#greg burson

The Folks behind the Toons

Daws Butler

Ultra-prolific voice actor, Charles Dawson ‘Daws’ Butler was born on November 16, 1916, in Toledo, Ohio.  Butler showed a keen knack for vocal imitation early on yet was extremely shy.  Intent on overcoming his shyness and fear of public speaking, Butler entered into numerous ammeter impersonation contests and won nearly all of them.  He subsequently landed professional engagements at vaudeville theaters and soon thereafter became a member of the comedy troop The Three Short Waves; performing in theaters, on radio, and at nightclubs.

Butler served in the Navy during World War II. He met his wife-to-be, Myrtis, at a wartime function near Washington, D.C.  Following the war, Butler and his new bride moved to Los Angeles.  Cartoon director, Tex Avery, caught Butler’s act at a nightclub and hired him to do voice work at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio.  His first performance was as the urbane and sophisticated Wolf in the zany short, Little Rural Riding Hood.

Butler would go on to have roles in numerous projects directed by Avery.  During this time he became friends with fellow voice actor, Don Messick.  In 1957, when MGM had closed down its animation unit, producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera formed their own company, and Butler and Don Messick were quickly hired to provide voices for many of the characters created by the studio.  Among the dozens of iconic characters Bulter voiced include Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Wally Gator, Barney Rubble, Hokey Wolf, Snagglepuss, Mr. Jinks, Peter Potamus, Augie Doggie, the Funky Phantom and many others. 

Side gigs additionally involved Butler voicing the characters of Capt’n Crunch and Snap, Crackle and Pop in commercials for breakfast cereals.

Apart from specials and commercials, Butler was less prolific in the 1970s and 1980s.  Around this time he started a workshop for voice actors.  One of his students, Nancy Cartwright, would go on to voice the character of Lisa Simpson in the long-running animated series, The Simpsons.  

JURASSIC PARK 1993

hey ya'll. i have a long weekend, so I have more time to absorb my cringe and rate each voice actor for my man. it's an idea i had for the past few days and really pondered as to who i prefer and why. so here we gooooooo. btw, i'm going in chronological order to help with organization purposes and stuff. also, i will definitely change these numbers in the future but the notes will probably stay the same.

Danny Webb - 7.5/10

He feels fun, fresh, funky; which is funny given that he's technically the first proper voice actor from the 30's. It's not elmer's actual voice, and it's also an impression of another actor, Joe Penner. BUT. he's fun. you can definitely tell that he has a lot of fun, and that also bleeds into elmer/egghead. he definitely feels like a proper fit for the zany and wacky vibes that the early LT/MM shorts. I really recommend watching at least one short to get those zanies into you!

Arthur Q. Bryan - 8.5/10

the OG. the main man. the one that really started it all.

he's a really big pushover at first, but over time became more assertive and gave more of a reason for bugs to be around him and bother and torment (and love). i like how his voice is mainly very quiet (haha get it), but it almost feels too quiet. he never really gets a moment to get angry and bombastic. in fact, mel sometimes had to fill in for the louder moments because Arthur just couldn't do it (SMOG!)

i feel like there's both a lot of material and not that much in terms of how much material arthur was given. then again, he did die of a heart attack so suddenly, so maybe that context for me personally made me feel like we would have a lot more opportunities.

that being said, solid and wonderful and amazing and beautiful and deep and lovely and talented and pure performances all around from him.

Mel Blanc - 5/10

he is, uh. he is.

so uh, if i remember correctly, he said at first that he never wanted to take arthur's role, but then he said sike and took the role anyway. in fact, he went on the reduce arthur's influence more and more as mel was becoming a household name. i just, mel after arthur's untimely death always urks me the wrong way. like, he would try to claim elmer amongst all the other roles he's done.

Ferris Wheelhouse had a really wonderful video that talked about this issue during his "Bugs Bunny in King Arthur's Court" review. unfortunately, it seems to be gone, and if i find it again, i will definitely link it here!

other than that, the voice itself: very, very iffy. makes me feel like that old guy with the cigar at the comedy club who says that he can do great cartoon impressions but, just can't. and it sucks. cause that's mel blanc here. and i like him. makes me real sad.

Hal Smith - 6/10

so his voice is almost the same quality as mel, but at least he feels like he's not actively trying to take control and try to shove arthur aside. he's trying his best, but again, just doesn't cut to the sheer quality of arthur's voice. not really much to say but, he's there, and he tried.

Jeff Bergman - 9/10

he wasn't too bad at first. he definitely tried to capture arthur's personality and voice mannerisms. i like box office bunny and just the vibes that he gives off in that short. blooper bunny was also really nice. he just seems like a guy that would be really pleasant to be around.

then New Looney Tunes/Wabbit came out. and then the HBO Max shorts.

holy shitttttttt. i never realized how much i would love his performance. because, here's the thing: he's manic as hell. he's chaotic. he's a scumbag. he's a diva. he's a bitchy, bitchy man. and i L O V E it.

i love how these new shorts make him both sympathetic, yet when he can be a bitch, HE'S ALLOWED TO. i never realized how much i wanted it until a couple years after Wabbit aired.

the voice: it's pretty okay. not my favorite voice, but he gives something fresh enough to feel fun and fancy free.

Billy West - 9/10

oh buddy of boys and buckets of fuck, here we go.

so, i grew up with his version, ever since the start of my hyperfixation. he's always felt my favorite. he gives something that sounds the closest to what bryan did during the good ole days. he gave elmer more of a cleaner edge. west often calls him the "0 to 60" type of guy, and yeah, i definitely see that.

here's the thing, though: west is my favorite voice, not my favorite character variation.

i feel like WB constantly underutilizes west's talent to go really zany with his fudd. whenever he does, once in a blue moon, he's REALLY good. like, too good. my sanity and my appreciation: snatched and kissed with a thousand roses. we love to see a chaotic yet loving man.

the more i reflect on this notion of his version, the more i appreciate the performances that he gave. although, sometimes, he feels like he doesn't know the context of the situation, but goddammit he is trying his best. god i miss him. father please come back, i need my meals. we need meals.

Greg Burson - 7/10

....we don't talk about him. moving on.

Eric Bauza - 8.5/10

not a lot of material yet from him, but i adore anything he has done so far. his performance in space jam 2 was really solid; feels like a mix of greg and jeff's performances. i hope to see so much more from him. can't really give too much yet because i need more material from him. overall, really wholesome that one be.