For Those With Many Faces

[red ass skull muhfukkah]

This will be a thread dedicated to some of the most important and most forgotten members of the entertainment industry. I'm talking of course about voice actors. We all love the cartoons we grew up with and we all love those characters. But why don't we love the people who talk for our favorite characters? People who spent years crafting their voices in different ways. Imagine if E.G. Daily didn't do the voice for Tommy Pickles or someone besides Dan Castellaneta was the voice for Homer Simpson. These men and women made these characters unforgettable and yet they themselves remain unknown. Well no more I say. Each week or so I will be highlighting the career or a different voice over artist. Feel free to add your own favorites if you wish.

Mel Blanc

Notable Characters Voiced:
Porky Pig (1936-1989)
Daffy Duck (1937-1989)
Bugs Bunny (1940-1989)
Woody Woodpecker (1940-1941)
Tweety Bird (1942-1989)
Yosemtie Sam (1945-1989)
Pepe Le Pew (1945-1989)
Foghorn Leghorn (1946-1987)
Marvin the Martian (1948-1989)
Elmer Fudd (1940-1989)
Wile E. Coyote (1952-1989)
Speedy Gonzales (1953-1989)
Tazmanian Devil (1954-1960)
Barney Rubble (1960-1989)
Dino Flinstone (1960-1989)
Cosmo G. Spacely (The Jetsons)(1962-1989)
Tom and Jerry (1963-1967)​

I think its only fitting that the first voice actor we highlight is Mel Blanc. "The Man of a Thousand Voices" is one of, if not the, most influential voice over artist ever. From 1940 until his death in 1989, Mel Blanc was the main voice over artist for Warner Bros. cartoons, voicing many of the most iconic cartoon characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig.

Mel Blanc got his start working as a voice actor on several radio shows and as a mainstay on the Jack Benny Show. In 1936 he was hired by Warner Bros, after a rough beginning there including the death of the man that hired him, he eventually got the job to voice Porky Pig and Daffy Duck in Porky's Duck Hunt. From then on he was used as the voice actor for a majority of the Looney Toons characters. After being a mainstay for Warner Bros., he was hired by Hanna-Barbera and added to his list of iconic characters.

If Mel Blanc voiced just Bugs Bunny or just Daffy Duck or just Barney Rubble, he would be considered a legend. But he voiced all of them and more. He was the few voice actors of his time to receive screen credits, something unheard of at that time. To me, he's the G.O.A.T. of American voice acting and one of the most important men in the popularization of cartoons and the entertainment industry as a whole.

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

I did a thread a little while back discussing voice actors and how they deserve more respect and recognition. One of the men I demonstrated my point with was of course Mel Blanc. The sheer vocal ability of Blanc is outstanding. To think this man is both Tweety Bird and Yosemite Sam is amazing. To go from the child like Tweety to rough and grumble with Sam is simple unbelievable. Blanc had such a tremendous ability to mimic accents too as has always been apparent from Bugs Bunny. The man talks to himself for the majority of the Looney Tunes shorts and to be able to go back and forth the way he did is just outstanding. Mel Blanc has my respect and is by far and away, an un-sung legend.