August 3 - Corey Burton

Image courtesy behindthevoiceactors.com

On this day, in 1955, Corey Gregg Weinberg was born in the Granada Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Corey grew up in the San Fernando Valley and began his voice acting career at the ripe old age of seventeen as Corey Weinman (he eventually changed his professional name to Burton). He was fortunate enough to study radio acting under the late great Daws Butler (if you’ve ever done a bad Yogi Bear impression, it’s Daws you’re making roll over in his grave) for four years. When radio dramas enjoyed a resurgence in the late Seventies and early Eighties, Corey then got to perform with many of the remaining talents from the Golden Age of radio broadcasting who could still sit in front of a microphone and deliver aural magic.

Image courtesy behindthevoiceactors.com

Since starting his career, Corey has been one of the most prolific voice actors in the industry. You would be hard pressed to scan the radio and television dials on any given day and not hear a character of his. What has Corey done you ask? He was the longest running signature voice of Old Navy commercials. He spent five years as the voice behind NBC’s Peacock Logo and has done similar work for all four major broadcast networks. For Warner Brothers Animation, Corey has provided the voice of Brainiac on Justice League, Static Shock and Superman, played Duke the Bully on Animaniacs, as well as Cushy and Van Spoony in the Pinky and the Brain segments and was several characters on the Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries series including Tosh, One-Eyed Jack and Count Bloodcount. For the Cartoon Network, he’s appeared in Samurai Jack, Johnny Bravo and was the titular character for Ranger Smith. Transformers fans might recognize his voice as that of Spike, Brawn, Shockwave or Sunstreaker. If G.I. Joe is more your thing, Corey was Tomax in that series. And that’s just the highlights of animated parts. Corey has provided narration and other voice work for 25 different miniseries and documentaries on television airing on channels like TLC, A&E, Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel. And while he’s never won an Academy Award, he did get to play one during a special presentation to John Lasseter at the 68^th annual ceremony.

All those credits would leave a lasting legacy for anyone in the entertainment industry. When it comes to Corey, however, we haven’t even touched on the focus of this blog, his roles with Disney. You might think you’re ready for this list but you probably never realized that these voices were all done by the same guy. Here goes:

On the big screen:

Image copyright Disney

Aladdin: Prince Achmed, Necklace and Fish Merchants

A Goofy Movie: Wendell

Atlantis: The Lost Empire: Mole

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Frollo’s guard, the Miller

Hercules: Burnt Man, End-of-the-World Man, Titans and Tour Bus Guide

Rollercoaster Rabbit and Trail Mix-Up (Roger Rabbit shorts): Droopy

Return to Neverland: Captain Hook

On television:

House of Mouse: Ludwig Von Drake, Goofy Narrator, Ranger Woodlore, Announcers and Classic Disney Character Bit Parts

Hercules: Zeus and Amphitryon

Gummi Bears: Gruffi Gummi, Toadie, Clutch (Troll Leader), Sir Victor, Flint Shrubwood  and Troggles,

Image copyright Disney

Chip ‘n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers: Dale, Zipper, Mole and Snout

Timon and Pumbaa: Kusko Quint (in several aliases) and Speedy the Singin' Snail

Goof Troop: "How-To" Narrator and the Circus master

Lloyd in Space: King Robustus

Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: Brent Starkisser

One Saturday Morning’s How Things Werk segments ": Mr. Werks and Announcer

Bonkers: Ludwig Von Drake and the Mad Hatter

Quack Pack: Prof. Ludwig Von Drake

DTV Valentine’s Day Special: Announcer and Ludwig Von Drake

The Schnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show: Ian, Rusty Crustknuckle, Percy Lacedaisy and Ultra Guy Man Dude

Image copyright Disney

Kim Possible: Dr. Lurkin and Officer Hubble

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Count Dooku and Cad Bane

In direct to video productions:

Disney Sing-a-Longs: Ludwig Von Drake and Professor Owl (all titles); the Magic Mirror in the Party at Disneyland title

The Where’s Spot series: Narrator and various characters

Fantasia 60^th Anniversary Edition: recreation of Narrator Deems Taylor’s voice; Walt Disney in Story Meeting transcripts

Image copyright Disney

Corey was also the narrator for the making of videos and other supplementary materials on the DVD releases of Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Peter Pan, Bambi, Jungle Book, The Three Caballeros, Fun and Fancy Free, Sleeping Beauty, Toy Story and Pocahontas.

In Disney theme park attractions (a fair number of which are now sadly defunct):

Magic Kingdom: the pre-show announcer for Time Keeper, the folksy narrator in Mickey’s Toon Town Fair and Red Barns in Goofy’s Barnstormer

Image courtesy thetimethespace.com

Epcot: General Knowledge and the chicken in Cranium Command, the radio newscaster and traffic reporter in the Universe of Energy, Figment in Journey into Your Imagination (the short-lived bad one) and the Farmer and Mag-Lev Man in The Water Engine and Boid in the Bird and Robot Show, both parts of the post-ride area of the World of Motion pavilion

Disney-MGM Studios: Captain Hook and Peter Pan for the animation tour

Animal Kingdom: the announcer and various minor bugs in It’s Tough to Be a Bug (this one is still running)

Image copyright Tokyo Disneyland

Disneyland: (almost all of these can still be heard) Captain Hook and Mr. Smee on Peter Pan’s Flight, the judge, cop and farmer on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, the newsreel announcer on Indiana Jones Adventure, several pirates on Pirates of the Caribbean, the White Rabbit, both Tweedles and cards on Alice in Wonderland, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee and various pirates in Fantasmic!, the announcer for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the parking lot trams and, saving the best for last, the Ghost Host for the holiday edition of The Haunted Mansion.

Image courtesy creativecynchronicity.com

Tokyo Disneyland: the Monorail announcer, the Railroad announcer and Dale and Chernobog in Fantillusion!

Tokyo Disney Sea: the English language welcome announcements and most of the English language ride safety spiels

Disney On Ice Shows:

Peter Pan: Mr. Darling, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee

Aladdin: Peddler/Storyteller

Image courtesy starwars.com

Hercules: Burnt Man and Announcer

Toy Story: Announcer and Sarge

Princess Classics: Jaq and Gus Gus

In addition to all that, Corey has provided the voice of his regular characters (Ludwig  Von Drake, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Professor Owl, etc) for dozens of video games, radio broadcasts, Disney Cruise Line shows and talking toys. Whew.

At 64, Corey shows no signs of slowing down and, considering all the joy he brings people on a daily basis, we don’t want him to. So go ahead. Turn on your television and flip around the channels until you find something Corey’s been in (it really won’t take you long) or pop in your favorite Disney Sing-a-Long tape and wish one of the best voice actors around a very happy birthday.

April 15 - Hans Conried

Image courtesy imdb.com

On this day, in 1917, Hans Georg Conried was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Raised as an only child (he had a brother who died at the age of five and a half-brother who lived elsewhere), Hans was pretty much given everything he could ever want as a child. He began appearing in local stage shows (mostly Shakespearean plays) at the age of 12. After graduating from high school, he attended Columbia University in New York City to study commercial art (at the urging of his father) and acting (because he wanted to). By 1934, his father’s failing health left Hans as the sole supporter of the family. It was soon decided that the Conried Clan should move to Southern California to see if the change of climate would help dear old dad. Once the family was settled, Hans spent his days working for a sports equipment manufacturer and his nights on stage with the Santa Monica Players.

One day, in late 1935, Hans heard an announcement on his favorite radio station that they were going to add locally produced broadcasts of uncut Shakespeare works. He got so excited by the prospect that he went to the station and basically accosted the manager with his enthusiasm. Once the manager understood that Hans wasn’t there to complain, he took note of the young man’s wonderful voice and extensive Shakespearean credits and hired him to be a part of the upcoming broadcasts. On January 14, 1936, Hans began his radio career as part of the cast of KECA’s live broadcast of Othello. He would be a regular voice on airwaves for the next two decades. He was a regular on Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood, Ceiling Unlimited with Orson Welles and spent several years playing the dim witted Professor Kropotkin on My Friend Irma.

Image courtesy theguardian.com

Hans made the leap to the silver screen in 1938. His first role was as a snobbish student in the MGM romantic comedy Dramatic School, starring Paulette Goddard and Luise Rainer. While he would appear in dozens of films over the years, none of his roles really ever rose above that of bit part (in fact most of them for the first two years were uncredited). He often said that the highlight of his movie career came in 1953 when he got to star in The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, the only movie ever written by Dr. Seuss. The film was a dismal financial and critical failure (so much so that Dr. Seuss tried his best never to mention it, ever) but Hans felt it was the most fun he’d ever had making a movie.

Image courtesy allmovie.com

When World War II finally came to America in 1941, Hans, as the only surviving son in his family, managed to keep from being drafted until September 1944. He was sent to be trained as a tank crewman, but the Army quickly realized that he was too tall for the job. He was then moved into a heavy artillery unit and shipped out to the Philippines. He wasn’t there long before Jack Kruschen, a friend and fellow actor, got him moved into the Armed Forces Radio Service. Hans spent the remainder of his tour there, travelling around Japan, Korea and the Philippines, setting up radio stations and performing for his fellow troops. While there he fell in love with Japanese culture and became a lifelong self-proclaimed Japanophile (his word).

Image copyright Jay Ward Productions

After returning to the United States in 1946, Hans began what would become the bread and butter of his career for the next thirty years: television appearances. One of his first gigs was on a quiz show produced in Los Angeles call Pantomime Quiz. An amiable rivalry sprung up on the show between Hans and his good friend, Vincent Price, and their often hilarious back and forth played out over several seasons. He quickly became one of the early popular personalities on the small screen through his frequent guest shots on The Jack Paar Show starting in the late Fifties. From then on, he had guest appearances on everything from I Love Lucy to The Love Boat. But his strongest collaborative relationship that beamed into everyone’s living rooms on a regular basis was with the animating team of Jay Ward and Bill Scott. The creative duo were the masterminds behind Crusader Rabbit, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends and Hoppity Hooper. Hans provided the voice for Snidely Whiplash on Rocky and Bullwinkle, Uncle Waldo on Hooper and was the live action host for Jay's Fractured Flickers (where he used many of his friends from Pantomime Quiz as interviewees). 

Image copyright Disney

Hans cemented his place in the Disney family when he took on dual roles in the company's 14th animated feature, Peter Pan. Not only did he play George Darling, he also gave voice to (and filmed the live action reference pieces for) the classic villain Captain Hook (which is the traditional way to cast those parts). As if that weren't enough, he played two roles in the classic short Ben and Me (Thomas Jefferson and a crook), was the prosecutor in The Story of Anyburg, USA, JB in The Goofy Success Story and became the Slave in the Magic Mirror for several episodes of Wonderful World of Color. On the live action front, Hans appeared as Thimblerig in the Davy Crockett series, Professor Whatley in The Shaggy D.A., and as Dr. Heffel in The Cat From Outer Space.

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In between all his screen appearances, Hans found time to grace stages, both on and off Broadway, as well. He was part of the original Broadway casts of Cole Porter's Can-Can, Candor and Ebbs' 70, Girls, 70, and a revival of Irene. Throughout the Sixties and early Seventies, he loved to take on regional theater productions or even join touring companies. His days of live theater, however, came to a halt one day in 1974, when he suffered a mild stroke. He recovered but was never again quite able to handle to physical stress of performing night after night. It also put a damper on his live action career in general. He soldiered on, though, and remained an active voice over actor right up to the end of life. He suffered a mild heart attack in 1979, then, on January 4, 1982, he had a major one. The following day, he passed away in a hospital in Burbank, California. He was only 64.