Paddi Edwards: Ghostly Entertaining

If you’re a fan of Disney Animation like I am, Halloween is as a time for celebrating and (or at least acknowledging) Disney villains. Throughout the history of Disney, the villains have always been voiced by talented actors—all of whose voices have unique qualities, from deep tones to harsh rasps. In this blog, I’d like to tell you about an actress who was known for having a raspy voice that she lent to a variety of films, most notably The Little Mermaid (1989). 

Patricia Mary Ursula Edwards was born on March 8th, 1931, in Bristol, England. She and her family relocated to Waban, Massachusetts where she officially became a U.S. citizen at the age of 21. In 1960, she made her official debut in the British film Inn for Trouble, a spin-off of a television series. In 1982, she starred as the Secretary in Halloween 3: Season of the Witch. Not long after that, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were casting for their upcoming film project in Ghostbusters (1984), having just cast Yugoslavian actress Slavitza Jovan to portray the ruthless deity Gozer, they decided that her Slavic accent was too comical. Since they wanted the character of Gozer to be one of the scarier elements of the film, Paddi Edwards’ spookier voice turned out to be just what they were looking for. 

After lending her voice to “Ghostbusters,” Paddi Edwards made a guest-star appearance on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, playing the role of Anya the shape-shifting mother figure in “The Dauphin” episode which aired on television in 1989. The same year, Edwards was hired by Disney to voice the dual role of Ursula’s two evil eels in “Little Mermaid.” It is ironic, considering that Flotsam and Jetsam worked for a sea witch named Ursula in the movie, and one of Paddi Edwards’ real middle names is Ursula! In 1997, she was rehired by Disney to voice one of the Fates in Hercules (1997) which was co-written/co-directed by John Musker and Ron Clements who also co-wrote/co-directed “Mermaid.” She also lent her voices to Disney’s direct-to-video sequels to The Brave Little Toaster (1987), The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue (1997) and The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars (1998). Around the time of these movies, Edwards also lent her voices to Disney television shows as well, including 101: Dalmatians: The Series (1997-1998) and Pepper Ann (1997-2000), voicing the character of Vera Groober-Schwartz. She continued to voice that character, along with lending her voice to An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000), the direct-to-video sequel to A Goofy Movie (1995), before her untimely death due to respiratory failure on October 19th, 1999 at the age of 68.

Paddi Edwards has a unique body of work in the entertainment industry. Remembered as the voices of Gozer in “Ghostbusters,” Flotsam and Jetsam in “Little Mermaid,” or to Trekkies as Anya in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” though I’m sure we can all agree that her spooky voice served as an asset to every film and/or television show that she was a part of.  

Absolute Classics part 2

You might remember from two weeks ago that we began a tribute to films that are considered classics today—but weren’t necessarily beloved when they first came out. I’d like to continue our tribute to such films in this blog. Please feel free to comment on anything you find interesting.

Most movie buffs remember the year 1987 as the year of films of Fatal Attraction, Moonstruck, Broadcast News, or even The Untouchables. Each of the aforementioned films were huge hits! But hard core movie buffs might also remember 1987 as the year of The Princess Bride, which was released on September 25th, 1987. Although the film was critically well-reviewed in its initial release, it only grossed $30.8 million in the United States and Canada while on a $16 million dollar budget. It seemed, audiences didn’t know what genre defined the film, fairy tale/medieval satire, swashbuckling adventure, romance story, or a comedy. One reviewer who said said “Hey, it’s a cute movie. And if you need to do something in the afternoon, go ahead, take your kids.” The film however, did begin to gain cult status in the video market when it was released on Laserdisc in 1988, VHS in 1994, DVD in 2000, and Blu Ray in 2018. The same year that it was released on DVD (2000), the magazine Total Film voted it as the greatest comedy of all time. The film’s male star, Cary Elwes, also wrote a book in 2014 called As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From the Making of the Princess Bride in which he and Rob Reiner explain that one of the main reasons that “Princess Bride,” is a special film is because it is combines all of those genres into one plot.

1993 was the same year that the Walt Disney Company produced two beloved Halloween-themed films. The second was Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, though the first was Hocus Pocus. “Hocus Pocus,” was released on July 16th, 1993, and received mixed-to-negative reviews. Gene Siskel from The Chicago Tribune wrote that the film was “a ‘dreadful witches’ comedy with the only tolerable moment coming when Bette Middler presents a single song.” The Miami Herald referred to it as a “pretty lackluster affair. Despite the triple-threat actress combo, Hocus Pocus won’t be the Sister Act of 1993. There are a lot of go-sees this summer and this isn’t one of them.” The film also grossed only $8.1 million and was only in the top ten ranking of summer of ’93 films for two weeks. However, just like “Princess Bride,” this film gained cult status when it was released on VHS in 1994, DVD in 2002, and Blu Ray in 2018, which was just in time for the film’s 25th anniversary. The film has also been aired on television by the Disney Channel, ABC, and ABC Family’s 13 nights of Halloween, where it gains more viewers more and more every year. 2009’s broadcast of the film drew 2.5 million viewers and when it aired last year on Freeform, the viewing was averaged at 8.2 million.               

I hope you enjoyed our tribute to these classic films. Let me know which is your favorite, or if you have another you think I should have talked about.