We're taking a break from the Jetsons for today's post. Well, sort of. Instead, it's time to highlight one of Hanna-Barbera's most celebrated voice actors, Daws Butler. Butler provided several voices for The Jetsons and essentially every other Hanna-Barbera classic you could think of. From Yogi Bear to Snagglepuss, from Elroy Jetson to Huckleberry Hound, the list of iconic cartoon characters Daws gave life to is truly immense. Daws Butler also influenced many modern voice actors through the workshops he held in the 1970s and 1980s. Actors like Nancy Cartwright, Corey Burton, and Bill Farmer are just three of the people who got their start through these workshops.
Daws Butler sadly passed away from a heart attack on May 18th, 1988. Yet, even thirty-five years since his passing, Butler's legacy lives on through the characters he helped create, the voice artists he taught, and the memories he made.
Today, I'm going to share a short little interview with Butler that appeared in the Sandusky Register on September 11th, 1985. Here, Daws discusses both the then-upcoming Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera TV block, and also shares some insight on the thought process behind creating a cartoon voice. It's a very insightful piece, although be warned that there is an incorrect statement that the first cartoon voices he did were for Walter Lantz (he had done several Tex Avery cartoons before then). Regardless, I hope you enjoy this one!
His voices bring dozens of cartoon friends to life
HOLLYWOOD (UPI) — Some of the most familiar voices to your child's ears belong to the same man.
If your tots watch television on Saturday mornings or tune in animated cartoons often, they can hardly escape hearing the voices of Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss, Quick-Draw McGraw, Blabber Mouse, Huckleberry Hound, Wally Gator and a dozen others.
Their vocal gymnastics are the product of Daws Butler, whose versatile voice will be a mainstay of "The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera," a new 90-minute syndicated series making its debut on more than 100 stations this month.
The omnibus show involves three distinct segments — "The Paw Paws," "Yogi's Treasure Hunt" and "Goltar and the Golden Lance."
All three will feature Butler's voices in familiar and new animated characters.
"The Paw Paws" involves the hijinks of a family of tiny Indian bears in a verdant forest. "Yogi's Treasure Hunt" follows the adventures of Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo aboard the S.S. Jelly Roger, a marvelous machine that flies, floats and rolls into mischief. "Galtar and the Golden Lance" is a gothic tale of knights in armor and princesses in distress.
Butler is one of a small company of vocal magicians — among them Frank Welker, Mel Blanc, Walker Edmiston, Paul Frees, June Foray and Don Messick — whose voices will forever be more famous than their faces.
They supply dialogue for an army of beloved animated characters that entertain millions of kids around the world. They also provide thousands of radio and voiceover TV commercials familiar to millions of adults.
Butler's longest-running commercial character is Captain Crunch, which he has been doing for 20 years.
"It's a good and interesting living," Butler said the other day in a workshop behind his Beverly Hills home, where he holds classes for budding voiceover performers.
Butler, a small, graying, energetic man, has been heard on more than 1,000 episodes of various cartoon series, among them Elroy in "The Jetsons," a Hanna-Barbera series returning with 41 new episodes this season.
"I guess my best-known voice is Yogi," he said. "And the best-known line is Yogi saying, 'I', smarter than the average bear.'
"But the one I enjoy doing most is Huckleberry Hound. I love Southern accents and he has a very funny one.
"Animals are more fun than human beings because the exaggeration is greater. Also, humans don't animate as well as four-footed critters.
"I try to give high energy to all the characters and provide a subtext to make them more believable to myself. I have to know them inside and out, how they react in different situations.
"You don't just use your voice in this work. I employ my whole body, especially the diaphragm and chest. There's also a lot of head and body movement. There has to be when a five-foot-two guy like me is talking for an eight-foot bear.
"For some reason, big animals are always sort of dumb, and the little ones are smart. Among the little guys I've done are Cogswell, Fibber Fox and Baba Looey."
Butler began his show business career as a mimic with two other impersonators in Chicago, mostly on radio and later in clubs and theaters. In Hollywood he became a single, doing radio shows with far-ranging dialects.
The closest he came to performing on camera was working hand puppets for Stan Freberg in an early TV series titled "Time For Beany." He began providing cartoon voices in the 1950s for Walter Lantz.
His first distinguishable voice was that of Smedley (the dog) for Lantz. In addition to his long-standing association with Hanna-Barbera, beginning with the "Ruff and Reddy" series, he was the voice of several characters in the old "Rocky and Bullwinkle" series.
"There's no telling how many voices I've done in my career," Butler said. "I can't think of how many possibilities remain."
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