Judy Jetson Gets a Gift From Radioshack

 In the short time this blog has been running, I've made a few references to the Jetsons-themed Radioshack commercials that aired on TV in the late 1990s. However, one piece of this ad campaign that seems forgotten was the ads featured in newspapers related to it. Most of these simply placed stock images of the Jetsons family into a collection of Radioshack items, but I found one that did something more interesting. Coming from the Chicago Tribune of February 12th, 1999, this ad is a short comic strip featuring Judy Jetson getting Valentine's gift from her parents, that being none other than a digital PCS phone!

Admittedly, it's not a super fantastic find, but I'm always delighted to see promotional stuff featuring the Hanna-Barbera characters that aren't merely using existing imagery. Sadly, I have no idea as to who drew this comic. The style does look somewhat similar to the art featured in DC Comics' Flintstones and Jetsons comic series, so perhaps an artist on that book did this? If anyone has any details, I'd love for you to share them below!

Video of the Week: Hanna-Barbera on Beyond 2000

 Here's a neat find I made about a week ago. From 1994, here's a segment focused on Hanna-Barbera that was featured on the Australian television program Beyond 2000 (also known as Beyond Tomorrow and Towards 2000). More specifically, it showcases how companies such as Hanna-Barbera take measures to prevent their art pieces from being counterfeited through the use of DNA-infused pens. Joe Barbera is also interviewed, and we even see a little bit of the production process at the studio. Really interesting stuff, and an all-around great discovery!

Meet the Flintstones...Voice Actors!

 By pure coincidence, it appears that the last few posts on this blog have been heavily focused on voice actors from The Flintstones. So why don't we continue that trend with something I discovered a few months ago? Straight out of the 1960s, here are several casting ads for each of the main cast members from the classic animated series, which I found after digging through old auctions on the website Worthpoint. According to the listing, these all came out of casting directory books. Give 'em all a look right below!

While this isn't a casting ad, I thought this next photo was too interesting to leave out of this. Featured in an ABC press release promoting the show's fifth season, here are some headshots that accompanied extensive biographies of all of the principal cast members. It should also be noted that Gerry Johnson is featured here instead of Bea Benaderet, as this was the season when she began voicing Betty. And, just as I mentioned in my post on Miss Johnson earlier this week, this listing is yet another example of her being mislabeled as Bea Benaderet. I honestly don't know how they messed that one up. Her name is the first one listed on the image!

Classic Cartoon Actors in Advertising: July '23 Edition

Another month, another installment of our ongoing "Classic Cartoon Actors in Advertising" series, where I spotlight some forgotten TV commercials featuring your favorite voice actors from Disney, Warner Brothers, Hanna-Barbera, and many other classic cartoon studios and franchises. Last time, I shared a trio of videos with the man of a thousand voices Mel Blanc, and today, we're going to look at three videos starring four classic Hanna-Barbera actors. The first one is the most-effectual Top Cat, Arnold Stang, in a commercial for Chunky Chocolate. Stang did a number of commercials for this product, and in this particular one, he gets some help from a much younger companion. Check it out below!

Our next commercial is for KFI radio, and features Gary Owens. He was probably the closest thing HB ever had to a real-life superhero, portraying Space Ghost, the Blue Falcon, and countless others. However, he was just as prolific in radio as he was in animation, as evident by this 1988 ad for a morning radio show he was the host of. It's a short but nonetheless charming appearance by Owens, and you can't really ask for more than that!

Last but not least is a commercial that features not one, but two classic voice actresses! Well, sort of. You only see their arms but if you listen to their voices, you can clearly hear that these two women are Jean Vander Pyl and June Foray. Vander Pyl is best remembered for voicing Hanna-Barbera characters like Wilma and Rosie the Robot, while June Foray portrayed everyone from Granny in Looney Tunes to Rocky the Flying Squirrel. Funnily enough, the uploader of this ad even mentions that the women sound like Wilma and Betty. While she didn't voice her in the series, June Foray did play Betty in The Flagstones, a short pilot that was made to help sell the series.

The Life and Times of Gerry Johnson

 

Who voiced Betty Rubble in the original Flintstones series? Bea Benadaret of course, you are probably thinking to yourself. What kind of question is this? Well, it's more complicated than that. Yes, Bea Benadaret was Betty's original voice in the series (not counting June Foray, who voiced her in the pilot reel). However, after the fourth season wrapped up, things changed. Bea Benaderet had left the show, supposedly due to scheduling issues with the series Petticoat Junction, but in reality, it was a bit more complicated. The folks at Hanna-Barbera, I'm assuming frustrated with having to record Benaderet apart from the other actors due to her other commitments, flat-out replaced her with a new voice actress (you can learn more about that in this post from Yowp). Whatever reason you believe, Bea was gone, and in her place came Gerry Johnson. Miss Johnson voiced Betty for the last two seasons of The Flintstones and The Man Called Flintstone feature film, but her contributions to the series seem almost entirely forgotten today. But that's not something that cannot be remedied. Today, I thought I'd put a spotlight on Gerry Johnson, her career in Hollywood, and her time as Miss Rubble.

Gerry Johnson was born in 1918 in New Jersey. Johnson loved drama and the theatrical from an early age. She won many drama contests throughout school, and even majored in both speech and drama later on. Johnson first grew to prominence after she began hosting a variety show in Dallas, Texas, appropriately titled Gerry Johnson's Variety Fair. Then, as the 1960s began, Gerry Johnson began to make a handful of TV and film appearances, including a role on an episode of Bewitched. But it was ultimately her role as Betty Rubble during the later years of The Flintstones that became her claim to fame. As exciting as this likely was for her career, it didn't come without its problems. In an interview with FilmFax magazine from December 1995, Jean Vander Pyl (voice of Wilma) discussed working with Johnson during these episodes. She mentioned that her hiring was all the decision of Joe Barbera, and it was one that left many others involved with the show puzzled. Vander Pyl also theorized that Johnson didn't have a great experience doing the show, as the other cast members were often frustrated by her lack of experience in the field of voice-acting.

As sad as this is to hear, I cannot say it's surprising. Unlike the other voice actors, Johnson had no experience in voice-acting, either for cartoons or on the radio. Add in the fact that she was replacing a much-beloved actress, and you get a scenario that I don't think anyone in the show would have wanted to be in. The idea that she didn't enjoy the experience seems even more genuine when you look at her post-Flintstones credits. Apart from some additional voices in The Atom Ant and Secret Squirrel Show, Gerry Johnson had all but disappeared from the entertainment world after the show wrapped up. She continued to reside in LA before passing away on January 24, 1990, at the age of 71.

Now that I've brought you all up to speed on Gerry Johnson and her career, it's time I share with you the real meat of this post. Published in The Albuquerque Tribune on April 12th, 1986, years after she left the role of Betty, this article details her career, her first encounter with Joe Barbera, and what she was up to after the series concluded. Even through all the issues it sounded like she faced throughout the show, Johnson appears to still have warm feelings about the experience, even two decades later.

Betty's voice: It's a laughing matter

By Ollie Reed Jr.

    It's funny how seemingly insignificant occurrences can have such profound effects on our history and our culture. 

    Here, for example, is a sobering thought. It's possible that if Gerry Johnson's parents had been able to find a babysitter one night many years ago, Betty Rubble of "The Flintstones" would not have giggled quite the way she did in the '60s.

    When Johnson was 3 years old, her parents took her to a movie theater. They didn't want to, but no sitter was available. Her parents expected young Gerry to fall asleep after a few minutes. Instead, she sat there with rapt attention, watching the entire movie (she doesn't remember what it was, but it starred Jeanette MacDonald) and a live appearance by Maurice Chevalier.

    "I went home with a Maurice Chevalier accent," Johnson said during a visit to Albuquerque this week. "That's when my interest in show business started. From then on, I never thought of doing anything else."

    For the want of a babysitter, a career was launched that would include work on stage, screen and television, stints as the host of television shows in Dallas and Los Angeles and—perhaps most important—the part of Betty's voice in the popular TV cartoon series.

    "The Flintstones," which was aired by ABC on Friday nights from 1960 to 1966, made TV history as the longest-running primetime cartoon series ever. The William Hanna-Joseph Barbera production was patterned after Jackie Gleason's situation comedy "The Honeymooners," but it was set in prehistoric times. Fred and Wilma Flintstone were the main cave couple. Their neighbors were Barney and Betty Rubble. Alan Reed did Fred's voice, Jean Vander Pyl was Wilma, and the versatile Mel Blanc put the talk into Barney. Bea Benaderet was Betty's voice from 1960-64, but when she left the show Johnson took over.

    "When Bea left, they wanted me to do the voice like she did. And I imitated it perfectly. But then Joe (Barbera) said, 'No, I think that's wrong. We want your interpretation.'

    "I think Betty is a good-natured bubblehead. I did her with a giggle (she demonstrated), and that kind of set the tone for the character. Betty didn't have opinions of her own or get mad at the boys (Fred and Barney) when they got into trouble."

    Johnson, who was born in Jersey City, N.J., but grew up in Hollywood, said she has been doing voices all her life. She did them in skits at home, and they came in handy when she was studying speech and drama at Stanford University and performing everything from Noel Coward to William Shakespeare on stage and they were invaluable for the characters she created for her TV shows.

    In Dallas in the '50s, she hosted, sang and danced and did skits on the daily "Gerry Johnson Variety Fair" and starred in a weekly prime-time sitcom called "The Gerry Johnson Show." It was during this time that TV Guide gave her an award as "Outstanding TV Personality in the Southwest."

    The early '60s found her in Los Angeles, hosting a daily talk and variety show called "Panorama Pacific." One day Barbera was a guest on the show.

    "I asked him to bring his sketch pad. He'd draw something and hold it up for me to see and say, 'What do you think of this?' He'd show me a picture of a pompous dowager chicken, and I'd do a voice I thought would fit the picture. Then he'd do a French poodle, and I'd do another voice."

    Barbera was impressed. Benaderet was about to leave "The Flintstones" and he offered her job to Johnson.

    She remembers what it was like doing a "Flintstones" show. 

    "We all came in and sat at a table and Joe would go through a script kind of mumbling it and holding up pictures of the character," she said.

    Since Johnson was the cast member whose contract said she could do more than one voice without getting paid more,  she usually supplied voices for several characters besides Betty. She didn't mind.

    "It made it more interesting than just doing Betty Rubble all the time."

    Johnson did Betty's voice for the 1966 feature-length cartoon "A Man Called Flintstone" and the voice of a "little Southern belle bear" and other characters for the 1964 cartoon feature "Hey There, It's Yogi Bear."

    She said she enjoyed working on "The Flintstones," but admitted she missed the publicity CBS had been giving her when she was host of the network's "Panorama Pacific."

    "In 'The Flintstones,'" she said, "the characters, not the people who were the voices, were the thing."

    Now, she is developing a night-club act.

    "I'm not fond of working in nightclubs," she said. "I'm not too fond of the setting, the noise, people drinking. But I'll be singing and doing a little dancing and using character voices. I'll be doing marvelous comedy songs because I think comedy is where I belong."

    Anyone who has ever heard Betty Rubble giggle will agree with that.

To finish this post, off, I thought I'd share this nice little promotional photo for The Man Called Flintstone film, featuring both Gerry Johnson and Jean Vander Pyl. To give you a better idea of how overlooked Gerry Johnson is in the history of this show, most sites erroneously refer to her in these photos as Bea Benaderet. Hopefully, this has set the record straight, and given you better insight at one of the more unsung members of the Flintstones family.

Video of the Week: 1960 Mattel Hand Puppets Commercial

 Video of the Week returns once again, and since Barbie opens in theaters today, it was only appropriate to share a commercial highlighting another Mattel product, this being their line of hand puppets from the 1960s. In this ad, we see puppets for classic cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny and Dishonest John, but what really stood out to me is the woman portraying the child's mother. Don't realize who it is? It's Janet Waldo, one of Hanna-Barbera's mainstay voice actresses! I also really like the look of these puppets. They are accurate to the characters they are designed after but also manage to have a charm of their own, which I can't say for a lot of old-school cartoon merch. Watch the commercial below, and tell me what you think about 'em!

Classic Cartoons Come to Comic-Con

 Today marks the beginning of this year's San Diego Comic-Con, so how about we look back at the early years of the convention? Before the convention blew up with celebrity guests and big blockbusters, Comic-Con was about, well, comics! A shocking concept, I know. However, the focus wasn't on just comics. Fantasy, sci-fi, and the subject of this blog, cartoons, were all present and accounted for from the very beginning. And because Comic-Con started in the seventies, a lot of the artists and voice actors behind many classic cartoons were still around, and would frequently be guest stars to these conventions. Today, we're going back to those simpler years, and showcasing some of the stars who came to San Diego to talk about toons!

Starting off, we have a woman who needs no introduction, June Foray. Here she is side-by-side with Shel Dorf at the 1973 Comic-Con. Dorf, for those unaware, was one of the founders of SDCC.

From 1976, here's Hanna-Barbera superstar Daws Butler at a table during the convention. The woman to his right is Myrtle Butler, Daws' wife.

Coming from that same Comic-Con is this picture of another voiceover legend, Mel Blanc. According to the caption on this photo from the SDCC website, the girl requested Blanc to give her a performance of Jack Benny's car, to which he obliged.

Jumping forward to 1982, we have a photo of the original Donald Duck voice actor Clarence Nash strolling through the walls of the convention.

Last but most certainly not least, I thought I'd share this CBS news footage of the 1972 Comic-Con, which showcases an interview with Bob Clampett, a Looney Tunes legend if there ever was such a thing. Enjoy the video, and if you happen to be attending SDCC, enjoy the convention as well!

The Saga of the Short-Lived Hanna-Barbera Stores

 In the world of animation, Hanna-Barbera had a lot of rivals, but out of them all, none stood taller than the Walt Disney Company. As such, it's no surprise that the folks at HB tried their best to emulate Disney. Disney had Mickey Mouse as their mascot, and Hanna-Barbera had Fred Flintstone. Disney had Walt Disney World and Disney Land, while Hanna-Barbera had a presence at King's Dominion and later Universal Studios in Florida. And, when Disney began to open a chain of stores in 1987 to great success, Hanna-Barbera was quick to follow. However, their endeavor in retail was short-lived, to put it bluntly.

Wait, Hanna-Barbera had their own line of stores? Why yes, they did, but you'd be forgiven for not knowing these existed. Only two existed (both in California), and they were only operating between the years 1990 and 1992. Despite their short existence, I find these stores to be one of the more unique endeavors Hanna-Barbera took on, so I thought I'd shed light on this forgotten piece of their history by chronicling their entire history

The first of these two stores opened at the Westside Pavilion in Los Angeles on August 1st, 1990, but the road to them becoming fully-realized locations began back in 1988. Hanna-Barbera's retail division went to work designing a flurry of products that would occupy the store. Then, in 1989, Space Design International, a store design firm, was contracted by the studio to begin designing the stores. The design team strived to make the stores look like a Hanna-Barbera cartoon come to life, and in my book, that was something they succeeded at. A lot of the design elements wouldn't look at all out of place in an episode of The Flintstones or The Jetsons, especially this futuristic control panel, seen in the third image below. I also recommend checking out this magazine scan, as it's where a lot of behind-the-scenes info about the stores comes from.

Regarding what items were sold at the store, it wasn't all that different from what you would find in a Disney store, just Hanna-Barbera themed. Shirts, plush dolls, sunglasses, videotapes, and even animation cels were offered at both locations. Here's an image of a Top Cat cutout surrounded by stuffed animals and Jetsons shirts. The second image features a better look at said shirt.

Now, I'll share with you this newspaper excerpt anticipating the arrival of both stores from The Reporter Times on July 27th, 1990. 

Stores featuring Flintstones, Jetsons to open soon

LOS ANGELES (UPI)—Fred Flintstone's creator, Hanna-Barbera Productions, has moved to take advantage of the success of rival Disney Stores with an announcement Thursday that it will open its own retail outlets.

    The animation company said that the first store, called the Hanna-Barbera store, will open Aug. 1 at the upscale Westside Pavillion in Los Angeles. The second store will open Sept. 1 at the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, Calif.

    The stores will carry up to 50,000 pieces of merchandise from a newly created line of apparel, stuffed toys, games, jewelry, and collectibles. 

    Besides the Flintstones, Hanna-Barbera's characters include the Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, Huckleberry Hound, and Quick Draw McGraw.

As you may have noticed by now, I haven't really mentioned the Torrance location much in this piece, and that's because not a lot seems to exist about this store online. Most of the info I can find is in relation to the LA location, although funnily enough, I did learn that the Del Amo Fashion Center housed not just a Hanna-Barbera store, but a Disney one as well. This page in a 1991 HB newsletter also discusses both locations, including the fact that the studio actually earned the "Best New Store of the Year" award from Chain Store Age Magazine.

That's a pretty good start for this endeavor, and from what I've heard, things were only going to get better after that. In an HB-focused Facebook group I am a member of, Scott Awley, an artist for Hanna-Barbera at the time, mentioned that more stores were planned to open following these two. So what happened? The Turner acquisition of Hanna-Barbera is what happened. In October 1991, Turner announced plans to buy the animation studio for $320 million. Turner wasn't all that interested in handling a chain of retail stores, so in February of the following year, it was announced that both locations were to be closed, ending the stores before they even hit the two-year mark. Despite this, a Hanna-Barbera giftshop continued to operate in Universal Studios Orlando until 2002, and the studio itself was home to its very own employee store that opened sometime later.

And thus, we have come to the end of this short but nevertheless intriguing story in the long history of Hanna-Barbera. As exciting as the prospect of a Hanna-Barbera store was, it seemed like this was a classic case of the wrong idea coming about at the wrong time. Maybe if the stores opened a couple years earlier or later, they could have found more success, but alas, it was not meant to be. However, I don't want to end this recap on a downer note. To wrap this up, check out these two art pieces that were sent out as invitations for the grand opening of the stores!

I hope you all enjoyed this latest blog entry. One of the highlights of running a blog like this is getting to share and discuss the rare, obscure, and forgotten things in the world of Hanna-Barbera, and from what I've gathered online, it appears that things don't get much more obscure for HB than these stores!

Don Messick: A Man of Many Voices

 Just like how everyone has their favorite Hanna-Barbera characters, everyone has their favorite Hanna-Barbera voice actors. From Daws Butler to Frank Welker, the number of talented voice artists the studio employed is truly staggering. But for me personally, my favorite actor has to be Don Messick, which is why I'm somewhat ashamed I've seldom mentioned him until today!

For the uninitiated, Don Messick was essentially Daws Butler's "partner in crime." In the early HB cartoons, almost all of the voices featured belong to these two men. In regards to the characters he played, Messick did vocals for Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm, Boo Boo, Ranger Smith, Dr. Quest, Astro, and many, many more. He was one of the first actors the studio employed, and he remained with them all the way until 1996, when a stroke forced him to retire.

Sadly, Messick passed away just a year later from another stroke at the age of 71. Despite his passing, however, he lives on through the characters he voiced, and through the memories of his family, friends, and colleagues. From what I've heard, Messick was as sweet of a man as there ever was. To celebrate his legacy, I'll share with you this article from the Los Angeles Times, dated September 11th, 1983. Here, he discusses his early days in radio, and the necessary traits that a voice actor should have to succeed in the field. 

MESSICK: MAN OF MANY VOICES

By James Brown

    If the name Don Messick doesn't ring a bell with most of you, his voice certainly will. Or, rather, his voices...Messick is indeed a man of many voices—ranging from Boo Boo Bear to Papa Smurf to Ricochet Rabbitt, among many other cartoon incarnations. There have been several dozen more commercial voiceover appearances for the likes of Kelloggs, Quaker Oats, Hasbro Toys and Jeno's Frozen Pizza. In all, there have been more than 200 TV series and specials featuring the voices of Don Messick, not to mention 3,000 cartoons. Yet he can walk down the streets of his Santa Barbara hometown virtually unrecognized.

    "Oh, there are a few cartoon freaks who sometimes recognize my straight voice if they hear it," Messick says, smiling, "but most of the time they haven't a clue. I guess that's because I rarely get an opportunity to use my own voice."

    Not that Messick is complaining. On the contrary. He and a select few others make their livings as voiceover artists. And it's a very good living. Voiceover work is a business which many aspire to yet few succeed at—possibly because the field is so populated by such dependable pros as Daws Butler, Casey Kasem, Joan Gerber, Gary Owens, Danny Dark and maybe a half-dozen others...including Don Messick.

    And Messick, like all of the above, got his start in radio—working on some of the popular dramas and comedies of the 1940s and '50s, including "The Raggedy Ann Show." Messick was Raggedy Andy.

    "I think people with radio backgrounds have an advantage," he said. "There's the ability to be a quick study, to grasp a character immediately and then get right to it. Time is of the essence on both cartoon and commercial work. So it helps to be fast."

    Messick got his broadcasting start at age 15 when he boldly walked into a local radio station, auditioned for the staff announcer's job and, to his surprise, got it. A short time later, Messick was given his own program. He was still in high school at the time.

    "I more or less taught myself radio technique," he said. "And in those days, that came mostly through listening to other shows. I really enjoyed the sitcoms. And not just the stars, either. I had more an affinity for the character actors. Even then, I was a character actor."

    Of course, with cartoon work the character actors often get the flashiest parts, sometimes several within the same program.

    "In my early days in TV, I'd sometimes do three or four characters a show," Messick says. "There was one program, 'Ruff 'n' Ready' in 1957, where Daws Butler and I did all of the voices. And I think that versatility pays off in the long run."

    Don Messick considers himself an actor and believes the mistake most would-be voiceover artists make is to downplay that ability.

    "A lot of young people are intrigued by this business," he said, "yet it never crosses their mind that the people who're successful at it are good actors first. You have to learn those skills first before you go into a session and try to create a character. I've had hundreds of tapes sent to me over the years and most of the voices I get are voices and characters we already have. The trick is to create something unique. That's where the creativity comes in. And that's also where the acting skills come in."

    Messick usually commutes to Los Angeles three days a week from his Santa Barbara home, working his various sessions at the Hanna-Barbera studios (where he has spent 25 years) and auditioning for other jobs as well. Yes, even Don Messick still has to audition.

    "I'm one of those fortunate people whose profession is also a hobby," he said. "I love to play with tape-recorders. I have a terrific time. So how can I possibly complain?"

If you'd like to know more about Messick, I highly recommend checking out Yowp's blog. I particularly recommend this post, which features Don reflecting on many of his most celebrated voices for Hanna-Barbera. 

Cartoon Network Toon Mail

 In the early years of Cartoon Network, one of the cooler things the channel did was a series of promos titled "Toon Mail." In these segments, the characters of several shows would answer viewer mail questions. What's especially cool about these is that in all of them, the characters are fully voice-acted. Some are portrayed by their original voice actors, while others are done by whatever actor had taken over the character at that time. Without further introduction, here's the first I'll share today, starring Birdman. I cannot say for certain, but I do believe his original voice actor Keith Andes plays him here.

In this second video, a girl tries to pawn off her brother on none other than Judy Jetson, voiced by Janet Waldo!

Hanna-Barbera characters weren't the only participants in these segments, however. Here's one featuring Popeye the sailor man! Here, he is portrayed by Maurice LaMarche. LaMarche previously played the character in the Hanna-Barbera-produced series Popeye and Son.

One especially interesting fact about these ads is that they were actually featured in other territories, like this one from Latin America starring Space Ghost. I'm curious as to who voiced this in the English counterpart: Gary Owens, or his Coast-to-Coast counterpart George Lowe.

I would not at all be surprised to learn that there were even more promos in this series than what can be found on Youtube, but I'd love to hear from any of you reading this. Are there any of these that you remember seeing back in the day? I'd be very interested in hearing if there are any that haven't been preserved online.

Arnold Stang Speaks

 When the topic of Hanna-Barbera voice actors comes up, you probably aren't going to see many people mention Arnold Stang in that list. Unlike say, Daws Butler or Don Messick, Stang only voiced one major character for the studio during his lifetime. That was, of course, the most effectual Top Cat. That's not to say he didn't voice other cartoon characters during his long career, but ol' T.C. was easily the most remembered of the bunch. Even though his voice-over career isn't as discussed as much as his contemporaries, Arnold Stang gave a performance that cemented Top Cat as one of HB's most classic characters. His voice work was so good, that just seeing an image of Top Cat is enough for you to start hearing his voice. That is why today, I thought I'd share two articles from two different points in time where Stang gave his voice to this indisputable leader of the gang. This first one, appearing in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, dates back to July 23rd, 1961, two months before the series began airing. Here, Arnold gives readers a sneak peek at what Top Cat had in store for them, and a look back at his animation career thus far.

Arnold Stang Tries Out New Voice for "Top Cat" Series

By Jack Gaver

NEW YORK, July 22 (UPI).

    

    THE USUAL QUESTION, "Are you a man or a mouse?" won't do for Arnold Stang.

    In his case, you have to ask, "Are you man, cat or mouse?" And he just might have trouble giving a snap answer.

    "The complication in the career of the slight, begoggled performer rises from the fact that besides being constantly employed as comedian Arnold Stang, in person, he is now prominent in the animated cartoon field.

    Stang has been the voice for "Herman the Mouse," a series of filmed shorts widely used in theaters and on television programs, and now he has the important assignment of voicing the title role in "Top Cat," a half-hour weekly animated series made especially for ABC-TV for a fall entry.

    "Actually, I received no billing for the 'Herman the Mouse' series," Stang Said. "and now, of course, I'll make no more of them. However, everyone who saw one of those shorts knew right away I did them. On account of the voice. They recognized it.

    "But I'm not using the 'Stang voice' for the 'Top Cat' series. I won't sound like me. When we first started making them, the question came up as to whether I shouldn't voice the cat in my natural manner. But I talked them out of it. I don't think my natural tone quite fits the character of T.C."

    "Top Cat" is another major cartoon creation by the Hanna-Barbera firm in Hollywood that made a splash this season with "The Flintstones," the first "adult" animation series especially created for television. "Top Cat" is also intended to be a bit above the "kiddie level," with a certain sophistication. T.C. is a big-city vagrant with a leadership quality that binds assorted felines to him. They get involved in stories that might just as well be played by human beings. A policeman will be the only regular human character of the show.

    "Some of the other well-known actors providing voices for the show," Stang said, "are Maurice Gosfield - you know, the Doberman of the old Phil Silvers series; Allen Jenkins, who talks for the cop; Leo de Lyon, who speaks for a beatnik type cat, and Bea Benedaret, who also does one of the voices on 'The Flintstones'.

    "I get a kick out of it. The stories are by some of the best script men on the coast, fellows who write regularly for all of the big series. Also, it doesn't tie me down too much. I'm free to do other TV work or make a picture or do a stage play."

    Cat lovers will want to know whether Stang really likes cats.

    "Well," he replied cautiously, "Let's say I'm very fond of this cat character."

After the original series wrapped up, Arnold Stang wouldn't voice T.C. again until the 1980s, when several projects were commissioned that brought the character back into the public consciousness. One of those projects was 1988's Top Cat and the Beverly Hills, a TV movie that was the first true continuation of the series since it was canceled (other Top Cat appearances before this were relegated to crossovers). In the March 26th edition of The Herald News, Stang discussed both his approach to comedy and show business in a section titled "Rodi's Spotlight."

ARNOLD STANG IS "TOP CAT"

    One of the people mentioned often in those "Whatever became of" queries has been comedian Arnold Stang. For years, he had been quite visible in all media fronts and then he practically disappeared from the major public scene.

    Television some months ago aired "IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD" and there was Stang doing his thing among many other noted comedians. He was introduced to a new young audience. Many could empathize with the man who usually portrayed the underdog, yet who had the delivery and ability to utter a few hilarious and relevant words to win his point.

    Once again on the move, Stang's high-pitched, distinctly nasal voice may now be heard on more than 12 commercials. That nasal tone is very likely the main reason Stang is the voice of TOP CAT, a favorite children's character, who is the star of an entourage consisting of BRAIN, CHOO-CHOO, BENNY the BALL, SPOOK and FANCY. This group of alley cats are the animated stars of "TOP CAT AND THE BEVERLY HILL CATS," airing in this part of the country on Saturday, March 26 from 1-3 p.m. on Channel 5.

    Although Stang enjoys performing for children (his own career began at age nine) and being principally known in the comedy field as a small, yet feisty "giant", his serious nature is what he uses to nurture his brand of comedy.

    "I try to apply the technique of serious acting to comedy," he says, "because I feel that any successful comedy player must have the complete credibility and sympathy of the audience. They've got to care before they laugh." His technique must be working because his tiny frame and often silly seriousness have touched many an audience. That serious side of Stang is the unknown one, And fans find meeting Stang for the first time, that he is quite a distance from the man they've seen on television or films.

    In fact, that famous voice drops a few notes and even manages to sound soft and soothing to his following, yet among show folk his apparent lack of tantrums and ego is well known. Stang has a reputation for being calm when frenzy surrounds him. While others haggle and demand during show rehearsals, Stang can usually be found off to a corner doing a crossword puzzle. He is polite, always on time and never taxing.

    Stang's off-stage persona...that calm relaxed attitude is to him a reflection of his unique position on most shows. "I'm usually called in on a guest star basis. I've worked with practically every star in the business and I've all the excitement without any of the crushing responsibilities. The applause that comes at the end of his show means only one thing to the star...that it's time to start worrying about next week's show. But I just take a bow, walk off...wash up, and go home."

    In the next few weeks, Stang will be starring in "THE ODD COUPLE" in Chicago. In promoting the animated children's special "TOP CAT AND THE BEVERLY HILLS CATS" on CHANNEL 5, he has been guesting on many area radio shows including WOR's JOAN HAMBURG show, where he was interviewed by the noted Arlene Francis.

    Without the neurosis inherent in show business, Stang practically stands alone. While Stang's "TOP CAT" cartoon special does not air during prime time on the network, this star is definitely prime material.

Jimmy Weldon: Remembering A Voice-Over Legend

Tonight, I'm going to discuss the man who gave his voice to Yakky Doodle, Jimmy Weldon. Unfortunately, I wish it was under better circumstances.

As I am sure you have heard by now, Jimmy Weldon passed away this past Thursday at the age of 99 in Paso Robles, California. The news broke early this afternoon and was reported on by many entertainment news outlets, like Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter. I, like a lot of you reading this, was devastated by the news. I have only ever heard kind things about Weldon from those who interacted with him, and with him no longer with us, we have lost another one of the few voice actors left from Hanna-Barbera's early years. But as the saying goes, "Don't be sad it's over, be glad it happened." So I thought I'd write up a biography on Mr. Weldon, and share some great links for those who want to learn even more about him.

Jimmy Weldon was born in Dale, Texas on September 23rd, 1923. Born Ivy Laverne Shinn, Jimmy Weldon had quite a varied career over the years, and that would be putting it mildly. He started his days in the entertainment world as a disc jockey, not long after serving in the Second World War. When the fifties began, Weldon made the jump from radio to television, becoming the host of a series titled The Webster Webfoot Show. It was through this series that Jimmy was really able to show his ventriloquism skills, and much like fellow ventriloquist Don Messick, it would not be long before Weldon joined Hanna-Barbera's small but growing ranks of voice actors.

The first ever voice Jimmy Weldon did for HB was also his most famous: Yakky Doodle. He initially portrayed the character in the original Yogi Bear cartoons but would go on to voice him several more times over the following decades, including later Yogi Bear specials and promos for the Cartoon Network. Weldon also provided many minor voices for other various Hanna-Barbera shows, such as Fred Flintstone and Friends, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Superfriends, and Popeye and Son. As far as I am aware, Weldon's last performance for the studio was performing a couple of additional voices for a 1992 episode of Tom & Jerry Kids. He ultimately worked for the studio for over three decades, which is quite a run if you ask me!

Of course, Weldon had a great television career beyond his work for Hanna-Barbera. He appeared in many classic shows, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Diff'rent Strokes, and Dallas. Rather interestingly, he did a voice-over role as recently as 2015 for an episode of the Disney XD animated series The 7D, his last performance. Weldon still was able to do voices for cartoons even into his nineties, which isn't something you see every day.

Though Weldon is no longer with us, he lives on in the memories he made, the characters he created, and all of the stories he shared. There is no shortage of great resources for those who want to learn more about Jimmy Weldon. He has his own website, complete with interviews and a section detailing the history of Webster Webfoot. There is also Go Get 'Em Tiger, an autobiography released back in 2007. Lastly, there are plenty of great written and video interviews with Weldon covering all facets of his life. I'll share one below that was posted back in 2017 that features him doing the voice of Yakky. Even at 93, Weldon still had the chops!

Rest in peace, Jimmy Weldon, and thank you for all the laughs. My thoughts go out to his family and friends in this difficult time.

Saturday Morning Forever

Over the last week on this blog, I have written a few articles on the old HB website of the 2000s. Now, I figured it was time to showcase this site's final and most intriguing area: Saturday Morning Forever. What's that you may be asking? In short, it was the video section of the website. Launching in late 2006, the service allowed users to watch full episodes of classics like Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, and many more, all for free. Two hours of shows were available each week, so there was always a new set of episodes to watch for the site's user base. 

Now, if that's all that Saturday Morning Forever was focused on, I'd probably not be talking about it now. You see, existing episodes were only eighty percent of the content offered on the service. The other twenty percent was made up of original content. According to a press release about the site featured in Animation World Network, these videos "re-imagined the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons with a nod to the media-savvy teen/tween audience." This is where I'd show you some of that original content, but unfortunately, it seems to have completely disappeared off the internet. Though the website has been archived on the Wayback Machine, all captures of it are essentially broken, as the site relied heavily on Flash to run. As a matter of fact, throughout my search of these original videos, the only thing I could find that was preserved from the site was the logo you see at the beginning of this post.

Though I couldn't find any of the original content hosted on Saturday Morning Forever, I discovered one type of video that might've been featured on the service. That, my friends, is a series of shorts titled The Great Gazoo's Flying Factoids. These videos repurposed clips from existing Hanna-Barbera shows, but with a few twists, like pop-up trivia or small tweaks to the scenes. Like the rest of the site's original content, these also appear to be lost to time. This, again, comes from an article posted on the AWN, and while I cannot verify that these videos were included on Saturday Morning Forever (the article discussing these videos predates the announcement of SMF by a few months), I would be very surprised if they were not, as they seem to fit the site's idea of new content perfectly. But I am interested in hearing from any of you reading this. Did you visit this site back in the day, and do you have any memory of what some of these original videos were? I would most definitely love to hear any stories you all have about them, and the site in general!

Video of the Week: A Call With Jean Vander Pyl

 I'm gonna be honest with you guys, I was kind of at a loss in regards to what I should showcase for this week's video. However, it seems luck was on my side in the end, as I was able to find this short little chat with legendary Hanna-Barbera voice actress Jean Vander Pyl, posted to Youtube only about a week ago! This was a 1989 call from the Mark and Brian Show, a pretty popular morning show that played on KLOS-FM for over twenty years. Admittedly, it isn't a super in-depth discussion or anything like that, but it's not every day you get to hear a "new" interview from a Hanna-Barbera mainstay. It's also pretty neat to hear her discuss some of her more obscure Jetsons characters. I never thought I'd hear her talk about Miss Galaxy, but she does just that here! That's enough outta me, I hope you enjoy this blast from the past!

More From the HB Website: An Assortment of Articles

 As I alluded to yesterday, there was a lot more to the Hanna-Barbera website of the 2000s than just a couple of wallpapers and flash games. One of the more intriguing features was a series of articles written exclusively for the site. These were essentially "discussions" with some of the most popular Hanna-Barbera characters. Some of these focused on the characters discussing their tastes in music. Check out the images below to see what Fred Flintstone and Jabberjaw listen to in their free time. These were the only two I could find in this series, but I'm sure there were others done for characters from other HB properties. Also, fair warning: if you have a distaste for rock puns, you may just want to skip Fred's list.

In addition to these articles, there was another series simply referred to as "Four Questions." These are pretty self-explanatory: they take a random character, and ask them four questions. Initially, I only could find ones for Wilma and Jabberjaw, but since the URLs for both are the same apart from the character name, I figured I'd try to see if I could get a result for any other characters. The only one that I ended up finding was an article for Yogi Bear, but I am sure more were made. They just weren't archived in the way the others were. 

One thing you may have noticed about these articles is that the authors of each are not listed, and are instead referred to simply as "Saturday Morning Forever". This was the same name given to the video-streaming portion of the site, which is an entirely different topic for another day. If you're a fan of (potentially) lost media, you'll be in for a real treat when I touch that subject!

A Quick Glance at the Old Hanna-Barbera Website

 I'm not sure how well-known this is, but back in the mid-2000s, Hanna-Barbera actually had their own website. It's long been defunct at this point (it seems to have gone down around 2008/09), but thanks to this post on the Internet Animation Database and the Wayback Machine, some pieces of the website can still be accessed. It should be noted that a lot of the website is still unusable due to its heavy use of Flash, a program that has since been discontinued, but I decided to catalog what is available on this blog.

I'll start off this exploration with what is probably the most preserved aspect of the website, its wallpapers. Hanna-Barbera.com offered a vast assortment of wallpapers based on many of their franchises. If you can think of a particular HB series, chances are there was at least one wallpaper based on it available on the site. The art used in these isn't anything particularly special, using the artwork of the characters used in most modern promo material, but I figured I'd share a few of my favorites. Like I said, these are pretty easy to find online, so if you want to check out more, a quick Google search for "Hanna-Barbera wallpapers" should suffice.

Like a lot of kid-focused websites, there was also a games section, which you can see below. The game titled "Black is the Knight" is a Touche Turtle game, for those who'd like to know. Unlike the website itself, a lot of these games actually have been preserved through programs like FlashPoint, so if you are interested in playing any of these, I highly recommend checking that out, and their list of games.

That's all for today, but check back here tomorrow for some of the more fascinating relics of this forgotten website. Ever wondered what would be on Fred Flintstone's personal mixtape? Probably not, but you'll find out that and more tomorrow!