We're sorry to report the passing of Wayne Allwine, a charming gent who among his other achievements had been the voice of Mickey Mouse since 1977. He died yesterday at the age of 62 due to complications relating to diabetes.
The lineage of The Mouse is as follows: Walt Disney was, of course, the first voice of his studio's superstar. In the forties, when Walt got busy (and hoarse from cigarettes), he began handing off some of the voice chores to one of his sound effects editors, Jimmy MacDonald. The last known time Walt spoke for Mickey was for the lead-ins and animated wraparounds done for The Mickey Mouse Club in 1955. By then, MacDonald was doing it on most occasions, though once in a while, someone else would tackle the role. Stan Freberg, for instance, played Mickey on a 1955 children's record. And Hal Smith sometimes did some of the lower-profile appearances.
In the seventies as he neared retirement, MacDonald began training Allwine, who was a fellow sound effects editor at Disney, breaking him in on the mouse beat. By '83, Wayne was well enough established in the role that he and not MacDonald handled it for the character's big "comeback" film, Mickey's Christmas Carol...and he's done it ever since.
Wayne was married to voice actress Russi Taylor, who among many other credits has been the voice of Minnie Mouse for some time. They were both named Disney Legends (an in-house Hall of Fame award) in 2008. Russi, if you read this, please know that you have the condolences of everyone in the animation community. Because everyone liked Wayne. Everyone.
I just read about a dozen articles on various sites arguing over whether "deregulation" has been a good or bad thing, if it's been responsible for economic downturns or upturns or U-turns, etc. And in not a one of those articles did anyone pause to suggest that maybe, just maybe, the removal of certain regulations is a good thing and the retention of certain regulations is a bad thing. It's like we have to have the minimum number of laws or the maximum but we aren't allowed to pick and choose.
The first time I saw Jesse Ventura lecturing people about truth and integrity, I did a double-take that would have seemed excessive on The Benny Hill Show. The man's first claim to fame was in professional wrestling, an occupation where you can't utter five sentences without lying in at least two of them. But he parlayed the skills from that profession into a brief career in politics, where I suppose they came in handy...and he was such a fine governor in Minnesota that he united people of all beliefs. Democrats, Republicans and Independents all couldn't wait to get rid of him.
But now he's in a position that I kinda like. He's in politics just enough that he's invited onto shows to talk about what's going on...but he's beholden to no one. He's not a Republican. He's not a Democrat. He's probably never going to run for anything ever again. No one gives him talking points. He has nothing to lose by being blunt and saying exactly what he thinks. That isn't always what I think but in today's clip, it is. Here he is on this morn's installment of The View, mopping the floor with their blonde, Conservative version of Alan Colmes...
The rapper named Dolla was fatally shot yesterday afternoon in the valet waiting area of the Beverly Center. I have to admit I'd never heard of Mr. Dolla but I've sure heard of the valet waiting area of the Beverly Center. I park there often. In fact, if I read the reports correctly, he was standing out on La Cienega when it happened, which means he was right across the street from the Souplantation I frequent, especially during Creamy Tomato Soup Month.
I'm not sure why I'm mentioning this but there's an extra little chill when something like that happens in a locale that's familiar to you. Sure, you think, "Hey, I could have been there then," but there's also this: It makes it feel like it takes place in the actual world. It seems somehow more real.
May 20, 2009
