Here are two questions about my experience directing voices for cartoons. The first is from Dale Herbest…
I know you voice direct primarily for animation but have you ever directed V.O. sessions for a video game and if not, is there a personal or professional reason why?
I never have and there's a very good reason why. No one's ever asked me.
The next question is from Marlie, who doesn't seem to have a last name…
On the various cartoon shows, you employed a number of veteran voice actors. Was there anyone you wanted and you couldn't get?
A few. Paul Frees died around the time we went into production and by then, he'd moved out of Los Angeles and only came down to work for projects that paid way more than we did. Thurl Ravenscroft agreed to do the show and we had a couple of delightful phone conversations. He was living in Orange County and I was going to send a limo to bring him up to L.A. and take him home but he finally decided his health wasn't up to it.
Sterling Holloway was going to do an episode and then he wasn't and then he was and then he wasn't and it stayed that way. Doug Young, who was Doggie Daddy on the Augie Doggie cartoons was living up north and while he said he'd be delighted to do a cartoon on one of his occasional trips to Los Angeles, we were never able to coordinate the timing on that.
I booked Janet Waldo ("Judy" to you Jetsons fans) for a cartoon once, then got a call from her agent who told me she had a chance to do the first in a series of national commercials if I would let her out of the booking om that day. Of course I did. In fact, I replaced her with another veteran Hanna-Barbera voice actress — Julie Bennett, who was the voice of Cindy Bear, Yogi's main squeeze. Janet was on other shows I did but I never found another role for her on a Garfield project.
On one trip to New York, I recorded a couple of voice actors who lived and worked there, including Arnold Stang and Eddie Lawrence. I was going to do a cartoon with Jackson Beck the same day but he got called for one of those Little Caesars "Pizza Pizza" commercials he did so I lost him. I later recorded that script in Los Angeles with Bill Woodson doing the role Mr. Beck would have played. You know Bill best from the opening narration on the Klugman/Randall Odd Couple TV series.
There were probably a few others. I'll write about them here when they come to mind. And by the way: I could use more questions.
