Will Looney Tunes ever find success again?

[Daffyfan4ever]

I've recently watched some of Mel Blanc's performances as Elmer (Bugs Bunny in King Arthurs Court, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Rabbit), and I feel like Blanc's Elmer sounds more like Hal Smith's Elmer than Arthur Q. Bryan (though I feel his Elmer in The Scarlett Pumpernickle, made years before Bryan's death, sounds more like Bryan's Elmer).

Yeah. I kind of agree, if Mel had voiced Elmer early on after Bryan's death or even in "Pre-Hysterical Hare," which came out before Bryan died, but Dave Barry voiced Fudd in that one. Had Mel voiced Fudd in that cartoon or any of the early 60s Fudd cartoons (Ex: "Dog Gone People," "What's My Lion.") the voice may not have been quite as off as it was in those cartoons. But you're right in later years, Blanc's Fudd did sound more like Smith's. Maybe that's what he was going for since he's heard Smith as Elmer in the 60s. Then like I said, Billy West's Fudd seems to be like a combination of Bryan's and Smiths. That could have been intentional as well. You never know.

I'm just talking about anything that looks remotely like this:

Not this:

Yeah. I know what you mean. It would be nice to Bugs again with his classic appearance rather than his Looney Tunes Show or Wabbit design. It's sort of the same thing with the Scooby Doo gang. They changed the characters' appearances drastically for Be Cool yet in the DTVs, the characters look like they're supposed to. I guess they should do the same thing with the Looney Tunes characters.

 

[minor muppetz]

Yeah. I kind of agree, if Mel had voiced Elmer early on after Bryan's death or even in "Pre-Hysterical Hare," which came out before Bryan died, but Dave Barry voiced Fudd in that one. Had Mel voiced Fudd in that cartoon or any of the early 60s Fudd cartoons (Ex: "Dog Gone People," "What's My Lion.") the voice may not have been quite as off as it was in those cartoons. But you're right in later years, Blanc's Fudd did sound more like Smith's. Maybe that's what he was going for since he's heard Smith as Elmer in the 60s. Then like I said, Billy West's Fudd seems to be like a combination of Bryan's and Smiths. That could have been intentional as well. You never know.

I don't really want to steer this thread off-topic, but it would be odd if Billy West watched the Hal Smith ones for voice reference, as they are kind of obscure. Not really rare, but there's a lot of better-known Elmer Fudd cartoons that could have been used for reference (A Wild Hare, Slick Hare, the hunters trilogy, What's Opera, Doc?, etc.). Neither of the Hal Smith ones have even been released on video until 2012.

I wonder if there was any consideration for Mel Blanc to be the permanent recast for Bryan before they decided to go with Hal Smith. Elmer Fudd would only speak in two more classic theatrical cartoons and then his last cartoon, Crows Feat, would have him be silent. Could it be that the Warner Bros. people didn't like the new voice and decided to retire him, despite the fact that Mel Blanc would do his voice on various television productions (even during the 1960s)? I don't know if Elmer ever spoke in bridging footage on The Bugs Bunny Show, but Blanc did voice Elmer in some of the 1960s commercials. The documentary on Mel Blanc that appears in the sixth Golden Collection mentions a time in the 1960s when Friz Freling wanted Blanc to voice Elmer in a commercial but Blanc didn't think he could do it because he preferred to have the voices come to him, but then he managed to do an acceptable enough voice.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

I don't really want to steer this thread off-topic, but it would be odd if Billy West watched the Hal Smith ones for voice reference, as they are kind of obscure. Not really rare, but there's a lot of better-known Elmer Fudd cartoons that could have been used for reference (A Wild Hare, Slick Hare, the hunters trilogy, What's Opera, Doc?, etc.). Neither of the Hal Smith ones have even been released on video until 2012.

I wonder if there was any consideration for Mel Blanc to be the permanent recast for Bryan before they decided to go with Hal Smith. Elmer Fudd would only speak in two more classic theatrical cartoons and then his last cartoon, Crows Feat, would have him be silent. Could it be that the Warner Bros. people didn't like the new voice and decided to retire him, despite the fact that Mel Blanc would do his voice on various television productions (even during the 1960s)? I don't know if Elmer ever spoke in bridging footage on The Bugs Bunny Show, but Blanc did voice Elmer in some of the 1960s commercials. The documentary on Mel Blanc that appears in the sixth Golden Collection mentions a time in the 1960s when Friz Freling wanted Blanc to voice Elmer in a commercial but Blanc didn't think he could do it because he preferred to have the voices come to him, but then he managed to do an acceptable enough voice.

Yeah. I know what you're talking about because I have all the Golden Collections as well. I recall Blanc mentioning in an interview that he didn't do imitations. He just sort of used his own voices for his characters, but around the 1960s he must have caved in and 'decided to give it a twy. Heheheheheheheheh!' In a way, this does go back to a Muppet discussion because I recall hearing that Steve Whitmire was hesitant to do Kermit's voice at first because he didn't think he could do it that well. Now we don't know where would be without him.

Could it be that the Warner Bros. people didn't like the new voice and decided to retire him

It seems like with Hal, it's hit or miss. He was great as Owl of "Winnie the Pooh" fame for a while and went on to voice Pooh himself briefly in the early 80s until Jim Cummings took over the role from "The New Adventures" on.

But it would be odd if Billy West watched the Hal Smith ones for voice reference, but there's a lot of better-known Elmer Fudd cartoons that could have been used for reference (A Wild Hare, Slick Hare, the hunters trilogy, What's Opera, Doc?, etc.).

Yeah. Maybe you're right. It's mainly when he sang 'O Christmas Tree' that West's Elmer slipped into more of a Smith-sounding Elmer. Maybe it was easier for him to do the song that way.

Just a bit of trivia about "Slick Hare," Dave Barry did work with Arthur Q. in that cartoon, (He voiced Humphrey Bogart) in that one, so you think he would have been able to do a better Fudd voice for "Pre-Hysterical Hare," but I guess not. According to one of June Foray's commentary on one of the Golden Collection DVDs, the voices were recorded separately in each of the cartoons so the WB voice artists didn't always work together. I know we're all kind of straying from the original topic and maybe we should move this thread to the Toonzone Forums. Lol. But I just thought I'd put in my two cents here.