That's Not All Folks

If you are a fan of theatrical cartoons of the 1930s - 1960s, this book is not only about voice actor Mel Blanc's career at Warner Brothers, but an insight into that era, his experiences making the cartoons and his work in Radio and then in TV, mostly with his friend Jack Benny. A fun and informative read.

They say you should never meet your heroes - with the inference that you'll be disappointed. The hero in your head and imagination can't possibly match up to the mere mortal who plays the part - on stage, in movies/TV or a cartoon character. In my case - Bugs Bunny is right up there with my heroes. But meeting Mel Blanc in this fine biography/autobiography is no disappointment. This is a splendid and well told story that left me wishing the story was longer. Born in 1908, Mel's career spanned the end of Vaudeville, the beginning and end of Radio, the rise and peak of theater movies (and cartoon trailers) and the takeover of TV starting in 1954. Plus two world wars and a depression for good measure. His near death auto crash in 1961 and subsequent heroic rehab that took over a year add emotional depth, drama and meaning that might come unexpected for a comedy themed tale. Weepy spoiler alert - don't read the coming out of a coma story if you had a beer or two and don't want to cry. I knew Mel voiced a lot of characters - but I didn't realize HOW many . . Wow. Maybe it actually was 1000. Back to Bugs Bunny. Bugs could escape any dangerous situation using - pure silliness. Mel was the guy to create him. No he didn't draw him, but Bugs was drawn for Mel's voice (and not vice versa), which I didn't know. Gave him the Brooklyn accent, attitude and also - sang. There are some brief stories of Mel's singing here, but I wish their were more. He would start out almost every cartoon (Bugs included) with a silly song, in character . . that's was actually really great! I think that era of cartoons were some of the best ever. You don't see them very much anymore. Somehow we need to keep those alive, along with the story of Mel Blanc.

One of my favorite pieces which I have on my wall is a color photo Mel Blanc used to send out to fans with his autograph, showing him sitting at his desk, with the characters he gave voice to perched on his shoulder and in pockets and on the desktop in front of him -- Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety, Foghorn Leghorn, and others. When he died a few years ago, he was buried under a stone which read "That's All Folks!" but luckily, among his many works, he left this delightful 1988 autobiography which I dscovered on Amazon.com, subtitled "My life in the Golden Age of cartoons and radio." Mel Blanc started at the bottom, looking for work at local radio stations and landing a few jobs here and there until Warner Brothers hired him for some gigs providing voices to cartoons. He became the voice first of the redesigned Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny who went through a redesign of his own, Elmer Fudd, who wasn't as bright as Porky Pig but at least could be an adversary for Bugs unlike Porky who was too sweet a guy, and Daffy Duck, a perfect opponent for Bugs, both intelligent and pugnacious. The greatest Bugs opponent was a late-comer, Yosemite Sam, all violence and animosity. Once he was well on his way as Warners' Man of a Thousand Voices, he asked for a raise, which his cheap employer wasn't likely to go for, or for a credit. A credit in a cartoon? But at least it didn't cost anything so Blanc got his credit and people noticed. He started getting hired for radio and later TV shows. He started out doing bits on Jack Benny's show and wound up on many more shows, including the Abbott and Costello Show, and headlined his own radio show briefly. One of the best bits ever on Benny's program was the "Si-Si" routine in which Mel is a Mexican wearing a sombrero (Are you going to New York?" Si. Are you takling Flight 18? Si. Si? Si.....and so on.) (You can find it on YouTube. It's hysterical. Blanc keeps a straight face and Benny loses it everytime.) Having recently read Lou Costello's daughter's biography of her dad, it was interesting to read Blanc's comments about how the two rarely spoke to each other but were so attuned to their specialty and so professional they could get on stage or before a camera and start cooking like they were best buds. Blanc's autobiography covers his life, talking about he liked to plays with dialects and voices as a kid. Doing a crazy laugh in an empty school hallway whose acoustics he admired got him a visit to the principal and many years later became Woody Woodpecker's trademark laugh. Blanc regretted the loss of quality with the full animation technique in the 1960's when the number of drawings for a cartoon were reduced in a time- and-cost-saving measure. Movements became jerkier, less natural, but he enthusiastically did his best for every one of the jobs he was hired for. The book continues through his life, up and through the car accident in 1960 that left him in a body cast with almost every bone in his body broken. When his doctor, after many days of coma, tried to rouse him, he had a light bulb moment and asked, "How are you, Bugs Bunny?" Blanc replied as Bugs, "I'm fine, doc, how're you?" Later, from his hospital bed, Blanc would do his lines as Barney Rubble for the hit Flintsones TV show as his co-star voice actors stood alongside. This is an excellent book. You gotta love a book that has back cover testimonials from Vincent Price, Lucille Ball, Kirk Douglas, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, and Daffy Duck.

This book is a great read. I grew up in the 50s and 60s and with Mel's voice creating the personalities of so many classic cartoon characters. Love the stories about how he crafted the different characters and some of the tricks they used. And lots of great stories about the days of live radio shows. He is definitely a true legend and this is a very cool book!

Took a while to come. The product was good.

but generally superficial. still I liked to read about this creative genius

It is a heart warming to share the life of this remarkable man. He does not pull punches but he is also kind and generous to so many people he met across the breadth of American entertainment. He remembered how difficult it was to become a rare voice talent and gifted comedian. He recognized the people who traveled that difficult road with him. His tribute to Jack Benny fits nicely with the testimony given by the men and women who were all Benny fans. He also gives rare insight into the difficult world for which he is most known: A voice artist for decades of cartoons. Those hundreds of WB cartoons never listed more than a handful of names. But really hundreds of people worked on each one. As Mel said, instead of giving him a raise they put his name in that small list who got screen credit. That credit was worth ten times his salary because it finally opened the doors that had been closed to him. The book was written while he was still alive. He was full of hope and energy even after so many decades. He never let anything stop him. What a rare person he was.

I just adored this book! One of my favorite anecdotes was the teacher who, because Mel was playing around with voices instead of taking his studies seriously, declared that he'd never amount to anything. I sure hope that teacher saw that his success far exceeded hers. And bravo to his parents for encouraging him to follow his dreams. I'm glad I read this book in 2016 instead of when it first came out because I was able to go to youtube and pull up many of the shows and skits he wrote about so I could see them for myself.

Very interesting life story of a person I admired

Awesome a must for all looney toons fans ( Oh! daffy duck is King! 😉 )

Good book about a often overlooked and maybe forgotten master of the screen.

Order it to replace a friend's copy that my wife's dog chewed.

Just what he wanted