Mary Jo Catlett: Simple yet Hilarious

In the voice-over acting world, there are actors who have very wide vocal ranges that can allow the actor to speak in all kinds of different accents. But there are other actors whose range allows them to talk in only one kind of accent, but it is distinctive and unique. Mary Jo Catlett is the latter. You might recognize Mary Jo’s saccharine voice as Mrs. Puff on Spongebob Squarepants (1999-present), but did you know she actually has some fascinating connections to Disney as well?

  Mary Jo Catlett was born on September 2nd, 1938 in Denver, Colorado. After attending Loretto Heights College in Denver, she was bitten by the “acting bug,” particularly in musical comedy, and relocated to New York to try her luck. Fortunately, she found success landing a role in the off-Broadway production of Along Came A Spider in 1963. The very next year, she was cast as Ernestina Simple in the original Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! starring Carol Channing. She also reprised the role of Ernestina in the first national tour of the show, which starred Ginger Rogers.  

Around the time of “Dolly,” Catlett also began making appearances on television in The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978), Maude (1972-1978), and M*A*S*H (1972-1983). She made her film debut in the Woody Allen comedy Bananas in 1971. After “Dolly,” Catlett continued to appear on Broadway in plays called Canterbury Tales, Different Times, and in 1973 she starred as Mabel in Broadway’s revival of The Pajama Game. She also acted the role of Mabel in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), and provided additional voices on the animated sit-com The Smurfs (1981-1989). In 1994, Mary Jo Catlett was cast in the role of Madame de la Grande Bouche, otherwise known as the Wardrobe in the original Broadway production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which was Disney’s very first film ever to be adapted on Broadway. The role earned her an Ovation Award Nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical!

After “Beauty,” Catlett later lent her voice to the Disney Channel Original Series Quack Pack (1996-1997). Three years after that, she landed the role of Mrs. Puff on “Spongebob.” She has voiced Mrs. Puff throughout the show’s entire 20-year-run, as well as other elderly characters including Squidward’s grandmother, Grandma Tentacles, and the elderly psychic. In the “Something Smells,” episode of Spongebob, there is a scene where Spongebob says “Hello, Dolly!” in reference to Mary Jo Catlett’s Broadway musical debut. Catlett has also voiced Mrs. Puff in each of the “Spongebob,” movies, The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004), The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015), and the upcoming The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run.

Catlett is also known at Disney for having small roles in the Disney Channel Shows Kim Possible (2002-2007) and That’s So Raven (2003-2007). Whether she acts on Broadway, Television, Film, or in Animation, her unmistakable voice never ceases to make us laugh!   

Disney’s Christmas Carol Blog

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is undoubtedly a classic holiday story! Dickens first published A Christmas Carol as a novella in 1843 and since that time, the story has been adapted for television, stage, radio, and of course, film. Disney has also made various adaptations of the story and I thought we could explore fun facts about those in this blog. Feel free to community on your favorites!

• Disney produced Mickey’s Christmas Carol in 1983, and it received an Oscar Nomination for Best Short Film, Animated that year. Featuring the voice talent of Wayne Allwine (Mickey Mouse), Alan Young (Scrooge McDuck), and Will Ryan (Pete/Ghost of Christmas Future and Willie the Giant) it was the very first film appearance of Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse and his first chance to work with future wife Russi Taylor as Minnie Mouse. (Though Taylor recorded some dialogue for the film, it wasn’t included in the final cut.) This film also marked the last appearance of Disney voice-over veteran, Clarence Nash, as Donald Duck, whom he voiced for over 50 years. 
• Prior to the 1983 version, Alan Young collaborated with Alan Dinehart on a Disneyland Records Album called An Adaptation of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Performed by the Walt Disney Players in 1974. It was his first time voicing Scrooge McDuck and he continued voicing Scrooge McDuck for 32 years until his death in 2016.
• Disney’s next adaptation of “Christmas Carol,” was The Muppet Christmas Carol, which was released in 1992. The film was directed by Brian Henson, son of “Muppets,” creator Jim Henson, who also directed The Muppet Treasure Island (1996). In this film, Scrooge is portrayed by Michael Caine, who is also known to Disney fans for voicing Finn McMissile in Disney/Pixar’s Cars 2 (2011). Caine to this day considers the role of Scrooge to be one of his most memorable. Caine got along wonderfully well with Henson while the film was in production, being seriously impressed with Henson’s skills as a director. Before filming began Caine told Henson “I’m going to play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me,” to which Henson replied “Yes, bang on!” “Muppet Christmas Carol,” was also the second “Christmas Carol,” movie that was filmed at the Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England. The first was the movie-musical, Scrooge (1970) in which Ebenezer Scrooge was portrayed by Albert Finney.
• Disney re-adapted “Christmas Carol,” for C.G.I. in 2009 with Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge and all three of the Christmas Ghosts who visit Scrooge on Christmas Eve. In this film, Bob and Emily Cratchit were voiced by Gary Oldman and Leslie Manville, who were married in real life from 1987-1990 and have a son together. This is also the first film that Robert Zemeckis directed for Disney since Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). In this film, Cary Elwes provides the voice of Dick Wilkins, Scrooge’s partner at Mr. Fezziwig’s. Elwes previously worked with Jim Carrey in Liar Liar (1997) and Robin Wright in The Princess Bride (1987), and Wright voices Scrooge’s sister Fan as well as his fiancé, Belle in this film. Fionnula Flanagan voices Mrs. Dilber, Scrooge’s charwoman in this film, and Flannagan also worked with Jim Carrey in the movie Yes Man (2008). In the initial release for this film Jim Carrey described it as “A classical version of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ There are a lot of vocal things, a lot of physical things I have to do. Not to mention doing the accents properly, the English, Irish accents. I want it to fly in the UK. I want it to be good and I want them to go ‘Yeah, that’s for real.’ We were very true to the book. It’s beautiful. It’s an incredible film.”            

Of all these film adaptations my personal favorite is “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” because it was the first of these adaptations that I recall seeing as a child and I also enjoy the songs.

J. Pat O’Malley: Tone Changer

You might remember from some of my earlier blogs that I talked about various talented actors who frequently lent their voices to Disney cartoon characters. In this blog, I’d like to tell you about yet another actor—this one a personal request of Walt Disney himself—J. Pat O’Malley.

James Patrick Francis O’Malley was born in Burley England on March 14th, 1904. He started his career performing as a singer in the United Kingdom in 1925 and later signed on as a principal singer with Jack Hylton and his orchestra from 1930-1933. Known as just Pat O’Malley at the time, he recorded more than 400 songs with that orchestra including “Amy, Beautiful Amy,” which was a song about aviator Amy Johnson. O’Malley later partnered with Hylton, himself and they came to the United States in 1935 to record music with a band of American musicians. Their partnership, unfortunately, was short-lived and Hylton returned to England while O’Malley remained in the U.S. and ultimately found his way into acting. Addding the first initial of James back onto his first name, he became becoming J. Pat O’Malley to avoid confusion with the American actor, Patrick Henry O’Malley.

J. Pat O’Malley made his film debut in United Artists Captain Caution in 1940. He also made the films Thumbs Up and Lassie Come Home in 1943, and in both films he starred opposite Elsa Lanchester. He later appeared on the Broadway Stage in the play Ten Little Indians in 1944. It wasn’t long before O’Malley’s interesting British accent caught the attention of Walt Disney who hired O’Malley to voice the character of Cyril Proudbottom (the horse) in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949). In addition to the horse, he also voiced the characters of Mr. Winkie, the Policemen and the Paperboy.

After lending his voice to “Ichabod and Mr. Toad,” O’Malley voiced Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, the Walrus, the Carpenter, and the Curious Oysters in Alice in Wonderland (1951), Jasper and Colonel the sheep dog in 101 Dalmatians (1961), the Pearly Band Drummer, the Huntsman, The Master of Hounds, and the Penguin Waiter in Mary Poppins (1964), Colonel Hathai the Elephant and one of the Vultures in The Jungle Book (1967), and Otto the Blacksmith Bloodhound in Robin Hood (1973). While voicing his bit roles in “Poppins,” he helped Dick Van Dyke develop his cockney accent for his role as Bert the Chimney Sweep in the film. 

Besides all these film roles, Walt Disney also hired O’Malley to play the role of “Perkins” in the Disney television serials “Spin and Marty,” which aired as part of The Mickey Mouse Club (1955-1959), and he also voiced several of the pirates in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, including the pirate dunking the magistrate into the well and also one of the prisoners who coaxes the dog with the keys.. He also lent his voice to two cartoon shorts, Goliath 2 (1960) and The Saga Windwagon Smith (1961), and he even appeared in the live-action Disney film, Son of Flubber (1963), the sequel to The Absent-Minded Professor (1961).

In 1969, J. Pat O’Malley appeared as the Park Policeman in Hello, Dolly! (1969) and portrayed Carol Brady’s father, Henry Tyler, in the pilot episode of The Brady Bunch (1969-1974). He continued acting in film and television until the early 1980s and passed away on February 27th, 1985 due to heart disease. He truly was a talented actor with a unique voice who helped make many Disney characters endearing.      

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.

Absolute Classics part 1

What do you think the term classic means? Is it something that stand the test of time? Award-winning? Hailed by critics? Something nostalgic? Or is it something that is simply beautiful and you wouldn’t imagine it any other way? No matter your definition, there are all kinds of movies that are considered classics. Some of the most widely accepted classics today, however, were not an “instant classic” when they were released. In this blog, I’d like to tell you about some of them, continuing with more next week. 

When The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939, the film didn’t exactly take everyone who saw it “Over the Rainbow.” Some moviegoers thought that Judy Garland was just a little too old to play L. Frank Baum’s 12-year-old Dorothy Gale. A reviewer of The New Yorker named Russell Maloney wrote that the film displayed “no trace of imagination, good taste, or ingenuity,” and was a “stinkeroo.” Although the film grossed a total of $3,017,000 (that’s both the US and worldwide—a lot of money in 1939), because of its high production costs and various distribution and other costs, it put Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) $1,145,000 in debt. In 1956, however, CBS purchased the rights to air the film on television, and it was on television that the film began to gain iconic status. Many adults young and old were “raised” on the annual network television event that it became-and its popularity only continued to grow when it was released on VHS in 1980, DVD in 1997, and Blu Ray in 2009.

In December of 1946, the term “Christmas holiday tradition” was given an entirely new meaning with Frank Capra’s sentimental classic It’s a Wonderful Life. Sadly, not everyone at that time saw the “wonderful” value of the film, and it lost $525,000 for its distribution company RKO. A critic named Bosley Crowther, wrote in for the New York Times, “The weakness of this picture from the reviewers point of view is the sentimentality of it-its illusory concept of life. Mr. Capra’s nice people are charming, his small town is a quite beguiling place and his pattern for solving problems is most optimistic and facile. But somehow, they all resemble theatrical attitudes rather than average realities.” Another film critic named Manny Farber wrote “To make his points (Capra) always takes an easy, simple-minded path that doesn’t give much credit to the intelligence of the audience,” and he added that it has only a “few unsentimental moments here and there.” The Oscars were kind enough to give the film a total of five nominations, but four out of those five nominations went to William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Just like with “Wizard of Oz,” seven years earlier, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” gained popularity when airing on television, though that didn’t happen until 1976. There it gained positive reception , and along with being released on VHS in the ‘80s, DVD in 2001, and Blu Ray in 2009, it is widely considered a “must” for Christmas-time viewing.

MGM produced Singin’ in the Rain in 1952. This film was only a moderate hit when it was first released, grossing $5.5 million in the US and internationally, though it did earn MGM a profit. And although the film provides “Best Picture Oscar” quality, in reality the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences only nominated the film for Best Original Score and Best Supporting Actress for Jean Hagen for her performance as spoiled screen diva, Lina Lamont. The film’s male lead star, Gene Kelly, previously made An American in Paris (1951) and that film was much more successful, winning the Best Picture Oscar that year, as well as five other Oscars. In 1989, however, Singin’ in the Rain was among the first 25 films to be inducted into the National Film Registry for films that are considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” whereas “An American in Paris,” wasn’t inducted until 1993. This film was later readapted for the Broadway Stage in 1985, and was released on VHS in 1992, DVD in 2002, and Blu Ray in 2012. 

Today each of these films are included on AFI’s (American Film Institute’s) Top 100 Movies with “It’s a Wonderful Life,” at #20, “The Wizard of Oz,” at #10, and “Singin’ in the Rain,” at #5. Please feel free to comment on any of these movies and tune in again when we continue our tribute to underrated classics.  

Real Life Mickeys and Minnies

There have been dozens and dozens of talented people throughout Disney’s history who were fortunate enough to be hired by the studio to work on and/or perform in films and TV. Some were married couples, even working closely together, and occasionally on the same show! The tradition began at the studio during Walt’s time, and continues today. Here are some examples:

Marc Davis was one of Walt’s “Nine Old Men” and he animated many “leading lady” characters at the studio including Cinderella in Cinderella (1950), Tinker Bell in Peter Pan (1953), and Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty (1959). His widow, Alice Estes Davis, was a costume designer for Disney, and designed the Briar Rose costume for Sleeping Beauty. They were married in 1956, three years before “Beauty” was released, and not long after, Alice met with Walt Disney himself, who was blown away by her work. Walt also asked her to design costumes for the live-action film Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks With a Circus (1960) as well as the beloved Disney Parks attraction “It’s a Small World.” The Davises also worked together designing the animatronics and costumes for “Pirates of the Caribbean.” and “The Haunted Mansion.”

John McIntire and Jeanette Nolan were actors who were married for 56 years. They first appeared together in the Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho (1960), and the film Cloak and Dagger (1984), as well as in television shows like Wagon Train (1957-1962), The Virginian (1962-1971), and The Fugitive (1963-1967). They made their first appearance for Disney in The Rescuers (1977) in which McIntire voiced Rufus the Cat and Nolan voiced Ellie Mae the Mouse. They did voice work again in The Fox and the Hound (1981) (McIntire voiced Mr. Digger the Badger and and Nolan played the Widow Tweed). McIntire also appeared in Disney’s Herbie Rides Again (1974) and the Touchstone Pictures film Turner & Hooch (1989) and Jeanette Nolan appeared in a made-for-television film called “The Sky’s the Limit,” which aired on The Wonderful World of Disney (1954-present).

Julie Andrews was cast in Mary Poppins (1964) as a result of impressing Walt Disney in her portrayal of Queen Guinevere in Lerner and Lowe’s Camelot. Not long after she was hired, Walt asked her then-husband, Tony Walton, what he did for a living, and he explained that he was a costume designer. That being the case, Walt also hired him to serve as a design consultant and a costume consultant for “Poppins,” and he received a Best Costume Design Oscar Nomination for his efforts, along with his wife who received a Best Actress Nomination for her performance as the magical nanny, and also won. Although Tony lost the Costume Design Award to Cecil Beaton in My Fair Lady (1964), he won a Best Art Direction Oscar 15 years later for the film All That Jazz (1979), an award that he also shared with Philip Rosenberg, Edward Stewart, and Gary J. Brink. 

When ABC Studios (which is owned by Disney) green-lit Once Upon a Time (2011-2018), Ginnifer Goodwin was cast in the role of Mary Margaret Blanchard, aka “Snow White” and Josh Dallas was cast opposite her in the role of David Nolan, aka “Prince Charming.” It ironically led to a real life romance between Dallas and Goodwin and they were married on April 14th, 2014. They continued portraying their characters on “Once,” for the entire run of the show, though only appeared in the series finale episode of the show’s 7th season. In addition to “Once,” both Goodwin and Dallas provided voices to Disney’s Oscar-winning animated feature Zootopia (2016), in which Goodwin voiced leading character Officer Judy Hopps and Dallas voiced the Frantic Pig. Goodwin has also lent her voice to the Disney Channel/ Junior Series Sofia the First (2012-2018) and the direct-to-video movie Tinker Bell and the Legend of the Never Beast (2015) and Dallas portrayed Fandral in Marvel’s Thor (2011). 

It’s fun to find out that people who share their private lives together were able to collaborate in their field of expertise. That it happened inside Disney’s wonderful world makes it even more special!