Podcast appearances and mentions of Walter Lantz

fWotD Episode 2880: Gertie the Dinosaur Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Monday, 24 March 2025 is Gertie the Dinosaur.Gertie the Dinosaur is a 1914 animated short film by American cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay. It is the first animated film to feature a dinosaur. McCay initially presented the film before live audiences as an interactive part of his vaudeville act; the frisky, childlike Gertie performed tricks at her master's command. McCay's employer William Randolph Hearst curtailed his vaudeville activities, prompting McCay to add a live-action introductory sequence to the film for its theatrical release, which was renamed Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist, and Gertie. McCay abandoned a sequel, Gertie on Tour (c. 1921), after producing about a minute of footage.Although Gertie is popularly thought to be the earliest animated film, McCay had previously made Little Nemo (1911) and How a Mosquito Operates (1912). The American J. Stuart Blackton and the French Émile Cohl had experimented with animation even earlier. Gertie being a character with an appealing personality distinguished McCay's film from these earlier "trick films". Gertie was the first film to employ several animation techniques, like keyframes, registration marks, tracing paper, the Mutoscope action viewer, and animation loops. It influenced the next generation of animators, including the Fleischer brothers, Otto Messmer, Paul Terry, Walter Lantz, and Walt Disney. John Randolph Bray unsuccessfully tried to patent many of McCay's animation techniques and is said to have been behind a plagiarized version of Gertie that appeared a year or two after the original. Gertie is the best preserved of McCay's films—some of which have been lost or survive only in fragments—and has been preserved in the U. S. Library of Congress' National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" since 1991.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:47 UTC on Monday, 24 March 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Gertie the Dinosaur on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm generative Olivia.

Is this trip really necessary? Or rather, is this podcast a little too of the moment?? Well, half of it, anyway. The animation industry became pitchmen for rationing, selling war bonds and other ways to help our men and women overseas during World War 2, while also taking every pot shot the Hayes Code would allow them to at the fascist powers we were opposed to. Can we bring that energy back? Please? Anyhow, we've got Donald Duck, Popeye, Woody Woodpecker and a batch of oddly familiar gremlins.

As "Toad" in "American Graffiti," Charles Martin Smith took playing the school nerd to new heights. Over 50 years later, the California-born actor-director co-stars opposite Toronto actress Anwen O'Driscoll in "This Time," director Robert Vaughn's very modern road picture now streaming on Super Channel.In between, Smith has acted with a Who's Who of Hollywood, including Burt Reynold ("Fuzz"), David Niven and Don Knotts (Disney's "No Deposit, No Return"), Sean Connery and Kevin Costner ("The Untouchables"), Jeff Bridges ("Starman") and Michael Keaton and Geena Davis ("Speechless"). His TV credits range from episodes of The Brady Bunch, Room 222 and The Streets of San Francisco to  LA Law, Northern Exposure and The X-Files.  He's worked on more Canadian shows and movies than most Canadians, including "Never Cry Wolf" and Da Vinci's Inquest.  His directing credits include "Air Bud" and "The Snow Walker."And then there are the roles that got away, including one he auditioned for -- Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars."Then there are his dad and uncles -- "Golden Age" animation directors for Walter Lantz, Disney and UPA. Smith is a great story teller and man does he share some doozies here.

We talk a lot about directors, when it comes to cartoon shorts. But they're far from the only important aspects that shape a cartoon. The studio, the budget, the time, the writers, the animators - all of it and more adds up to the finished product that we see on our screens. So what happens, then, if we take two shorts, both directed by the same man, but at different studios and with different creative teams? How wildly do the two shorts vary in quality, if they vary at all? Listen to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/howsitholdup/support

Get ready for an exhilarating journey into the world of George Pal and his Puppetoons, with Arnold Leibovit as our captivating guide! Leibovit is a renowned film historian and documentarian of George Pal, the innovative filmmaker who inspired industry legends like Walt Disney, Ray Harryhausen, Gene Roddenberry, and Steven Spielberg.We explore the evolution of Puppetoon animation, uncovering how Pal's creativity led him to animate cigarettes for a commercial, and craft breathtaking short stories for Philips in Europe. This episode will also highlight the significant roles Walter Lantz, Leon Schlesinger, and Walt Disney played in helping Pal escape the Nazi's and establish his studio in the US.  Leibovit also details the painstaking restoration process behind the Puppetoons, Volume 3 Blu-ray, discussing the challenges of restoring frame by frame, and the necessity for minimal compression for the best viewing experience.  And then we get into a discussion of specific Puppetoons, starting with the first US production, "Western Daze," then" Bravo, Mr. Strauss," "Together in the Weather," and "Jasper and the Beanstalk ." And no discussion of George Pal is complete without a detailed look at the enchanting music of Puppetoon films and its vital role in enhancing the story and atmosphere. This episode is a must-listen for all animation collectors, George Pal fans, and film enthusiasts! Purchase PUPPETOON VOL. 3Purchase THE TIME MACHINE SOUNDTRACK (remastered) The Extras Facebook pageThe Extras Twitter Warner Archive & Warner Bros Catalog GroupOtaku Media produces podcasts, behind-the-scenes extras, and media that connect creatives with their fans and businesses with their consumers. Contact us today to see how we can work together to achieve your goals. www.otakumedia.tv

Woody Woodpecker wants to take a long sea voyage, so he helps a sea captain improve his ship and stay out of danger along the way.

Today we take a jaunt over to Walter Lantz and the "cartunes" he's was churning out for Universal. This is one of his earliest color shorts, and is a retelling of "The Elves and the Shoemaker." Does it look good? Does it sound good? Is it any fun to watch? Listen to find out! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/howsitholdup/support

Cartoons? Cartoons! Cartoons about cartoons! We'll watch an episode of Tiny Toon Adventures called Animaniacs!, where Plucky learns what cartoons are and how they work, and everything anyone ever needed to know about comedy beats or beets. Meanwhile, we won't learn anything from Ren and Stimpy making and producing their own cartoon, but maybe we'll learn what's wrong with Wilbur Cobb (no, we won't). Plus, Matsy watches more Bluey and ventures into previously unseen Ralph Bakshi, while Micah watches and reads all kinds of things, from feet to questionably canonical Oz. Walter Lantz! Cartoons in this episode: Tiny Toon Adventures, "Animaniacs!" The Ren & Stimpy Show, "Stimpy's Cartoon Show"

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 661, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Invisible Men 1: As Nick in "Memoirs of an Invisible Man", all he wants are his molecules back and Daryl Hannah. Chevy Chase. 2: These days Goldie Hawn sees a lot of this "Now You See Him, Now You Don't" star. Kurt Russell. 3: In a 1951 film this comedy pair joins forces with invisible man Arthur Franz. Abbott and Costello. 4: He wasn't seen very long on TV as "The Invisible Man"; his tenure as Illya Kuryakin lasted longer. David McCallum. 5: You may remember seeing him in "Cocoon" and "Police Academy" but not in "The Man Who Wasn't There". Steve Guttenberg. Round 2. Category: More Celebrity Rhyme Time 1: Jagger's pranks. Mick's tricks. 2: Maher's medications. Bill's pills. 3: Carney's roles. Art's parts. 4: Blythe's flags. Danner's banners. 5: Kerri's embraces. Strug's hugs. Round 3. Category: "Andy" 1: The black and white bear of Walter Lantz cartoons. Andy Panda. 2: "A Family Affair" was the 1st of 15 films in this Mickey Rooney series. the Andy Hardy series. 3: Reg Smythe's pub-crawling comic strip husband of Flo. Andy Capp. 4: Donny Osmond made his debut at the age of 4 on his show. The Andy Williams Show. 5: An 8-hour static film of the Empire State Building was done by this pop artist. Andy Warhol. Round 4. Category: Stained Glass 1: In the 16th c., creation of a tool with this gem at the tip made cutting glass easier. diamond. 2: Traditionally, stained glass is joined by "cames", strips of this metal. lead. 3: This city's remarkable Sainte Chapelle, built in the 13th c., has walls almost entirely of stained glass. Paris. 4: Famed for pieces such as lampshades, this artist was born into a family of N.Y. jewelers. (Louis) Tiffany. 5: An animated short subject, or the term for a full-sized pattern of a stained glass window. cartoon. Round 5. Category: Impossible 1: Lewis Carroll's White Queen said of this girl's age, she "believed as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast". Alice. 2: Jesus said, "If you have" this, "nothing will be impossible unto you". Faith. 3: "When you have excluded the impossible" Holmes said, "whatever remains, however improbable, must be" this. The truth. 4: The quote: "In two words: Im-possible" is attributed to this legendary Hollywood mogul. Samuel Goldwyn. 5: This suave Brit played a psychiatrist with a nubile young daughter in the 1968 farce "The Impossible Years". David Niven. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia! Special thanks to https://blog.feedspot.com/trivia_podcasts/

A note from Talking Taiwan host Felicia Lin:   I first learned about illustrator and cartoonist Guy Gilchrist, when I interviewed Dr. Karen Tsai (in episode 120) about how she spearheaded the creation of Monster Dance, a children's book created to help children deal with and understand the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Guy is best known as the cartoonist of Jim Henson's Muppets comic strip that was printed worldwide in 660-plus newspapers daily in 80 different languages. Guy spoke with me about his humble beginnings, and how he made his childhood dreams of becoming a cartoonist a reality.   Guy has had a lead role on the creative team for the Muppet Babies, Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock, and other Henson creations. Throughout the years, Guy has also had his hand in notable cartoons such as The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, Tiny Toons, The Pink Panther, and Disney, among others.   Since we can't showcase or share all of Guy's talents on the podcast, we are excited to announce that on November 5th, we'll be hosting a live online event where you can meet Guy and see him draw your favorite cartoon characters live. Guy has agreed do a special live online event to help raise some money for Talking Taiwan on November 5th. To get invited to this special event to meet Guy online just make a donation to Talking Taiwan's GoFundMe campaign: http://gofundme.com/building-talking-taiwans-legacy.   We'll be sharing more information about the fun things planned for this event in the upcoming weeks.   This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women's Association.   NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:   to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity, to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality, to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs, to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan, to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.   To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com   Here's a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:   How Guy got involved with the children's book Monster Dance How Guy met Dr. Karen Tsai who spearheaded the creation of Monster Dance Dr. Karen Tsai's nonprofit organization Donate PPE  How Guy helped Donate PPE's efforts by drawing comic book characters with masks for kids and to thank frontline health care workers How they went from the idea to create a coloring book to a children's book Madeleine Editions, the publisher they worked with to create the children's book Monster Dance The Walt Disney quote that inspired Guy to put out the book in record time How the team working on the book worked via Zoom and from locations all around the world and Eva Lou the founder of Madeleine Editions How the book got done in record time during the pandemic Guy's childhood and how his mother nurtured his artistic talent Since childhood Guy always imagined that he'd be a famous cartoonist How Guy did not have a television when he grew up, so he often watched television in an appliance store near the diner where his mother worked How he was inspired by watching cartoonist Walter Lantz draw Woody Woodpecker on television  Why at the age of 10 Guy sent in his artwork to Walter Lantz How as a kid Guy imagined that he'd get to Los Angeles or New York to find work The first time Guy went to a Comic Convention, now known as ComiCon The letter that Walter Lantz sent in response to Guy How at age 16 Guy landed his first job drawing for a Disney coloring book  How Guy became the cartoonist who drew the Muppets comic strip, which debuted in September 1981 The first time that Guy met Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets How the Muppets comic strip was the only one to appear daily in 80 different languages around the world because Jim Henson wanted the Muppets How Guy ended up being a guest of honor at the Whitehouse, declared a national treasure and having his work enshrined in the Smithsonian Which Muppet Guy identifies with the most Guy's advice for illustrators who are struggling with their career or creativity   Related Links: https://talkingtaiwan.com/guy-gilchrist-cartoonist-for-the-muppets-talks-about-how-to-achieve-your-dreams-ep-207/

Vivimos en un mundo que gira a una velocidad guiada por los caballos de la angustia, la insatisfacción, la fantasía esperanzadora, la falsa narrativa, el estrés injustificado, la frustración y la ansiedad global. Noticias Del Mundo: Elecciones Colombia - Gustavo Petro presidente - El beso en Buzz Lightyear - El mono sicario - A surfear con los Beach Boys - Brian Wilson cumpleaños - Los ochenta de Paul McCartney. Historias Desintegradas: Súper Ranking - Las 10 caricaturas más vistas - Japón y la invasión animada - Don Gato y su Pandilla - Alf y los espárragos - Walter Lantz y el Pájaro Carpintero – El escándalo de Birdman - Recargando energía - Gran Opening - Cocomiel se respeta - El Increíble Hulk - La Mujer Maravilla - Encuentro en el aeropuerto y más...  En Caso De Que El Mundo Se Desintegre - ECDQEMSD Daily Podcast

From a rogue radio operator, to Bugs Bunny, to the lady who recorded all the time and temperature message for the phone company, we look at some history and notable names in voicework (which is what I do for a living, hire me!)  Like what you hear?  Become a patron of the arts for as little as $2 a month!   Or buy the book or some merch.  Hang out with your fellow Brainiacs.  Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter,  or Instagram. Music: Kevin MacLeod, David Fesliyan.   Reach out and touch Moxie on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Links to all the research resources are on the website.   If you logged onto the internet between say ‘95-2005, you'd inevitably hear two things, the shriek of a modem, like a robot orgy in a combine harvester, and a cheery man's voice saying, “Welcome” and “You've got mail.”  Elward Edwards recorded those phrases for $200 in 1989, when his wife worked for Quantum Computer Services, the company that later became AOL. At its peak, AOL had 23 million users, all hearing Edwards' voice.  He briefly returned to public attention when a video of him saying the iconic line was posted on social media, by one of his Uber passengers.  My name's …   Every topic I cover on YBOF is interesting to me, anywhere from a little ‘huh' to an all-consuming passion that dictates everything from my daily schedule to my podcast listening.  This is one of those, because I do voiceovers for a living.  Hire me today, no job too small.  With a chronic idiopathic pulmonary condition, covid provided a real kick in the pants to finally get out of retail.  What I discovered, apart from how it's not as easy as you think, or at least as easy as I thought with two years of podcasting already under my belt, is that VO is everywhere!  It's not just cartoons and dubbing movies.  Phone menus, kids toys, GPS, pre-roll ads on YT, website explainer videos, e-learning/training, continuing education, audiobooks, podcasts of course, guided meditations, seriously we could be here all day.  Even computerized voices usually start with a real person, more on that later.   Kids these days may not hear a voice that was unbelievably common in the lives of many of us.  [sfx “At the tone, the time will be 7:22 and 40 seconds,” “I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service”]  That's the authoritative voice of Jane Barbe, one of the most widely-heard voices ever.  Barbe was the queen of telephone recordings, estimated to have been heard 40 million times a day in the 1980s and early 1990s, everything from automated time and weather messages to hotel wake-up calls.  She wasn't the only person who recorded automated phone messages, but she practically had the market cornered.    Barbe did most of her recordings for Atlanta-based Electronic Telecommunications Inc., which at one time produced as many as 2,000 voice messaging systems for businesses and government agencies, and for Octel Communications, which is now a part of Bell Labs/Lucent.  She was heard on 90% of “intercept messages” -- the recording played when something is wrong with a phone number -- and 60% of automated time and temperature calling programs.  You see, children, before you had the exact time and the collective knowledge of humanity to take to the toilet with you, you might go to the nearest telephone and dial a number you had committed to memory, probably the wildest part of this story, so a recording could tell you the time and temperature.   While I still haven't encountered my own voice in the wild, which was especially disappointing after I voiced a local political ad, Jane Barbe misdialed her calls as much as the rest of us, an experience she described as “really weird.”  One time she overheard her mother dialing a number and getting her on a recorded message.  ‘Oh, shut up, Jane!' her mom groused before slamming down the receiver in exasperation.   The story of how our go-go tech-driven lives became infused with voiceovers well predates YT and phone menus.  We have to go back over a century, to the night of Christmas eve 1906.  Up to that moment, the ship wireless operators for the United Fruit Company, along with the US Navy, had only heard Morse codes coming through their headphones.  But suddenly, they heard a human voice singing “O Holy Night” with violin accompaniment and afterwards a reading from the Bible.  This was heard by ships along the Atlantic northeast coast and from shore stations as far south as Norfolk, Virginia.  A repeat broadcast was heard on New Year's Eve as far south as the West Indies.  The voice was that of Canadian inventor and mathematician Reginald Fessenden, who was responsible for establishing the first transatlantic wireless telegraphic communication and what is considered to be the first voice work.  Fessneden was excited by Alexander Graham Bell's new device, the telephone, and set out to create a way to remotely communicate without wires.  In 1900, working for the United States Weather Bureau, Fessenden recorded the very first voice over: a test he made reporting the weather.  The following year, Guglielmo Marconi, who is often credited as the father and inventor of the radio became the first person to transmit signals across the Atlantic Ocean.   Though wireless communication was invaluable in WWI, broadcasts to the public were largely regional, amateur affairs.  The first radio news program was broadcast August 31, 1920 by station 8MK in Detroit, Michigan, which survives today as all-news CBS station.  The first college radio station began broadcasting two months later from Union College, Schenectady, New York.  Around the same time, station 2ADD (call letters were weird in the beginning), aired what is believed to be the first public entertainment broadcast in the United States, a series of Thursday night concerts that could initially only be heard within a 100-mile (160 km) radius and later for a 1,000-mile (1,600 km) radius. It wasn't much, but it was the start of broadcast voice work.   The average person knows off-hand that the first movie with diegetic, or native, sound was The Jazz Singer in 1927, but the biggest event in voice work came the following year -- the first talkie cartoon.  It was Steamboat Willie, with the prototype for Mickey Mouse voiced by none other than creator Walt Disney.  Hot on its heels came next year's Looney Tunes the following year.  And that's t-u-n-e-s like music, not t-o-o-n-s like cartoon.   In the early days of animation, Disney produced short animated films called “Silly Symphonies,” to promote and sell music, in the form of records and sheet music.  As Silly Symphonies gained popularity, Warner Brothers created its own equivalents, “Merrie Melodies”“Looney Tunes.” As for the “looney” part of the title, Warner Brothers wanted to indicate that “[their] cartoons were a little wackier than the sweeter characters of Disney.”  Cartoons quickly solidified their place as entertainment for children and adults alike.   One man in particular made Looney Tunes a powerhouse, “the man of a thousand voices” - Mel Blanc.  He is considered to be the first outstanding voice actor in the industry and voiced Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, and many others.  Raised in Portland, Oregon, he worked at KGW as an announcer and as one of the Hoot Owls in the mid-1930s, where he specialized in comic voices. It took him a year and a half to land an audition with Leon Schlesinger's company, where he began in 1937. He also worked for Walter Lantz, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia, and even Walt Disney until Schlesinger signed him to an exclusive contract.   One of Mel Blanc's most important contributions to the voice over industry is the recognition that voice artists now get to enjoy. Originally, voice artists were not given screen credit on animated cartoons. After he was turned down for a raise by tight-fisted producer Leon Schlesinger, Blanc suggested they add his name as Vocal Characterizationist to the credits as a compromise. Not only did it give a greater recognition to voice artists but also from then on, it helped to bring Blanc to the public eye and quickly brought him more work in radio.   We almost didn't have as much Mel Blanc voice-work as we did.  On January 24th, 1961, Blanc was in a near-fatal car accident on Sunset Boulevard.  He suffered multiple fracture to both legs and his pelvis, as well as triple skull bone displacements.  He lay in a coma, unresponsive, for two weeks.  After many doctors' attempts to bring him out of the deep unconsciousness, one of his neurologists tried a different approach and asked Blanc, “How are you feeling today, Bugs Bunny?”  After a moment, in a low voice, he replied, “Eh… just fine, Doc. What's up?”  The doctor then asked if Tweety was in there too, to which Blanc replied: “I tot I taw a puddy tat.”  Mel Blanc recovered shortly after and continued to do what he did best, until his death at age 81.  His tombstone in Hollywood Forever Cemetery reads “That's all, folks.”   Bonus fact: Bugs Bunny's habit of eating carrots while delivering one-liners was based on a scene in the film It Happened One Night, in which Clark Gable's character leans against a fence, eating carrots rapidly and talking with his mouth full to Claudette Colbert's character.  The trouble was, Mel Blanc didn't like carrots.  He would bite and chew the carrots to get the sound needed and immediately spit it out.   MIDROLL   Hopping back to Disney, the house of mouse also pioneered the full-length animated feature, to much soon-to-be-disproven skepticism and derision, with Snow White in 1937.  Adriana Caselotti was the daughter of Italian immigrants living in Connecticut.  Both her mother and older sister sang opera and her father gave voice lessons, so making best use of one's voice was sort of their thing.  After a brief stint as a chorus girl, when she was only 18, Caselotti was hired to provide the voice of Snow White.  She was paid $970, equivalent to $17K today, typical for the non-union times.  In most Hollywood stories, this would be step one of a meteoric rise.  The movie was certainly a success, even briefly hold the title of highest grossing sound film, so why isn't Adriana Caselotti a household name?  All my research indicates that Disney did it on purpose.  Caselotti was under contract with Disney, so she couldn't work for other studios, but Disney never provided her with any other roles.  Even radio and TV legend Jack Benny was turned away, with the explanation, “That voice can't be used anywhere.  I don't want to spoil the illusion of Snow White.”  It's the same reason Disney didn't credit voice actors for the first six years of feature films; he didn't want anything to remind the buying public that the characters are just make-believe.  Caselotti's only other cinematic contribution, for which she was paid $100, was to sing the falsetto line "Wherefore Art Thou, Romeo", in the Tin Man's song in The Wizard of Oz.  She was a lovely girl; you can see pictures of her if you're listening to the show on the Vodacast app.   I've actually got a few bullet points on the dark secrets behind the happiest place on earth.  There's enough to fill a movie.  I can see the trailer now.  “In a world…”  I can't do the voice.  Only one man could, the epic movie trailer guy, Don LaFontaine.  Donald LaFontaine was called, “The King,” "Thunder Throat" and "The Voice of God."  His CV includes 5,000 movie trailers and over 350,000 television commercials, network promotions, and video game trailers.  His signature phrase, "in a world...", is so well known and parodied, LaFontaine parodied it himself in a Geico ad. [sfx]   LaFontaine was born in 1940 in Duluth, Minnesota. to Alfred and Ruby LaFontaine.  At age 13, his voice changed, all at once, mid-sentence, and never went back.  He began his career as a recording engineer at the National Recording Studios producing commercial spots for Dr. Strangelove: Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.  LaFontaine worked behind the mic until 1964, when he had to fill in for a missing voice actor to finish a promo spot for 1964's Gunfighters of Casa Grande for a client's presentation.  The client bought the spots, and LaFontaine's career as a voice actor began.  LaFontaine developed his signature style of a strong narrative approach, and heavy melodramatic coloration of his voice work.  In 1976 LaFontaine started his own company producing movie trailers.  He moved to Los Angeles in 1981 and was contacted by an agent, launching a career that spanned three decades.  LaFontaine's signature voice came with a busy schedule.  He could have voiced about 60 promotions a week, sometimes more than 3 in a single day.  Most studios were willing to pay a premium for his service.  It has been said that his voice-over added prestige and excitement, a certain gravitas, to what might otherwise have been a box office failure.    In a 2007 interview, LaFontaine explained the strategy behind his signature catch phrase, "in a world where...": "We have to very rapidly establish the world we are transporting them to. That's very easily done by saying, `In a world where ... violence rules.' `In a world where ... men are slaves and women are the conquerors.' You very rapidly set the scene."  Wait, what movie wa that second one?  LaFontaine became so successful that he arrived at his voice-over jobs in a personalized limo with a full time driver, until he began recording from his palatial estate in the Hollywood Hills, thanks to the internet and ISDN.  It's hardly worth talking about ISDN as a voiceover today, as it's rapidly on its way out, but as a podcaster, I'm happy to.  ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is a system of digital telephone connections, which enables recording studios anywhere in the United States, Canada and abroad to connect digitally with voice over talent working remotely in their home recording studio.  It's as clear as being in the same room.  It makes a Zoom call look like two Solo cups and an old shoelace.  But nobody's having a dedicated ISDN line installed these days.  It costs at least $1500 for the unit, plus anywhere from $75 to a few hundred dollars per month for the service, so [sfx raspberry] onto the rubbish heap of rapidly-outdated technology it goes!   LaFontaine died suddenly in 2008 and  now all we're left with is the Inception noise. [sfx]  I mean, it was cool at first, but now … meh.  You can also hear shades of LaFontaine in the work of a Barbadian-British VO known professionally as Redd Pepper.  His legal name is on wikipedia, but I don't like when mine comes up, so I won't use his.  (Also, if you find out someone goes by a name other than the one on their passport, just leave it, will you?  Be they trans, an actor, an exotic dancer, or a check-out girl, don't matter.  You don't need to know what my “real name” is unless you're writing me a check.)  Anyway, Pepper has voiced over 100 trailers, including blockbusters like Jurassic Park, Men in Black and Space Jam, so you've probably heard him, even if you thought he was the old “in a world” guy.  Here's LaFontaine [sfx] and here's Pepper [sfx].   Speaking of signature sounds, if you've ever heard old movies or newsreels from the thirties or forties, then you've probably heard that weird old-timey voice.  It sounds a little like a blend between American English and a form of British English.  Did everyone talk that way between the world wars?  Not everyone, no, only the people being recorded and they did it on purpose.   This type of pronunciation is called the Transatlantic, or Mid-Atlantic, accent.  Not mid-Atlantic like Virginia and Maryland, but like in the middle of the Atlantic.  Unlike most accents, instead of naturally evolving, the Transatlantic accent was acquired.  People in the United States were taught to speak in this voice.  Historically, Transatlantic speech was the hallmark of American aristocracy and by extension the theatre.  In upper-class boarding schools across New England, students learned the Transatlantic accent as an international norm for communication, similar to the way posh British society used Received Pronunciation, which we'll get to in a minute.  Mid-Atlantic English was the dominant dialect among the Northeastern American upper class through the first half of the 20th century. As such, it was popular in the theatre and other forms of elite culture in that region….   Transatlantic has several quasi-British elements, such a lack of rhoticity.  This means that Mid-Atlantic speakers dropped their “r's” at the end of words like “winner” or “clear”.  They'll also use softer, British vowels – dahnce, fahst.  While those sounds were reduce, emphasis was put on t's.  In American English we often pronounce the “t” in words like “writer” and “water” as d's. Transatlantic speakers pounce on their T's, writer, water.     This speech pattern isn't completely British, nor completely American.  Instead, it's a form of English that's hard to place and that's part of why Hollywood loved it.  With the evolution of talkies in the late 1920s, voice was first heard in motion pictures.  It was then that the majority of audiences first heard Hollywood actors speaking predominantly in Mid-Atlantic English.  But why do so many speakers have such a high, nasal quality?  There's a theory that technological constraints, combined with the schooled accent, created this iconic speech.  According to Duke university professor Jay O'Berski, this sound is an artifact from the early days of radio.  Radio receivers had very little bass technology at the time, and it was very difficult, if not impossible, to hear bass tones on your home device.  Speakers with pleasing full baritones were no good on early radio.    The Transatlantic accent made Americans sound vaguely British, but how can you make British people sound more British, like, the maximum amount of Britishness, like a cup of earl grey tea served with a dry scone smeared with marmalade and imperialism.  You teach them Received Pronunciation.  Received Pronunciation, or RP, is the instantly recognisable super-British accent often described as The Queen's English', ‘Oxford English' or ‘BBC English.'  RP is described as “the standard form of British English pronunciation,” though only 2% or so of Brits speak it.   So where did Transatlantic pronunciation go?  Linguist William Labov noted that Mid-Atlantic speech fell out of favor after World War II, as fewer teachers taught it to their students and radio and movie sound technology evolved to handle bass.  It's not gone entirely, though.  British expats like Anthony Hopkins still use it and it pops up in place of actors' natural British accents in movies.  The example that leaps to my mind is Warwick Davis.  You also know him as The Leprechaun, Professor Fliwick in Harry Potter, among 80 other roles.  For his first major film role as the titular Willow in 1988, he was taught the Transatlantic accent because the studio heads thought that Americans wouldn't be able to understand his British accent.  *sigh*  I could probably do a whole episode on executives thinking the average person was sub-moronic.  Did you ever once have a problem with Warwick Davis' accent, or anything less clear than Brad Pitt in Snatch?  Pop on to our social media…

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 219, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Hammurabi's Code 1: Rule 200 says if a man knocketh these out of an equal, his shall be knocked out, too. Teeth. 2: This number is missing from the code's 282 rules; Babylonians thought it was evil and unlucky. 13. 3: Rules 104-106 warn you to be sure to get one of these when dealing with a merchant. Receipt. 4: If a man hires a substitute to serve for him as one of these and doesn't pay, he's killed and the sub gets his house. Soldier. 5: If you hired one of these and broke a horn off or cut off its tail, you owe 1/4 of its value in money. Cow, bull, ox..... Round 2. Category: Are You Addressing Me? 1: The personal pronoun of the second person in the nominative case; people often act holier than it. thou. 2: A surgeon in England is simply addressed as this, not Dr.. Mr.. 3: Miss came from the first syllable of this word and mrs. is a shortened form of it. mistress. 4: From the Arabic for "old man", it's the head of a family, tribe or village. sheik. 5: As tovarishch means this, we guess you could be a tovarishch-in-arms. comrade. Round 3. Category: "Andy" 1: The black and white bear of Walter Lantz cartoons. Andy Panda. 2: "A Family Affair" was the 1st of 15 films in this Mickey Rooney series. the Andy Hardy series. 3: Reg Smythe's pub-crawling comic strip husband of Flo. Andy Capp. 4: Donny Osmond made his debut at the age of 4 on his show. The Andy Williams Show. 5: An 8-hour static film of the Empire State Building was done by this pop artist. Andy Warhol. Round 4. Category: The Sweet Spot 1: 2-word term for benzosulfamide or aspartame, for example. artificial sweetener. 2: You'd be wrong, but not alone in calling these yams. sweet potatoes. 3: In "Peanuts" it's Sally's term of endearment for Linus. "My Sweet Baboo". 4: It's the title of the 1970 album on which you can hear the song "Fire and Rain". "Sweet Baby James". 5: In 1959 Elia Kazan directed this Tennessee Williams play. Sweet Bird of Youth. Round 5. Category: Air 1: Nitrogen makes up about 78% of the air to this gas' 21%, so no one has ever needed a nitrogen tent. Oxygen. 2: About 14.5 pounds per square inch at sea level, it decreases with altitude and has to be increased in airplanes. Air pressure. 3: It's what is done to air so it can power a jackhammer. Compressed. 4: This process that originally formed the oceans also forms dew. Condensation. 5: A sudden change of windspeed or direction, it also means "cut". Shear. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!

Episode 34 aired February 21, 1948 on CBS Radio. A tale of the supernatural and witchcraft in a small Welsh town. You are alone in a strange and remote village on the Welsh boarder surrounded by silent town's people who are watching and waiting for you to decide to lose your soul. Starring Paul Frees, an American actor, comedian, vaudevillian and impressionist, known for his work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass, and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during the Golden Age of Animation and for providing the voice of Boris Badenov in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. A contemporary of voice actor Mel Blanc, Frees was known as "The Man of a Thousand Voices".

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 27, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Sing It, Sister 1: She took the name of her band "Nine Stories" from a J.D. Salinger work Lisa Loeb. 2: This French-Canadian had only spoken English for about a year when she cut her 1990 English debut album "Unison" Celine Dion. 3: Her hits include "Miss You Much", "Escapade" and "The Pleasure Principle" Janet Jackson. 4: In 1998 she showed her "Spirit" singing "My hands are small, I know, but they're not yours they are my own" Jewel. 5: Whitney Houston and this pop diva joined voices on "When You Believe", a duet from "The Prince of Egypt" Mariah Carey. Round 2. Category: 20Th Century Presidents 1: In 1962 he published a book on his career highlights to date -- "Six Crises" Richard Nixon. 2: To give the nominating speech for Al Smith in 1924, he rose from his wheelchair and made his way to the mike Franklin D. Roosevelt. 3: He wrote an article "About Man-Eating Lions" for the November 1913 issue of Boy's Life Theodore Roosevelt. 4: His 1976 campaign plane was called Peanut One Jimmy Carter. 5: His given names were the same as the full name of a 16th century leader of the Protestant Reformation Calvin Coolidge. Round 3. Category: Scientists 1: This chemist was born Marie Sklodowska in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland Marie Curie. 2: [Photo] Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born was the grandfather of this singer seen here Olivia Newton-John. 3: In 1609 and 1619 this German astronomer published his 3 laws of planetary motion (Johannes) Kepler. 4: Astronomer Sosigenes advised this Roman on the development of the calendar named for him Julius Caesar. 5: In 1661 Isaac Newton entered this university's Trinity College as a subsizar, a student with domestic duties Cambridge. Round 4. Category: They're All Winners! 1: The epic in Stephen Vincent Benet's body of work that won him a 1929 Pulitzer John Brown's Body. 2: (Hi, I'm Gretchen Carlson of the CBS Saturday Early Show.) You could say it was my "crowning" moment when I became the 1st classical violinist to win this national title Miss America. 3: (Hi. I'm LeVar Burton, and) In 1999 I won a Grammy for narrating "The Autobiography of" this winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Martin Luther King, Jr.. 4: Things were grave indeed when Patricia Clarkson picked up an Emmy in 2002 for guest-starring on this HBO show Six Feet Under. 5: Talk about a super Mario! He won more than 50 Indy car races before he retired in 1994 Mario Andretti. Round 5. Category: "Andy" 1: An 8-hour static film of the Empire State Building was done by this pop artist Andy Warhol. 2: Reg Smythe's pub-crawling comic strip husband of Flo Andy Capp. 3: Donny Osmond made his debut at the age of 4 on his show The Andy Williams Show. 4: "A Family Affair" was the 1st of 15 films in this Mickey Rooney series the Andy Hardy series. 5: The black and white bear of Walter Lantz cartoons Andy Panda. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia! was here

He doesn't sound exactly like Woody Woodpecker, but the Acorn Woodpecker was probably the model for the cartoon character. The story goes that Walter Lantz and his new bride, Grace, were on their honeymoon in a cabin in California. A racket on their roof drew them outside, where they spotted an

We continue the saga of Walter Lantz to focus on the cartoons Dick Lundy directed in the late '40s. An O.G. Disney alumnus, Lundy brought a spit and polish to the Lantz product and made the studio's most lavish pictures—much to Walter's wallet's chagrin. Highlights: Freddie Moore at Lantz! The scumbaggery of Buzz Buzzard! The Woody Woodpecker Song's controversy! And just in time for Father's Day, we discuss Lundy's Wacky-Bye Baby, with doting papa Wally Walrus trying to kill his newly adopted son Woody. Cartoons discussed: The Beach Nut, Ski for Two, Crow Crazy, Bathing Buddies, Smoked Hams, The Flying Jalopy, Wet Blanket Policy, Dog Tax Dodgers, and Wacky-Bye Baby.

Scott Handelman made the connections last week, so he’s back again! Listen in and play along at home!  Here are today’s clues: Oaken, Allen, Walter Lantz, Boyd.  Timberland, The Music Man, Coach Gregg, Fire.  Driver, Metal, Leonard Bernstein, Lightning Rod.  Mice, Studios, Signature, World. 

There's sound issues in this one. Some serious fuckin' sound issues. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating. I'm not sure. You'll have to listen to find out. SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON Twitter Instagram LINKS: The Kiwis Become Tommys The Kiwis Get Shtupped The Black One Is The Worst What do Walter Lantz and 50 Cent Have In Common? WOF Fun Facts Sick Rig, Bro! Thank Dick Grayson Check Your Pronouns BnB #1 BnB #2 El CapitanX THE Shoemaker

Walter Lantz produced cartoons that rarely aspired to be more than gag-driven potboilers. But once in a while some talented guys strived to do more within those restraints. Hear the stories of Lantz's early days and his prized creation Woody Woodpecker. We also analyze the brutal and beautiful Who's Cookin' Who?, directed by the great Shamus Culhane, a cartoon that shows just how painful a meat grinder can be!

  He's one of the most iconic cartoon characters of all-time. Finally, Woody Woodpecker is getting the feature film treatment. Universal's live-action/animated "Woody Woodpecker" hits Netflix and Direct-to-DVD on Tues. 2/6. Veteran director Alex Zamm had the pleasure and responsibility of giving Walter Lantz's hyperactive bird his CGI wings.

Happy 2018! In this episode, we accidentally talk about Walter Lantz a lot and learn to hate a beloved icon! ::CARTOONS WATCHED:: The Story of Repunzel (1951) — Youtube link courtesy of captainbaiju Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in The Plumber (1933) — Youtube link courtesy of Cartoon Start Meany, Miny, and Moe in House of […]

Today's Guest: Chip Jacobs, author, "Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler," "Smogtown"CHIP JACOBS podcast excerpt: "Some people scoff or give me a funny eyebrow scrunched look when them my uncle did these things that he did. He looked at his injury like some people look at a skin rash and said to himself, 'Deal with it. I want to go on my boat, take flying lessons, or... What about a safari?'"Key interview moments:• 3:00 Chip Jacobs gave him biography the subtitle "The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler" because he knew his uncle's life sounded unbelievable;• 19:20 Muriel Zahler, Chip's mother and Gordon's sister, recognized that her life was forever changed by Gordon's accident and the financial too it took on their family; she never forgave him but never abandoned him, either;• 19:20 Gordon's outsized life intersected with many celebrities thanks to his music business, creating relationships with everyone from sitcom queen Lucille Ball ("I Love Lucy") and animator Walter Lantz (creator of "Woody Woodpecker") to "B" movie director Ed Wood Jr. (Plan 9 From Outer Space).Subscribe to Mr. Media for FREE on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MrMediaRadioFor more interviews like this one: http://www.MrMedia.com What is Mr. Media® Interviews? The calm of Charlie Rose, the curiosity of Terry Gross and the unpredictability of Howard Stern! Since February 2007, more than 1,000 exclusive Hollywood, celebrity, pop culture video and audio comedy podcast interviews by Mr. Media®, a.k.a., Bob Andelman, with newsmakers in TV, radio, movies, music, magazines, newspapers, books, websites, social media, politics, sports, graphic novels, and comics! Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/andelmanFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/MrMediaRadio

Today's Guest: Chip Jacobs, author, Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler, Smogtown   Watch this exclusive Mr. Media interview with Chip Jacobs by clicking on the video player above!  Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience full of musical geniuses who had no idea how good their lives were until reading Strange As It Seems… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida! If you are determined to title your book Strange As It Seems, you damn well better deliver. Chip Jacobs does that and more in a loving, funny and well-written biography of his late uncle, Hollywood musical legend Gordon Zahler. What makes it so strange? Well, in 1940, when Gordon Zahler was a 14-year-old daredevil who believed more than most teen-aged boys that he could do anything, a misadventure with a high school gymnastics springboard landed him on his neck and severed his spine. CHIP JACOBS podcast excerpt: "Some people scoff or give me a funny eyebrow scrunched look when them my uncle did these things that he did. He looked at his injury like some people look at a skin rash and said to himself, 'Deal with it. I want to go on my boat, take flying lessons, or... What about a safari?'" You can LISTEN to this interview with writer CHIP JACOBS, author of STRANGE AS IT SEEMS: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler, by clicking the audio player above! Most everyone – classmates, doctors and family – presumed he would be dead in a matter of days. For inexplicable reasons, Zahler survived. Scratch that: the quadriplegic thrived. He refused to roll over and die; instead, taking charge of his Hollywood composer father’s music catalogue to create the go-to music library for early low-budget TV and film producers. All of the time and money his family devoted to him early on paid off; Zahler created a successful business with nothing more than a charismatic sales pitch. Eventually, he became friends and a business associate of “I Love Lucy” star and producer Lucille Ball, Woody Woodpecker creator Walter Lanz, and animal-oriented TV show producer Ivan Tors. CHIP JACOBS podcast excerpt: "Some of the TV shows to which Gordon provided music were filmed at Desilu Studios. For some reason, Lucille Ball thought my uncle was that cat's pajamas. It must have been Gordon's non-pitying attitude. Lucille Ball would see him and yell, 'Gordon!' and come running up to him. She would hug him, chat him up, and bring over other stars." Right about now you’re probably thinking this sounds like the plot to a Hollywood movie – Zelig starring Woody Allen, perhaps, or Forrest Gump with Tom Hanks. But it’s a true story, one that Zahler’s nephew, Chip Jacobs, lived first hand at the end of his uncle’s life and later researched and reported in Strange As It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler. Key interview moments: • 3:00 Chip Jacobs gave him biography the subtitle "The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler" because he knew his uncle's life sounded unbelievable; • 19:20 Muriel Zahler, Chip's mother and Gordon's sister, recognized that her life was forever changed by Gordon's accident and the financial too it took on their family; she never forgave him but never abandoned him, either; • 19:20 Gordon's outsized life intersected with many celebrities thanks to his music business, creating relationships with everyone from sitcom queen Lucille Ball ("I Love Lucy") and animator Walter Lantz (creator of "Woody Woodpecker") to "B" movie director Ed Wood Jr. (Plan 9 From Outer Space). Chip Jacobs Website • Facebook • Twitter • LinkedIn • Goodreads   The Party Authority in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland! The post A Strange As It Seems intersection of film and music!

ToonCast Beyond is back for now! This is the Animation Direction Spotlight. Next up is Walter Lantz and Ub Iwerks! These men were creators of Woody Woodpecker on Lantz's side, and Iwerks helped shape Disney animation! Listen in to hear what Neil and Mike think of Lantz and Iwerks all in ToonCast Beyond's Animation Direction! Geeks: Mike ...

ToonCast Beyond is back for now! This is the Animation Direction Spotlight. Next up is Walter Lantz and Ub Iwerks! These men were creators of Woody Woodpecker on Lantz’s side, and Iwerks helped shape Disney animation! Listen in to hear what Neil and Mike think of Lantz and Iwerks all in ToonCast Beyond’s Animation Direction! Geeks: Mike ...

Nesse programa aprenda que Walter Lantz criou um coelho antes de criar o Pica-pau, saiba que o Pernalonga ria como o Pica-pau no começo de tudo, vamos passear na história e nas curiosidades desses dois desenhos animados icônicos, tente descobrir o que é que há velhinho, vamos acompanhar Pernalonga como maestro, passamos no barbeiro para sermos barbeados pelo Pica-pau, escolha entre Pé-de-pano e Patolino, siga aquele chinêzinho, siga aquela carroça, siga aquele trem, siga aquela seta, Com a participação dos AlgumaCoisaCasters: Marco Febrini, Kelleni Vaikuntha, Jéssica Groke, Raul Heros, e o homem dos contos de terror, Giovani Arieira. Acessem e curtam: Facebook do AlgumaCoisaCast Acessem e sigam: Twitter do AlgumaCoisaCast Acessem e participem: Grupo Ouvintes do ACC Acessem: Podflix do AlgumaCoisaCast Itunes do ACC Acessem e se cadastrem: NerdSky Barbas Fodas? Acessem e consultem os preços e os modelos: KellStore. Acessem: História em Quadrinhos Acessem: Costelas&Hidromel Acessem: TransmimentoCast Acessem: RenegadosCast Links citados no programa: Nosso Grupo no Raid Call: http://www.raidcall.com.br/go.php?sid=8334492 Vídeo novo no: Retalho POP Arte da Vitrine por: Rodrigo Odin Críticas, sugestões, dúvidas Cenouras e Comida para Pássaros para: contatoalgumacoisacast@gmail.com

TAG Interview with Don LuskFind all TAG Interviews on the TAG website at this link After leaving Walt Disney Productions at the start of the 60s, Don worked for Walter Lantz and then Hanna-Barbera. And at H-B he found a long-term professional home, and remained there for thirty-plus years. ... I asked him whether he preferred Disney or Hanna-Barbera; he told me that he had a much happier time at Joe and Bill's place, because he was better respected and made to feel like "one of the family." Though he worked on some iconic features at Disney, Don felt he was underpaid and not particularly appreciated. And as he relates, Walt held grudges against many of the employees who went out during the 1941 strike ...which likely explains why Don's post-war Disney career never took off. As Mr. Lusk says, he was "relieved" when finally let go, and the relief turned out to be well-founded: he had decades of productive work still ahead of him.