Phil Harris, Born June 24, 1904 in Linton, Indiana and died August 11, 1995 in Rancho Mirage, California, is a guy who I knew was a Disney name. He has a very familiar voice; one I thought was more involved than it turns out that he is. He did only 3 movies, but you will immediately recognize his characters and voice.
His short stint with Disney began in 1967, providing the voice of Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book.
Three years later, Phil lent his voice to Abraham de Lacy Giuseppe Casey Thomas O'Malley, also known as Thomas O'Malley in The Aristocats.
1973 was his third and last performance for Disney, playing Little John in Robin Hood.
While this is a very short list of performances, the three characters are very well known and it is Phil's very recognizable voice that brings them to life and makes them the characters we know and love.
Showing posts with label Jungle Book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jungle Book. Show all posts
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Friday, December 3, 2010
unKNOWN Actors: Sebastian Cabot
There are a few actors that I have featured that are known more for doing a character other than their Disney projects. Sebastian Cabot is no exception. Born July 6, 1918 in London, England and died August 22, 1977 in North Saanich, British Columbia, Sebastian is best known for playing Mr. Giles French, the butler in the 1960’s TV show Family Affair. His Disney career did not start long before this television series.
His first Disney appearance was in 1963, providing the voice for Sir Ector in The Sword in the Stone, the caretaker for young Arthur.
The Jungle Book in 1967 is where we can hear Sebastian next, voicing the responsible panther, Bagheera.
Sebastian was featured in The Wonderful World of Color three different times, in three different years. The first was in 1956 in Along the Oregon Trail; he played Bissonette. The next was in 1964 as he did the narration for One Day at Teton Marsh and his last was also as a Narrator in One Day on Beetle Rock (1967).
While there were no more individual characters that Sebastian provided the voice for, he did provide a much needed voice for many years, the voice of The Narrator for Winnie the Pooh movies from 1966 until 1977. The movies you can hear his narration in include Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Sebastian had a deep, strong yet soft voice that lent itself to being the voice of a narrator or a guardian of some kind, fitting the characters he portrayed. The only exception for this is the voice of Sir Ector, where he has more of a gruff voice, but yet still is a guardian. No matter which character he is voicing, it is still a Disney classic voice and helps make the Disney movies we know and love come to life!
His first Disney appearance was in 1963, providing the voice for Sir Ector in The Sword in the Stone, the caretaker for young Arthur.
The Jungle Book in 1967 is where we can hear Sebastian next, voicing the responsible panther, Bagheera.
Sebastian was featured in The Wonderful World of Color three different times, in three different years. The first was in 1956 in Along the Oregon Trail; he played Bissonette. The next was in 1964 as he did the narration for One Day at Teton Marsh and his last was also as a Narrator in One Day on Beetle Rock (1967).
While there were no more individual characters that Sebastian provided the voice for, he did provide a much needed voice for many years, the voice of The Narrator for Winnie the Pooh movies from 1966 until 1977. The movies you can hear his narration in include Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
Sebastian had a deep, strong yet soft voice that lent itself to being the voice of a narrator or a guardian of some kind, fitting the characters he portrayed. The only exception for this is the voice of Sir Ector, where he has more of a gruff voice, but yet still is a guardian. No matter which character he is voicing, it is still a Disney classic voice and helps make the Disney movies we know and love come to life!
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!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
unKNOWN Actors: Sterling Holloway
Continuing in our pursuit of Disney voice actors who you know, but may not know you know….if that makes sense….It is time to look at our next Disney Star: Sterling Holloway
Sterling was born on January 4, 1905 in Cedartown, Georgia and died November 22, 1992. His main feature is a high pitched voice, and it was this voice that made him a staple in Disney history!
He is most known for voicing the “chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff.” That’s right! Sterling is the original voice for Winnie the Pooh. From Pooh Bear’s first appearance in 1966 with Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree until 1977 in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Sterling covered the voice for this lovable character. Though this is his most well known part, this was neither his first nor his only!
Sterling Holloway’s career with Disney started long before the “willy nilly silly old bear” (can you tell that I really like Winnie the Pooh?). Like our last featured actress, Verna Felton, Sterling got his start in 1941’s Dumbo, providing the voice for Mr. Stork.
The following year, he provides the voice for Adult Flower in Bambi.
The years following Bambi introduced him into his second most popular role in film as the Narrator. He provided the narrator voice for such movies as 1944’s The Three Caballeros, 1946’s Make Music Mine, 1947’s Mickey and the Beanstalk and 1960’s Goliath II. He was also heard as the narrator for The Wonderful World of Color on television in 1957 and as the Sleeping Beauty Narrator for the 1978 Christmas in Walt Disney World.
In 1950, Sterling was once again voicing characters for Disney full length animated features, becoming the sly and devious Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland.
In The Jungle Book in 1967, he voiced Kaa, the hypnotist boa constrictor who always wanted to wrap his coils around the man cub, Mowgli.
Sterling’s last Disney movie appearance outside of Winnie the Pooh would be in 1970 as Roquefort, the mouse that had befriended Dutchess and the kittens in The Aristocats.
There were a few Disney shorts that Sterling had a part in, including Peter and the Wolf (1946) as the Narrator, Lambert the Sheepish Lion (1952) as the Narrator and Mr. Stork, and in Ben and Me (1953) as Amos Mouse.
As you can see, Sterling Holloway has been a huge part of the Disney Family. In fact, he was given the honor of being named a Disney Legend in 1991.
I hope you are enjoying these actor profiles of some Disney classic voice actors. If there are any actors you would like me to cover or if you have any questions, feel free to email me at lady_aurora_yensid@hotmail.com.
Sterling was born on January 4, 1905 in Cedartown, Georgia and died November 22, 1992. His main feature is a high pitched voice, and it was this voice that made him a staple in Disney history!
He is most known for voicing the “chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff.” That’s right! Sterling is the original voice for Winnie the Pooh. From Pooh Bear’s first appearance in 1966 with Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree until 1977 in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Sterling covered the voice for this lovable character. Though this is his most well known part, this was neither his first nor his only!
Sterling Holloway’s career with Disney started long before the “willy nilly silly old bear” (can you tell that I really like Winnie the Pooh?). Like our last featured actress, Verna Felton, Sterling got his start in 1941’s Dumbo, providing the voice for Mr. Stork.
The following year, he provides the voice for Adult Flower in Bambi.
The years following Bambi introduced him into his second most popular role in film as the Narrator. He provided the narrator voice for such movies as 1944’s The Three Caballeros, 1946’s Make Music Mine, 1947’s Mickey and the Beanstalk and 1960’s Goliath II. He was also heard as the narrator for The Wonderful World of Color on television in 1957 and as the Sleeping Beauty Narrator for the 1978 Christmas in Walt Disney World.
In 1950, Sterling was once again voicing characters for Disney full length animated features, becoming the sly and devious Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland.
In The Jungle Book in 1967, he voiced Kaa, the hypnotist boa constrictor who always wanted to wrap his coils around the man cub, Mowgli.
Sterling’s last Disney movie appearance outside of Winnie the Pooh would be in 1970 as Roquefort, the mouse that had befriended Dutchess and the kittens in The Aristocats.
There were a few Disney shorts that Sterling had a part in, including Peter and the Wolf (1946) as the Narrator, Lambert the Sheepish Lion (1952) as the Narrator and Mr. Stork, and in Ben and Me (1953) as Amos Mouse.
As you can see, Sterling Holloway has been a huge part of the Disney Family. In fact, he was given the honor of being named a Disney Legend in 1991.
I hope you are enjoying these actor profiles of some Disney classic voice actors. If there are any actors you would like me to cover or if you have any questions, feel free to email me at lady_aurora_yensid@hotmail.com.
Friday, July 23, 2010
unKNOWN Actors: Verna Felton
Have you ever been watching a Disney movie and you hear a voice that sounds familiar to you, but you are not sure why? Maybe you have ridden an attraction in a Disney park and heard a voice that you know you heard before, but you are not sure where you heard it or whose voice it is? Well, this blog series is here to change all that! I want to expose the unknown voice artists throughout Disney and show you how well you actually do know them!
Disney is known for reusing actors for different voice parts. When they hear a voice they like why should they change it? It’s because of this that you may hear one voice and people in the room can name multiple characters with that voice.
The first actress we are going to look at is Verna Felton. She was born in Salinas, California on July 20th of 1890 and died in Hollywood December 14, 1966. She was a very famous television and radio actress, but this is probably not why Disney fans would know her.
The first time Disney fans would see….or rather, hear Verna was in 1941 as the Elephant Matriarch, aka the mean elephant with the red headdress, in Dumbo. Fun fact: Mrs. Jumbo’s one line, “Jumbo Junior” was also said by Verna.
It would be 9 years until we hear Verna again, but in a much different part, playing the bubbly Fairy Godmother in Cinderella.
The next year, Verna reprised her role as a villain of sorts by playing the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, using her powerful voice to belt out such famous lines as “Off with her head!”
She had a very small part in Peter Pan, doing the voice for Squaw, the large native woman who tells Wendy to "get ‘em Firewood!"
In 1955, she is the voice for Aunt Sarah, the pushy bossy aunt who owns the Siamese Cats in Lady and the Tramp.
After a few years, she is heard as the self-appointed leader of the good fairies and lover of the color pink, Flora in Sleeping Beauty.
Right after Sleeping Beauty, she provided the voice for Eloise in Goliath II, a smaller Disney production.
Verna held so much talent and lent her voice to some memorable Disney characters. Even though she sadly died in 1966, she was able to share her talents with one more Disney character, and fittingly, it was with the same type of character with which she got her Disney start! The year after her death, she was heard as Winifred, the wife of Captain Haiti in The Jungle Book, an elephant.
When a typical Disney fan hears the name Verna Felton, they may not recognize the name, but all you have to do is play her voice and they immediately could name at least one of her characters. The villain roles seemed to fit her shrill, powerful voice, while for the Fairy Godmother and Flora, she had a bit softer voice.
There are quite a few people who have such a long Disney record, but no one knows of them! I hope to be able to share their names and talents with you! Let us know if there are any actors or actresses who should be featured in this article and if you have any questions, just send me an email!
Disney is known for reusing actors for different voice parts. When they hear a voice they like why should they change it? It’s because of this that you may hear one voice and people in the room can name multiple characters with that voice.
The first actress we are going to look at is Verna Felton. She was born in Salinas, California on July 20th of 1890 and died in Hollywood December 14, 1966. She was a very famous television and radio actress, but this is probably not why Disney fans would know her.
The first time Disney fans would see….or rather, hear Verna was in 1941 as the Elephant Matriarch, aka the mean elephant with the red headdress, in Dumbo. Fun fact: Mrs. Jumbo’s one line, “Jumbo Junior” was also said by Verna.
It would be 9 years until we hear Verna again, but in a much different part, playing the bubbly Fairy Godmother in Cinderella.
The next year, Verna reprised her role as a villain of sorts by playing the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, using her powerful voice to belt out such famous lines as “Off with her head!”
She had a very small part in Peter Pan, doing the voice for Squaw, the large native woman who tells Wendy to "get ‘em Firewood!"
In 1955, she is the voice for Aunt Sarah, the pushy bossy aunt who owns the Siamese Cats in Lady and the Tramp.
After a few years, she is heard as the self-appointed leader of the good fairies and lover of the color pink, Flora in Sleeping Beauty.
Right after Sleeping Beauty, she provided the voice for Eloise in Goliath II, a smaller Disney production.
Verna held so much talent and lent her voice to some memorable Disney characters. Even though she sadly died in 1966, she was able to share her talents with one more Disney character, and fittingly, it was with the same type of character with which she got her Disney start! The year after her death, she was heard as Winifred, the wife of Captain Haiti in The Jungle Book, an elephant.
When a typical Disney fan hears the name Verna Felton, they may not recognize the name, but all you have to do is play her voice and they immediately could name at least one of her characters. The villain roles seemed to fit her shrill, powerful voice, while for the Fairy Godmother and Flora, she had a bit softer voice.
There are quite a few people who have such a long Disney record, but no one knows of them! I hope to be able to share their names and talents with you! Let us know if there are any actors or actresses who should be featured in this article and if you have any questions, just send me an email!
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