Saturday, November 13, 2004
Voice actors play a very big part in the animation world, as we on the board are so often reminded by Margaret Kerry-Willcox (Tinker Bell model, voice actor and Clutch Cargo Lips supreme). Since 1928, when Steamboat Willie changed the way we experience cartoons, voice and the people that create it have had a whole lot to do with toon culture.
It is fitting that ASIFA-Hollywood`s top award goes to one of the great voice actors. Arnold Stang is one of the greatest of those people that voice our cartoons and dreams.
Starting in the 40`s he has played them all; Top Cat in Top Cat, Cherchy LaFemme in I Go Pogo (great stuff), the bird in Lyle Lyle Crocodile, Nurtle the Turtle in Fred Ladd`s wonderful Pinocchio in Outer Space, Herman in all the Herman and Catnip cartoons, and the Henpecked Rooster (one of my favorites) in The Henpecked Rooster, Arnold Stang has a wonderful and very impressive list of voice acting credits.
But Arnold Stang is not just another pretty voice, he is also a face actor. In It`s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Arnold plays Ray, one of two garage mechanics who have to fight Jonathan Winters.
Arnold Stang (Center), shown here with the live action alter ego of his Top Cat
second in command (Marvin Kaplan - Choo Choo), fights a maddened
Jonathan Winters. We`re going ta have ta kill him!
Everyone knows his characters, his voice, and his face but few out there in the general public know his name. He is a character actor, character actors don`t get no respect but they do get to work a lot. In 1970, Arnold Stang teamed up with some other guy named Arnold as one of the only good parts of the low budget bomb, Hercules in New York.
Arnold Stang is a show business animal. In fact he is a whole zoo of animals, a cat, a mouse, a turtle or two, birds, fish. His Internet Movie Data Base entry goes on for pages. He is a character actor with a lot of characters and a lot of character.
Arnold Stang is one of this year`s Winsor McCay award winners. Congratulations Arnold, I`m looking forward to seeing you January 30th at the Alex Theater.
Next time, I will be looking at the third of this year`s ASIFA-Hollywood Winsor McCay winners, animator and director Don Bluth. Until then, keep animated.
