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24 of 26 found the following review helpful:
 radio, cartoons, television... Feb 06, 2003
By Jerry McDaniel
The one thing that has always amazed me about voice actors is how easy they make what they do look. i've been a fan of Mel's forever. the first time i saw him was on a rerun of "The Jack Benny Program" playing Jack's violin instructor, Professor LeBlanc. i then learned that he was the voice of Warner Brothers cartoons.
I HAD to see it for myself (i didn't believe my uncle's claims) and so one day i caught a Joan Lunden show on Lifetime called "Mother's Day" and out walked Mel in a Bugs Bunny shirt...and he was doing Bugs, Daffy, Foghorn, Porky, Tweety, Sylvester...and i was knocked backwards!
From that point forward i started to become a fan of voice actors, primarily the ones that didn't use their natural voice too much, such as Mel, Daws Butler, Don Messick, Paul Winchell, June Foray, Paul Frees, Bill Scott, Stan Freberg, etc.)...but i don't mind the ones who use their own voices, most of the time, because they're so distinct (John Stephenson, Casey Kasem, Gary Owens, Lorenzo Music, etc.)
With this book, "That's NOT All Folks!", we read the Mel Blanc story from his birth to 1988 (he passed away in 1989). we're informed of how he was raised in a melting pot and he started to mimic different dialects. he indirectly states that he's not a dialectition (one who specializes in dialects) because most of his dialects have his natural voice sprinkled through them...and so you might call his dialects "Americanized dialects".
another chapter worth discussing is his in depth story involving his near-fatal car wreck in 1961. all the events that took place after impact have been recounted to him by doctors, friends, and family because Mel was in a coma for nearly a year and that's how this information was gathered! he spends some time talking about his dislikes and the book also sheds some light on some behind-the-scenes gossip and it explains why Mel's name got to be listed under "voice characterizations by" on the opening credits of many Warner Brothers theatrical shorts when his frequent co-stars (most notably Arthur Q. Bryan, Stan Freberg, and June Foray) names were not.
Mel also tells the crisis that erupted after the death of Arthur Q. Bryan and how nobody wanted to voice Elmer Fudd and so Mel and Hal Smith took turns. there's also some trivia thrown in: did you know that Mel was the original voice for Woody Woodpecker in six cartoons and that the Walter Lantz studio continued to use Mel's woodpecker laugh long after Grace Stafford took over the role? so, if you ever see any Woody Woodpecker cartoons up through the early '80s and you hear that laugh, no matter who the credits say is talking Woody, it's Mel's laugh every time.
Mel devotes a chapter to his long-running role as Jack Benny's comedic stooge from 1939-1965 and he also talks about his years spent on other radio shows: "The Judy Canova Show"; "Burns and Allen"; "Point Sublime"; as Goo-Goo the duck on "The Joe Penner Show"; on up to his own short-lived radio show entitled "The Mel Blanc Fix-It Shop". Mel gives reasons as to why he thinks his radio show was short-lived.
In later chapters he talks about his days with Hanna-Barbera after Warner Brothers shut down their animation department in the mid '60s. Mel recalls one time he had a nasty encounter with the likes of Gale Gordon...i won't say what the tiff was over, you'll have to buy the book. Noel Blanc, Mel's only child, has learned the voices of his father's many characters and for a time it was thought that Noel would follow in Mel's footsteps but Noel instead became a behind-the-scenes figure on various projects and often represents his father in various classic cartoon panels or documentaries focusing on classic Warner Brothers cartoons.
And so, the ending of the book is about what Mel had hoped the future would bring. the book came out in 1988...and this edition is the original version. there's no "hidden" chapter or any reference to Mel's death...since it hadn't happened.
From that aspect, the book is eerie and sad because even at age 80 Mel was so full of life... the book is opened up by Rich Little of all people, praising Mel's vocal talents.
11 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 A *must read* for Baby Boomers who grew up with Bugs Bunny Jun 18, 2001
By Corinne H. Smith
Though the man left us in 1989, Mel Blanc will forever live on in the characters he voiced. This book provides biographical information as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the activities of the Warner Brothers studio. Readers will learn how the individual voices were created and will even see photos of Mel "portraying" the character as he talks. One of the biggest secrets of all was that he disliked carrots. He'd chew on them while recording Bug's lines, but the recording would have to stop while Mel spit out the remains into a wastebasket.If you're a true fan of Bugs, Elmer, Porky, Daffy, Sylvester, Pepe Le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn, and all the rest, pick up a copy of _Chuck Amuck_ when you're finished here. You'll discover more about Warner Brothers from cartoonist Chuck Jones in that volume. And if you can, scarf around and find _Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: a complete illustrated guide to the Warner Brothers cartoons_ by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald. It's a fully-indexed episode-by-episode encyclopedia with cast notes and plot summaries. Keep it next to your TV.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
A Fun-Filled Life - Mel Blanc's Autobiography! Apr 07, 2006
By Michael OConnor
"Wordsmith"
Like millions of Americans I owe Mel Blanc a debt of gratitude. For decades, whether voicing Bugs Bunny in a classic Warner Brothers cartoon, performing on the Burns & Allan radio show or announcing the train for 'Anaheim, Azusa and Cuc-amonga' on the Jack Benny TV show, Mel Blanc brought laughter and joy into my life.
Mel tells his story in this charming, straightforward and FUNNY autobiography. While Blanc was primarily known for voicing so many cartoon characters, he was featured on many classic radio shows of the 30s and 40s and was a member of Jack Benny's TV family. He takes us through his life in a breezy, informative fashion, sharing anecdotes about the many talented people he worked with. Wonderful reminiscences and laughs a-plenty throughout the book!
Highly recommended!
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Excellent Autobiography Mar 04, 2005
By A. B. Jackson
"andreabjackson"
Beside an indepth view of "the film industry's cartoon genre(entertainment and the financial side of it)", Mel Blanc also gives an indepth look at his private life(incl a serious auto accident in 1961 in which he was in a semi-coma for 3 weeks) and the great rapport that he had with so many in the film industry and also Presidents*..(*Pg 261 :Re his long time friendship with President Ronald Regan),who along with First Lady Nancy Regan had been onetime acting colleagues).Due to Blanc's experience with Warner Bros. often having "historical references" in their films, Blanc's major complaint with the animated film industry which he had such a "deep affection for"(Pg 266) was that at the time of the books printing(1988) too little in his opinion were creative; too many animations (e.g. Bugs Bunny & Woody Woodpecker)were being plagarized.
Anecdote-Filled Story of the Man of a Thousand Voices Apr 26, 2012
By William A. Howes
"NickH6"
One of my favorite pieces which I have on my wall is a color photo Mel Blanc used to send out to fans with his autograph, showing him sitting at his desk, with the characters he gave voice to perched on his shoulder and in pockets and on the desktop in front of him -- Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety, Foghorn Leghorn, and others.
When he died a few years ago, he was buried under a stone which read "That's All Folks!" but luckily, among his many works, he left this delightful 1988 autobiography which I dscovered on Amazon.com, subtitled "My life in the Golden Age of cartoons and radio."
Mel Blanc started at the bottom, looking for work at local radio stations and landing a few jobs here and there until Warner Brothers hired him for some gigs providing voices to cartoons.
He became the voice first of the redesigned Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny who went through a redesign of his own, Elmer Fudd, who wasn't as bright as Porky Pig but at least could be an adversary for Bugs unlike Porky who was too sweet a guy, and Daffy Duck, a perfect opponent for Bugs, both intelligent and pugnacious. The greatest Bugs opponent was a late-comer, Yosemite Sam, all violence and animosity.
Once he was well on his way as Warners' Man of a Thousand Voices, he asked for a raise, which his cheap employer wasn't likely to go for, or for a credit. A credit in a cartoon? But at least it didn't cost anything so Blanc got his credit and people noticed. He started getting hired for radio and later TV shows. He started out doing bits on Jack Benny's show and wound up on many more shows, including the Abbott and Costello Show, and headlined his own radio show briefly. One of the best bits ever on Benny's program was the "Si-Si" routine in which Mel is a Mexican wearing a sombrero (Are you going to New York?" Si. Are you takling Flight 18? Si. Si? Si.....and so on.) (You can find it on YouTube. It's hysterical. Blanc keeps a straight face and Benny loses it everytime.)
Having recently read Lou Costello's daughter's biography of her dad, it was interesting to read Blanc's comments about how the two rarely spoke to each other but were so attuned to their specialty and so professional they could get on stage or before a camera and start cooking like they were best buds.
Blanc's autobiography covers his life, talking about he liked to plays with dialects and voices as a kid. Doing a crazy laugh in an empty school hallway whose acoustics he admired got him a visit to the principal and many years later became Woody Woodpecker's trademark laugh.
Blanc regretted the loss of quality with the full animation technique in the 1960's when the number of drawings for a cartoon were reduced in a time- and-cost-saving measure. Movements became jerkier, less natural, but he enthusiastically did his best for every one of the jobs he was hired for.
The book continues through his life, up and through the car accident in 1960 that left him in a body cast with almost every bone in his body broken. When his doctor, after many days of coma, tried to rouse him, he had a light bulb moment and asked, "How are you, Bugs Bunny?" Blanc replied as Bugs, "I'm fine, doc, how're you?"
Later, from his hospital bed, Blanc would do his lines as Barney Rubble for the hit Flintsones TV show as his co-star voice actors stood alongside.
This is an excellent book. You gotta love a book that has back cover testimonials from Vincent Price, Lucille Ball, Kirk Douglas, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, and Daffy Duck.
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