We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
A Man Plays Many Parts— In Mel's Case, Mostly Animals of $50,000 a year. Working in Walt Disney’s “Pinocchio” a few years ago, he was paid $800 for one hiccup, the only thing left of a cat’s dialog after editing. Jack Benny’s writers, a crea¬ tive group given to outbursts of fra¬ ternal sadism, delight in writing sounds into the script they don’t think anyone can reproduce; but so far Blanc has risen to all these crises. Once the Benny script contained the cryptic direction: “Mel whinnies like a horse (English horse).” Unaware that it was a gag, Mel ended a rou¬ tine horse whinny with an equine “Haw!” so unmistakably British that the old radio bit has been revived for Benny’s TV show. Mel insists that all the 97 comic characters he has created are the natural issue of his own vocal chords, except for an occasional children’s record spun fast or slow by Capitol engineers to produce a special effect for tot album buyers. Basically a mu¬ sician—in 1930 he was the Nation’s youngest (22) theater pit orchestra conductor—^he developed his genius for creative mimicry by singing nov¬ elty songs with various dance bands around Portland, while doubling on tuba and violin. In just the reverse of what most people think, all the cartoon char¬ acters Mel has voiced—Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Woody Woodpecker, Tweety Bird—are drawn by the art¬ ists from the voice mannerisms he first supplies on tape. He says Yo- Mel's the voice of Porky Pig . . . ... and carrot-loving Bugs Bunny . . .