Last-Century Miscellaney
Thanks to sapphohestia, I spent at least part of this morning going through images in the Frank M. Hohenberger photograph collection, which has an amazing array of photos from the early half of the 1900s, from surreal to workaday to historic to archaic to surprisingly modern-seeming. Worth a browse, at the least.
On a slightly more topical note, for those who are unaware, Thurl Ravenscroft, a giant in American voice acting, died Sunday. For those of you who don't recognize the name, I'll list off some of his work: Tony the Tiger, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" (from the TV special with Boris Karloff), "Grim Grinning Ghosts" (from the Disney Haunted Mansion), most of the bass lines on Rankin-Bass's musical numbers, and any number of musicals and Disney feature films and specials. In short, Thurl, apart from having among the coolest names known to man, was the cartoon bass voice of my youth.
This got me to thinking. Mel Blanc (May 30, 1908 - July 10, 1989), Daws Butler (November 16, 1916 - May 18, 1988), Don Messick (September 7, 1926 - October 24, 1997), and now Thurl. Pretty much the majority of the big names from early cartoons are gone, with the notable exception of June Foray. To a degree, their ubiquity can be seen as the direct result of the monolithic cartoon powerhouses of Disney, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. ...but it does get one to thinking.
It also gets me to looking at Wikipedia's list of voice actors and The Voice Actor Page. It also gets me to wondering who the next Thurl will be.
Edit: tooth_and_claw points out that Jim Cummings has really become a powerhouse voice actor, but I'll argue that he, in large part, took over where Sterling Holloway left off. I'll also note that Mark Hamill has managed some amazing voice acting in the recent past as well, including the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, which is ... well ... phenomenal.
On a slightly more topical note, for those who are unaware, Thurl Ravenscroft, a giant in American voice acting, died Sunday. For those of you who don't recognize the name, I'll list off some of his work: Tony the Tiger, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" (from the TV special with Boris Karloff), "Grim Grinning Ghosts" (from the Disney Haunted Mansion), most of the bass lines on Rankin-Bass's musical numbers, and any number of musicals and Disney feature films and specials. In short, Thurl, apart from having among the coolest names known to man, was the cartoon bass voice of my youth.
This got me to thinking. Mel Blanc (May 30, 1908 - July 10, 1989), Daws Butler (November 16, 1916 - May 18, 1988), Don Messick (September 7, 1926 - October 24, 1997), and now Thurl. Pretty much the majority of the big names from early cartoons are gone, with the notable exception of June Foray. To a degree, their ubiquity can be seen as the direct result of the monolithic cartoon powerhouses of Disney, Warner Brothers, and Hanna-Barbera. ...but it does get one to thinking.
It also gets me to looking at Wikipedia's list of voice actors and The Voice Actor Page. It also gets me to wondering who the next Thurl will be.
Edit: tooth_and_claw points out that Jim Cummings has really become a powerhouse voice actor, but I'll argue that he, in large part, took over where Sterling Holloway left off. I'll also note that Mark Hamill has managed some amazing voice acting in the recent past as well, including the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, which is ... well ... phenomenal.