A Truly Comical Con

(This one is specially designed to drive RW into paroxysms of "I wanna go!")

The reasons are many and varied to hit the San Diego Comic Con next weekend, but here are two that are extra special:

First, the ever loverly and talented June Foray will be debuting (and signing copies of her autobiography Did You Grow Up With Me, Too? at the Comic Con... What's that? You say you don't know who June Foray is? Well, have you ever heard of Rocky the Flying Sqirrel? Or Natasha Fatale of Boris and Natasha fame? Or perhaps the name Cindy Lou Who rings a bell... Or maybe Granny (the owner of Tweety Bird)... Or for the younger generation, Grandmother Fa in Mulan... Or... trust me, this list only begins to scratch the surface of her voice work...

And of course, because of her involvement in so many aspects of the animation world, you know June's book is going to be filled with stories and anecdotes about Chuck Jones, Stan Freberg, Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, Jay Ward, Bill Scott and many, many others...

Want a little preview? Here's an interview conducted with Ms. Foray a while back by Howard Schwartz:



Ok, so... Extra special reason number two? Well, you may have noticed the mention of Stan Freberg up above... Turns out, Mr Freberg and his wife Hunter are also going to be putting in an appearance in San Diego. They'll not only be selling/autographing CD's and pictures, but there will be a spotlight panel on friday called Two Funny Freebergs...

What's that? Now you're asking who Stan Freberg is? OK, I'm gonna take that rock you've been living under and bean ya with it... Hmm... Actually in this case I think I'll let Mark Evanier (who is going to be moderating the panel) give ya the skinny...

If there's such a thing as a Comic Genius, it's this guy.

He started as a cartoon voice actor and was heard in many a Warner Brothers cartoon...usually unbilled, thanks to Mel Blanc's contract. He was in movies like Lady and the Tramp, and he and Daws Butler were the first Beany and Cecil on the original Time for Beany puppet show. If he'd stopped there, he'd still be a fascinating guy...but Freberg was just getting started.

He began making funny records. I've itemized them here but just look at it this way: There have been a handful of best-selling comedy records and Stan was responsible for about half of them. What's more, his have endured. They're still funny and most are still, in some form, in print. He also starred in the last real network comedy radio show in the classic tradition. Again, if he'd stopped there...

Then it was into advertising. In agencies, he became an adjective. Sponsors would say, "I want a Freberg campaign." That didn't necessarily mean hiring him, though many did. It meant any campaign that was outrageously funny and very, very smart. Or the star of a show would say, "I don't want any Freberg commercials during my show." That meant, "I don't want the ads to be funnier than the show."

The man's had other jobs: Author. Actor. More cartoon voices. Lecturer. But you get the idea. This is a very special guy and obviously, one of my personal heroes.

Want a couple of examples? Ok... First up, here's Stan's unique take on some popular hits of the day... Followed by a retelling of a popular fairy tale





And yes, that is June Foray portraying both Blue and Granny in the last clip...