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.  

Potter Voices

If you’re a fan of the Harry Potter book and film series like I am, you might remember the incredibly talented film cast who brought to life each of J.K. Rowling’s iconic human characters. From Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter himself, to Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, to Maggie Smith as Professor Minerva McGonagall, to Richard Harris and Michael Gambon who shared the role of Albus Dumbledore, they were all great. But…have you ever been curious about the actors who lent their voices to the non-human characters in the series? I thought we could explore that in today’s blog.

• Warwick Davis performed three different roles in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001). He acted the roles of the Goblin Bank Teller and Professor Flitwick and provided the voice of Griphook, the goblin who took Harry Potter to his vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. He continued to portray the roles of Flitwick and Griphook all throughout the rest of the series from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) all the way to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). In addition to his roles in the “Potter-verse,” Davis is also recognizable in the “Star Wars-verse” having portrayed one of the main Ewoks, known as Wicket W. Warrick, in The Return of the Jedi (1983), and various other characters in The Phantom Menace (1999), the series Star Wars Rebels (2014-2018), The Force Awakens (2015), Rogue One (2016), The Last Jedi (2017), and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Most recently for Disney, he returned to his role as Wicket W. Warrick in Rise of Skywalker (2019), and he played Lickspittle in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019).
• Toby Jones lent his voice to Dobby the House Elf in “Chamber of Secrets,” and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010). In between playing voicing Dobby, Jones played Mr. Smee in Mirimax’s Finding Neverland (2004) and he portrayed Dr. Arnim Zola in Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and the series Agent Carter (2015-2016), and a Prado Museum Card in Muppets Most Wanted (2014). Most recently, he voiced Owl in the live-action/CGI Disney film Christopher Robin (2018). Besides “Disney,” and “Potter,” Jones also played the role of Claudius Templesmith in The Hunger Games series (2012-2015), one of the Royal Paiges in Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998) starring Drew Barrymore. In the year 2012, Jones, along with Anthony Hopkins made movies in which they portrayed Alfred Hitchcock: Jones in HBO’s The Girl and Hopkins in Fox Searchlight’s Hitchcock. Jones even appeared in the film Amazing Grace (2006) alongside Michael Gambon who succeeded Richard Harris in the role of Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter.
• Julian Glover voiced the eerie Aragog the Spider in “Chamber of Secrets.” Although Glover has no strong connections to Disney, he portrayed the role of General Maximillian Veers in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and the ruthless Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). His real life spouse, actress Isla Blair, portrayed Mrs. Donovan in “Last Crusade.” Glover is known for portraying the role of Kristatos in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only (1981), though ironically, he was considered for the role of Bond himself in Live and Let Die (1973) before Roger Moore took over. In recent years, Glover’s son, Jamie has voiced the character of General Veers in the Star Wars video games. Glover co-starred twice with Michael Sheard, who played Admiral Ozzel in “Empire Strikes Back,” and Adolf Hitler in “Last Crusade.”
• In addition to these three, Ray Fearon provided the voice of Firenze the Centaur in “Sorcerer’s Stone.” Although that was Fearon’s only appearance in the “Potter-verse,” Fearon later portrayed Pere Robert the bookseller in Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast (2017) which starred Emma Watson as Belle.
• The role of Kreacher the House Elf was originated by Timothy Bateson in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), though Bateson tragically died two years later in 2009 at the age of 83, and he was succeeded in the role by Simon McBurney who voiced the character in “Deathly Hallows: Part 1.” The same year that “Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” came out, McBurney appeared in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), along with Gary Oldman who played the role of Sirius Black in “Harry Potter.”
• Leslie Philips provided the voice of the “Sorting Hat,” in “Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Chamber of Secrets,” and “Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” And like Julian Glover, Philips was also directed by Steven Spielberg, in Empire of the Sun in 1987, in which he played the role of Maxton.

Each of these actors voices were wonderful assets to the Harry Potter film series. And there is no doubt that they have proven they have versatility in other films as well. Please feel free to comment on who your favorite is.

Remember the Titans XX part 1! 

In honor of the fact that it’s Super Bowl LIV (54) and it’s the year 2020, I thought that today we could explore a football movie produced 20 years ago. The movie tells the story of two Football Coaches, one African-American and the other Caucasian, and how they join forces when their high school racially integrates the students. Their collaborative coaching skills guide the team to win the Virginia State Championship title. The movie is of course, none other, than Disney’s Remember the Titans (2000). Please feel free to comment on your favorite fact.

 

• The original script for the film was full of profanity, but Disney asked producer Jerry Bruckheimer to remove all profanity so that the film could be considered a decent family film. This was the first film that Bruckheimer produced under the Disney label, though Bruckheimer previously produced The Ref for Touchstone Pictures and Dangerous Minds (1995), Crimson Tide (1995), and The Rock (1996). “Crimson Tide,” also starred “Remember the Titans,” lead star, Denzel Washington.
• Before portraying the role of Sheryl Yoast in this film, Hayden Panettiere had previously made her Disney debut voicing the role of Dot in Disney/Pixar’s A Bug’s Life (1998). She also lent her voice to Disney’s Dinosaur, which like “Remember the Titans,” was also released in 2000.
• Several of the actors who appeared in this movie have since reunited with one another: Wood Harris and Donald Faison who play Julius Campbell and Petey Jones in the film, later reunited for Next Day Air (2009). Denzel Washington and Ethan Suplee, who portray Coach Herman Boone and Louie Lastik, starred together in the films John Q (2002) and Unstoppable (2010). And Burgess Jenkins, who played Ray Budds, appeared in three episodes of Nashville (2012-2018) in which Hayden Panettiere also appeared as a regular.
• When Boaz Yakin was hired to direct “Titans,” producer Jerry Bruckheimer found out that Yakin knew absolutely nothing about American Football. Bruckheimer arranged for him to attend a Football camp, and in just two weeks he learned everything he need to learn. Yakin later reunited with Bruckheimer on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) which Yakin co-wrote and Bruckheimer co-produced, and this film was also released by Disney.
• Although the film takes place in Alexandria, VA, it was actually shot in various locations all throughout the state of Georgia. The school used for T.C. Williams High School is actually Druid Hills High School, in DelKab County, Georgia. However, the school has no stadium. That being the case, the football games were filmed at Berry College, and other high schools in the Atlanta area including Paulding County High School and Sprayberry High School in Marietta, GA.
• Ray Budds (Burgess Jenkins), Alan Bosley (Ryan Gosling), Fred Bosley (Tim Ware), and Coach Tyrell (Brett Rice) were all characters who were made up exclusively for the film. Brett Rice also played a fictional High School Football Coach in the movie Forrest Gump (1994) starring Tom Hanks.
• The real Virginia State Championship Football Game in 1971 was played at 12 o’clock noon, not at night as depicted in the movie. The real Gary Bertier also played in the game, and his unfortunate car accident occurred afterward.
• There is a scene in this film when Denzel Washington’s character, Coach Herman Boone, talks about the Civil War. Washington won his first Oscar in the category of Best Supporting Actor for playing the Civil War Soldier Private Silas Trip in Glory (1989) which was a film about the 54th Massachusetts, the first all-black regiment in the U.S. Army.
• Dermot Mulroney, who starred in My Best Friends Wedding (1997) with Julia Roberts, was born in Alexandria, VA, and attended T.C. Williams High School.
• Although Coach Bill Yoast is portrayed as the father of only one daughter (Sheryl) in the film, in reality Coach Bill Yoast has four daughters: Bonnie Jean, Angela “Angie” Mildred, Sheryl Elizabeth, and Dierdre “Dee Dee” Louise. Both Bonnie and Sheryl lived tragically short lives. Bonnie was born on January 17th, 1951 and died on November 10th, 2003, and Sheryl was born on February 5th, 1962 and died because of a heart malfunction on May 4th, 1996. Both Angela and Dierdre live in Springfield, VA with their husbands and children.

This is a great film and a favorite of “sports movie” fans everywhere. The inspirational nature of the story also resonates with non-sports fans, since it portrays many of the key issues that continue to plague today’s America. More to come in Part II of this blog. 

Henry Winkler: More than the Fonz!

For 11 incredible years on the sit-com Happy Days (1974-1984), Henry Winkler brought to life on television one of the most iconic characters ever created: Arthur Fonzarelli, otherwise known as “Fonzie” or “The Fonz.” When Garry Marshall was first developing the show, he originally considered calling the character Arthur Maschiarelli, which was was Marshall’s real life last name, and his friends would call him “The Mash,” but when Marshall remembered that there also was a hit show called M*A*S*H (1972-1983), he changed the name to Fonzarelli. Since his long “Happy Days,” run Winkler has continued to shine in other roles on screen and off.

    Henry Franklin Winkler was born on October 30th, 1945 in the West Side of Manhattan. His father, Harry Irving Winkler, was a lumber import-export company president and his mother, Ilse Anna Marie Winkler was a homemaker. His parents were German Jewish immigrants who had relocated to the U.S. as a result of evading the Holocaust in 1939. Winkler had a rough childhood because he grew up with undiagnosed dyslexia. (He wasn’t diagnosed until he was 31 years old.) This strained his relationship with his parents, who often punished him for not doing as well as he could in school. His father even used to tell him in German “Du bits ein dummer Hund,” which translates to “You are a dumb dog.” Despite this misfortune, Winkler attended McBurney School, where he performed in plays, inspiring him to become an actor. He graduated McBurney in ’63, and later earned a BA from Emerson College and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. After college, his parents wanted him to join their lumber business, but he knew that he wanted to be an actor.

He relocated to Los Angeles and began performing in commercials in the early ‘70s, and made an uncredited appearance in the film The Lords of Flatbush (1974). Winkler also appeared in a fourth season episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977) called “The Dinner Party,” as Rhoda’s date, Steve Waldman. In 1973, his career officially took off when producer, Tom Miller suggested that he audition for the role of Fonzie in “Happy Days.” Miller, who was co-producing the show with Garry Marshall, recommended him to Marshall, but Marshall originally had envisioned The Fonz as a blonde, Italian model-type that could be a stupid foil to Ron Howard’s Richie Cunningham, and he wanted to cast 6’0’’ Mickey Dolenz in the part. However when he saw Winkler interpret the character and make better eye contact with the rest of the cast at just 5’6’’, they cast him in the role. The role won Winkler two Golden Globes during its run on television, and he continued to portray the character, occasionally making guest appearances on “Happy Days,” spin-offs, Mork & Mindy (1978-1982), Laverne & Shirley (1976-1982), and the short-lived Joanie Loves Chachi (1982-1983).

Winkler became close to Ron Howard on “Happy Days.” So close, in fact, that Howard gave him a part in his movie, Night Shift (1982), the second feature film he ever directed. Howard also made him the godfather of his daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard. Since “Happy Days,” ended its run on television Winkler has continued to act on television, though he has also become quite recognizable for movies too. He is a favorite collaborator of Adam Sandler’s, having co-starred with Sandler in The Waterboy (1998), Little Nicky (2000), and Click (2006). In between “Little Nicky,” and “Click,” Winkler also landed the role of Stanley Yelnats III in Disney’s live-action adaptation of the acclaimed novel Holes (2003) starring Shia LaBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, Tim Blake Nelson, and Jon Voight. He also con-starred with Kevin James in Here Comes the Boom (2012) which was produced by Adam Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison Productions.  

Henry Winkler tied the knot with Stacey Cooper Furstman on May 5th, 1978. Furstman had previously been married to Howard Weitzman, with whom she had a son named Jed. Not long after they were married, Jed was later tested for dyslexia, and Winkler was surprised to discover that he and his stepson shared the same disability and they were both officially diagnosed. The experiences they shared inspired him to write a book series in 2003 about a 4th Grade boy named Hank Zipzer, who is dyslexic. Since writing the book series, Winkler has also written and made guest star appearances for a Hank Zipzer the television series, which began airing on the BBC in 2014.

Winkler became close to Ron Howard on “Happy Days.” So close, in fact, that Howard gave him a part in his movie, Night Shift (1982), the second feature film he ever directed. Howard also made him the godfather of his daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard. Since “Happy Days,” ended its run on television Winkler has continued to act on television, though he has also become quite recognizable for movies too. He is a favorite collaborator of Adam Sandler’s, having co-starred with Sandler in The Waterboy (1998), Little Nicky (2000), and Click (2006). In between “Little Nicky,” and “Click,” Winkler also landed the role of Stanley Yelnats III in Disney’s live-action adaptation of the acclaimed novel Holes (2003) starring Shia LaBeouf, Sigourney Weaver, Tim Blake Nelson, and Jon Voight. He also con-starred with Kevin James in Here Comes the Boom (2012) which was produced by Adam Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison Productions.

Winkler is also an exceptional director, having directed the ABC made-for-television film A Smoky Mountain Christmas (1986) which starred Dolly Parton, Memories of Me (1988) which starred Billy Crystal, and Cop and a Half (1993), which starred Burt Reynolds. He also directed episodes of the television series Clueless (1996-1999) and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996-2003).

In addition, he’s been acting again. Most recently, he received two Golden Globe Nominations for his performance as Gene Cousineau on the HBO Series Barry (2018-present) and he will voice the character of Fritz on the Disney+ Series Monsters at Work (2020-present), based on the Monsters. Inc. franchise.     

We will always think of Henry Winkler as the stud who said things like “Heyyy!” and “Whoa!” and of course “Sit on it!” But he has proven that he has a great deal of versatility since his happy days ended 35 years ago. From television to film to what he wrote in books, he is one accomplished dude!