Let's talk about Mel Blanc. Better still, let's let the fine voice actor Gregg Berger talk about Mel Blanc. This is a clip someone shot from the audience of one of the Cartoon Voice Panels I hosted at last year's Comic-Con International in San Diego. The camerawork and the ethics of taping and posting this stuff are all a little shaky but it's a good story.
I'm the big guy at the podium. Another great voice actor on the panel, Michael Bell, had just told a story about working with Mel on a Hanna-Barbera show — Speed Buggy, I think. Michael enjoyed the experience except for the fact that Mel, who was playing a talking car in that series, tended to spray large quantities of saliva in the air when he simulated the engine sounds of the character he voiced. Bell explained how he went home drenched in Blanc spit and then Berger told the following anecdote…
Now, here's something weirder. This is a video about which I know nothing other than that it purports to be footage of Mel Blanc's vocal cords as he demonstrates some of his character voices. I don't know how or where this was made or even why. I don't even guarantee it's legit. But Bob Bergen, who's the current voice of Porky Pig, sent me this link and it's too bizarre not to share it with you all…