taught many of the best voice actors in the industry today such as Corey Burton and Nancy Cartwright.


2. June Foray---
June Foray is the greatest woman in animation history. That's why I'm writing a book about her. It's not that I'm biased, it's that I'm right!



1. Mel Blanc---
Who else did you expect to win this list? Mel Blanc is #1 on everyone's list! As the voice of most of the Looney Tunes characters and many of the Hanna-Barbera characters, he is truly the Man of A Thousand Voices.

Speechless Part 13--Cartoon Video Dedications 2

Maurice Noble Tribute, The Fancy Anvil Award Show Tributes

Speechless Part 12--Cartoon Video Dedications 1

Cartoon Network did tributes to deaths of Bill Hanna, Joe Barbera, and Chuck Jones. At the bottom is a tribute to Joe Barbera.

Speechless Part 11--Cartoon Memorials 2

Speechless Part 10--Other Memorials 1

Many Animation Legends have had memorial art done for them.

Speechless Part 9---Other Warner Bros Memorials

Speechless isn't the only WB tribute art piece. Many pieces have been made for other figures such as Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, And Joe Alaskey.

Speechless Part 8-- Parodies

Here are a few examples of Speechless parodies

Speechless Part 7---Other Mel Blanc Cels

Here are a few more Mel Blanc Cels. Noel Blanc, Mel's son is now a Rocky Memories contributor.

Speechless Part 6--The History of the Art Piece

        Speechless. This art piece is widley recognized but has never been acknowledged properly. Speechless is an art piece about a man who left a legacy. This is a tribute to Mel Blanc the man who voiced Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Sylvester, and all of the Looney Tunes. He died in 1989.
       Bob Bergen put it pefectly and says "he was an original.  None of us come close to his genius.  And he wasn’t the man of 1000 voices.  He was the man of 1000 characters.  Distinct, layered, individual characters.  As an actor he ranks up there with Streep, Olivier, Hanks, etc.  And he only had his voice to relay his acting, character, personality, and emotions."
        This piece was created by the Clampett Studios for Warner Bros Animation. Kathy Helppie was the Warner Bros Animation Executive in charge of this piece. It was drawn and designed by Darrell Van Citters, who later would direct Box-Office Bunny.
       It was made the day after his passing. Magazines took whole sections out just to show it. It wasn't creddited by anyone. No one is labeled as the artist. Darrell Van Citters did it though according to Ruth Clampett and Jerry Beck.
     In one magazine however, someone else drew Speechless which marked the beginning. It was in a drawing that was drawn poorly by the journalist.
     Ruth Clampett tells the story behind it's sales:
        "When Mel died the classic animation department at Warner brothers was asked to create art to go into the trade magazine's to commemorate his life. I believe that Darryl Van Citters the animation director did the original drawing for Speechless. What happened next is that fans of Mel wanted copies of the art and there were so many requests that the Warner Brothers Studio Store decided it would be good to sell it as a print. The amazing thing is that it ended up being  the single best selling item in the history of the Warner Brothers Studio Stores. When the Studio Stores closed I opened Clampett Studio Collections and we acquired the unframed art from the Studio Stores including the Speechless prints and to this day we still get orders for that print."
        Today, it is still widely distributed. It has been sold in all forms. The piece has also been copied by everyone. The idea of characters standing by a microphone silent is today considered generic. Artists constantly parody an idea created for Mel. This is the American Gothic of Animation Art. The problem though is that it's not properly recognized today. Everytime a voice artist dies it has been used by journalists. Some of them aren't voice actors. Sometimes it's not a microphone. It's been a headstone or something else. What makes them parodies? It's the same position, and same form. Fanart has been created for literally every voice actor ever. Community, Jim Henson, and June Foray are examples. There isn't anything wrong with copying the idea. It is wrong when no credit is given and it's treated as something brand new. This series is to make sure that people realize the importance of speechless. I'll also be mentioning tributes of other animators and artists.
     

Credits:

Jerry Beck
Bob Bergen
Ruth Clampett
Noel Blanc

Speechless Part 5--Other Mel Blanc Dedications

Kirk Douglas Remembers Mel Blanc

Here is a few bumpers from various TV networks including TNT and Nickelodeon 

Speechless Part 4 Newspaper Articles and News Reportings on Mel's Death

Speechless Part 3--The Death of Mel Blanc

Mel Blanc died on July 10, 1989. His last role was a car commercial with Noel. He died in the hospital. He had a bad cough while shooting a commercial. Mel was expected to recover. Mel checked into Cedars Sinai Medical Centeri in Los Angles. He didn't recover because it was coronary artery disease. He died at the age of 81. His grave read That's All Folks!

Speechless Part 2-- The Other Uses besides a Limited Edition

Speechless has been used for other collectibles besides just a limited edition cel. It has been used quite often infact. The piece is very noteworthy and has been used by Warner Bros and by Noel Blanc frequently.

It has been used with a red background instead of the standard white.

It has been sold as a glass figure.

The cel has even been used as two framed piece. I don't think it seems right that way.

Collector Plates

Wall Mural

Power Posters Even released one. Here is a video of it:

The Next Series: Speechless an art piece never spoken of.

Speechless. Speechless is a one of a kind masterpiece of art. I am doing my next blog piece on this memorable piece of art. This one of a kind masterpiece has been parodied by everyone and no one seems to notice anything about it. Community and Jim Henson are both victim of the crime of plagiarism from this masterpiece. But we must wonder what is the story behind the art tribute to Mel Blanc. What is the story behind this great piece of art? My October series is on: Speechless.