Under the Radar: Thurl Ravenscroft

 

Actor and singer Thurl Ravenscroft was born on this day in 1914 (he died in 2005.) What, you never heard of him?

How 'bout this guy?

Yes, that's Ravenscroft's voice coming out of Tony's mouth. As for his vocals being "augmented", well, watch, and especially listen to, him in 1980s interview:

I sense not all that augmentation was needed.

One notable credit was oddly missing in that interview (perhaps because for years it went, again oddly, uncredited), so I'll include it here. First, some background: 

You see, when Chuck Jones (right) set out to turn a book by Dr. Suess (left) into a TV Christmas special, he wasn't content merely to have top-notch animation. He wanted it to be musically top-notch too, and so to that end hired Thurl to sing this now iconic song:

Sounds like he's describing an ICE agent.

Imagineer That

 

Artist's conception. Copyright 2025 Brent Spiner Walt Disney Company

In the latest in non-apocalyptic news, Walt Disney's granddaughter Joanna Miller has complained about plans to present an animatronic version of her grandpa at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California next month, stating that it's "dehumanizing". I don't have a Pluto in this fight, but I would like to say... 

...if it's good enough for Abe Lincoln...