There was only one voice that stumped Mel Blanc

Blanc only had an issue with one character.

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Mel Blanc is known as the Man of a Thousand Voices, but he makes each look easy. Apparently, looks aren’t deceiving, as Mel explained his creative process and his journey to find a character’s voice. He spoke to The Age, where he admitted that his vocalizations began at an early age. He said, “I used to do funny voices in assembly which got me a lot of laughs and a lot of lousy marks from the teachers.”

In fact, one teacher reportedly told Blanc, “When you grow up you’ll amount to nothing — just like your name.” While a harsh remark, especially for a child to hear, Blanc obviously didn’t let it break his stride on the road to success. However, he commented, “I just wish she was still around so I could remind her of it.”

While many of Blanc’s animated characters are zany and larger than life, his process to create their voice actually begins in realism. He said, “It’s easy to do. Just show me a picture of the character and tell me what he does in the cartoon. For Porky, I went off to a farm for a couple of weeks and wallowed with the pigs. When I came back I told the producer that Porky should talk with a sort of grunt. He told me to go take a shower.” Blanc continued, “Bugs was different. He was a tough little stinker who needed a tough little voice so I asked myself which was the toughest accent, Brooklyn or the Bronx. They’re both tough, so I put them together and Bugs speaks with a combination of the two.”

There’s just one character that gave Blanc pause when he was developing it: Taz. Blanc explained, “I was asked to do an animal called the Tasmanian devil. But no one had ever seen or heard one, so I had to create a voice.” Still, Blanc was proud of the finished product. He said, “I think it sounds pretty good — well, I defy anyone to tell me it doesn’t sound like a Tasmanian devil!”

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28 Comments

Bapa1 12 months ago
.......and yet he couldn't do a decent Elmer Fudd.
MaryMorgan Bapa1 12 months ago
I don't know. I believe Mel Blanc did a pretty good job with the personification of Elmer Fudd. What I found a little confusing was even after he recovered from the awful car accident, others performed Elmer's voice. One person who did was Hal Smith from
The Andy Griffin Show.
Bapa1 MaryMorgan 12 months ago
During WB's golden age, he did Elmer once. Someone else did Elmer from the 40's thru the 60's, and was never credited.
TheFanFromUNCLE Bapa1 11 months ago
Arthur Q. Bryan was the voice of Elmer then.
Bapa1 12 months ago
Mel did that same exact 'Taz' voice for Captain Caveman.
WGH Bapa1 12 months ago
It's not the same. I thought Captain Caveman sounded more like Barney Rubble
carolynmincer 12 months ago
Flintstones RULE! Yabba Dabba Doo!! 😄😄😄💞💓💕
Mob39 12 months ago
Bugs bunny/road runner hour was the best! Saturday morning cartoons, in my Jammie’s, eating my favorite cereal. 😎
WGH Mob39 12 months ago
Me too only I was in my girlfriend's jammies eating cereal and she was in mine. Lol.
(don't worry.. we were adults!)

And frankenberry.. nothing touches it except maybe peanut butter Captain Crunch
Snickers WGH 12 months ago
Come on, Boo Berry wasn't bad either. All though my favorite Saturday morning cartoon cereal was Quisp.
Wiseguy70005 Mob39 11 months ago
Why capitalize jammies and put an apostrophe in a plural?
JohnBates 12 months ago
KJExpress JohnBates 12 months ago
Heavens, what a sound! 🙉
Karellen JohnBates 12 months ago
Based on this, I'd say Mel Blanc got Taz's voice just right.
Deleted 12 months ago
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LoveMETV22 12 months ago
...but in that vein,
----------------------
True, animals don't talk, but always enjoyed when Wile E. Coyote stopped to explain his fondness for the Road Runner. So in that capillary:

justjeff 12 months ago
Let's give old WIle E. the bird once and for all... he certainly *deserves* it!
Moverfan 11 months ago
Not if they have half a brain, no...did any of that stuff EVER work?
justjeff 11 months ago
...only to the benefit of ACME, Inc. - Coyote: Dumbicus Consumeris...
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