Eric Larson: Generous and Unstoppable Animator 

Some of my earlier blogs have talked about Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men,” a nickname that Walt Disney gave to the top animators at his studio. At this point, my blog hasn’t acknowledged all of the men who were in that group, and I wanted to tell you about an artist who not only animated a variety of Disney characters, but also helped a new generation of animators during his 53 years at Walt Disney Studios: Eric Larson.

Eric Larson was born in Cleveland, Utah on September 3rd, 1905. When he was 10 years old, his family moved to a ranch in Salt Lake City. Although his original childhood ambition was to become a journalist, he secretly took drawling lessons because he was fascinated by the personalities of the animals who lived on his parent’s ranch. In 1925, he entered the University of Utah and later relocated to Los Angeles to look for a journalism job, sadly to no success. He then decided to try to pursue a career as an artist, and at the suggestion of a friend, submitted some of his drawings to Walt Disney Productions. He was hired as an “in-betweener,” in 1933. (An “in-betweener” is an artist that transitions each of the drawings from frame to frame).    

Eric Larson first applied his drawing skills to the “Silly Symphonies” Short Cock o’ The Walk which was released in 1935. This short featured a sequence that Larson animated with dancing hens like dancing showgirls. Despite the difficulties he experienced, Hamilton Luske, who was another animator who worked at Disney at the time, recognized the talent and potential of Larson and promoted him to assistant animator, and because of that, he got to collaborate with James Algar and Milt Kahl, another one of Walt’s “Nine Old Men,” on animating each of the animals in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). When Disney green-lit Pinocchio (1940), Eric was promoted to Animation Director and supervised all the animation of Figaro the Cat, along with the scary “Donkey” sequences. Figaro the Cat became one of the favorite characters of Larson’s to animate, because he also explained his later years how little boys can relate to not being comfortable with showing affection to their younger siblings, as Figaro is towards Cleo the Fish. Although both Figaro and Cleo still love their father, Gepetto dearly. (Figaro was also a favorite of Walt Disney, himself.) 

Larson continued to be an animator on Dumbo (1941), a supervising animator on Bambi (1942) and a Directing Animator on Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Lady & the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959), and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). In 1953, Burny Mattinson was employed by Disney and on June 4th, 2018, he surpassed Eric Larson as the Walt Disney Studios longest-serving employee at a total of 65 years. Mattinson was very well acquainted with Eric Larson and said he was “like a dad,” to him.  Larson explained that one of his fondest memories of working at Disney was getting to animate Peggy Lee as Peg the Tibetan Spaniel in “Lady & the Tramp,” because he was greatly inspired by her sultry singing voice as well as the way she walked. When Disney started Mary Poppins (1964), Larson was also very excited to return to his country roots when he was given the task of animating each of the animals in the farm sequence in the “Jolly Holliday” scene in the film.  

In the 1970s, Eric Larson was still working at Disney while the other “Nine Old Men,” either had retired or were deceased. In 1973, he founded a recruitment training program that brought a new generation of animators to the studio. This new generation included Brad Bird (future Oscar-winning screenwriter/director of The Incredibles (2004) and its sequel, and voice of Edna Mode), John Musker and Ron Clements (future writers/directors of The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), and Moana (2016)), Andreas Deja (future supervising animator of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Jafar in Aladdin (1992), and Scar in The Lion King (1994)), and Glen Keane (future supervising animator of Ariel in “Little Mermaid,” the Beast in “Beauty and the Beast,” and Aladdin in “Aladdin.”), to name a few. This new generation also included Tim Burton and Henry Selick, who later collaborated together on Disney’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and James and the Giant Peach (1996).

Eric Larson also designed the opening main titles on The Rescuers in 1977 and served as an Animation Consultant on the Oscar-nominated short Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983) and the films The Black Cauldron (1985) and The Great Mouse Detective (1986) before he finally retired from Disney in 1986 and died two years later at the age of 83 on October 25th, 1988 due to natural causes. In the history of Disney Animation, there have been many artists who left enduring legacies, but few have left a legacy that is as beautiful and as generous as Eric Larson. 

Carol Burnett’s Rep Players

You might remember from one of my earlier blogs, a tribute to Carol Burnett, and how in addition to starring in her own show for 11 years, from 1967-1978, she also performed in various things for the Walt Disney Studios, (host of the Disney Sunday Movie episode “Great Moments in Disney Animation,” in 1987 and playing the role of Queen Aggravain in ABC’s Once Upon a Mattress in 2005). I didn’t acknowledge that last summer she also voiced, Chairol Burnett, a cartoon version of herself in Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4 (2019), and reprised that role in an episode of the Disney+ series, Forky Asks a Question (2019). If you’re a fan of “The Carol Burnett Show,” you might also remember that Carol had a group of “repertory players” who were exceptionally talented performers, and each brought their own ingenuity to the show: Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Tim Conway, and Lyle Waggoner. Did you know that each of these performers have also been in things for Disney as well?

• Harvey Korman played the role of Captain Blythe in Disney’s Herbie Goes Bananas (1980), which was the fourth film in the “Herbie/Love Bug,” franchise. Korman also lent his voice to the Disney television series, 101 Dalmatians: The Series (1997-1998), Hercules (1998-1999), and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-2001). (Korman lent his voice to the “Hercules and the Griffin,” episode of Hercules, which ironically also starred his co-star from “Carol Burnett,” Tim Conway.) Besides his roles on “Carol Burnett,” and Disney, Korman is also known for his contributions to the first three original “Flintstone” shows, voicing The Great Gazoo on The Flintstones (1964-1966), Dictabird in The Flintstones (1994), and playing the role of Colonel Slaghoople in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000). Like Carol Burnett, Korman also performed in an episode of The Muppet Show (1976-1981).
• While Vicki Lawrence many characters throughout her time on “The Carol Burnett Show,” she will forever be remembered for her portrayal of the iconic Mama/Thelma Harper in the “Mama’s Family” sketches. She later reprised the role on her very own sit-com Mama’s Family (1983-1990), and for the last 45 1/2 years has been married to Al Schulz who was the Makeup Artist on “The Carol Burnett Show.” She made her Disney debut when she was cast as Mamaw Ruthie Stewart, mother of Robby Ray Stewart and Grandmother of Miley Ray Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Original Series, Hannah Montana (2006-2011), a role that she reprised for five episodes throughout the shows five-year-run. She also lend her voice to The Fox and the Hound 2 (2006), Disney’s direct-to-video sequel to The Fox and the Hound (1981), and the Disney Channel Original Animated Series, Phineas and Ferb (2007-2015).
• Tim Conway is best known at Disney for portraying the role of Amos Tucker in The Apple Dumple Gang (1975) and its sequel The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979). Before those films, Conway’s Disney debut was in The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973), and in 1976 he made comedies Gus, which reunited him with “Apple Dumpling Gang,” co-star Don Knotts and The Shaggy D.A., which was Disney’s sequel to The Shaggy Dog (1959). Conway was very close with Don Knotts, as well as all of his co-stars from “The Carol Burnett Show,” and also Ernest Borgnine, with whom he co-starred on the show McHale’s Navy (1962-1966). He worked with each of his friends on numerous other projects as well. He wrote the films The Prize Fighter (1979) and The Private Eyes (1980), in which he co-starred with Knotts, and he and Borgnine lent their voices to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy on Spongebob Squarepants (1999-present). Conway also went on a comedy tour with Harvey Korman, appeared in both Touched by an Angel (1994-2003) and Hot in Cleveland (2010-2015) with Carol Burnett, and he and Vicki Lawrence and Don Knotts have all lent their voices to the faith-based CGI series Hermie & Friends (2004).
• In addition to playing several various characters on the show, Lyle Waggoner shared announcing duties on the show with Ernie Anderson. Waggoner is also known for originating the role of Colonel Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman (1975-1979) the series, the role that is now portrayed by Chris Pine in the reboot films. The role of Colonel Trevor was easy for him to identify with because he served for two years in the United States Army as a radio operator. Besides acting, Waggoner was also a skilled carpenter and businessman, and in 1979 he founded, Star Waggons, a company that loaned customized location trailers to be used by people in the entertainment industry.     

Carol Burnett’s “Rep Players,” were all talented in their own special ways and they never ceased to make us laugh on the small screen and even sometimes on the big screen. Carol Burnett and Vicki Lawrence are still making us laugh, Burnett with her recent memoir In Such Good Company: Eleven Years Of Laughter, Mayhem, And Fun In The Sandbox and Lawrence with her role on the Fox Broadcasting Company series The Cool Kids (2018-2019), and while Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, and Lyle Waggoner are no longer with us, each of their humor legacies will continue to live on forever.  

Suzanne Pleshette: More Than Newhart’s Wife

Suzanne Pleshette is known for her iconic role as Emily Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978). The role earned her two Emmy Nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and she is the only regular cast member, other than Bob Newhart himself, to have appeared in all 142 episodes of the show. In reality, Suzanne Pleshette had a career in show business that spanned nearly 50 years, in which she appeared on stage, television, and film. Did you also know that she also has some fascinating connections to the Walt Disney Studios as well?

Suzanne Pleshette was born on January 31st, 1937 in Brooklyn Heights, New York to Eugene and Geraldine Pleshette. Her mother was a dancer and artist while her father was a stage manager who managed the Paramount Theater in New York City. She would claim in her later years that New York City’s High School for the Performing Arts was where she “found” herself. She graduated that High School and later attended Syracuse University for one semester before she transferred to Finch College for additional semester, and she transferred a third time to the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre where she studied acting under Sanford Meisner and graduated.

In 1957, at the age of 20, Pleshette made her Broadway debut in Meyer Levin’s Compulsion which was a play about the famous Leopold and Loeb Case. Film and Television came calling around this time and she made the film The Geisha Boy (1958) and she also starred in an episode of the Crime Drama Series Decoy (1957-1958). In 1959, she returned to the stage, starring in the comedy Golden Fleecing opposite Constance Ford and future “Bob Newhart,” co-star, Tom Poston. She opened the ‘60s, starring in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1965) as well as another television series called Hong Kong (1961) in which she played the love interest of Rod Taylor. She would later work with both Hitchcock and Taylor again when she landed the role of Annie Hayworth in The Birds (1963). Hitchcock himself was fond of her and enjoyed working with her and as a result, asked her to play Sean Connery’s sister-in-law in Marnie (1964), but she declined, intent on pursuing more “leading lady” roles. She did, however, reunite with Rod Taylor for a third time when they made the film Fate is the Hunter (1964). She also married Troy Donahue, with whom she appeared in the films Roman Adventure (1962) and A Distant Trumpet (1964) but the marriage sadly lasted only eight months.

Suzanne Pleshette made her Disney debut when she was cast opposite Dean Jones in The Ugly Dachsund (1966). “Ugly Dachsund,” was one of the last films produced before Walt Disney’s unfortunate and untimely death in December of that same year. The very next year, she worked for Disney again starring in The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967) starring Roddy McDowall and Karl Malden. She later reunited with Dean Jones a second time in Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968) and a third time in The Shaggy D.A. (1976), Disney’s sequel to The Shaggy Dog (1959). The year that she made “Blackbeard’s Ghost,” she married businessman Thomas J. Gallagher III and the marriage lasted until his death in 2000. 

Not long after marrying Gallagher, she landed her signature role as Emily Hartley on “Bob Newhart.” (Tom Poston was also cast as Bob’s college buddy, Cliff Murdoch, a role that lasted five episodes.) She was cast when she appeared on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson (1962-1992). The producers thought she and Bob clicked together and asked them to read together. Throughout the series the phrase “Hi, Bob,” was spoken 256 times, 17 of which were spoken by Emily Hartley. 

In 1982, Pleshette attempted to return to her stage roots by starring in a Broadway play called Special Occasions. The show closed unfortunately after only one performance, so she stayed with film and television for the rest of her life. She reprised her role as Emily Hartley on an episode of Bob Newhart’s other sit-com Newhart (1982-1990), which Tom Poston was also a regular on. She was later invited back to Disney to voice Zira in Disney’s direct-to-video sequel to The Lion King (1994), The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride (1998). Jason Marsden provided the voice of Zira’s son, Kovu in the film, and he Pleshette later voiced mother and son again in the Disney/Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away (2002), which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Her last acting role was playing Lois Whitley, mother of Karen Walker (played by Megan Mullally) on Will & Grace (2002-2004). In 2001, Pleshette married Tom Poston and they remained married until Poston’s death due to respiratory failure on April 30th, 2007. Pleshette, herself, later passed away also due to respiratory failure on January 19th, 2008, just 12 days shy of her 71st birthday.

Suzanne Pleshette was a very talented and versatile actress. Throughout her career she played some roles that made us laugh, and even some that might have also scared us just a bit. She will forever be remembered for playing Mrs. Bob Hartley on “Bob Newhart,” and for her roles in Disney films, but her acting skills and her husky voice made every role that she played more and more interesting. 

Mulan’s 22nd

On June 19th, 1998, Disney released the animated version of Mulan. And on March 27th, 2020, they will release their live-action take on Mulan. In honor of the original film’s 22nd anniversary, I thought that in today’s blog we could explore some fun facts about the original classic film, along with some other interesting facts about the new film. Please feel free to comment on your favorite.

• Mulan received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Score. It was nominated against Disney/Pixar’s A Bug’s Life, Dreamworks’s The Prince of Egypt, and Universal’s Patch Adams, though each of these films lost the award to Mirimax’s Shakespeare in Love.
• When this movie was produced, there were many special thing about it that were “firsts” for Disney. It was the first movie ever released by Disney on DVD in November of 1999, and it was the first Disney movie to openly acknowledge warfare. It also was the first full-length movie animated only at Disney’s Florida Animation Studio.
• Ming-Na Wen who provided the speaking voice of Mulan is also known at Disney for portraying the role of Agent Melinda May on ABC/Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-present), and she has also lent her voice to the Disney Channel Series Phineas and Ferb (2007-2015), Sofia the First (2012), and the Disney+ Series, The Mandalorian (2019-present).
• Lea Salonga, who provided the singing voice of Mulan, was also the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin (1992).
• Mulan’s grandmother, Grandmother Fa, also had two separate voices. The speaking voice was provided by June Foray, who ironically is best known for voicing Granny on Looney Tunes. The singing voice was done by Marni Nixon, who is a Hollywood legend for providing the singing voices of many leading ladies of Hollywood in movie musicals: including Deborah Kerr in The King and I (1956), Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961), and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964).
• BD Wong was the speaking voice of Captain Shang and is also known at Disney for lending his voice to Kim Possible (2002-2007) and the DuckTales reboot (2017-present). He also portrayed Howard Weinstein in Touchstones’ remakes of Father of the Bride (1991) and Father of the Bride part 2 (1995). Donny Osmond, who sang the role of Shang, later portrayed the role of Gaston in the Broadway version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast for the last few months of 2006 and for the show’s closing performance on July 29th, 2007.
• Harvey Fierstein provided the voice of Yao in the film is also known at Disney for collaborating with Alan Menken on the stage version of Newsies which opened on Broadway in 2012 and played for 1,004 performances. The collaboration earned both Menken and Fierstein a well-deserved Tony Award Nomination for Best Book of a Musical.
• Frank Welker voiced Cri-Kee in the film and the voice of Khan the Horse as well as Shan-Yu’s pet falcon. Welker is also known at Disney for voicing many of the Studio’s classic non-speaking characters, from Max the Dog in The Little Mermaid (1989), The Footstool in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Abu the Monkey and Rajah the Tiger, in Aladdin (1992). Welker also voiced the Cave of Wonder’s in Disney’s 2019 remake of Aladdin.
• David Zippel wrote the lyrics for Mulan with composer Matthew Wilder, but had already collaborated with Alan Menken on the lyrics for Hercules (1997). Menken and Zippel also received an Oscar Nomination in the category of Best Original Song for the Hercules song “Go the Distance.”
• Mark Henn is known at Disney for being a supervising animator on many of the studios most beloved leading ladies: Belle in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Princess Jasmine in Aladdin (1992), and Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009). He was also a supervising animator for the character of Mulan and Mulan’s father, Fa Zhou.
• In Chinese, the name Mulan means “wood orchid” or “magnolia.” This can be referred to a blossoming tree by Mulan’s house in the movie. The name “Chi Fu” (The Emperor’s assistant) means “to bully.” 
• Mulan touches her hair a great deal throughout the movie. This is because the animator’s noticed that Ming-Na Wen did a lot in real life.
• This movie almost received a PG rating for using the term “cross-dresser.”
• This movie was Eddie Murphy’s debut as a voice actor. Mushu (the dragon, not lizard) is the only other cartoon character that Murphy has voiced besides Donkey in the Shrek franchise (2001-2010). Murphy agreed to voice the character on the condition that he could record all of his dialogue in his basement at his Bubble Hill Mansion in Englewood, New Jersey instead, and Disney obliged. Murphy recorded all of his lines when he had time off from filming Holy Man (1998).
• James Hong voiced the character of Chi Fu later went on to voice the character of Mr. Ping the Goose in Dreamworks’s Kung Fu Panda franchise (2008-2016) which also takes place in China. Hong also voiced the Asian Salt Shaker Doll in MGM’s Sherlock Gnomes (2018).
• In addition to voicing the wise Emperor of China in the film, Pat Morita played a great deal of wise characters throughout his career: Arnold Takahashi in Happy Days (1974-1984) and Mr. Myagi in the Karate Kid series (1984-1994). Morita also appeared in an episode of Disney’s Boy Meets World (1993-2000) and he portrayed a parody character of Mr. Myagi called Master Udon in the “Karate Island” episode of Spongebob SquarePants (1999-present).
• Disney produced a direct-to-video sequel to Mulan, Mulan II in 2004, which again featured the voices of Ming-Na Wen, BD Wong, Lea Salonga, Harvey Fierstein, Pat Morita, Frank Welker, and June Foray in each of the roles they had originated from the first film. The film also featured a special guest voice appearance by Gold Olympic Medalist, Michelle Kwan. Eddie Murphy was unavailable to reprise Mushu due to a contract clause for voicing Donkey in Shrek 2 (2004) at the time, and he was replaced by Mark Moseley.
• Tzi Ma and Rosalind Chao will each portray Mulan’s parents in the new live-action film. They also worked with Ming-Na Wen in the “Girl in the Flower Dress,” Episode of Marvel/ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-present).
• Niki Caro, who is the director of the new live-action Mulan, in 2015 directed Disney’s McFarland, USA, which starred Kevin Costner.
• Disney originally considered Tia Carrere to voice Mulan and originally wanted Bruce Willis as Li Shang, but they were later replaced by Ming-Na Wen and BD Wong. But both Carrere and Willis later made films for Disney: Willis played Russ Duritz in Disney’s The Kid (2000) and Carrere voiced Nani, Lilo’s older sister in Lilo & Stitch (2002).
• Robert D. San Souci is credited for having written the original story of Mulan, entitled Fa Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior. Souci also served as a consultant on the making of the original film, which was published in 1998.
• Although Mulan is about a woman who masquerades as a man, many of the male voice cast members of the original film disguised themselves as woman at different points in their careers: BD Wong in M. Butterfly (1993) and Mr. Robot (2015-2019), Eddie Murphy in several different films, Soon-Tek Oh and Gedde Watanabe in the 1976 Broadway Musical Pacific Overtures, and in 2002, Harvey Fierstein won a Tony Award for originating the role of Edna Turnblad in the Broadway Musical Hairspray.