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papermoonloveslucy · 10 months

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ANIMATED LUCY!

Lucille Ball & Animation

Lucille Ball worked with many performers, and many of them were just as famous for their voices as their faces! As well as working for Desilu, actors worked for Warner Brothers, Disney, and other producers of animation - some of which is still popular today.

DISNEY

Walt Disney himself turned up on "Hedda Hopper's Hollywood" (1960), one of the gossip columnist's television specials that also featured Lucille Ball, among many others.

VERNA FELTON

Verna Felton (1890-1966) made her professional stage debut at the age of 10 as ‘Little Verna Felton,’ working extensively on stage. On “I Love Lucy” Felton portrayed Mrs. Porter, the no-nonsense housekeeper in “Lucy Hires a Maid” (1953). and Mrs. Simpson in "Sales Resistance” (1953), a housewife to whom Lucy tries to sell a Handy Dandy vacuum cleaner - only to find out that she has no electricity! She received two Emmy nominations for her role in the Desilu series “December Bride,” playing Hilda Crocker from 1955 to 1959 opposite Spring Byington as Lily. In one episode, producer Desi Arnaz guest-starred as himself.

For Walt Disney, Felton voiced three elephants: Elephant Matriarch and Mrs. Jumbo in Dumbo (1941), as well as Winifred in The Jungle Book (1967). She played two Queens: The Queen of Hearts in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Queen Leah in Sleeping Beauty (1959). Her more human characters included Aunt Sarah in Lady and the Tramp (1955) and - a rare non-Disney female - Pearl Slaghoople, Wilma’s mother, on “The Flintstones”. She also voiced two wand-wavers: Flora in Sleeping Beauty and - perhaps most famously - The Fairy Godmother in Disney’s Cinderella (1950), where she introduced the song “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” to the world.

Her son, Lee Millar Jr., made four appearances on “I Love Lucy" and one episode of "The Lucy Show." He appeared with his mother in the 1955 animated feature Lady and the Tramp as Jim Dear and the Dogcatcher. Felton's husband and Millar's father, who did not appear with Lucy during his career, was most famous as the voice of Disney's Pluto from 1930 until his death in 1941.

ELEANOR AUDLEY

Eleanor Audley (1905-1991) played Lucille Ball’s mother-in-law on “My Favorite Husband.” She would later play Eleanor Spalding, owner of the Westport home the Ricardos buy in “Lucy Wants To Move to the Country” (1957) as well as one of the Garden Club judges in “Lucy Raises Tulips” (1957). She was seen as a Society Reporter on a 1965 episode of "The Lucy Show."

She is probably best known, however, as the voice of two of Disney’s most memorable animated villainesses: Lady Tremaine, the wicked stepmother in Cinderella (1950); and the evil Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty (1959). She served as the physical model for both characters.

HANS CONRIED

Hans Conried (1917-1982) first worked with Lucille Ball in the 1942 film The Big Street and played a myriad of roles on her radio show “My Favorite Husband.” On “I Love Lucy” he had just played Mr. Jenkins, used furniture salesman (above), a month earlier in "Redecorating" (1952) and returned to play Percy Livermore, "The English Tutor" (1952).

Early in the episode, Ricky reads from a children's book. While the story he reads is Little Red Riding Hood, the book cover is definitely Peter Pan. Coincidentally (or not), Conried had just finished voicing Captain Hook / Mr. Darling for Disney's animated feature Peter Pan, which would be released just a month later, in February 1953. That same year he voiced Thomas Jefferson in Disney's animated short, Ben and Me. Perhaps his best loved voice was that of Snidely Whiplash on the Bullwinkle and Dudley Do-Right cartoons starting in 1959. Conried made two appearances on "The Lucy Show" (both as acting / voice coach Dr. Gitterman) and on "Here's Lucy" with his long-time co-star Danny Thomas.

PINTO COLVIG

Pinto Colvig (1892-1967) was the original voice of Disney’s Pluto and Goofy. He provided the neighs for Gulliver the horse in "Horseback Riding" (1949), an episode of Lucille Ball's radio series "My Favorite Husband". He also did all the dog barks for “Lucy is Her Own Lawyer” (1964).

GINNY TYLER

Ginny Tyler (1925-2012) voiced Clementine the sheep in “Lucy Buys a Sheep” (1962), Greenback, Mr. Mooney's cockatiel, in "Lucy Gets the Bird" (1964), and Polly the Parrot in "Lucy in the Jungle" (1971). She also did the voices of the sheep in Disney’s Mary Poppins and the singing squirrel in The Sword in the Stone. She started out narrating record albums for Disney, including “Bambi” and “Babes in Toyland.”

JUNE FORAY

June Foray (1917-2017) was one of Hollywood's most famous and busiest voice actors. She did the voice of Lucifer the cat in Disney's Cinderella (1950), and voiced a mermaid and a squaw in Disney's Peter Pan (1953), among others. In 1957, she did the barks of Fred the dog on "I Love Lucy." She is probably best remembered as Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha Fatale in the "Bullwinkle" cartoons.

CLEO

When "The Ricardos Change Apartments" (1953), Lucy fills the flat with as many toys as possible, including a bathtub toy called Cleo, the goldfish from the Disney Pinocchio (1940). When Ricky squeezes her, Cleo spits in his face!

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

In 1938, Lucy modeled ladies' hats based on the characters Prince Charming and Sneezy from Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Needless to say, she looked “charming”.

In a 1949 episode of "My Favorite Husband," Liz and Iris bemoan that they won't be going anywhere sunny for summer vacation. They say their goodbyes.

LIZ: “Goodbye, Paleface!”

IRIS: “See you later, Snow White!”

The Paleface was a Bob Hope / Jane Russell film released at the very end of 1948. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) featured the voices of future “Lucy” cast members Pinto Colvig and Moroni Olsen.

"LUCY AND THE MONSTERS" (1965) involves a shared horror movie dream. To find out who is the prettiest witch, Lucy and Viv ask the magic mirror: “Mirror, mirror on the wall; Who’s the fairest of them all?” This is the same query the Evil Queen asks her magic mirror in the Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. In the film, the voice was that of Moroni Olsen, who played the Judge in the "I Love Lucy" episode "The Courtroom" (1952).

CINDERELLA

“Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” a song written in 1948 by Al Hoffman, Mack David, and Jerry Livingston for the 1950 Disney animated film Cinderella, was heard in a 1950 episode of "My Favorite Husband" titled "Liz Writes a Song". For inspiration, George suggests they listen to the radio and hears "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”. Mr. Atterbury (Gale Gordon) questions what the nonsense lyrics mean. In "CHER...AND OTHER FANTASIES" (1979) a Cleaning Lady (Lucille Ball) pushes a cart and sings “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo,” Cher just wants to get out of the building. The Cleaning Lady suggests she wait till midnight when her white mice and pumpkin turn into a coach and horses. The special also includes a reference to....

BAMBI

Winding her way through the warehouse, Cher encounters Shelley Winters, a purveyor of movie memorabilia.

CHER: “Do you have 'Bambi’?”

SHELLEY: “I don’t have that in stock, but I’ve got a rifle from 'Winchester 73.'”

Winchester 73 was a 1950 film about a prized rifle that starred Shelley Winters and James Stewart. Shelley fires the rifle in the air and Cher takes on the roles of Bambi’s mother and father.

DUMBO

"Liz and the Green Wig" (1950), an episode of "My Favorite Husband" includes a mention of Dumbo, Disney's 1941 animated film about a flying circus elephant.

KATIE: “Well, maybe he’s forgotten.”

LIZ: “Not George. He has the memory of an elephant.”

GEORGE (from the other room): “Liz, is that you? Come on in the breakfast room.”

LIZ: “There’s Dumbo now.”

In a 1948 episode of the radio sitcom, Sarah Selby played Louise Elliott, Liz’s Mother. Selby made her screen debut voicing Prissy the Elephant in Dumbo.

DONALD DUCK

"LUCY, THE DISC JOCKEY" (1965) Mr. Mooney deems any voice contest between him and Lucy like comparing Walter Cronkite to Donald Duck, one of Walt Disney’s most enduring cartoon creations. He first appeared in 1934 and his squawking raspy voice was provided by Clarence Nash.

Other "Lucy" performers who voiced Disney animated characters:

Paul Winchell (Winnie the Pooh / The Aristocats / The Fox and the Hound)

Phil Harris (The Jungle Book / The Aristocats / Robin Hood)

Buddy Hackett (The Little Mermaid)

James Hong (Mulan)

Charles Lane (The Aristocats)

Ruth Buzzi (The Aristocats)

Mickey Rooney (The Fox and the Hound)

Nancy Kulp (The Aristocats)

Hal Smith (several roles)

Joseph Kearns (Alice in Wonderland)

Norma Zimmer (Alice in Wonderland)

WARNER BROTHERS & OTHERS

ARTHUR Q. BRYAN ~ ELMER FUDD

Arthur Q. Bryan (1899-1959) had appeared with Lucille Ball in Look Who's Laughing (1941). He is best remembered as the original voice of Elmer Fudd in the Warner Brothers cartoons. He played Mr. Chambers, new owner of the Tropicana, in "Ricky Loses His Voice" (1952).

"MOTHER OF THE BRIDE" (1986) ~ The final episode of Lucille Ball's final sitcom, "Life With Lucy."

LUCY: "When Margo was little she found my dress in the attic and she called it 'the most bootiful dwess in the world'! When she was little she talked a lot like Elmer Fudd.”

MEL BLANC ~ BUGS BUNNY / PORKY PIG

One of the most famous voices in show business belonged to Mel Blanc, who was most famous for voicing Bugs Bunny. Lucy worked with Blanc in her 1950 film The Fuller Brush Girl portraying a parrot. Blanc and Ball had also teamed for an Armed Services Radio broadcast in 1944.

"LUCY GETS AMNESIA" (1964) involves a rabbit fur coat, causing Viv to say "What's up, Doc?", which was Bugs Bunny's famous tag line. Lucy's last line of the episode also mentions Bugs Bunny.

"LUCY AND TENNESSEE ERNIE'S FUN FARM" (1969) Doing a commercial for the farm, Lucy plays a slovenly housewife who calls her husband Porky Pig and the Jolly Green Giant.

In 1969, Mel Blanc did ADR (automatic dialogue replacement) for two characters on location footage in "LUCY GOES TO THE AIR FORCED ACADEMY: PART 2".

Elvia Allman, who made multiple appearances on "I Love Lucy" and "The Lucy Show", did the voices of several cartoon characters for Warner Brothers, most notably Little Red Riding Hood.

In 1960, Blanc joined Alan Reed, Bea Benadaret and Jean Vander Pyl (all of whom had worked with Lucille Ball) as Barney Rubble in TV's first animated sitcom Hanna Barbera's...

"THE FLINTSTONES"

Although ostensibly modeled on "The Honeymooners," "The Flintstones" owed a great debt to Lucille Ball. Many of the Bedrock storylines were borrowed from Lucycoms. Wilma Flintstone bore more than a passing resemblance to the famous redhead. Others who acted live with Lucy that loaned their voices to prehistoric characters: Janet Waldo, Harvey Korman, Howard Morris, Hal Smith, Verna Felton, June Foray, Howard McNear, Herb Vigran, Sandra Gould, Jerry Hausner, Paul Winchell, and many others.

"THE JETSONS"

In the wake of the success of "The Flintstones", Hanna Barbera rocketing to the other end of the spectrum - from caves to space - with "The Jetsons"(1962). Leading the cast as Dad George Jetson was George O'Hanlon, who had played Charley Appleby on "I Love Lucy." His daughter Judy was played by Janet Waldo, who played Peggy Dawson on "I Love Lucy" and Lucy's sister Marge on "The Lucy Show". Jean Vander Pyl and Mel Blanc turned up as Mr. and Mrs. Spacely.

"TOP CAT"

Allen Jenkins appeared with Lucille Ball in the film Five Came Back. He then did three episodes of "I Love Lucy," all as policemen. It was natural that his animation legacy was as Officer Dibble on the Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon, “Top Cat” (1961–62). Other Lucy alumni who appeared frequently on the show included Jean Vander Pyl, Bea Benadaret, Hal Smith, Gege Pearson, and Herb Vigran.

Select episodes of Lucille Ball's radio sitcom "My Favorite Husband" have been computer animated and are available to view on Vimeo. They were animated by Wayne Wilson using the soundtracks of the original broadcasts.

In “Lucy and the Soap Opera” (1965), soap actor Mr. Vernon (John Gregory) brags his daytime drama role of Roger Gregory is the best part he’s played since doing the voice Oink-Oink in the [fictional] “Piggy Pete” cartoons! Lucy says she’d like to say Richard Burton go from playing “a pig in a poke to a teller in a bank.”

Oh, and don't forget "The Simpsons"! Lucille Ball has had several representations on the long-running show, including as Oyster Shell Lucy, a handicraft sold by Moe in “Homer’s Barber Shop Quartet” (1993).

Lastly, Lucy herself was an animated character. The original opening credits and commercial intros for "I Love Lucy" featured stick-figure animation of Lucy and Desi. The tradition continued during "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours", adding Little Ricky. "The Lucy Show" also opened with stick figure animation, but it only lasted for one season. "Here's Lucy" took animation to the next level, with a stop-motion doll of Lucy presenting the opening credits.

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