June Foray: 1917-2017

A couple of days ago the news broke that June Foray had died at the age of 99. Since the news broke there have been hundreds of on-line tributes to her career in the voice-over field. I gave her a nickname that probably others have given to her as well, Voice Acting Goddess, and she's totally and completely deserving of the title. Is she the first lady of voice acting? Some may argue that she is...certainly she's the most famous and had the longest lasting career of her contemporaries Mae Questel and Janet Waldo...but some may bestow such a lofty title on Mae given that her career as the voice of Betty Boop dates back to the early '30s and it wasn't until the early '50s that June began to make a powerful mark in animation voice overs....hitting her stride in the mid '50s and beyond with a host of vocal performances in theatrically released cartoons. A lot of her earlier voice work happened to be for Disney and MGM. She had a lengthy career on radio that shouldn't be over-looked. A series she wrote, created, and hosted titled Lady Make Believe aired for a couple of years (1937-1939). The big break in radio came later in 1944 when she was chosen to be among the ensemble cast of a comedy program hosted by Ed McConnell. Smilin' Ed's Gang happened to be the show's title but many on-line sources cite the program under the title of The Buster Brown Program (the sponsor happened to be a shoe company named Buster Brown). Concurrently, 1947-1949, June appeared in a lot of comedy routines on a series titled Smile Time, hosted by future television comedy pioneer Steve Allen. June continued to pop up on various radio programs (comedy and drama) throughout the '50s...and this included the famed 1957 series, The Stan Freberg Show. By this point in time June had established herself as a top voice artist in animated cartoons. She had racked up a number of credits for Disney and MGM.

Some of her famed roles for those studios included Lucifer the Cat in 1950's Cinderella and several characters in Goofy and Donald Duck cartoons...and in one of those Donald Duck cartoons, 1952's "Trick or Treat", she portrayed a character named Witch Hazel (not to be confused with another character by that name...more on that, later...); she gave voice to a couple of characters named Mary in the MGM cartoons "One Cab's Family" (1952) and "Little Johnny Jet" (1953), both directed by Tex Avery. In 1955 she gave voice to the Warner Brothers character, Granny, for the first time. She replaced original voice artist, Bea Benaderet. The cartoon in which June makes her Granny debut is 1955's "Red Riding Hoodwinked" (directed by Friz Freleng; starring Sylvester and Tweety). Her next vocal appearance as Granny arrived later that same year in Friz Freleng's "This Is a Life?". In this cartoon Granny played the part of an audience member becoming increasingly disgusted/irritated with Daffy's obnoxious comments and opinions about Bugs Bunny and in a recurring visual gag she hits Daffy on the head with her umbrella several times to get him to be quiet. In the cartoon Bugs is being given the star treatment in a spoof of This Is Your Life. The following year, 1956, Warner Brothers released the Chuck Jones directed cartoon, "Broom-Stick Bunny". In this cartoon June takes over the role of Witch Hazel. The character had previously appeared in Chuck's "Bewitched Bunny" (1954) voiced by Bea Benaderet. June originally turned down the role of the Chuck Jones character of Witch Hazel because she felt he stole it from Disney. She'd voice the Chuck Jones character in three cartoons: "Broom-Stick Bunny" (1956), "A Witch's Tangled Hare" (1959); and "A-Haunting We Will Go" (1966) although the final appearance happened to be in a cartoon directed by Robert McKimson. June would next voice Witch Hazel in an episode of the Duck Dodgers series in 2003.

The same year that she took over the role of Witch Hazel (1956) she originated the roles of Knothead and Splinter in the Woody Woodpecker series. This series was released through Universal Studios, directed by Paul J. Smith, and produced by Walter Lantz. Knothead and Splinter are the niece and nephew of star character, Woody, and they're usually creating mischief...often appearing to be too smart for the villain of the episode. She voiced the siblings during all of their theatrical appearances...their first being "Get Lost" in 1956. 

1959 is a pivotal year in June's career as it marked the first time she voiced a starring character in an animated series. By this point in her career she had provided voices for dozens of cartoons from a group of iconic studios: Warner Brothers, Disney, MGM, and Universal; and she displayed her vocalizations in a string of comedy recordings by Stan Freberg (and she became one of the cast members of his 1957 radio show). In 1958, with made for TV cartoons being a product of the not too distant future, she was selected to voice the role of a male squirrel named Rocky for the Jay Ward studio. The series never made it to air until a year later, 1959, on ABC. The program broke ground in the area of cartoon humor. So many puns, one-liners, satire, and self-awareness by the characters flew over many of the children's heads no doubt but older children and young adults (and even older adults) watched the show. The program, "Rocky and His Friends", debuted on November 19, 1959. The show was ahead of it's time. It happened to be the shared creation of Jay Ward, key writer and voice actor, Bill Scott, and Alex Anderson. June was assigned the roles of Rocky and the Russian spy, Natasha; she also provided vocals for Nell Fenwick in a supporting segment, Dudley Dorite of the Mounties. Her co-stars in the Dudley Dorite segments were Bill Scott as Dorite, Paul Frees as Inspector Fenwick, and Hans Conried as the villain, Snidley Whiplash. She lent her voice to the other supporting segments, too: Peabody's Improbable History, Aesop and Son, and Fractured Fairy Tales. In the latter segment June and Daws Butler starred in the majority of installments. June often portrayed the fairy Godmothers or Princess characters...and many times the good or evil witches depending on the story...and Daws portrayed all of the male characters...sometimes Paul Frees would also contribute in this segment.

In time the series changed networks and title. Jumping from ABC to NBC in 1961 the series became "The Bullwinkle Show" with only slight differences. June later added the roles of Ursula and Marigold to her growing list of characters. Ursula was the mate of George, a Tarzan-like character, in Jay Ward's "George of the Jungle". In a supporting segment, Tom Slick, June voiced Tom's girlfriend, Marigold. The oddity in these characters is that, vocally, they're the same as Dudley Dorite and Nell Fenwick and yet it's not something that you actually think of when you watch the cartoons. The show is still funny but at the same time you love hearing those voices...and Jay Ward knew that.

In an interview June gave in 1987 for a Daws Butler documentary she commented that both she and Daws had performed the same voices several times for multiple characters in one session. She remarked that they recorded 5 episodes of Fractured Fairy Tales a night and they brought it to Jay's attention that she did a voice similar to Marjorie Main in 2 episodes and that Daws did his Charles Butterworth impression on several episodes in the session. After inquiring if Jay would like them to re-record the lines with different voices so there wouldn't be a feeling of sameness Jay replied that he wanted those voices. You can't fault him for that. As I watch the DVD of Season 2 of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" it never enters my mind that there's a voice similar to another character...I'm too busy grinning, giggling, or laughing to even care to notice. The same is true for Jay's other main series, "George of the Jungle".

There is another series, "Fractured Flickers", which a lot of the Jay Ward fans rate pretty high but I'm not as familiar with it because it didn't play on TV much, if at all, during my childhood (the '80s and early '90s). It's a live-action series hosted by Hans Conried in which footage of old movies (mostly silent films) are played with re-dubbed, comically-infused dialogue from June, Paul Frees, and Bill Scott. Here's an episode...June can be heard in the first re-dubbed presentation. Paul is the narrator.



June's autobiography, Did You Grow Up With Me, Too?, which you see in the photo above arrived nearly 50 years after the debut of "Rocky and His Friends". The book hit in 2009. I wrote a review of it back then and posted it on Amazon's website in addition to posting the review here on my blog. She never received any industry awards (speaking of Oscar or Emmy recognition) at the time of the book's release but several years later, in 2012, she received her first Emmy trophy at the Daytime Emmy Awards. She won for her role as Mrs. Cauldron in the CGI "The Garfield Show". At the time of her win she was 94. Speaking of industry accolades...she was instrumental in getting animation included in several awards organizations. In 1988 she received the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award (given out during The Eisner Awards). In 1995 the organization she created in 1972, The Annie Awards, began awarding The June Foray Award. The Oscars began recognizing animated feature films on a more consistent basis starting in 2001...and a lot of that had to do with June's behind the scenes efforts at getting the Academy Awards to consider animated films in the same light as live-action films. There's drama and comedy in live-action films and there's animated films that are either dramatic or comedic...so what's the difference? In both cases you have actors (on-screen or voice-over) and you have characters (live-action or animated). In 2013 she received the Governor's Award at the Creative Arts Emmy gala. The Creative Arts Emmy Awards spotlight mostly non-traditional categories which rarely get spotlighted on the televised Prime Time Emmy Awards.

In the collage to the left are just a few of the hundreds of animated characters that June gave voice to. I attempted to single out the various animation studios that she provided voices for. This of course is meant as a tribute collage but by no means is it definitive. I hadn't even mentioned, until now, her work for Rankin/Bass or her iconic role as Cindy Lou Who in the Chuck Jones classic, How The Grinch Stole Christmas. In the 1980s she gave voice to Jokey Smurf and Mother Nature in "The Smurfs" and Aunt May in "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" cartoon. So don't let this memorial blog completely satisfy you...I encourage all of you to seek out her career and delve into it and find out so many other aspects of her contributions to animation that I hadn't even touched upon. The best way to do that is to purchase her autobiography (obviously!) but also visit YouTube or Amazon and see all of the available on-line cartoons that she lent her voice to. Her two enduring characters are Granny and Rocky. She voiced Granny the longest...from the theatrical cartoons of the '50s and '60s to the various made for TV cartoon specials and later television productions from Warner Brothers: "The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries" (1995-2000), "Baby Looney Tunes" (2001-2003; 2004-2006), and "The Looney Tunes Show" (2011-2014; recurring character). Ma Beagle is a character that appeared on the Disney series, "DuckTales", as did Magica De Spell (she's the duck character in the first panel of the collage). Ma Beagle, located in panel seven, and the short tempered Grammi Gummi, located in panel nine, were both given June's Marjorie Main voice. Marjorie, for those that don't know, portrayed Ma Kettle in a string of comedy movies. Knothead and Splinter are in panel 6. The Chuck Jones version of Witch Hazel is in panel 2. Granny can be found in panels 3 and 8. When June took over as Granny in 1955 the character appeared in that kind of physical design. Later, the animators returned the character to her more familiar design seen in panel 8. In panel 4 it's Rocky the flying squirrel. In the center of the collage is a publicity photo of June at a recording studio which I opened the memorial blog post with.

June was involved in a car accident sometime in 2015...and although she survived you could say it ended her prolific, legendary career. She never lent her voice to any animated program or video game after 2014. Her voice lives on, though, in numerous animated programs and video games. How many people, I wonder, learned through her obituary that she was the voice of Talky Tina in one of the famed episodes of "The Twilight Zone"? I knew of that fact for years but many others are probably finding it out and probably rushed to YouTube to see if they could find the episode. It's an episode titled Living Doll and it stars Telly Savalas. It originally aired November 1, 1963.

June Foray was born June Forer on September 18, 1917 and died of cardiac arrest at the age of 99 on July 26, 2017.

Bugs Bunny: Superstar

I've been aware of this documentary for more than 20 years now. I first saw it on television at some point in the early '90s on TBS or TNT. It had previously been issued on home video and years later it became available on DVD as a bonus feature on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume Four. It was split in two parts, on two separate discs...much like other documentaries that appear on the other Golden Collection releases. This time it's presented by itself. The program is narrated by Orson Welles and it begins rather dramatic as he tells of various landmarks throughout the world that have made an impact in some way on mankind. He then, in a rather mystified and questionable tone of voice, submits Termite Terrace among the landmarks worthy of adoration. Welles narrates and introduces all involved...the interview clips often begin with the interview already in progress and we are let in on the conversation. Bob Clampett receives the bulk of the airtime. Within the documentary you will see 9 cartoons in their entirety. As others have mentioned, most documentaries only show bits and pieces of cartoons or stills of characters whereas this one airs 9 cartoons in their entirety. In an audio commentary, a bonus feature, you will discover the story of why the special was put together and why Bob Clampett received much of the focus (even though all of the other famed Looney Tune directors, except Frank Tashlin, were still among the living at the time of filming).

This is a must-have documentary in my opinion. If this will be your first time seeing this documentary, but you've seen the various Behind the Tunes features on the Golden Collection series, then this 1975 Superstar documentary will perhaps perplex or confuse most of you. Why? It's because of a lot of the information from Clampett in the Superstar documentary has either been dismissed or shown to be partly true.

Now, of course, armed with a lot more knowledge of the cartoons and the behind the scenes information that we have access to today, it may make watching the Superstar documentary cringe-worthy to some but if you simply want to see a few of the legendary cartoon directors speak of their cartoons as well as see 9 full length cartoons...in addition to hearing the audio from the film maker, Larry Jackson...plus hear Orson Welles narrate...this DVD will not disappoint!

Although it's been almost 4 decades since this special first aired, it nonetheless aired numerous times on cable TV throughout the 1980's and most of 1990's, usually in overnight and early morning time slots or during times of the day with younger audiences. Given that kind of exposure, a lot of the information in the film continued to be accepted as fact. I, too, blindly accepted a lot of the things I was hearing in this special as fact but it wasn't until the Golden Collection series came along and the increase in animation web-sites (with a lot more credible information) that I was able to see that there was a lot of credit hogging taking place amongst many (especially the creation of Bugs Bunny).

You can look up various websites that offer one side of the story verses another when it comes to character creation and see all the multiple accounts and second hand information, etc. etc. Clampett certainly played a vital role in the studio's success, no doubt about it, and his cartoons are hilariously funny in my opinion. This doesn't mean that I don't love the subtlety of the Chuck Jones cartoons or the razor sharp timing and musical prowess of the Friz Freleng cartoons. I don't have any one director, in particular, that stands above the rest and receives exclusive admiration and adoration...there are cartoons from all of the major directors at the cartoon studio that I like for various reasons. Some people actually believe that if you like Clampett's work then you can't possibly like anything from Chuck Jones, for example. There are those who think that if you gravitate toward Friz Freleng then there's no possible way that you could enjoy something from Robert McKimson, Norm McCabe, or Art Davis.

All of that aside, Bugs Bunny Superstar provides a look into the golden age of animation and it continues to remain a must-have in that it includes actual footage of all involved.

There is another documentary that I'd love to see get a DVD release by itself. As of now it's only available on Vol. 1 of the Golden Collection and it's John Canemaker's 'Boys From Termite Terrace'. That documentary along with this Bugs Bunny Superstar DVD are must-have's simply for the video footage of several of the directors speaking in detail about their cartoons.

It's a shame Robert McKimson wasn't as active in either of those documentaries. He died, suddenly, in 1977 at age 66. I love his cartoon parodies of TV shows and the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons he did. I also like how he didn't follow the formula for a lot of the established characters and for humor's sake would place Bugs Bunny, for example, as an overly aggressive character out to prove his worth in "Rebel Rabbit"; then there was "Easter Yeggs" where Bugs, at first, is tormented by a sorrowful rabbit as well as Elmer Fudd and a nameless juvenile delinquent forever wanting an Easter egg; there's "The Windblown Hare" that spoofs The Three Little Pigs story by having the pigs as conniving schemers who pull a fast one on Bugs and then there's the Wolf who mostly remains clueless to anything that doesn't follow along with the fairy tale he's reading; there's "Hillbilly Hare", "French Rarebit", "Rabbits Kin" introduced the animation world to Pete Puma; there's "The Grey Hounded Hare", as well as many others. I hadn't even mentioned the various popular cartoons he did with the Tasmanian Devil. His cartoons included their share of catch-phrases and scenes that are just as memorable as the other directors.

McKimson was just as great as his peers but his tendency to shy from attention, adoration and publicity in a manner in which his contemporaries didn't caused his work to be greatly under appreciated. You can read about him and his two brothers, Charles and Tom, in a book that Robert McKimson, Jr. wrote titled "I Say...I Say...Son!".

Bugs Bunny's original Birthday...

During a news break this morning while listening to the radio it was announced that today marked the 75th birthday of Bugs Bunny. Doing the math, 2013 minus 75 is 1938. It was on April 30, 1938 that an as yet to be named rabbit character appeared in an animated theatrical cartoon titled Porky's Hare Hunt. This rabbit character would evolve over the course of 2 years and visually start to resemble the character we all know as Bugs Bunny. The rabbit got it's name through a chain of events where an employee at Warner Brothers had written the phrase Bugs's Bunny on a model sheet of the yet to be named character. Ben Hardaway's nickname at the studio, according to those who worked with him, was Bugs. Today many historians refer to him as Ben "Bugs" Hardaway. 

Anyway, the alliterative name stuck and from then on Bugs Bunny became the character's name.

However, longtime fans, historians, and those who worked on the cartoons cite 1940 as the official birth year of Bugs Bunny for it was in a July 27, 1940 cartoon directed by Tex Avery titled A Wild Hare which introduced the basic visual appearance that Bugs Bunny has kept over the last 73 years. Porky's Hare Hunt was directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton. A Wild Hare was directed by Tex Avery. Research shows that there were four theatrical cartoons released between April 1938 and March 1940 starring the future Bugs Bunny. Those cartoons are as follows:

1. Porky's Hare Hunt; 1938  (Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton)

2. Prest-O Change-O; 1939  (Chuck Jones)

3. Hare-um Scare-um; 1939  (Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton)

4. Elmer's Candid Camera; March 2, 1940  (Chuck Jones)

A Wild Hare, with the new design of the rabbit, soon followed in July 1940. This is probably the only animated character that has two birthday's. April 30, 1938 and July 27, 1940. Given that the 1940 cartoon by Tex Avery is almost always universally accepted as the first official Bugs Bunny cartoon, 1940 is considered his official 'birth year'. This is why, in 1990, there was a lot of media hype surrounding the character's Golden Anniversary...hitting 50. Ten years later ABC-TV cancelled the long running Saturday morning Bugs Bunny Show franchise (which had evolved into The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show). This particular series, which ran on various networks and time-slots since 1960, had turned 40 in the year 2000. Since that point in time the Looney Tunes characters have mostly aired on cable television, off and on, in addition to a long list of DVD compilation projects. Down through the years I've been able to purchase several items pertaining to Bugs Bunny and his numerous co-stars plus a couple of items about the man who gave voice to Bugs Bunny from 1938 through 1989, Mel Blanc.

At this time I'd like to put on display some of my Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes/Mel Blanc items from my personal collection...

This is a relatively brand new book. It hit the market late in 2012 and I finally got around to purchasing it a few weeks ago. I have purchased a couple of other books from the pen of Ben Ohmart within the last several years and so when I first learned that a book about Mel Blanc was on the horizon I couldn't wait until it's release. Throughout the book there is commentary from Mel's son, Noel, taken from an unpublished biography that Noel wrote about his father. Ohmart's book, titled Mel Blanc- The Man of a Thousand Voices, it features many, many, many facts about a man who became one of the most busiest actors in radio, cartoons, and records...and later added television appearances to his long list of credits. Speaking of credits...this book gives a detailed account on everything that Mel Blanc took part in from the early days of his career through his final projects in 1989. It's truly a fabulous, unique, and addictive kind of book for those who are not only fans of Mel Blanc but of classic animated cartoons in general, whether theatrically released or made-for-TV. The book is also filled with quotes and remembrances by a long list of celebrities in an out of animation that Mel worked with or were inspired by. Mel's friendship with Jack Benny is explored in more detail in this book, too. The book is lengthy but this is not to be a surprise for an actor of Mel's considerable longevity...before hitting national radio in the late '30s, right around the time he was just starting his decades long run with Warner Brothers cartoons, Mel was a feature on local radio for a period of years in Oregon prior to making the move down to the Los Angeles area. In addition to the written word there are plenty of pictures throughout. Some of the images, I assume, are exclusive to the book as I hadn't seen quite a few of them until now. This fabulous book can be purchased HERE.  
  

Although this particular book has nothing to do with Bugs Bunny, it's all about Tweety and Sylvester, the canary and cat duo that featured prominently in many of the Warner Brothers releases throughout the mid '40s through the '50s. The book was issued in 1991, written by Jerry Beck. By the early '60s Sylvester's more frequent nemesis had changed from Tweety to the fastest mouse in Mexico, Speedy Gonzales. The book takes a look at every theatrically released cartoon to feature each character, either as a duo or separately. The two characters would, many decades after their creation, star in a television series titled The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries. The series debuted in 1995, the 50th anniversary of the first theatrical cartoon starring Sylvester titled "Life with Feathers". Like Bugs Bunny, Sylvester was a yet to be named character. In fact, he was referred to as Thomas in early cartoons with Tweety.

In 1988 Mel Blanc issued his autobiography titled That's Not All, Folks!. The book is a fascinating look into the life and times of one of animation's greatest voices. As the years went on and more and more fans had gotten older and more and more aspiring voice actors/actresses came along who had grown up watching the various Looney Tunes programs, the book seemed to take on much more scrutiny than it did when it was originally released. There are a few recollections in the book that contradict information later brought to light and then there's the longstanding argument over the creation of the Foghorn Leghorn voice. At the root of the argument, basically, is the origin of the voice and how possible it is that both Mel Blanc and Kenny Delmar were inspired by similar sounding fictional characters and each used that distinctive voice without copying from the other...Foghorn Leghorn debuted right at the height of the Senator Claghorn craze in 1946. Claghorn was a radio character played by Kenny Delmar on Fred Allen's radio program starting in the latter half of 1945. Keith Scott writes about this very subject HERE.  

June Foray issued her autobiography, Did You Grow Up With Me, Too?, a couple of years ago. It was co-authored by Mark Evanier and Earl Kress. I'm proud to say that I wrote the first Amazon review of this particular book. You can read that review HERE. June had quite an impact in the Looney Tunes series as she gave voice to a few characters that have since become animation icons. The original voice actress of Granny and Witch Hazel was Bea Benaderet. Bea would later give voice to Betty Rubble in The Flintstones. Like June, Bea had a lengthy career in radio and on records in addition to the cartoon work. Bea, however, would become even more recognizable as a face actress in the 1950's and 1960's appearing in an assortment of early television comedies. Bea's longest running television role was as matriarch Kate Bradley on the rural sitcom, Petticoat Junction. June stepped into the roles of Granny and Witch Hazel during the 1950's and she's been the voices of those characters ever since. Unlike Mel Blanc, though, June wasn't tied to just one animation company exclusively for so many years. In addition to her Warner Brothers work she concurrently gave voice to another animated icon, Rocky the Flying Squirrel, on the Bullwinkle series of cartoons by the Jay Ward company. She became even more busy in the 1980's. She gave voice to Jokey Smurf and Mother Nature in the Smurfs series throughout the decade. For the Disney company June was the voices of several characters in the mega hits The Adventures of the Gummi Bears and Duck Tales from the mid '80s onward. You can read more about her by getting the autobiography!

This obscure 2005 CD features quite a number of songs recorded by Mel Blanc. What a lot of people usually forget about or don't know is that Mel had a lengthy recording career outside of animated cartoons. Although a lot of his recordings centered around the animated characters that he gave voice to in a series of children's albums there were quite a few recordings where he uses his natural voice, too, but those weren't as commercially successful as the recordings he did with the humorous voices and sound effects. There are 25 songs featured. Some of the highlights, for me, are "Yosemite Sam", "I Tan't Wait Till Quithmuth Day", "The E.I.O. Song", "Morris", "Yah Das Ist Ein Christmas Tree", "Money", "Barney Google", "That Hat I Got For Christmas Is Too Beeg", "I Tell My Troubles to Joe", and "The Missus Wouldn't Approve". For the latter two songs he uses a voice similar to the one he gave to the Happy Postman character on The Burns and Allen Show. He gives a display of quite a few voices as each voice takes turn performing "Barney Google". The CD kicks off with his version of "The Woody Woodpecker Song". The recording had originally been recorded and released by the immensely popular bandleader, Kay Kyser, in 1948. His recording featured the vocalizations of Harry Babbitt and Gloria Wood. The song is a perfect example of an obscurity amongst a general audience in that Mel Blanc provided the original voice of Woody Woodpecker and created the famous laugh heard throughout a bulk of the series. The Woody character was created by Ben Hardaway in 1940...yes, the same one who played a pivotal role in the original version of Bugs Bunny in 1938. In fact, Woody's vocalization as provided by Mel Blanc was almost exactly the way the original version of Bugs Bunny sounded...right down to the distinct laugh. Mel provided Woody's voice in animated form in just the first four releases. This is because in 1941 Mel signed an exclusive contract with the Warner Brothers cartoon division (Leon Schlesinger Productions) and from that point forward Mel's voice could only be heard on cartoons released by Warner Brothers. This exclusive contract was kept intact for nearly 20 years.

However, the exclusive contract applied to animated cartoons only...it didn't prevent him from using his voice on radio and on records. In radio, Mel was heard on dozens of radio programs playing a wide variety of recurring characters. Given that his radio characters were as animated as the characters in the cartoons it wasn't uncommon for the writers of the cartoons to blend both worlds together and have in-jokes flowing all over the cartoons about various radio comedies that Mel was featured on. References to Jack Benny were used the most given that Jack's radio program was the #1 comedy show for so many years and that Mel provided many character voices on that series. One cartoon in particular, 1959's The Mouse That Jack Built, must have seemed surreal to audiences at the time. It was directed by Robert McKimson and featured the actual cast of The Jack Benny Program providing their character voices, drawn as mice. Mel provided the voice of the Maxwell jalopy as well as the unseen Ed, the Vault Keeper. On radio Joseph Kearns provided the voice of Ed. Considering that Ed only had a brief exchange with the cartoon Jack Benny it was probably decided that it wouldn't make much sense to bring in Joseph Kearns for just one single line reading. Later that year he would take on the role of Mr. Wilson on Dennis the Menace.

I've posted several of these images before in numerous other blog entries. The Looney Tunes Golden Collection continues to be, for me, the bible of Warner Brothers theatrical cartoons from beginning to end. The various DVD discs focus on a particular overall theme, pretty much, and so what you get are deliberately selective cartoon entries on each disc that have to do with the overall theme. For example, one of the disc's may be devoted to just the cartoons starring Bugs Bunny (obviously!) and another disc may deal with cartoons that feature only Daffy Duck or Porky Pig. In some of the last collections there was a lot more coverage of the black and white era and the earliest Looney Tunes characters...I'm referring to the characters that arrived prior to the debut of Porky, Daffy, Bugs, Tweety, and Sylvester. If you don't know who those characters were then they'll be a revelation if you purchase the later installments of the Golden Collection series. Also, I've almost wore out one of the disc's...the one that features the World War Two cartoons found in the collection below. The war cartoons are endlessly entertaining but I went to play it one day and it stopped playing during one of the cartoons. I don't know if I really did wear the disc out or if it's one of those unexplained glitches having more to do with the DVD player rather than the disc itself.
 

Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection

A week from today, according to Amazon, there will be a new Looney Tunes DVD collection hitting the market. This one is titled The Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection. The release date is August 28. The project will feature 2 discs of 19 cartoons directed by Chuck Jones...and all the cartoons in some shape, fashion, or form deal with mice characters. There are 11 bonus cartoons, also showcasing mice as the lead characters, and the bulk of those cartoons are directed by Friz Freleng. Seldom mentioned director, Alex Lovy, is represented by the short, "Merlin the Magic Mouse", while Tex Avery has a lone cartoon as well. Robert McKimson has two cartoons and Chuck Jones is represented with a cartoon amongst the 11 bonus offerings. This leaves the remaining 6 bonus cartoons under the direction of Friz Freleng. You can pre-order the DVD now when you visit Amazon. Some of the more well-known mice characters appearing in the cartoons, the ones that are well known to fans of Warner Brothers cartoons, are Hubie and Bertie, Sniffles, and Speedy Gonzales.

Looney Tunes...crazy...100% nuts...

Posing with a book that I bought several years ago at a book store in a shopping mall, this blog entry is really about my salute to the Looney Tunes characters and those of the Merrie Melodies. Originally, there was a distinct separation between the two series from Warner Brothers. However, as time went on, the characters started to appear interchangeably to the point where there wasn't much of a distinction anymore other than the differing titles for both sets of cartoons. Originally the Merrie Melodies series featured serious, Disney-like cartoons with heavy use of songs from the Warner Brothers music catalog. The Looney Tunes series featured the wild and crazy cartoons that were funny in comparison. It's these cartoons and that style which pushed the more serious cartoons off to the side as time went on.

The series had it's share of top directors, animators, writers, etc etc and one of the most interesting things about the Warner Brothers cartoon directors and writers is that their names are more widely known than the directors and writers at Disney and MGM, the two chief rivals in the theatrical cartoon business to Warner Brothers. I suppose if I looked it up, the cartoon directors at Disney would be easy to find in this internet age but would they be names that I'm familiar with? I admit that this feeling comes from being raised on the Warner Brothers cartoons. I know of the Disney characters...who doesn't know of Mickey Mouse? Donald Duck? Goofy? Winnie the Pooh? I couldn't tell you who the cartoon directors were. A lot of it has to do with, as I mentioned, not being raised on Disney cartoons. When I was younger the Disney cartoons were exclusive to the Disney channel...a premium channel...that my parent's didn't spend extra money for. This was several years before the local FOX stations started airing Disney cartoons in the afternoons in the late '80s.

As I mentioned, when I was growing up, it was the Warner Brothers cartoons I was most familiar with. Popeye was another...and Tom and Jerry, along with MGM's cast of characters. As I got older I discovered the made-for-TV cartoons of Hanna-Barbera and liked those cartoons as well.

The most talked about, or celebrated, directors at Warner Brothers during their golden age were:

1. Friz Freleng
2. Chuck Jones
3. Tex Avery
4. Bob Clampett
5. Robert McKimson

After those five, you then usually hear about...

6. Frank Tashlin
7. Art Davis
8. Norm McCabe

Ironically, #3 and #4 were with the studio a short number of years, instead of decades like Chuck, Friz, and Bob McKimson...but even today, among Warner Brothers cartoon fans, both Bob Clampett and Tex Avery have just as much discussion as the others.

Who you don't hear much about are #6 through #8. This is just my opinion but the big reason for this is because they didn't make any cartoons that have stood the test of time. Art Davis was more of an animator turned director for a few cartoons. Frank Tashlin made just as many cartoons as Bob Clampett and Tex Avery but his cartoons seldom got much attention due to their lack of exposure to various generations. The Bugs Bunny Show helped expose the characters to 4 generations of audiences starting in 1960. The cartoons from Chuck, Friz, and Bob McKimson were heavily favored.

It was on the air on ABC, then CBS, and then back to ABC during it's 40 year run. The show during it's final ABC run was titled The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show and it left the air in 2000 after a 40 year run on the air, in various time slots and under various titles.

The book that you see me holding is a companion book, of sorts. It details the history of Sylvester and Tweety and it gives a year by year break down of the cartoons. It gives writer, director, producer, and animation credits along with voice credits for each cartoon listed and if it was nominated or if it won an Oscar then it was noted.

A cartoon winning an Oscar?? Yes...for those who aren't too well studied about theatrical cartoons...there was once a category called "Best Short Subject". There still may be a category called that?? Anyway...that category was usually reserved for the animated cartoon that would air in movie theaters prior to the showing of the movie. The Academy would then nominate which cartoons, or "short subjects", they felt were Oscar worthy. The cartoons were dubbed short subjects because, obviously, the running time was short compared to a feature length movie. Most cartoons ran no longer than 8 minutes...9 minutes was a rare occasion...6 minutes or 6 and a half was the norm for most cartoons.

When the winner was announced, the Oscar was awarded to the producer...the writers or director or anyone else weren't given any Oscar's for their participation. The producer of the cartoons, originally, was Leon Schlesinger. He was the producer until the mid 1940's...around 1944/1945. He sold his company to Warner Brothers and Eddie Selzer became the new producer. From the things I've read and from the commentary made by those who worked on the cartoons, Selzer wasn't too popular among the directors. Friz Freleng recounts an incident where Selzer insisted that Sylvester team up with a woodpecker for a series of cartoons. Sylvester and the woodpecker had appeared in just one cartoon together, prior to the cat officially being called "Sylvester".

Friz had gotten the idea to team Sylvester up with the Tweety character that Bob Clampett created. Selzer didn't like the idea and Friz threatened to walk away from the studio...and then Selzer contacted Friz and gave in and told Friz to go ahead and team Sylvester up with Tweety. Their first cartoon together as a team won an Oscar, 1947's "Tweetie Pie".

Some things the average cartoon watcher may not know is Robert McKimson created the character, Speedy Gonzales, but it was Friz Freleng who had his unit re-design the character into what people recognize today and Friz directed several Speedy cartoons and Robert McKimson later began directing his own Speedy cartoons based on the Hawley Pratt design. Pratt was Friz's layout artist. McKimson is also responsible for Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester Jr, and the Tazmanian Devil. Henery Hawk was a character created by Chuck Jones but McKimson borrowed the character and used him extensively in the Foghorn Leghorn series of cartoons.

Out of all the directors at the studio, Friz won the most Oscars.

Chuck Jones is often more celebrated and hyped given that his approach to cartoons mirrors the collegiate and intellectual approach to animation. His cartoons, while hilarious, tended to be slightly Avant-garde in comparison to the belly-laugh style of Friz and McKimson. Tex Avery on the other hand went beyond belly-laughs and could have a viewer laughing without anything hilarious going on...a simple facial expression or some other timed gag in one of his cartoons was as funny as dialogue and out of all the directors, Avery could get laughs with sight gags because of how well-timed they were. He would become even more legendary at MGM...the studio he left Warner Brothers for. Bob Clampett, who adopted a Tex Avery style, would also depart the studio. Frank Tashlin left cartoons for live action movies. So, for a bulk of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies throughout the 1940s, 1950's, and into the early 1960's you had three directors: Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, and Robert McKimson. Mel Blanc was the main voice artist for the studio from the late 1930s through the 1960's. He had co-stars, though. Arthur Q Bryan voiced Elmer Fudd for years. Bea Benaderet voiced Granny and many female characters up through the mid 1950's prior to June Foray coming aboard to voice Bea's characters and others that came along. Daws Butler was often heard doing celebrity impressions. Stan Freberg gave voice to quite a few characters that played off against characters Mel provided the voice to.

For those who want to see hilarious Warner Brothers cartoons seek out the Golden Collection DVD series. Not only will you get the cartoons but you'll also get a boat load of extra's that feature interview clips with the directors and animators involved in the cartoons. All of the major players, speaking about directors and writers and animators, are all gone. A few of the voice actors are still around. Here's a life-line of the heavy hitters at the studio and the lesser-known's...

Leon Schlesinger: May 20, 1884-December 25, 1949 {65; producer}

Eddie Selzer: January 12, 1893-February 22, 1970 {77; producer}

Mel Blanc: May 30, 1908–July 10, 1989 {81; voice artist}

Friz Freleng: August 21, 1906–May 26, 1995 {88; director}

Chuck Jones: September 21, 1912–February 22, 2002 {89; director}

Tex Avery: February 26, 1908-August 26, 1980 {72; animator/director}

Robert McKimson: October 13, 1910-September 29, 1977 {66; animator/director}

Bob Clampett: May 8, 1913-May 4, 1984 {70; animator/director}

Arthur Q Bryan: May 8, 1899–November 18, 1959 {60; voice artist}

**Stan Freberg: August 7, 1926- {currently 83; voice artist}

Bea Benadaret: April 4, 1906–October 13, 1968 {62; voice artist}

**June Foray: September 18, 1917- {curently 91; voice artist}

Daws Butler: November 16, 1916–May 18, 1988 {71; voice artist}

Frank Tashlin: February 19, 1913-May 5, 1972 {59; director}

Art Davis: June 14, 1905-May 9, 2000 {94; animator/director}

Norm McCabe: February 10, 1911-January 17, 2006 {94; animator/director}

Mike Maltese: February 6, 1908—February 22, 1981 {73; writer}

Warren Foster: October 24, 1904-December, 1971 {67; writer}

Tedd Pierce: August 12, 1906—February 19, 1972 {65; writer}

Carl Stalling: November 10, 1891–November 29, 1972 {81; music conductor}

Milt Franklyn: September 16, 1897–April 24, 1962 {64; music conductor}

=======================

**- both June Foray and Stan Freberg are the only surviving members of the Golden Age of Warner Brothers cartoons.

June Foray: The Autobiography

This book about the first lady of voice acting, called Did You Grow Up With Me, Too?, chronicles the life and times both on and off the air of June Foray. There are quite a collection of pictures of June and her voice acting co-stars...one that caught my eye right away, given that it was the first picture in the book, is a glorious picture of June surrounded by 5 amazingly talented people in the animation business. They're all standing side by side. There are pictures of June during the 1940's and 1950's...pictures of her, Stan Freberg, and Daws Butler and pictures of character's she gave voice to. It's a nice balance between her career and personal life, which of course is what an autobiography is. The epilogue section was written by June and it's dated July, 2009. Leonard Maltin wrote the forward...and do you know the story behind June Foray having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? You'll find out within the pages of this book.

A lot of the book is broken up into chapters that follow a theme. Near the end of the book there's a chapter dedicated to a few people June knew that are no longer living. Bill Scott, Jay Ward, Paul Frees, and a few others. She tells the intricate details of what "looping" means and she explains that it's wise to be punctual because it pays by the hour. Chapter Eight, called "My Rocky Life" is dedicated to her being cast in the Bullwinkle series, once known as Rocky and His Friends. This is where she remembers much of the Jay Ward era and offers pictures that were taken in the studio with her and Bill Scott and there's a picture of her, Bill, and Jay Ward; and a picture of her and Paul Frees. There are cartoon stills of the characters. In Chapter seven, called "Chuck Who?" for comical purposes, is about her association with Warner Brothers director, Chuck Jones. The chapter was called that because June didn't know who Chuck Jones was. In a lot of her interviews she admits to not being much of a cartoon watcher so she didn't really know who made the cartoons. Chuck cast her as Witch Hazel, the name of another witch that the Disney studio cast her as.

Legal acrobatics enabled Warner Brothers to continue using the Witch Hazel name. Bea Benaderet, the prominent female voice on mostly all of the Warner Brothers cartoons before June came along, was the original voice of Witch Hazel and was the original voice of Granny...Bea had did the Granny voice for almost 15 years before June took over the role in 1955...off the top of my head I believe Bea started voicing Granny somewhere around 1943 or 1944. It was Bea's on-camera work in Burns and Allen plus her other on-camera assignments that led to her cartoon roles being re-cast in the mid 1950's. Her workload had become too hectic to continue and so she concentrated more on the TV sitcom's she appeared in.

June's been the voice of both characters, Witch Hazel and Granny, ever since...her most recent assignment as Granny was the Baby Looney Tunes series a few years back. There is an interesting story that June talks about when it came time to cast the voice actors for the Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries series in 1994/1995. According to June, the producers were wanting her to come in an audition for the role of Granny...whoever was in charge apparently wanted the Granny voice to resemble the one provided by Bea Benaderet. June recalls how outraged she felt but then lets us in on how she came about being cast as Granny on the Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries after all.

This brings me to a small little rant that I have about such things. When a voice actor or actress plays a role for a good number of years, he or she pretty much know the in's and out's of the character{s} they voice and the producers or casting directors should give the voice actors and actresses associated with the role automatic casting because of the proven track record. I feel the only time a character's voice should be re-cast is if the voice actor/actress can no longer do an adequate job...meaning they've lost their voice. I don't think a voice artist loses their natural talent...so whether someone is 21, 41, 61, 81, or 91, if he or she is still capable of doing their job they should be given the first shot and THEN if the producer isn't satisfied then a re-cast should happen. This notion that you have to audition voice actors for roles they've played for decades is ludicrous and offensive to the voice artist, as you'll see when you read June's thoughts about it.

In the "Chuck Who?" section she talks about how she was called on to do the voice of an Irish lady from the waist down on Chuck's version of Tom and Jerry plus she talks about the various witch characters she has performed. It is also in this chapter where she relates a story about cigarette smoking and how it was a big advertising sponsor at one time. There's a priceless story about how she gave up smoking but a lot of others didn't and she tells about a recording session in the mid 1980's during the revival of The Jetsons and it involves Mel Blanc. It's a cute little story about Mel's smoking in the studio. There's a picture of June and Mel in the studio, too.

As I mentioned earlier, there are quite a few pictures...and there's one on page 129 of June and some friends at the 1974 Annie Awards. Before any can ask, the Annie Awards is short for the Animation Awards...a gala where animation big-wigs and voice actors and actresses gather. It's much like the typical awards programs you see but cartoons are being honored and celebrated instead of live-action.

One of the things you may or may not notice is that the chapter's are short...well, a lot of them are. "Chuck Who?" is a rather lengthy chapter as is "My Rocky Life". There's a section called "The War Years" where she talks about her career doing radio shows and offers a picture of her as part of a dance group. She makes a lot of jokes about her short stature and reflects that her short stature must have been a good reason she clicked so well with Daws Butler in the recording studio.

It's really a great look at June's life and career.

If you do much You Tube searching, be sure to look up some clips of Ma and Pa Kettle. The clips will feature an actress, Marjorie Main, in the role of Ma Kettle. This is the voice that June based a lot of the older lady types on...the voice is heard prominently in Fractured Fairy Tales, a segment in the Rocky and Bullwinkle series. June usually gave fairy godmothers or witches that voice. In the Disney cartoons, Duck Tales and Gummi Bears, June gave the Ma Beagle and Grammi Gummi characters the Marjorie Main vocal characterization.

Tom and Jerry: Chuck Jones Collection

The Chuck Jones version of Tom and Jerry typically gets a bad wrap because of the different approaches to the characters. In addition to the physical differences from classic cartoons and the Chuck Jones version of the characters we also have the characters making more verbal noises than before. Tom was famous for doing that loud howling scream on occasion and Jerry sometimes would let out with a giggle at Tom's expense or utter a nervous laugh, or gulp, if he felt he was about to be pounced on by Tom. In this version, though, we hear a lot more gasps and yelps and whimpering...mostly from Tom but some from Jerry. We don't have that howl that Tom was noted for.

There are a couple of extra's on the DVD. There is a documentary called "Chuck Jones: Memories of a Childhood" and a featurette called "Tom and Jerry...and Chuck." I had not watched the documentary yet but I did watch the featurette and it's narrated by June Foray. It's about Chuck Jones and the last years at Warner Brothers and the time he spent at MGM doing the Tom and Jerry cartoons. The profile doesn't shy away from Chuck's personal feelings about limited animation but that's come to be expected. I happen to appreciate both styles. In one style you get full animation where you can see facial expressions and body movements and there might not even be any dialogue but you can tell what's happening from looking at the sequence and in the other you get emphasis on the vocals where you didn't necessarily understand what the characters were feeling if you turned the sound off.

As I've touched upon in other blog entries, Chuck is credited with coining the phrase "illustrated radio" to describe the style of animation Hanna-Barbera pioneered on TV. The series of episodes that Chuck did at MGM often pop up on Boomerang or Cartoon Network...mainly Boomerang. Some critics have said that Chuck took away the violence...I can see where the critics come to that conclusion but it had it's share of the good ol' cat and mouse chase where Tom hits Jerry with a fly swatter and Jerry's flattened on the floor...there's all kinds of sight-gag's and eye wiggles and gestures but because they were designed different and really weren't given a chance, the series usually leaves a bad taste in some viewer's and critics mouths. There's also a myth/rumor that some fans out there deliberately dismiss the Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry cartoons because of comments made by Chuck in later interviews that he didn't enjoy doing the series and found the 'cat and mouse' formula tiresome.

In the featurette it's pointed out that Chuck never liked to talk about the Tom and Jerry days in his later interviews and didn't like to bring the series up and as a result of this, I feel, younger animators who've looked up to Chuck automatically reject the series based solely on what Chuck's opinions were. I do come across web-sites out there that deal in cartoons and animation and most of the people/fans who cite Chuck Jones as their main director/animator from Warner Brothers tend to carry the same sentiments Chuck held. I don't know if they genuinely feel the way Chuck did about animation and all of that or if they're just going along with their hero. It's tough to tell...but I can tell you that this series is nowhere near as awful and terrible as critics and Chuck himself write it off to be.

There is no episode list on the DVD cover...you have to insert the DVD in your player and then look up the episodes from the main menu. It's a nuisance having to do that. They do list the extra features on the back of the DVD. There were only 34 theatrical shorts made of the characters under Chuck Jones...and all 34 of them are presented on two DVD's. All of the characteristics Chuck brought to the Looney Tunes characters are on full display in his version of Tom and Jerry. Chuck wanted to evoke life, which is at the heart of animation, into the characters he worked on and he succeeded.

Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection 6

I don't know if I'm sub-consciously writing more about Warner Brothers cartoons or not. I may have touched upon this in a previous entry but I tend to not write as much about the Warner cartoons because there's so many people who do...I tend to spotlight the lesser-known or the made-for-TV programs from Hanna-Barbera simply because there's not a whole wide spectrum of sites that specialize in those cartoons whereas the programs from Warner Brothers are embedded into pop-culture so much what isn't there to know?

However, I wanted to spotlight one of the latest spotlight collections, number 6. It's a DVD collection of 30 cartoons on two disc's which comes to 15 cartoons on each. There are 8 more cartoons featured as bonuses: 4 on DVD #1 and 4 on DVD #2. I hadn't had the time to watch DVD #2 but i've watched DVD #1 a couple times. The theme of DVD #1 is "Cartoon Superstars". It features cartoons that star each of the main characters. The first, "Baby Buggy Bunny", centers around Bugs finding an orphan of sorts...actually, some money has been stolen from a bank that finds it's way to Bugs' hole in the ground. The thief, a midget, adopts the identity of a baby and arrives at Bugs' hole as an orphan. Bugs at first is unaware of the baby's true identity...the baby's name is Fenster. After repeated attempts from the baby to grab the money, Bugs excuses himself and later spies the baby shaving and smoking a cigar in the bathroom. Coincidentally, a news report flashes on the TV about a bank robber on the loose...Bugs gets that 'look' on his face that he's been tricked and then gets the devilish look that he's going to get his revenge. He strolls in and starts whipping the kid and throwing him up in the air and shaking him...it's quite a funny scene as guns and weapons start falling everywhere all the while Bugs is still spanking him "Oh Fenster! What a naughty, naughty, boy!!!". The anger in Bugs' voice as he's getting his revenge is quite satonic but that makes it all the more hilarious.

In the next short, "Broom-Stick Bunny", Bugs is out on Halloween dressed as a witch and he stumbles upon the castle of Witch Hazel. This cartoon's plot is Witch Hazel trying to get the "witch" {Bugs} into a pot of boiling water...periodically she stops at a magic mirror asking who's the ugliest one of all. She gets great delight in being declared ugly...she also gets delight in making jokes, causing her to go off into a fit of cackling laughter. Bugs reveals himself as a rabbit which causes Witch Hazel to grow even more determined to fulfill her magic potion. She is about to kill Bugs when he gives her the pouty-eyes routine and she starts crying, thinking about memories of Paul. Bugs turns the tables and offers the witch a drink. She drinks it and turns into a Cinderella-type...and then she goes to her magic mirror asking who's the ugliest one of all...the genie in the mirror doesn't even bother answering her...one look and he hops on his carpet in hot pursuit and flies out of the mirror chasing her.

"To Duck or Not to Duck" is a cartoon starring Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. The cartoon is basically about a boxing match between the two of them...with a lot of duck's in attendence cheering on Daffy while only one in the stands cheers on Elmer, namely the hunting dog Ladamore. Each time he cheers on Elmer he gets pelted with fruit. The referee introduces Elmer amidst a series of laughter...and the audience boo's. The referee then turns his attention to Daffy...and in a scene that often becomes a subject of mockery, the referee brings on Daffy with some of the most sentimental words imaginable...going so far as to climb upon Daffy in an intimate way, blinking his eyes and wrapping an arm around Daffy's shoulder, becoming quite affectionate in the process. This, of course, is a spoof of boxing in general...how it often comes across that referee's have favorites and that the fighting is rigged...which is spoofed when the referee goes into his "I wanna clean fight" routine. Elmer, at cartoon's end, turns the tables on the scheming ducks. The cartoon fades out as Elmer's throwing the ducks all over the boxing ring.

"Birth of a Notion" is one of the more hilarious ones. In this, Daffy gets tangled up with an evil scientist wanting his wish bone. The scientist is a caricature of Peter Lorre. Daffy was brought to the castle by a dog named Leopold...Daffy, not wanting to fly south for the winter, befriended the dog and was soon in the castle. Daffy overhears the scientist's plans of needing a duck's wishbone and soon it's a battle of wits between him and Daffy. The action takes place between the two of them so much that in one segment it shows Leopold griping about his lack of screen-time. In one of the most singled-out moments in the cartoon, Daffy attempts to throw a baseball bat at the scientist only for Leopold to grab it in time. This, however, causes the scientist to think his own dog is out to kill him and the scientist breaks the bat into tiny pieces. Daffy attempts to murder the scientist with a knife but the scientist is prepared...he lets out with a creepy, perverted giggle as he chases after Daffy, who, runs off hollering his trademark "hoo hoo hoo hoo".

The two Foghorn Leghorn cartoons appear on "Crowing Pains" and "Raw! Raw! Rooster". In the first cartoon, we see Henery Hawk on a quest for a chicken. The character has never really been written as a smart guy...more of a little tough guy instead...who can never recall what a chicken looks like since he's so easily fooled by Foghorn in all the cartoons. So, he usually listens to Foghorn's stories and claims about other animal's being chickens. In "Crowing Pains" the action revolves around Foghorn, the Barnyard Dog, and Sylvester the cat...although some cartoon purists would say it isn't Sylvester because the character doesn't have a patch of white fur on his tail...but the character design and speech pattern is definitely Sylvester. So, the three of them are consistently fighting amongst each other while Henery just wants to know which one of them is a chicken. This is one of the earlier Foghorn cartoons as Mel Blanc's vocal performance is more in step with bellowing and hollering his words instead of delivering them as the refined southern blow-hard the character became. 

Foghorn likes to play tricks on the dog...and Sylvester's presence causes the dog to be after the cat, natural instincts. Foghorn plants an egg under Sylvester at one point...further confusing Henery, who's actually inside the egg...a device Foghorn came up with. Henery finally decides to wait until sunrise to see which animal crows...Sylvester, prone to keeping his mouth open even when he isn't talking, has his mouth open a little as the sounds of a rooster is heard. The Dog looks over at Sylvester and gets a disgusted look because he knows Foghorn's tricks...and Henery drags Sylvester away.

"Raw! Raw! Rooster" is one of the later Foghorn cartoons...you'll notice the difference in Mel's delivery. The cartoon is about one of Foghorn's rivals coming for a visit...the rival is a big practical joker, which doesn't sit too well with Foghorn, who would rather play jokes on others instead of having them played on himself. The rival, known as Rhoad Island Red, mingles with Foghorn and has all the hen's love-struck, which causes further jealousy to mount. Rhoad Island Red was voiced by Daws Butler. Foghorn sends his rival away by the end of the cartoon and has a few going away prizes...filled with dynamite.

In "My Favorite Duck", Porky Pig attempts to have a relaxing time at a camp site only to be tormented by Daffy at each attempt. The joke of the cartoon is that the woods has a strict fine on hunting ducks...people aren't even allowed to harass or bother ducks. This, of course, allows Daffy to become over-bearing and do all sorts of things to Porky...who can't do anything because each time he attempts to strangle or hit Daffy, this would cause Daffy to whip out a sign that read "No Duck Hunting" or "No Harming Ducks". Later in the cartoon, the tables are turned, and Daffy finds himself as a most-wanted duck...each sign that he comes up with invites Porky to kill and shoot...one sign I think read "Open season on ducks...no limit". The cartoon ends rather Tex Avery-like with Porky and Daffy chasing one another around and around a tree...before long the cartoon's "film" starts to go haywire and it snaps into. Daffy pokes his head into the scene and goes about telling us how the film ended...only to be pulled off-camera by Porky, who finishes beating him up...with the cartoon ending as Porky drags Daffy across the screen.

"Jumpin' Jupiter" is a surreal cartoon...it involves Porky and Sylvester camping out in a dessert area. Later, aliens come down to Earth and literally lift the camp ground up and fly off with it into outer space. Sylvester awakens and reacts to all of this while Porky remains asleep. Even after the gravity pull is gone, Porky is clueless of what's going on...then the camp site appears on the planet Jupiter. Porky wakes up...Sylvester was up all-night experiencing everything. Sylvester spots one of the aliens...Porky meets the alien but mistakes him for some sort of Indian. Gags from this cartoon were re-used years later on the Daffy Duck film Daffy Duck's Quackbusters including the gag of Sylvester being so scared he turns stiff as a board around Porky's face and when thrown off, hits the ground with a hollow thud. Another re-used gag was the phrase "yellow dog of a cowardly cat", Porky's affectionate description of Sylvester.

In "Satan's Waitin", we see the story of Sylvester and his nine lives. The cartoon centers around a bulldog Devil wanting Sylvester to go through the last 8 lives rather quickly...often causing Sylvester to get into all kinds of predicaments, with his lives evaporating one by one. Each of his lives sit together on a rock couch down in the pits of fire...he soon decides to hide himself in a bank vault where no harm can come to him...since he only has one life left. Later, bank robbers blow up the vault and everyone's killed. The cartoon fades out with Sylvester and the bank robbers all taking a trip down to meet the devil.

The rest of the cartoons on DVD #1 are just as good as those that I mentioned. "Dog Gone South" is a laugh-out-loud cartoon about a dog's adventures on a plantation. In "Often an Orphan" we have the same dog being the victim of owner abandonment. At the start of the cartoon we see the dog purposely being left at a camp site by his master. The dog talks his way into Porky's life by trying to convince him he needs a dog. This goes back and fourth throughout much of the cartoon...near the end we see Porky and the dog in a very familiar scene at a camp site ready to have a picnic. Porky tells the dog to fetch a stick but being through that routine too many times the dog jumps into Porky's car instead and speeds off as the scene fades.