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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
I was really disappointed last night as I viewed my Looney Toons Golden Collection discs.
The special features section showed Mel Blanc and Chuck Jones recreating the recording of the lines in "Duck Amuck" I was stunned to hear that Mel did NOT sound like Daffy, except for the lisp. In fact, he sounded, like, well, Mel with a lisp. Then they went on to explain that they altered Mel's voice by running it through a special machine that sped it up and changed the pitch, thus giving it that cartoon sound. And all these years, I thought Mel was able to do that with his own vocal chords! It's like they revealed the secret to the magic trick, and in turn, took away the wonder. Then they further went on to ruin it by stating that they also altered Porky, Speedy, Tweety and others. They didn't have to alter Sylvester because that was the most like Mel's own, natural voice. (Noel Blanc, Mel's son, stated this on several occasions.) Mel had a great bass range, but apparently, his upper range was not that great. I don't mean to put Mel down, because he's still my hero, but man, I am really disappointed to find he couldn't do the impossible things with his voice that I thought he could.
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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HerbLarry Special user Poof! 731 Posts |
Thanks for blowing it for me man!
You know why don't act naive.
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Carrie Sue Veteran user Auburn, MI 332 Posts |
I've known that Daffy Duck was simply a speeded-up Sylvester for years. I still think Mel Blanc was was one of the greatest voice actors in history.
But only one among several. Blanc's greatest trick? Convincing Warner Bros to give him sole screen credit for voice characterizations when other actors like June Foray, Daws Butler, and Stan Freberg had a large part in the cartoons as well. Carrie |
daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
Agreed. I recently dug out and re-watched a show I had taped many, many years ago on VHS called "Daws Butler Voice magician" narrated by William Conrad.
It guest starred Stan Freeburg, Don Messick, June Foray and others, and was pure joy to watch. On the special, Daws did most of his famous voices and explained how he did each one. He was just a sweet, lovable guy! Very generous and a mentor to many. Daws was no doubt great, (Right at the top of the list) and come right down to it, I think I have equal respect for him as I do for Mel. But they did mention what you just said about Daws not getting credit even when he worked with Mel. And when I hear Daws's distinct voice in a cartoon, I can just about pick it out without fail. His voice and range was so much different than Mel, but never the less, equally as flexible. And his accents and dialects were second to none. His tone was "warmer" if I tried to pinpoint it. Today my new favorite is Jeff Bergman. ( http://www.insidejeffbergman.net/ ) Spooky how he recreates the classic Mel voices flawlessly! Plus, he does a host of other celebs and famous figures. Remind me to tell you someday the story of how he knocked on Mel's hotel room one day and said "You're my hero, and if you don't let me in, I'm gonna kill ya!' (Mel let him in and kindly critiqued his voices.)
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-04-12 13:25, HerbLarry wrote: I didn't mean to.
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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Scott Cram Inner circle 2678 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-04-12 12:57, daffydoug wrote: When they were putting together Sylvester's first cartoon, Mel Blanc was trying to find a suitable voice for the character, but was under time pressure from Leon Schlesinger. Exasperated with the pressure, Mel recorded the first few lines by just imitating the way Leon Schlesinger talked. Leon loved it, and didn't realize that he was being made fun of, so he approved the voice and Sylvester has talked that way ever since! |
daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
Great trivia! Thanks for sharing!
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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mtpascoe Inner circle 1932 Posts |
I always thought Mel did all the voices too because it was on the credits as such. Years later I was listening to some old radio shows like Fibber McGee & Molly and The Great Gildersleeve and I heard the Elmer Fudd voice. I later found out that it was Arthur Q. Bryan and he was the very first Elmer Fudd. Blanc didn’t do Elmer until much later. By then the famous wabbit hunter’s distinct voice was already set.
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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
Then later the voice of Elmer was taken over by Hal Smith..better known as Otis the drunk on the Andy Griffith Show.
I think Mel finally did him in later years, but I'm not 100% positive on that one.
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
We should dig up his grave and drag him behind a truck for upsetting some of you.
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mtpascoe Inner circle 1932 Posts |
Mel did do Elmer later on.
I am not upset about Mel Blanc. The reason his was the only name on the credits is that they didn't give anyone credit back then. Mel insisted on this when he worked for Warner Bros. And thanks to him, later on other voice over talents got their name on the credits. One memory I have of him was in 1989 I was magician in the Bugs Bunny's Magical World of Kids at Magic Mountain. Mel did the voice tracks for the show. I never met him, but he died shortly after that. I wanted to make a comment before the show dedicating the performance to him, but was prevented by our stage manager. I wished I had done it anyway. |
Chessmann Inner circle 4242 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-04-12 12:57, daffydoug wrote: Oh, yes, he did! Even with the voice pitched higher (truly necessary, IMHO), his characterizations and acting were incredibly brilliant! A superb actor. Mel should have won or been presented with some kind of Oscar (if he was, I missed it happening). Others were great, but Mel - to me - is the KING!
My ex-cat was named "Muffin". "Vomit" would be a better name for her. AKA "The Evil Ball of Fur".
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ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2885 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-08-02 17:32, mtpascoe wrote: According to a book I read, Mel discovered he couldn't DO Elmer and the character had to be retired until they could find another Elmer.
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
So he couldn't do him, but later in life he finally got the voice down pat?
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2885 Posts |
I don't think so. He did a couple of cartoons, they discovered he couldn't do Elmer and the character was "retired" until they could find someone else.
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
Must have not been in his vocal range.
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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