Here are two more photos from the Cartoon Voices panel from last Saturday at Comic-Con. First up is a shot of our honored guest, Mari Shimizu, who I'm told was absolutely thrilled with her reception…
And then here's a shot of Candi Milo, one of the American voices of Astro Boy, meeting the lady who originally voiced the character in Japan. Candi was moved to tears and she wasn't the only one in the house who was…
I've received a number of questions as to how Mari's appearance was arranged. The man we have to thank for that is Craig Miller, a writer-producer I've only known since about 1967. Craig was, in fact, a founding member of the Los Angeles Comic Book Club, an organization which I've written about on many occasions.
Craig contacted me about six weeks ago to tell me Mari would be at Comic-Con as part of a delegation of folks from Japan involved in the field of animation. I believe it was his idea to have her make an appearance on the Cartoon Voices panel and, of course, I said, "Absolutely!" When I called Candi and asked her if she'd be at the con, she said there was no force in this world powerful enough to keep her away from meeting Mari. After that, it was just a matter of a lot of e-mails, text messages and figuring out the choreography. If you run into Craig Miller someday, thank him for helping make possible one of the most memorable moments on any of the eighty zillion panels I've hosted.