The actress we are going to talk about today is special because today, she would have been 103 years old! Barbara Luddy, Born May 25, 1908 in Montana and died April 1, 1979 in LA, is a very familiar and distinctive Disney voice that we must celebrate!
Barbara got her start with Disney in 1955 providing the voice for the adorably proper Lady in Lady and the Tramp.
In 1959, Barbara was called to record for Sleeping Beauty. She was the loveable yet stubborn good fairy, Merryweather. (For those of you who know the fairies by their color, she’s the blue one!)
She had a small part in 1961’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians, giving a little voice to the puppy Rover.
Her biggest and most repeated role came in 1966 when she was asked to voice loving mother figure, Kanga, in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. She also voiced Kanga in Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968), Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974) and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
There was one more movie that Barbara was in, and that was 1973’s Robin Hood. She voiced the Mother Rabbit and Mother Church Mouse.
Barbara had a sweet and fun voice and I know that I really enjoy hearing her in her movies. I hope this will help you to pick out this birthday girl’s voice the next time you watch these movies!
Showing posts with label 101 Dalmatians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 101 Dalmatians. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
unKNOWN Actors: Paul Frees
The actor we are highlighting today is a name that many people probably do know, but the unKNOWN comes in when you see just how much you may know this man from! Paul Frees, Born June 22, 1920 in Chicago and died November 2, 1986, had an amazing voice that brought to life such characters as Ludwig Von Drake, Boris Badenov from Rocky and Bullwinkle and Morocco Mole and Squiddily Diddly in The Secret Squirrel Show.
I am doing Paul this time of year for a very specific reason; he is known for being a voice actor for some of the most popular and classic Christmas Specials in the history of Christmas specials! All of those stop-motion classics that we love to watch every Christmas, Paul had a big hand in several of them. Before we get to his Disney feats, lets take a quick look at his Christmas special history, since it is the season for it!
His first Christmas special was in 1968 in The Little Drummer Boy, providing the voices for Aaron’s father and the Magi.
The following year, Paul was the voice of Santa, the Traffic Cop and other additional voices in the cartoon classic Frosty the Snowman.
1970 brought his next hit, and one of my personal favorites, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. Paul was the voice of the villain Burgermeister Meisterburger, Grimsby, and the soldiers and some townspeople. Oh, and why is this my favorite do you ask? Next time you watch it, pay attention to the school teacher’s name, the one who eventually becomes Mrs. Claus.
After a few years, Paul came back in 1976 for Frosty’s Winter Wonderland to provide the voice for Jack Frost. The same year, he did several characters in Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, including Santa Claus, Eon, General Ticker, and Seventeen Seventy Six, aka “Sev”.
The next year brought his next Christmas classic, Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, where Paul voiced Olaf and the Donkey Dealer.
His last two Christmas Specials came in 1979. The first was Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July for which he was the voice for Winterbolt, Jack Frost and a policeman. His final special was Jack Frost where, surprisingly, he was not the voice for Jack himself, even after portraying him a couple times in past shows. In this Jack Frost, he was the voice of the villain Kubla Kraus and for Father Winter.
Wow, this is a lot that the guy has done, and we haven’t even gotten to his Disney Contributions yet!
Paul Frees first Disney contribution started long before he was in any Christmas specials. All the way back to 1950, where he did some voicework for some of the Disney Shorts, including the Pluto short, Primitive Pluto.
His first movie was in 1959, where he actually acted as the Narrator and J.W. Glavin, Psychiatrist in The Shaggy Dog. The same year, he did the voice of the Narrator and the True Spirit of Adventure in the very popular short Donald in Mathmagic Land.
In 1961, One Hundred and One Dalmatians came out with Paul voicing Dirty Dawson. He also did some voice work the same year for The Absent Minded Professor, being the Loudspeaker voice and the Air Force Dispatcher.
Paul’s next Disney roll was in Mary Poppins (1964), bringing the Barnyard Horse to life on the big screen.
Throughout his time with Disney, from 1957 to 1986, Paul did voicework for The Wonderful World of Color, doing various Narrators and at one point, doing the voice for a “Fake” Donald Duck. His biggest part throughout this series though was giving a voice to the bubbly Professor Ludwig Von Drake. He even sang a song about the colors, called The Spectrum Song, that was a favorite of my co host and mine on my University Disney show.
Not only did Paul do all of this, he also did some voice work for Disney’s parks! His first was being the Narrator for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, the very first version which was seen at the 1964-1965 World’s Fair.
One other now extinct attraction that Paul had a part of was Adventures through Inner Space, which was around from 1967 to 1985 and for which he provided the narration.
Today in the Disney parks, you can find Paul Frees voice in two distinct places. The first is in Adventureland; he is the voice of many different pirates, including the Auctioneer in Pirates of the Caribbean. His more known role in the parks though is the eerie voice of the ominous Ghost Host in Haunted Mansion.
Phew! Wow did Paul do a lot in his lifetime! His being honored as a Disney Legend in 2006 is definitely a deserved honor and I hope this information will help for you to hear his vocal talents and appreciate them in all of his many roles.
If there is an actor in Disney history that you would like me to cover, send me an email and let me know, I would love to do some research on it!
I am doing Paul this time of year for a very specific reason; he is known for being a voice actor for some of the most popular and classic Christmas Specials in the history of Christmas specials! All of those stop-motion classics that we love to watch every Christmas, Paul had a big hand in several of them. Before we get to his Disney feats, lets take a quick look at his Christmas special history, since it is the season for it!
His first Christmas special was in 1968 in The Little Drummer Boy, providing the voices for Aaron’s father and the Magi.
The following year, Paul was the voice of Santa, the Traffic Cop and other additional voices in the cartoon classic Frosty the Snowman.
1970 brought his next hit, and one of my personal favorites, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. Paul was the voice of the villain Burgermeister Meisterburger, Grimsby, and the soldiers and some townspeople. Oh, and why is this my favorite do you ask? Next time you watch it, pay attention to the school teacher’s name, the one who eventually becomes Mrs. Claus.
After a few years, Paul came back in 1976 for Frosty’s Winter Wonderland to provide the voice for Jack Frost. The same year, he did several characters in Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, including Santa Claus, Eon, General Ticker, and Seventeen Seventy Six, aka “Sev”.
The next year brought his next Christmas classic, Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, where Paul voiced Olaf and the Donkey Dealer.
His last two Christmas Specials came in 1979. The first was Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July for which he was the voice for Winterbolt, Jack Frost and a policeman. His final special was Jack Frost where, surprisingly, he was not the voice for Jack himself, even after portraying him a couple times in past shows. In this Jack Frost, he was the voice of the villain Kubla Kraus and for Father Winter.
Wow, this is a lot that the guy has done, and we haven’t even gotten to his Disney Contributions yet!
Paul Frees first Disney contribution started long before he was in any Christmas specials. All the way back to 1950, where he did some voicework for some of the Disney Shorts, including the Pluto short, Primitive Pluto.
His first movie was in 1959, where he actually acted as the Narrator and J.W. Glavin, Psychiatrist in The Shaggy Dog. The same year, he did the voice of the Narrator and the True Spirit of Adventure in the very popular short Donald in Mathmagic Land.
In 1961, One Hundred and One Dalmatians came out with Paul voicing Dirty Dawson. He also did some voice work the same year for The Absent Minded Professor, being the Loudspeaker voice and the Air Force Dispatcher.
Paul’s next Disney roll was in Mary Poppins (1964), bringing the Barnyard Horse to life on the big screen.
Throughout his time with Disney, from 1957 to 1986, Paul did voicework for The Wonderful World of Color, doing various Narrators and at one point, doing the voice for a “Fake” Donald Duck. His biggest part throughout this series though was giving a voice to the bubbly Professor Ludwig Von Drake. He even sang a song about the colors, called The Spectrum Song, that was a favorite of my co host and mine on my University Disney show.
Not only did Paul do all of this, he also did some voice work for Disney’s parks! His first was being the Narrator for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, the very first version which was seen at the 1964-1965 World’s Fair.
One other now extinct attraction that Paul had a part of was Adventures through Inner Space, which was around from 1967 to 1985 and for which he provided the narration.
Today in the Disney parks, you can find Paul Frees voice in two distinct places. The first is in Adventureland; he is the voice of many different pirates, including the Auctioneer in Pirates of the Caribbean. His more known role in the parks though is the eerie voice of the ominous Ghost Host in Haunted Mansion.
Phew! Wow did Paul do a lot in his lifetime! His being honored as a Disney Legend in 2006 is definitely a deserved honor and I hope this information will help for you to hear his vocal talents and appreciate them in all of his many roles.
If there is an actor in Disney history that you would like me to cover, send me an email and let me know, I would love to do some research on it!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
unKNOWN Actors: Thurl Ravenscroft
So far in this series, I have focused on voice actors from Disney movies who most Disney fans may not know. This is probably not the case with this next actor. Thurl Ravenscroft is a name not only known throughout Disney movies, within Disney theme parks and even outside of the Disney name!
Let’s begin with the couple big things outside of Disney that Thurl is known for. In 1966 version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the deep singer of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” is Thurl, though he was not in the credits of the film. The other voice that he is famous for is Tony the Tiger from the Frosted Flakes commercials with the trademark quote “They’re grrrrrrrrreat!”
While these two roles are larger roles, he got his start much earlier than that, especially in the Disney area.
Thurl’s deep bass voice is what makes him recognizable and while he did do several speaking parts, he is best known for his singing roles in many Disney films. These singing roles started out in shorts, including the popular short “The Nifty Nineties” (1941). There was even one short where Thurl had a speaking part, and that was as Paul Bunyan in 1958’s Paul Bunyan.
After doing some shorts, Thurl was put into some full length animated features as a singer, including Dumbo (1941), Make Mine Music (1946), and Cinderella(1950).
Alice in Wonderland was the first movie that featured Thurl with The Mellomen, a quartet that he helped form that became very well known as back up singers for several artists and appeared in movies. In Alice in Wonderland, Thurl and the Mellomen were the voices for the card painters who were “Painting the Roses Red”. The Mellomen were also featured as background singers in Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955) and Sleeping Beauty (1959).
The first large character voice that Thurl had was in 1961’s One Hundred and One Dalmations as Captain, the horse in the barn by the De Ville Mansion.
In 1963, he was the voice for Black Bart, a knight fighting to become king in The Sword and the Stone.
In Mary Poppins (1964), Thurl did the voice for the singing Hog during “Jolly Holiday”.
I think now is a good time to point out that Thurl was quite good at making dog noises. The howling song of “Home Sweet Home” in Lady and the Tramp was…howled by Thurl, in Mary Poppins he did the wimper noises made by Andrew, he made dog sounds for The Fox and the Hound, and in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s versions of Pirates of the Caribbean, the dog that is singing along with “Yo Ho, A Pirates Life for Me” is Thurl. Interesting, no?
In 1967, Thurl was in The Jungle Book and many believe him to be the voice of the ruthless tiger, Shere Khan. This is completely false! He did not do Shere Khan’s voice, not even the low singing voice. That was done by George Sanders. Thurl did sing however in the movie, he can be best heard singing Captain Haiti’s March.
The Artistocats (1970) had Thurl doing the voice of the Russian bass-playing cat, Billy Bass. In the 1971 movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks, he is a background singer and he even has a solo line in the song “Portobello Road”. Thurl’s deep voice can be heard singing songs in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977).
One of the last voices that Thurl did was the voice of Kirby from The Brave Little Toaster. While this movie is not labeled as Disney, it was produced by Hyperion Pictures, which is a Disney owned company.
Wow, this is a long history huh?? I haven’t even touched on Thurl’s appearance in the Theme Parks! I am going to take a break and I will post a second part of this unKNOWN Actors article soon.
Let’s begin with the couple big things outside of Disney that Thurl is known for. In 1966 version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the deep singer of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” is Thurl, though he was not in the credits of the film. The other voice that he is famous for is Tony the Tiger from the Frosted Flakes commercials with the trademark quote “They’re grrrrrrrrreat!”
While these two roles are larger roles, he got his start much earlier than that, especially in the Disney area.
Thurl’s deep bass voice is what makes him recognizable and while he did do several speaking parts, he is best known for his singing roles in many Disney films. These singing roles started out in shorts, including the popular short “The Nifty Nineties” (1941). There was even one short where Thurl had a speaking part, and that was as Paul Bunyan in 1958’s Paul Bunyan.
After doing some shorts, Thurl was put into some full length animated features as a singer, including Dumbo (1941), Make Mine Music (1946), and Cinderella(1950).
Alice in Wonderland was the first movie that featured Thurl with The Mellomen, a quartet that he helped form that became very well known as back up singers for several artists and appeared in movies. In Alice in Wonderland, Thurl and the Mellomen were the voices for the card painters who were “Painting the Roses Red”. The Mellomen were also featured as background singers in Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955) and Sleeping Beauty (1959).
The first large character voice that Thurl had was in 1961’s One Hundred and One Dalmations as Captain, the horse in the barn by the De Ville Mansion.
In 1963, he was the voice for Black Bart, a knight fighting to become king in The Sword and the Stone.
In Mary Poppins (1964), Thurl did the voice for the singing Hog during “Jolly Holiday”.
I think now is a good time to point out that Thurl was quite good at making dog noises. The howling song of “Home Sweet Home” in Lady and the Tramp was…howled by Thurl, in Mary Poppins he did the wimper noises made by Andrew, he made dog sounds for The Fox and the Hound, and in both Disneyland and Walt Disney World’s versions of Pirates of the Caribbean, the dog that is singing along with “Yo Ho, A Pirates Life for Me” is Thurl. Interesting, no?
In 1967, Thurl was in The Jungle Book and many believe him to be the voice of the ruthless tiger, Shere Khan. This is completely false! He did not do Shere Khan’s voice, not even the low singing voice. That was done by George Sanders. Thurl did sing however in the movie, he can be best heard singing Captain Haiti’s March.
The Artistocats (1970) had Thurl doing the voice of the Russian bass-playing cat, Billy Bass. In the 1971 movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks, he is a background singer and he even has a solo line in the song “Portobello Road”. Thurl’s deep voice can be heard singing songs in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977).
One of the last voices that Thurl did was the voice of Kirby from The Brave Little Toaster. While this movie is not labeled as Disney, it was produced by Hyperion Pictures, which is a Disney owned company.
Wow, this is a long history huh?? I haven’t even touched on Thurl’s appearance in the Theme Parks! I am going to take a break and I will post a second part of this unKNOWN Actors article soon.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
unKNOWN Actors: J Pat O’Malley
This next actor in our unKNOWN Actors series is a British actor whose voice can be heard all over, and I do mean all over, several Disney films. This man is J Pat O’Malley, born in Burnley England on March 15th 1904 and dies in San Juan Capistrano, California on February 27th, 1985.
When you first research the name J Pat O’Malley, billed several times as Pat O’Malley, you will notice that he was involved in a lot, it seems as though he made a cameo in just about every television show from the 60’s and 70’s! He played a variety of characters, and not only in television, but in his Disney appearances as well. There was movies where he voiced multiple character and, while he only voiced a couple main characters, his voice helped to make the characters he did bring alive memorable!
One of his first Disney productions was The Wind and the Willows doing the voice for Cyril Proudbottom, which was heard once again the same year with the combination release of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad in 1949.
Disney liked Pat’s voice so much, he had him do not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 voices for Alice in Wonderland (1954). He was the voices for Tweeledee and Tweedledum, The Walrus and The Carpenter.
In Goliath II (1960), he provided the voice for Goliath I.
During Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, there was a series called Swamp Fox. In this series, the story of Francis Marion was told, a farmer who tricked and frequently ambushed the British during the Revolutionary War. In this television series, Pat played Sergeant O’Reilly.
Pat went back to voicing multiple characters in 1961 for One Hundred and One Dalmatians. He provided voices for the bumbling villain Jasper and the Colonel, the fuzzy dog who helps the puppies escape from the old De Ville Place.
I think that Pat gets an award for his many parts in Mary Poppins (1964): The Award for Most Characters Voiced with the Shortest Amount of Screen Time. All the characters that he voiced appear on screen in about a 20 minute time span, during the cartoon sequence of Mary Poppins. He voiced one of the penguins, the Master of Hounds, Huntsman, Hound, Horse, Pearly Drummer, Reporter and Photographer!
His voice in The Jungle Book (1967) is very much like the voice he used when playing The Colonel in One Hundred and One Dalmatians. This is not surprising since he is playing another Colonel, Colonel Hathi to be exact, the elephant!
Pat’s last Disney movie was a small part in Robin Hood (1973). He played Otto the Blacksmith, a dog in the movie.
As I said, although Pat O’Malley did not have many huge parts, he still has a memorable voice, providing us Disney movie lovers with many wonderful memories. And isn’t that what Disney is all about?? If you have any ideas for actors you would like to see covered in this series, just send me an email and let me know!
When you first research the name J Pat O’Malley, billed several times as Pat O’Malley, you will notice that he was involved in a lot, it seems as though he made a cameo in just about every television show from the 60’s and 70’s! He played a variety of characters, and not only in television, but in his Disney appearances as well. There was movies where he voiced multiple character and, while he only voiced a couple main characters, his voice helped to make the characters he did bring alive memorable!
One of his first Disney productions was The Wind and the Willows doing the voice for Cyril Proudbottom, which was heard once again the same year with the combination release of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad in 1949.
Disney liked Pat’s voice so much, he had him do not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 voices for Alice in Wonderland (1954). He was the voices for Tweeledee and Tweedledum, The Walrus and The Carpenter.
In Goliath II (1960), he provided the voice for Goliath I.
During Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, there was a series called Swamp Fox. In this series, the story of Francis Marion was told, a farmer who tricked and frequently ambushed the British during the Revolutionary War. In this television series, Pat played Sergeant O’Reilly.
Pat went back to voicing multiple characters in 1961 for One Hundred and One Dalmatians. He provided voices for the bumbling villain Jasper and the Colonel, the fuzzy dog who helps the puppies escape from the old De Ville Place.
I think that Pat gets an award for his many parts in Mary Poppins (1964): The Award for Most Characters Voiced with the Shortest Amount of Screen Time. All the characters that he voiced appear on screen in about a 20 minute time span, during the cartoon sequence of Mary Poppins. He voiced one of the penguins, the Master of Hounds, Huntsman, Hound, Horse, Pearly Drummer, Reporter and Photographer!
His voice in The Jungle Book (1967) is very much like the voice he used when playing The Colonel in One Hundred and One Dalmatians. This is not surprising since he is playing another Colonel, Colonel Hathi to be exact, the elephant!
Pat’s last Disney movie was a small part in Robin Hood (1973). He played Otto the Blacksmith, a dog in the movie.
As I said, although Pat O’Malley did not have many huge parts, he still has a memorable voice, providing us Disney movie lovers with many wonderful memories. And isn’t that what Disney is all about?? If you have any ideas for actors you would like to see covered in this series, just send me an email and let me know!
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