I was upstairs hosting panels during the peak afternoon hours so, they tell me, I missed the heavy traffic. It was pretty bad, some said, and I heard a few friends wonder out loud: What is the breaking point for this convention? Every building has its limits and if the San Diego Convention Center, large as it is, hits its maximum capacity, what do they do? I suggested they equip some of the video gaming booths with live ammunition. That might thin the herd out a bit.
We had packed houses for all four panels I did up in Room 6AB, which seats a couple thousand people. First up was Quick Draw! with Scott Shaw!, Jeff Smith and Sergio Aragonés. The idea of this game, if you've never seen it, is that we get three swift cartoonists up there, drawing on projection devices so that everyone can see what they're drawing. Then I throw challenges at them, sometimes taking suggestions from the audience. Not much more I can say about this here except that the audience sure seemed to enjoy most of it.
Then we had the annual Cartoon Voice Panel, this year with Neil Ross, Gregg Berger, Tom Kenny, Billy West and Joe Alaskey…five of the best in the biz. I stuck them with reading (without prep time) a script from the old Adventures of Superman radio show…and they all sure rose to the challenge. Someone made the comment after that if all radio dramas sounded as silly as this one, they'd still be around. Someone else remarked that the best thing about the panel was the obvious respect the five actors had for one another. Again, not much more I can report other than that Billy West — with all concurring — decried the notion that some producers have about installing "names" in animated projects, hiring folks who are known for their on-camera work. It does sometimes work — the leads in Shrek, for instance — but what happens a staggering percentage of the time is that top-notch voice actors are bypassed for folks who, in that capacity, are highly inept. A star name may help with a marketing campaign…but 8.5 out of ten times, the producer has to then accept for an inferior performance by someone who, though perhaps very gifted in some capacity, is simply operating outside their area of expertise. Anyone who saw our little panel today can testify what a seasoned, experienced voice actor can bring to a role.
Next up was my annual interview with Ray Bradbury. We discussed Michael Moore, the space program, Ray's passion for writing, the late Julius Schwartz, Ray's life before he sold his first story, his screenplay for Moby Dick, the time he found a "dinosaur skeleton" (actually part of an old roller coaster) on the beach, and many more topics. I even got him to tell the "Mr. Electrico" story that he told last week on the Dennis Miller Show by pointing out that we had a larger audience. The crowd was mesmerized, to say nothing of the interviewer.
Lastly, we filled darn near every seat in the house for our "spotlight" on the first lady of cartoon voice acting, June Foray. Aided by three fine voice talents (Chuck McCann, Gregg Berger and Joe Alaskey), we re-created a couple of golden moments from the Rocky & Bullwinkle program and quizzed June on an incredible career. At one point, I ran her through a list compiled by animation historian (and current voice of Bullwinkle J. Moose) Keith Scott. It was a partial accounting of radio shows on which she was heard and it included…let me just change margins here…
The Cavalcade of America, A Date With Judy, Sherlock Holmes (with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce), Mayor of the Town (with Lionel Barrymore), The Whistler, The Billie Burke Show, The Rudy Vallee Show, Stars Over Hollywood, The Al Pearce Show, This is My Best (with Orson Welles), Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge, Baby Snooks (with Fanny Brice), Dr. Christian (with Jean Hersholt), I Deal in Crime (with Bill Gargan), Jack Haley's Sealtest Village Store, Glamour Manor (with Kenny Baker), Phone Again Finnegan (with Stu Erwin), The Charlie McCarthy Show (with Edgar Bergen), The Dick Haymes Show, Fibber McGee and Molly, The Bob Hope Show, The Penny Singleton Show, Presenting Charles Boyer, Tex Williams's All-Star Western Theater, Red Ryder, The Screen Directors' Playhouse, The Screen Guild Theatre, The Lux Radio Theater, The Great Gildersleeve, My Favorite Husband (with Lucille Ball), Richard Diamond: Private Detective (with Dick Powell), and Martin Kane, Private Eye.
And we had a nice montage of June's career, assembled by my friend and co-host Earl Kress. It included her work with Stan Freberg on "St. George and the Dragonet," plus clips from a Donald Duck cartoon ("Trick or Treat," with June playing a witch named Witch Hazel), a Bugs Bunny cartoon ("Broomstick Bunny," with June playing a witch named Witch Hazel), plus episodes of Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Garfield and Friends, Baby Looney Tunes, The Smurfs and a few others. We even tossed in a clip from an episode of the original Twilight Zone ("The Living Doll") in which June voiced a doll named Talky Tina who does the world a service by murdering Telly Savalas.
There were a lot of memorable moments today but if I could only save one, I'd save the sound of that huge audience, standing and cheering June Foray at the close of that event. It was almost an explosion of pure love and respect, and I can't think of anyone more deserving.
Good night, everyone.