My editor was a Bugs Bunny fan and wanted a review of Looney Tunes: Back in Action; so I suffered through a sad, insipid attempt to revive the fortunes of Warner Brothers and Brandon Fraser. As I was leaving the cinema I overheard one of the greatest compliments an actor could receive:
Boy (7-8 years old): Yeah, well it was okay.
Boy's Friend: Yeah but the guy playing Bugs Bunny wasn't very good!
I stop in my tracks - he was right. Of course the guy playing Bugs Bunny wasn't very good - he was generated by a computer and the voice was a sorry imitation of what we all know Bugs really sounds like. Mel Blanc was gone and anything else would just be a pale imitation.
As well as being the voice of most of Looney Tunes Blanc was also a regular on the Jack Benny Show. Here's one of their favorite routines - sorry it probably isn't politically correct in this day and age but I still think it's funny.
In this clip from a Johnny Carson Show Benny's affection and admiration for Blanc, the man and the talent, is obvious.
The routine never changed - it didn't have to.
25 agosto - San Ludovico
2 comments:
The man was a genius- Plain and simple.
Oh what timing he had. WOnderful laughs.
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