Wednesday, 10 June 2015

Warming Up With Johnny Olson

Johnny Olson was a daytime host on network radio and early television who saw his career somehow take a turn and ended up as an announcer on a pile of TV game shows. Olson’s voice was well-known to audiences long before he came up with “Come on down!!!” when The Price Is Right was re-worked and returned to the tube in 1972. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the best announcer in game-show history.

One of Johnny’s talents the home audience never saw was his warm-up act, where he got everyone in the studio all hyped for the taping of the programme that was to follow (or a live broadcast, in the case of the 1950s Goodson-Todman shows). His abilities as a mood-setter were praised on the air by John Daly, Gene Rayburn and Jackie Gleason, who would have no one else warm-up his audience, and flew Johnny to Miami Beach for tapings of his shows in the ‘60s.

Here’s Johnny in a UPI column I found from August 7, 1966. His last name seems to be have misspelled on far too many occasions. He talks about the dos and don’ts of audience warm-ups.

Warm-Up Man Rates Gleason Job Best
Johnny Olsen, 25-Year Veteran, Does 14 Shows a Week
By JOHNNY OLSEN

By United Press International
NEW YORK — I've been an announcer and studio warm-up man for many years now, and one of the most enjoyable assignments I have had is doing Jackie Gleason's "The American Scene Magazine" comedy-variety show.
It was a problem fitting it into my busy schedule — I do 14 shows a week, including "What's My Line?", the daytime and nighttime "To Tell the Truth" programs and "I've Got a Secret."
When I stepped to the microphone onstage in the Miami Beach Auditorium and said these familiar words — "and away we go!" — some 3,000 people in the audience exploded and burst into a solid roar of applause, shouts and cheers.
PRODUCTION - Those words signaled the call to action of more than 100 people involved in the production of the show. As usual, June Taylor's lovely dancers started things off with a fast, lively routine to the rhythm-packed tunes of Sammy Spear's orchestra. And this set the stage for Jackie's first appearance when he walked on, beaming amid the rising roar of approval that came to a climax when he spread his arms and said, "How sweet it is!"
That's when I knew I had done my job well, because for about 15 minutes before that electric moment, I had the studio audience in my charge, making them happy and comfortable, and putting them in a warm, receptive mood.
The art of "conditioning" an audience for Jackie's type of show requires specialization and tact in convincing 3,000 persons how important they are to the show—and they are!
BASIC RULES - I have developed a few basic rules for myself over the years in warming up a studio audience and keeping it warm, and I guess I've been lucky—they've worked well.
First rule is: Don't take the edge off the show itself. In other words, don't try to be too funny; don't overpower the audience; don't sell yourself—sell the star and the show that's to follow.
Second rule: Keep the star out of the warmup. I had to talk Jackie out of wanting to come out before each taping to chat with the studio audience. He gets more reaction, more excitement, when the audience sees him for the first time.
NEXT RULE — Don't have too many things around that clutter the stage and distract an audience from concentrating on the star and his supporting players. Of course, this is not always easy to accomplish because of the great variety of technical gear needed for a television show. But it helps if the producer and director keep things to a minimum. And don't overdo your warmup. Don't exhaust the audience and get them fidgety before the show starts. Say or do what you're going to — concisely, clearly and enthusiastically. And bring them to that magic level, of great expectations. Then, they're ready to give the show a terrific response.
COMMUNICATE — Oh, yes, I have one more rule for myself. I never sit down, from the moment I get on the stage until that very last moment when the show is over I like to stay on my toes and keep in tune with Jackie while he's on. This way, I'm able to sense his every move and the nuances of his laugh-provoking "bits" — and I try to communicate this to the studio audience.
Last year, on one occasion, I was flying back to New York on a Sunday afternoon and had to make the "What's My Line?" show that evening. A storm blew up, and we couldn't land in New York, Philadelphia or Washington. So, we flew back to Florida, then turned around and finally landed in Baltimore.
I raced for a New York train and made it to the studio less than half an hour before air time. I must have flown 4,000 miles that day.
USES SCOOTER — Another time, leaving New York. I had to catch a plane at Kennedy Airport following a taping of "To Tell the Truth." Knowing in advance that I had a touch-and-go time and traffic situation, I had a friend whisk me to the midtown tunnel on his scooter. There, I transferred to a waiting sports car — another good friend helped me on this one — and I made it to the plane just on time.
Oh, yes. It was winter in New York, and I had to carry summer clothes in a bag and over my arm and change into them while en route to Miami Beach.
GREAT NAMES — But it's all part of the business, and I love it. I've worked with many top names in my more than 25 years in the radio and television business — Mayor LaGuardia, the great singer Madame Schumann-Heink, Ameila Earhart, President Herbert Hoover, President Franklin D. Roosevelt —and, yes, Jackie Gleason. He makes you feel great when he says, after a good job, "You're beautiful, pal."
And it certainly beats working in a drug store. I started working in a drug store in my hometown of Windom, Minn. But here I am in show business.
It's just as well—I never could make sandwiches.

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Sneaky Car

The Southern Wolf puts his jalopy into sneak gear to catch the title characters in Tex Avery’s “The Three Little Pups.”



The car stretches its body and its wheels like it’s tip-toeing. Here are a few drawings to give you an idea.



Avery and writer Heck Allen pulls the old “hide-behind-tree” gag except phone poles are used this time. And the car hides, too.



Walt Clinton, Mike Lah, Grant Simmons, Ray Patterson and Bob Bentley are the credited animators.

Monday, 8 June 2015

It’s Hummer Time Backgrounds

The Bob McKimson short “It’s Hummer Time” (Warner Bros., 1950) is known for the somewhat sadistic penalties a cat is forced to pay by a bulldog (“No! Not happy birthday!”). But the cartoon opens with some attractive backgrounds over which the hummer (ie. a hummingbird) swoops.



The hummingbird reads the slogan of Arrid Deodorant.



The bird zooms up to the bird bath. You can see how the animator has stretched him.



Dick Thomas painted the backgrounds from layouts by Cornett Wood.

Sunday, 7 June 2015

But I'm An Actor

Seeing is believing. That’s why TV and movie actors get typecast. After a while, TV and movie actors get tired of a successful role and want to try something else, but the fans won’t accept them as anything but what their eyes have seen. So the typecasting continues.

The cast of the Jack Benny show—the main members who stayed for years—dealt with the same thing. Their characters were so ingrained in American culture. One wonders if Benny himself would have had a more successful movie career if people expected something other as a vain miser whenever they saw him on the screen. Don Wilson saw himself as more than an announcer—he started in show business as a singer—and tried to bust out of his stereotype. He wasn’t really all that successful. The only non-Benny role I saw Wilson in was as a news reporter covering a fight on “Batman.” As Wilson did play-by-play football before being hired on the Benny show, it wasn’t much of a stretch.

Here’s a wire service report that appeared in papers starting August 3, 1959. Interestingly, the same month Dennis Day tried his hand at drama on “Suspense,” playing a hitch-hiking beatnik forced to face reality when a “square” involves him in murder. Can you picture Dennis Day in that part? See what I mean about stereotyping?

Don Wilson Tries His Hand at Western Drama
By VERNON SCOTT

UPI Hollywood Correspondent
HOLLYWOOD (UPI) – Jovial Don Wilson, longtime (25 years) announcer for Jack Benny, is turning his bulky talent to drama this week in a segment of TV’s “Death Valley Days.”
Not that the hefty Wilson hasn’t branched out in the past. He’s appeared in movies without benefactor Benny, but always playing an announcer. This time Don portrays a con man parading through the Old West disguised as a preacher.
“It’s a very fat part,” said fat Don.
“I hope this departure will open new avenues of performing. It’s just possible the character I’m playing will become the lead in a new series. I want people to look on Wilson as something more than an announcer.”
Appears In November
The show, titled “Gates Ajar Morgan,” hits the airlanes next November. Between now and then Wilson will be seen regularly on Benny’s program.
“I began with Jack on radio in 1934,” he recalled. “My work was restricted to announcing and reading commercials. As we moved along Jack made me a regular member of the cast—a character. For 17 years I was voted most popular radio announcer.
“It’s been many years since I’ve done outright commercials on the show. Now I guess I qualify as an ‘actor.’
“All of us with Jack are fortunate to have been associated with such a great guy. He’s always interested when we do other things.”
Portly Don was encouraged by Benny earlier this year when he and his actress wife appeared together in “The Great Sebastians” at the Laguna Beach Playhouse. It started him off on the dramatic kick.
TV Types Announcers
“Television has worked a hardship on announcers,” he said. “We’re typed as commercial pitch artists and that’s it.
“In radio all of us used to work steadily playing hundreds voices of roles. Our voices were such that we weren’t identified with our regular jobs. On TV we’re immediately recognized.
“Harry Von Zell, of the old Burns and Allen show, became a terrific comedian in his own right. He has established himself as a performer who can do anything. The late Bill Goodwin was another announcer who switched to playing comedy, straight roles and drama.
“Frankly, I’d prefer to play comedy roles myself. Thanks to Jack, most of the things I do on his show are humorous—and he invariably gives the funny lines to members of his cast while he plays straight man.”
“Jack used to bawl me out for not consulting him before declining other offers,” he grinned. “He urged me several times to take additional shows. I still don't think it would be fair to Jack.
“I’ve studied voice since I was a kid, and made my professional debut on radio when crystal sets were the rage. But my timing and other tricks of the trade were picked up from Jack Benny. As far as I’m concerned he’s tops, and I’ll go on working for him as long as possible.”


Saturday, 6 June 2015

The Appeal of Underdog

Remember how someone got the bright idea to make a live-action version of “Underdog” with a real dog? It came out in 2007, was panned and bombed.

The producers could have avoided all that had they listened to the man who inspired the name of another cartoon character.

Peter Piech was the executive producer of the original Underdog TV cartoons through his part-ownership in Total Television Productions. Prior to that, he was president of Producers Associates of Television, which handled distribution of “Rocky and His Friends,” and had an interest in Gamma Productions, the cartoon studio where “Underdog” and a good percentage of “Rocky” were animated.

Here’s Piech talking about Underdog in this unbylined feature story published in the Rome Daily Sentinel, March 19, 1965. Underdog had debuted the previous October. We can only imagine what the late Alex Anderson would think of Piech getting credit for Rocky being “among his creations.” About the closest he got to creating anything on that show is the character of Peter “Wrong Way” Peachfuzz, whose name—not coincidentally—is close to a certain producer’s. And we’d like to know more about those Farmer Brown cartoons he talked about.

‘Underdog’ Creator Says Children Tough Audience; Not Easily Fooled
"There is no set pattern or guideline for writing humor for children, particularly in cartoons. The only thing we are concerned about is producing a good cartoon sequence.”
The man who made this statement is Peter Piech, executive producer of the color cartoon series, “Underdog” seen Saturdays, at 10 a. m.
One of the most experienced men in cartoon production, Pete has produced approximately 3,000 minutes of cartoons since 1959, more, he claims, than any other animation studio in the world. Among his creations are “Rocky,” “Tennessee Tuxedo,” “Leonardo the Lion,” “The Hunter,” and “Go Go Gophers.”
Pete believes that both children and adults are fascinated by the supernatural and super powers; “Underdog” fits into both of these categories because of his super abilities and the supernatural powers of his enemies.
While he feels that there are no guidelines for writing humor for children, Piech is quick to add that there are definite elements that a cartoon should have to capture their interest and imagination.
“Children are paradoxical in that they are captivated by both the familiar and the unknown,” says Pete. “They know, for instance, that Underdog is always going to catch the bad guy and bring him to justice in the end.
"They also know that he is going to rescue the heroine, Polly, from the teeth of a whirling circular saw or from the beam of villain Simon Barsinister's snow gun. The fact that they know this doesn't make the final rescue any less exciting.”
Kids love repetition, according to Piech, “but a producer can't just come up with one formula and then keep using it indefinitely.”
Pete also maintains that children appreciate the same elements of humor that make adults laugh.
They love Wally Cox as the voice of Underdog because it is very comical to hear such a meek voice coming from such a super-powered hero. They also like the unexpected situation that pops up, and this too is an element in all forms of humor.
Says Piech, “Children today are much more sophisticated than they used to be, and demand more from cartoons than they used to, because they want to use their knowledge more.
It's no longer enough, to give them a ‘Felix the Cat’ or a ‘Farmer Brown’ musical cartoon with singing flowers and cows that kick over milk buckets. “Today's kids are science-oriented and they want to use their knowledge. They can do this while watching Underdog fight the underwater Bobble-Heads and their tidal wave machine, but they can't if all they see is Felix trying to catch a mouse.”
Pete is adamant in his feelings that there are many topics that cannot be animated, and anything that can be done using live actors and live situations should not be done in cartoon form. In cartoons, everything is much bigger than life, very exaggerated.
"Can you imagine Underdog being played by a real dog, like Lassie?” asks Pete. “It would be impossible!
“And it would be just as ridiculous if Mr. Novak was a cartoon instead of a live person.”


Well, Mr. Piech is being a little disingenuous about “Mr. Novak.” It wouldn’t work in animation in 1965 because it was a drama; cartoons were still pretty much comedies then. But he makes valid points elsewhere in the interview.

If you want to learn the whole story behind the “Underdog” show, you can do no better than read Mark Arnold’s book Created and Produced by Total Television Productions. Check out more here.

Friday, 5 June 2015

To Hare Is Human Backgrounds

Phil De Guard painted from Maurice Noble’s layouts in “To Hare Is Human,” a 1956 Warners cartoon from the Chuck Jones unit. I can’t get a clear shot of Bugs Bunny’s bed with the carrot-shaped posts but here are some other backgrounds.



Critics claim Jones starting making Bugs far too self-satisfied and flouncy. You might detect some of that in this cartoon.

Thursday, 4 June 2015

A 1938 TV Set

Yes, there was television in the 1930s. In 1938, New York City was the home of NBC’s W2XBS. It had also been the home of the Terrytoons studio a few years earlier. So it’s not a surprise Terry and his story department tossed in a TV gag in the short “Bugs Beetle and His Orchestra” released that year.

The evil spider is awoken by the NBC chimes and tunes in his set.



He spots a luscious female bug. He kisses where she is on his set.



Her boy-friend bug violates the confines of the TV set and slugs him.



The angry beetle cracks his TV screen in response.



Whether this is the first TV gag in a cartoon, I don’t know, but it must be one of the earliest.

Fittingly, when W2XBS began somewhat regular programming in 1939, it featured Terrytoons.

Wednesday, 3 June 2015

Aunt Harriet Meets Stanislavsky

She was clueless and a little dithery, but who didn’t love Aunt Harriet?

Madge Blake popped up on TV shows other than “Batman,” but it always seemed a little odd, like she didn’t belong anywhere except Stately Wayne Manor. I guess that’s how strongly I associated Aunt Harriet with her. But Mrs. Blake carved out a nice career, with regular turns on “The Real McCoys,” “The Joey Bishop Show” and occasionally on “Leave It To Beaver.” Maybe her most famous movie role was as the Louella Parsons-esque columnist in the cheery “Singing in the Rain.” But perhaps you didn’t know her acting career came comparatively late in life.

Madge was born Madge Elizabeth Cummings on May 31, 1899 in Kinsley City, Kansas to Albert W. and Alice F. (Stone) Cummings. Blake was her married name; she married J. Lincoln Blake, an interior decorating plant manager (they later divorced). Her father was a minister and didn’t approve of those acting folk. So, as her Associated Press obituary revealed, she waited until he was dead and her kids were grown before embarking on a show-biz career in the late ‘40s.

The only newspaper article I’ve been able to find on her is the one below from a newspaper syndicate, published August 13, 1963.

Woman Past 40 Became Actress
By DAVE McINTYRE

Copley News Service
HOLLYWOOD—Her hair was already beginning to be well-streaked with gray. Two sons were grown and were away from home. In years, she was already well past 40. That’s when Madge Blake decided it would be very nice to get into the movies.
Madge is the delightful woman who spent six years in the cast of “The Real McCoys.” Currently she’s appearing in “A More Perfect Union” at the La Jolla, Calif., Playhouse. Her success as an actress, in movies, television and on the stage, despite her late start, has been remarkable. But don’t for a minute think it was easy.
Miss Blake recalls vividly the comment a director had for her when she first began this quest.
“He asked me point-blank why I didn’t just go home,” she said.
“He told me that I would never be able to make myself heard on stage, that my walk was wrong and my gestures were awkward. He suggested that I not only was wasting my time but the theater’s as well.”
The effect on Miss Blake was not discouragement, however. On the contrary. She vowed she was going to make this particular critic swallow his acid phrases one day. And she did.
This determination had been well honed on other projects. There was the time during the depression when she decided she should have a job. She bombarded the president of a Los Angeles department store with letters until she was hired. And during the war, when her sons were in the service, she felt she should be contributing, so she took a job loading nitroglycerin pellets in rockets.
At the time she set her sights on professional acting, Miss Blake was teaching in a Pasadena, Calif., elementary school. Every night she either worked at the Pasadena Playhouse or at the Glendale Center Theater.
“I knew I had to absorb everything I could,” she said, “because I knew so very little about the theater. I took any role that was offered to me or I worked backstage, just so I could be part of the theater. I read all through Stanislavsky, though I didn’t understand a work of it.”
Once, for example, Madge was given the role of an eccentric English woman in a Noel Coward play at Glendale. She knew nothing about accents, she said, but she found a woman in Pasadena who had recently arrived from England.
“I’ve often thought since how puzzled that woman must have been,” she laughed. “For a time I really cultivated her. I was with her every day, listening to the sound of her voice. Then when I began rehearsing I didn’t see her again and haven’t since.”


The neat revelation in the story is Madge Blake was not a somewhat-addled little old lady like many of her characters on TV. She provides a good example for us all, that ability and determination can help you achieve your goals. In a way, that lesson is as good as anything that we can learn from the Caped Crusader.

Tuesday, 2 June 2015

Jumbo Gro Works!

‘Jumbo Gro’ does its job in Tex Avery’s fan-favourite “King-Size Canary” (1947). The hobo cat pours it in the little bird (Sara Berner). These are consecutive drawings. Note the squash and stretch on the bird.



The bird grows some more.



And a typical Avery extreme in reaction.



Bob Bentley, Ray Abrams and Walt Clinton are the credited animators.

Monday, 1 June 2015

Cartoon Stuff Around the Internet

There are plenty of great places on the internet to learn about old cartoons. Other than the blog roll on the side, I don’t link to very many, especially videos because the addresses become dead links more often than I’d like. But there are a few things that have popped up on line during the last week or so that I’ll link to, as you really should check them out.

There are a number of cartoon series I’m not crazy about. One of them is the Tom and Jerry series made by Gene Deitch. There’s no point in making a list of the things I dislike about those shorts. A far better thing, instead, is to read what Mr. Deitch has to say about them. He’s posted about his experiences making them exclusively to Jerry Beck’s aptly-named Cartoon Research site. Read his first-hand insights HERE. (Mr. D. was responsible for some cartoons I quite enjoy. For one, Munro is a fine short).

Incidently, there are Deitch T&J fans who have said to me “Well, they’re better than those Chuck Jones ones,” as if I’m supposed to pick between the two. I’m not a fan of the Jones cartoons, either. If I had a choice, I would pick neither of them. And the Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera version of the cat and mouse had run out of gas by the time production was stopped in 1957.

Something I am a fan of is industrial and commercial cartoons. A neat cartoon is “Winky the Watchman,” a 1945 live action/animation short by Hugh Harman Productions. I’ll take a pass on Harman’s faux Uncle Walt cartoons at MGM of the mid to late ‘30s. But this one I like, mostly because of the animation of the bad guys and some creative layouts. And even better than the cartoon is the fact that Mark Kausler has recorded a commentary that explains, in great detail, all kinds of things about the production that only he would know. Frankly, I’ll listen to any cartoon commentary of Mark’s because I always learn something. Go to THIS POST on Jerry’s blog and read about it. The cartoon and commentary are courtesy of Thunderbean Animation, which is painstakingly restoring all kinds of great old cartoons that would have been forgotten otherwise.



Jerry’s got other great features at Cartoon Research (as if I have to tell you that). Recently, Devon Baxter has been posting (from various sources) breakdowns of animators on various cartoons from official studio documents. And I’m looking forward to Mike Kazaleh returning to give some more thoughts about 1950s TV spots made by the era’s top commercial studios.

Mark Evanier’s News From me blog always has something interesting or funny or both. Recently, Mark posted a link to a bunch of interviews on video with people involved in the Golden Age of cartoons. The sound isn’t great on all of them and I’d have asked some different questions, but at least someone made the effort to talk to these animation veterans. Included are Alex Lovy (of the Lantz and Columbia studios), Lloyd Vaughan, Owen Fitzgerald and Pete Alvarado (all of whom worked at Warner Bros. at one point). They’re worth your time to listen. HERE’s where you can find them, along with some thoughts from Mark who always has something worthwhile to say about cartoons and comics.