Mel Blanc: What's Up, Doc?
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I didn't know this. Mel had to make the voice tough - wasn't sure which was the toughest - Brooklyn or the Bronx? So he put 'em together and that was Bugs.
"Mel Blanc on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson"
Thank you for posting these wonderful clips. I was fortunate enough to be friends with Mel for 11 years and I am happy to say that he truly LOVED his work. Mel was a great talent and a great friend!
He is missed! I still love Bugs and all of the other Looney Tunes. It's so hard to find them on tv anymore, so, I buy the box sets. I am still a child at heart! Great memories!
I highly recommend his autobiography:
"That's NOT All Folks"
It's really amazing just how many voices one talented person can create.
I've found recently that quite a few of the cartoon characters I loved as a little kid were voiced by only 5-10 people. I didn't even realize it until I started running into interviews on Youtube.
That's impressive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaH7VPuiZ1E
As testimony to Mr. Blanc's phenomenal vocal versatility, in the current revival of Looney Tunes characters, it takes several different voice actors, accomplished as they all are, to do separately what Mr. Blanc did alone. His golden larynx is immortal.
FASCINATING FACT: Mel Blanc was allergic to carrots! Therefore, when he was doing Bugs' voice and had to simulate his chomping on a carrot, he chomped on a real carrot himself! However, he had a handy bucket nearby to spit out the carrot as quickly as possible. Perhaps he should have used a stalk of celery instead?