Happy Birthday, Mel Blanc

[filkertom]

On this date in 1908. One of the gods of how we live, of what I do, of why we are the way we are.

Name a favorite voice he did, and give a favorite line of dialogue. As many as you want, really -- it's not like we're gonna run out. ;) I have great love for his quieter moments as Foghorn Leghorn, such as when he was playing hide-and-seek with Egghead. He hid in the corn bin... and Egghead figured out mathematically that he was actually buried a distance away... which Foghorn was. Whereupon Foghorn marches right over to that corn bin, stops, and says, "... No, I better not look. I just might be in there."

And of course I adore his voices for Marvin Martian and Wile E. Coyote.

Comments

[ericcoleman]

"I'm a happy miser"

cracks me up every time

[tony-goldmark.livejournal.com]

There was a Porky/Charlie Dog cartoon with the following exchange:

"Mostly, I'm all labrador retriever"
"Oh, y-y-you are not a labrador retriever."
"I'm not?"
"N-n-no, you..."
"Look, if you doubt my woid, bring me a labrador and I'll retrieve it for ya."
(PAUSE)
"A...l-l-labrador? Wh-wh-why sure, I, eh...I, eh..."
"Have you got a labrador?"
"N-n-no."
"Know where you can get a labrador?"
"N-n-no."
"DEN SHADDAP."

Made me laugh when I was five, still makes me laugh today. RIP Mel.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Hassan CHOP!

[whouseknecht.livejournal.com]

The man himself said that his favorite voice was that of Sylvester, since it was the closest to his own. Thus, I offer:

"Thufferin' Thuccotash!"

[devospice.livejournal.com]

"Grab a fencepost hold it tight
Whomp your partner with all your might
Hit him in the chin, hit him in the head
Hit him again that critter ain't dead!"

- Bugs Bunny doing a squaredance.

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

"Where's the kaboom? There's supposed to be an Earth-shattering kaboom!"

Puts me on the floor every time.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

There are, of course, zillions of moments. The ones that comes to mind right now are Bugs coping with threatening situations:

"My stars! Where did you ever get that awful hairdo? It doesn't become you at all...Here, for goodness' sake, let me fix it up. Look how stringy and messy it is. What a shame. Such an interesting monster, too. My stars, if an interesting monster can't have an interesting hairdo, then I don't know what things are coming to. In my business you meet so many interesting people - Bobby pins, please - but the most interersting ones are the monsters. Oh, dear, that will never stay. We'll just have to have a permanemanent...Now, I've got to give an interesting old lady a manicure, but I'll be back before you're done...explosion of dynamite 'curlers' "

o/~ "Welcome to my shop
Let me cut your mop
Let me shave your crop
Daintily, daintily...
Hey, you!
Don't look so perplexed
Why must you be vexed?
Can't you see you're next?
Yes, you're next, you're so next!" o/~

(Note to self: You NEED a couple of WB usericons...)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

That is the Best Fuckin' Square Dance Evah.

[poltr1]

From Rabbit Seasoning:
Bugs: "Do you shoot me now or wait 'till you get home?"
Daffy: "Shoot him now! Shoot him now!"
Bugs: "You keep out of this. He doesn't have to shoot you now."
Daffy: "Aha! That's it! Hold it right there. Pronoun trouble. It's not 'He doesn't have to shoot *you* now, it's he doesn't have to shoot *me* now.' Well, I say he does have to shoot me now. So shoot me now!"

And the one with the two cats George and Lenny on a Mexican ship (I think it featured Speedy Gonzalez):
"P-E-T-R-O-L. Gee, what a funny way to spell water."

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

It is entirely possible that "Pronoun trouble" is the single funniest line WB ever did.

[mnelson.livejournal.com]

There are so many!

In the interest of not repeating:

Foghorn Leghorn:
"Gal reminds me of the highway between Fort Worth and Dallas....No curves"

Elmer Fudd:
"Kill the Wabbit!! Kill the Wabbit!!"

[bryanp.livejournal.com]

My favorite would have to be another Foghorn Leghorn moment. After being repeatedly injured during his pursuit of a certain widow (Spinster? Memory fades ...) chicken he leaves her. She says something about "I thought you needed my love to keep you warm?"

"I say, I say, I have my bandages to keep me warm!"

[per_solo]

"They got jobs!"

The dad in "Strange Brew", somehow I knew that one was not going to be noted quickly. :-)

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Everything he touched was gold, it's kind of hard to pick which boullion is your favorite.
But if I had to...

My favorite line by Mel Blanc was one that was never recorded. He had been in a terrible car accident, was in traction, and had fallen into a coma. The presiding Doctor had tried continuously to get him to speak to see if he was coherent. It wasn't until several days later that the Doctor learned who Mel was and what he did for a living. Finally, in desperation, he tried the following;

DOCTOR: Bugs Bunny? Are you in there? Can you hear me?

MEL: [As Bugs, barely above a whisper] I hear ya loud and clear, Doc!

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Actually, Elmer Fudd was voiced by Arthur Q. Brian.

But Mel had it in his contract to be the only name credited with "vocal characterization".

[que-sara-sara.livejournal.com]

One of my favourite off the wall Mel Blanc things is the song I Yust go Nuts at Christmas. :)

[wildcard9.livejournal.com]

Foghorn Leghorn: "That boy's as sharp as a bowling ball." I have that as a sound clip, I need to use it more often when I cast on Dementia Radio.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Ummm... that was Yogi Yorgesson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogi_Yorgesson). :)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

If I ever record... no, I'm gonna record it. That's that. For now suffice it to say that I use that line.

[que-sara-sara.livejournal.com]

It was??

Ok, beat me with something once I get rid of the migraine.

But didn't he do a song that Dr. Demento put on one of the CDs?? I could have sworn he did but I don't have the patience to look it up right now.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Absolutely -- a few of 'em. "Yingle Bells", "Who Hid The Halibut On The Poopdeck"....

No, no, NO! Not the WED BUTTON!!!!

[capplor.livejournal.com]

Daffy, as a salesmen who gave Porky Pig a roboticized house (whatever they called it, 1950's style).

[que-sara-sara.livejournal.com]

Ah, must be Yingle Bells I got it crossed with.

I'd tell you I'll have brain cells later, but somehow I doubt it. :)

[sdelmonte]

Just to be a little different...

"All abroad for Anaheim, Asusa, and COO-camunga!"

From Mel's other job of note, as one of Jack Benny's cast (as well as the voice of his car).

[tony-goldmark.livejournal.com]

He put "Daffy Duck's Rhapsody" on the 30th Anniversary set, but I don't know how you could've confused that for Yogi.

Mel Blanc recorded several 45 singles during his heyday as a voice artist - some as WB characters ("Daffy Duck's Rhapsody," "Yosemite Sam," "I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat"), some not ("I Love Me," "The E.I.O. Song," "K-K-K-Katy"), all classics.