For our unKnown actor this week, we have a man of many voices and accents. He has been featured in many different Disney films over a span of 20 years playing several characters that Disney fans have grown to love. This man is Bill Thompson, born July 8, 1913 in Indiana and died July 15, 1971 in Los Angeles. Besides his Disney roles, Bill is also known for providing the lovable monotone voice for Droopy the dog in all of his cartoons throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
Bill’s bit with Disney started in 1951 with Alice in Wonderland. He voiced the frantic White Rabbit and the know-it-all Dodo.
The same year, he was in the Walt Disney Christmas Show, which was a TV movie, as the character Willoughby.
1953 was Bill’s next voice stint, bringing the gullible yet lovable Mr. Smee to life in Peter Pan. He also voiced a few of the other pirates as needed, though he was not credited for them.
In the 1953 short Ben and Me, Bill gave his voice to some of the background characters and to Governor Keith.
Lady and the Tramp (1955) would not be the same without Bill’s voice talents because he did a handful of the characters in that film! His main character was the scotty dog Jock, but he also voiced Bull the Bull Terrier, the Policeman at the Zoo, Dachsie and Joe.
Four years later, we hear him in Sleeping Beauty, giving a voice to Prince Phillip’s father, King Hubert.
There was a long break before his next Disney film, which came as a short film in 1967. He voiced Scrooge McDuck in Scrooge McDuck and Money.
There were two characters that Bill brought to Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color throughout its broadcast. Those characters were Ranger J Audubon Woodlore and an Ajax Employment Agency Proprietor.
Bill’s last Disney film came the year before his death, in 1970, where he had a short yet memorable voice part as Uncle Waldo in The Aristocats. It was a small part, but I know that is one that my sister and I laugh at every time we watch it! "Neighbourhood!!"
I hope you are enjoying reading about all of the different actors throughout Disney history and how they shared their many talents with us and future generations!
Showing posts with label alice in wonderland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alice in wonderland. Show all posts
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
The Wonderful World of Disney Web- February 7 to February 13
Here is whats going on this week in the Disney online community!
Monday, February 7
Monday, February 7
- 1:00 PM Eastern- Cosmic Reid's Starlight Cafe- Listen at www.magicalmouseradio.com for 90 minutes of great Disney music and AMAZING Disney interviews hosted by "Cosmic" Chris Reid! You can join his chatroom during the show as well at http://cosmicreid.com/
- 8:30 PM Eastern- Ryan Kilpatrick's TweetWatch: Alice in Wonderland - Join the Friendfeed at http://friendfeed.com/disneyfilmproject to chat and watch the movie with lots of Disney friends!
- 8:00 PM Eastern- Live Recording of innermouse- Go to http://innermouse.com/blog/ to see and chat with the hosts of innermouse as they make this week's episode.
- 7:30 PM Eastern- WDW Radio NewsCast- Lou Mongello fills you in on all of the lastest Disney news live via webcam. Click Here to find out more about NewsCast and Go to http://WDWNewsCast.com to join in the NewsCast live!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Oscar Nods for Disney!
The Press Release, which came out today from Disney, excitedly announces the 12 Oscar Nominations that Disney and Pixar have received! Read to find out more:
Achievement in Costume Design - Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) Colleen Atwood
THE Walt disney studios Celebrates
12 Oscar® Nominations for TOY STORY 3,
ALICE IN WONDERLAND AND MORE
Disney•Pixar animated film earns Best Picture nomination for second straight year
12 Oscar® Nominations for TOY STORY 3,
ALICE IN WONDERLAND AND MORE
Disney•Pixar animated film earns Best Picture nomination for second straight year
BURBANK, Calif. – January 25, 2011 – The Walt Disney Studios is proud to announce its 2010 films have earned 12 Oscar® nominations. Today, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced five nominations for Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story 3, including for the coveted title of Best Picture; three for Alice in Wonderland, and one each for Day & Night, Tangled, The Tempest and TRON: Legacy.
“2010 was a banner year for The Walt Disney Studios, and we are thrilled that the Academy has chosen to recognize both our animated blockbusters Toy Story 3 and Tangled and our live-action hits Alice in Wonderland and TRON: Legacy for their artistry, technical achievements and storytelling,” said Rich Ross, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.
Toy Story 3 marks only the third time in history that Academy members have honored an animated film in the Best Picture category. It also earned a nomination for Adapted Screenplay – making it the fourth consecutive screenplay nomination for a Disney•Pixar film. The Toy Story trilogy’s tally of Oscar nominations now stands at nine.
Commenting on the announcement, John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, said, “To have Toy Story 3 represented in the Best Picture category is a great honor, and a fitting tribute to director Lee Unkrich, producer Darla Anderson, screenwriter Michael Arndt, and all of the talented people at Pixar, who worked so hard to live up to and exceed the standards and expectations of Toy Story fans and moviegoers all over the world.”
A summary of nominations for The Walt Disney Studios is as follows:
Toy Story 3
Best Motion Picture of the Year - Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) A Pixar Production
Darla K. Anderson, Producer
Darla K. Anderson, Producer
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year - Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) Lee Unkrich
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) – “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
Achievement in Sound Editing - Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
Adapted Screenplay - Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Michael Arndt. Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
Alice in Wonderland
Art Direction - Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney), Robert Stromberg (Production Design), Karen O’Hara (Set Decoration)
Art Direction - Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney), Robert Stromberg (Production Design), Karen O’Hara (Set Decoration)
Achievement in Costume Design - Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) Colleen Atwood
Achievement in Visual Effects - Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
Day & Night
Best Animated Short Film - Day & Night (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production Teddy Newton
Best Animated Short Film - Day & Night (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production Teddy Newton
Tangled
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) – “I See the Light” from Tangled (Walt Disney) Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Glenn Slater
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) – “I See the Light” from Tangled (Walt Disney) Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Glenn Slater
The Tempest
Achievement in Costume Design - The Tempest (Touchstone) Sandy Powell
Achievement in Costume Design - The Tempest (Touchstone) Sandy Powell
TRON: Legacy
Achievement in Sound Editing - TRON: Legacy (Walt Disney) Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
Achievement in Sound Editing - TRON: Legacy (Walt Disney) Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
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!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
New Alice in Wonderland for DS Commercial
The time has finally come! Tomorrow is the big opening of the highly anticipated Alice in Wonderland! In honor of the premiere, I have a new Vignette to share! This one, sent by the wonderful people at Disney Interactive Studios, is about the Nintendo DS video game. It is a new advertisement featuring the White Rabbit as seen in the DS version of the game. Enjoy!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Live Alice Event Today!
Sorry this is coming so late friends!! I just got back from a craaaaazy student teaching day and just was able to check my email to find this awesome info in my inbox!
Today at 5pm Pacific (That is 8pm EST for all of my fellow east coasters), there is a HUGE event to promote Alice in Wonderland on Myspace. This Live Fan event will have music performances from groups such as 3OH!3, Metro Station, Never Shout Never, Kerli, and I have also heard something about a special appearance from a certain amazing director....that may have something to do with this movie.....
This is going to be a great event and if you are excited to see Alice in Wonderland on March 5th, this is sure to get you even more psyched!! So remember, 5pm Pacific (8pm EST) tonight on the myspace page! You can access the myspace page by clicking here.
Special thanks to Irene from Fanscape for this info and for the following trailer! Enjoy!
Trailer #5
Alice in Wonderland | MySpace Video
Today at 5pm Pacific (That is 8pm EST for all of my fellow east coasters), there is a HUGE event to promote Alice in Wonderland on Myspace. This Live Fan event will have music performances from groups such as 3OH!3, Metro Station, Never Shout Never, Kerli, and I have also heard something about a special appearance from a certain amazing director....that may have something to do with this movie.....
This is going to be a great event and if you are excited to see Alice in Wonderland on March 5th, this is sure to get you even more psyched!! So remember, 5pm Pacific (8pm EST) tonight on the myspace page! You can access the myspace page by clicking here.
Special thanks to Irene from Fanscape for this info and for the following trailer! Enjoy!
Trailer #5
Alice in Wonderland | MySpace Video
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Alice in Wonderland Game Preview
The awesome people at Disney Interactive have contacted me again with some sneak peeks for all of you great readers! The sneak peeks this time: Screen Shots and Video from the upcoming Nintendo Wii and DS game, Alice in Wonderland! Set to debut in stores on March 2nd, just days before the Tim Burton movie comes to theaters, this game will put you right in the action as Alice travels back to Wonderland and fights her way to defeating the Red Queen!
Here are some pictures from the DS version of the game:
These next few pictures are screen shots from the Wii version of the Alice:
And, just to top it all off- Preview Videos for both games!!
I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek of the upcoming Alice in Wonderland Video Game! Thank you to Disney Interactive Studios for sending me this great info to share and don't forget to check out the Wii and DS games, coming out on March 2nd, and of course Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in theaters March 5th.
Here are some pictures from the DS version of the game:
These next few pictures are screen shots from the Wii version of the Alice:
And, just to top it all off- Preview Videos for both games!!
I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek of the upcoming Alice in Wonderland Video Game! Thank you to Disney Interactive Studios for sending me this great info to share and don't forget to check out the Wii and DS games, coming out on March 2nd, and of course Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in theaters March 5th.
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