That's Not All Folks

Rating:
Summary: radio, cartoons, television...
Review: the one thing that has always amazed me about voice actors is how easy they make what they do look. i've been a fan of Mel's forever. the first time i saw him was on a rerun of "The Jack Benny Program" playing Jack's violin instructor, Professor LeBlanc. i then learned that he was the voice of Warner Brothers cartoons. i HAD to see it for myself (i didn't believe my uncle's claims) and so one day i caught a Joan Lunden show on Lifetime called "Mother's Day" and out walked Mel in a Bugs Bunny shirt...and he was doing Bugs, Daffy, Speedy, Porky, Tweety, Sylvester...and i was knocked backwards! from that point forward i started to become a fan of voice actors, primarily the ones that didn't use their natural voice (like Mel, Daws Butler, Don Messick, Paul Winchell, June Foray, Paul Frees, Bill Scott, Stan Freberg, etc.)...but i don't mind the ones who use their own voices because they're so distinct (Casey Kasem, Gary Owens, Alan Reed, Lorenzo Music, etc.)with this book, "That's NOT All Folks!", we read the Mel Blanc story from his birth to 1988 (he passed away in 1989). we're informed of how he was raised in a melting pot and he started to mimick different dialects. he indirectly states that he's not a dialectition (one who specializes in dialects) because most of his dialects have his natural voice sprinkled through them...and so you might call his dialects "exaggerations". another chapter worth discussing is his in depth story involving his near-fatal car wreck in 1961. all the events that took place after impact have been recounted to him by doctors, friends, and family because Mel was in a coma for nearly a year and that's how this information was gathered! he spends some time talking about his dislikes and the book also sheds some light on some behind-the-scenes gossip and it explains why Mel's name got to be listed under "voice characterizations by" on the opening credits of many Warner Brothers theatrical shorts when his frequent co-stars (most notably Arthur Q. Bryan, Stan Freberg, and June Foray) names were not. Mel also tells the crisis that erupted after the death of Arthur Q. Bryan and how nobody wanted to voice Elmer Fudd and so Mel and Hal Smith took turns. there's also some trivia thrown in: did you know that Mel was the original voice for Woody Woodpecker in six cartoons and that the Walter Lantz studio continued to use Mel's woodpecker laugh long after Grace Stafford took over the role? so, if you ever see any Woody Woodpecker cartoons and you hear that laugh, no matter who the credits say is talking Woody, it's Mel's laugh everytime. Mel devotes a chapter to his long-running role as Jack Benny's comedic stooge from 1939-1965 and he also talks about his years spent on other radio shows ("The Judy Canova Show"; "Burns and Allen"; "Point Sublime"; as Goo-Goo the duck on "The Joe Penner Show"; on up to his own short-lived radio show entitled "The Mel Blanc Fix-It Shop". Mel gives reasons as to why he thinks his radio show was short-lived.) in later chapters he talks about his days with Hanna-Barbera after Warner Brothers shut down their animation department in the mid '60s. Mel recalls one time he had a nasty encounter with the likes of Gale Gordon...i won't say what the tiff was over, you'll have to buy the book. Noel Blanc, Mel's only child, has learned the voices of his father's many characters and for a time it was thought that Noel would follow in Mel's footsteps but word has it that Noel doesn't want to go through life in a profession where he will always be compared to his father. and so, the ending of the book is about what Mel had hoped the future would bring. the book came out in 1988...and this edition is the original version. there's no "hidden" chapter or any reference to Mel's death..since it hadn't happened. from that aspect, the book is eerie and sad because even at age 80 Mel was so full of life... the book is opened up by Rich Little of all people, praising Mel's vocal talents....now, if only someone would write a book about Daws Butler...hint, hint.

Rating:
Summary: A *must read* for Baby Boomers who grew up with Bugs Bunny
Review: Though the man left us in 1989, Mel Blanc will forever live on in the characters he voiced. This book provides biographical information as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the activities of the Warner Brothers studio. Readers will learn how the individual voices were created and will even see photos of Mel "portraying" the character as he talks. One of the biggest secrets of all was that he disliked carrots. He'd chew on them while recording Bug's lines, but the recording would have to stop while Mel spit out the remains into a wastebasket.

If you're a true fan of Bugs, Elmer, Porky, Daffy, Sylvester, Pepe Le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn, and all the rest, pick up a copy of _Chuck Amuck_ when you're finished here. You'll discover more about Warner Brothers from cartoonist Chuck Jones in that volume. And if you can, scarf around and find _Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: a complete illustrated guide to the Warner Brothers cartoons_ by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald. It's a fully-indexed episode-by-episode encyclopedia with cast notes and plot summaries. Keep it next to your TV.