I'll link to anything with the great voice actor Daws Butler in it. He was such a wonderful performer and such a wonderful man. I used to have a little late night ritual for whenever I was sitting here at the computer, trying to break away from work and go beddy-bye. This was only for the nights when no lady would be joining me. I'd begin flipping around the TV dial and the rule was that I wouldn't turn in until I'd heard Daws.
I started doing it a few years after he passed away, which was in 1988. At one point, there were three channels that programmed old cartoons, mostly Hanna-Barbera, for much of the night so it rarely took long. I'd catch him playing Huckleberry Hound or Quick Draw McGraw or Elroy Jetson or Mr. Jinks…or sometimes, it would be a Jay Ward cartoon or even something older — from MGM or Warner Brothers. After I heard him for a minute or two, I'd say, "Good night, Daws" and turn off the TV and leave my office and go to sleep.
I couldn't do that when I had a date over. She'd think it was just too weird. I don't know why I'm telling you this. You probably think it's just too weird. But there was something so comforting about his sound. It always reminded me of a good time (when I was a kid watching cartoons and listening to the records he did with Stan Freberg) and a good friend (later, when I got to know him).
This is a commercial in which he plays Snagglepuss. The other voice in there is from his frequent co-star, June Foray, who reminds me of the same two things but is still happily with us.
Daws actually gets a screen credit at the end of some of these Cocoa Krispies ads…the result of a legal action that Bert Lahr took or perhaps just threatened. Snagglepuss didn't actually sound that much like Lahr. It was one of Daws's many "inspired" voices, meaning that the voice was inspired by a celeb but was not an actual impersonation. Hokey Wolf didn't sound like Phil Silvers. Hokey sounded like what people think Phil Silvers sounded like. Same with Yogi Bear and Art Carney or Peter Potamus and Joe E. Brown or many others. Anyway, some folks apparently thought it was Bert Lahr doing these commercials or Mr. Lahr was afraid they would, so he called a lawyer. I don't know if he got money but Daws got a credit. It was kind of a reverse disclaimer — a way of proclaiming, at least to those who could read fast, that it was not Bert Lahr.
I knew it was not Bert Lahr when I was ten but I guess they had to do that for the grown-ups who didn't know about important stuff…like who was the voice of Snagglepuss. Anyway, here's Snag selling the cereal that then had him on the box. And now that I've heard that voice, I can exit stage left and go to bed. Good night, Daws.