Any fans of the classic Mr. Magoo cartoons that are rerun nightly on Boomerang? Those cartoons crack me up, thanks to the outstanding voicework of Jim Backus as Magoo. He was encouraged by UPA to ad lib. My favorite was the one where he was going bowling and ended up going into a bottle factory.

On the minus side, the animation was rather cheap, it was a one joke show, capitalizing on Magoo's myopia and the cartoons that featured Waldo and Presley weren't as funny as Mr. Magoo.

I always thought Magoo's head was shaped like a lightbulb.

I can't believe I'm admitting this...

I'm not a big fan of cartoons in general, and I agree about Magoo's animation being particularly bad, but I have Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol on laser disc and it has become a tradition in my home to watch it every December 25th without fail.

Sometimes I even sing along. My dogs think I'm insane.

Originally posted by Pentimento


I'm not a big fan of cartoons in general, and I agree about Magoo's animation being particularly bad, but I have Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol on laser disc and it has become a tradition in my home to watch it every December 25th without fail.



:yeahthat 'Cept I have Christmas Carol on dvd, it's one of my favorite holiday toons. I didn't know Boomerang is airing Magoo cartoons. I haven't seen anything other than the Christmas special since I was very young, so I'll have to check out Boomerang.

Yes, but not so much the individual cartoons, but that television series he was in, in which he portrayed characters from great literature. I have forgotten what the series was called, but I do rmember he played . . .

Cyrano in "Cyrano de Bergerac"
Gunga Din in "Gunga Din"
Ishmael in "Moby Dick"
Noah in "The Bible"
Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
etc.

An enjoyable series.

I liked the cartoons. I have one of the videos. I mostly just like the voice, done by the guy from Gilligan's Island

BOTH the TV AND Theatricals were excellent. Jim Backus (1913-1989), best knownto us later as curmudgeon-with-a-Walll-Street-Heart'o'gold Thurston Howell the Third ("That's THURSTON HOWELLL!!!") was forever the voice of Magoo.

I grew up largely with the ones under producer Henry G.Saperstein (d.late 1990s) followig the already-longrunning movie series, which I only was vaguely aware of.

UPA produced all these except the 1970s Depatie-Freleng/UPA/NBC-TV revival, WHATS NEW< MR.MAGOO, which also had Jim Backsus as wlel.

Magoo debuted in 1948, in RAGTIME BEAR. His goofy college teenage nephew, Waldo, was voiced by Backus's longtime radio friend Jerry Hausner (1910?-1993), a regular of I LOVE LUCY's dubbed-in baby voices (Baby ricky's voice dubbed, that is-as Foghorn Leghorn might say). A number of flicks ensued, including a few Oscar winner along the way (plus another UPA winner, the 1950 landmark GERALD McBOING BOING), and became a longtime supporting character. A 1959 movie, 1001 ARABIAN KNIGHT followed. Columbia pictures had been distrributing and releasing these but they'd gotten tired and they and UPA split away (three way rhyme there.)

But it wasn't the last of Mago.. Daws Butler (1916-1988) had done Waldo now, using the voice Stan Freberg used for Pete Puma in that one Warner Bros.cartoon RABBIT'S KIND, direcxted by Bobby McKimson (1951), based on lunatic comedian-croooner Frank Fontaine (1920-1978) since around 1957. The aforementioned H.G.Saperstein made new Magoos and Dick Tracy's (the ones with Go Go Gomzez & Jo Jit itsu, and Hemlock Holmes & Heap O'Callory, and the use of future Hanna-Barbera as well as already establshed Ward/Bullwinkle FX, and the gimmick of the caretoony sleuths taking the spotlight and yelling, when verything goes dark "HOLD EVERYTHING!"),with Still-WB director Chuck Jones's assistant and top animator Abe Levitow (he performed a number of fill in or assisant director functions at Warners) and who directed UPA's second theatrical feature-flick, GAY PURREE< for which Jones was fired by Warner Bros.for their finding out about his being involved with rival UPA.. Writers such as Dale Hale, Bob Ogle, John DUnn and tohers wrote the new Magoo shorts.Jerry Hausner returned to voice Waldo, though Daws Butler did a W.C.Fields like coll\ege character, Presley. (Julie Bennett, Henny backus-Jim's wife!!-,Mel Blanc,June Forya,Joan Gardiner,Barney phillipps-later the voice of H-B's SHAZZAN!-not to be confused with marvel's and krofft's SHAZAM-, John Hart,likewise not to be confused with B.C> comic stripper Johnny hart, and Frank Gerstle did additional voices among tohers.) Carl Brandt was the composer for the music for these new ones.He'd worked on a second Warner Bros.released, and this time totally produced animated flick in 1963, THE INCREDIBLE MR.LIMPET<starring Don Knotts.Also, Brandt worked with mujsical funnyman and Raymond Scott contemporary Spike Jones (HAWIAAIN WARCHANT, DER FUEHRER'S FACE, many Doodles Weaver & Mel Blanc sides of the forties,as well as known as the guy who nurtured comeidan Mickey Katz's career then). Magoo would do off and on work until a domrant stage in late 6os,much later other cartoons stars.Magoo for the first time had pets a la his later show..a hamster (Hamlet), a dog (Caesar) and a cat (Cicero)

In 1977, the abovementioned WHATS NEW MISTER MAGOO appeared, with as I mentioned Jim Backsus again playing Magoo, and Casey Kasem NOW being Waldo's voice THIS time. Writer Bob ogle did a voice for the Magoo-ishly newarsighted Magoo-owned dog, the white hound McBarker, a 8' inch,approx.high bulldog, who ws (like master like dog) ALSO nearsighted, but talked like Tex Avery's own cartoon dog Droopy, whose own career would rebound in several TOM AND JERRY revivals and had the voice of radio comic Bill Thompson (FIBBER McGEE-the source of the Droopy voice and the one used for Magoo's dog here)--a voice that writer-voice actor Bob ogle would later also performer, FOR Tex finally as Kwicky Koala under his FULL name (Robert Allen ogle)*.

And of course therew was Leslie Neilsen as Magoo, a character whose performer Jim Backsus had already died in 1989, in Disney's failed live version.







NOTE
___________
*Bob Ogle, aka Robert Allen Ogle (see above) also did this voice for the following characters in addition to Kwicky Koala and Magoo's dog:
Harry Halibut from DF's MISTER JAW (1976)
DIgger Platypus HB's SHIRT TALES (1982-1984)

I watched the Boomerang run of classic UPS Mr. Magoo cartoons, and I found them to be quite entertaining. Howvever, it was an incomplete run.

Unfortunately, they (Boomerang or their parent company) decided to omit all the episodes out that featured "Charlie," Mr. Magoo's Chinese man servant.

They did it in order to be POLITICALLY CORRECT (e.g., not to offend any Asian viewers), but in doing so did a great injustice to the creators of the series as well as all of the fans of the show.

The only way you'll get to see Charlie is to buy the individual collector's VHS tapes. Even on the Paramount tapes, Charlie's voice is dubbed in a noticeable Engish accent. Totally LAME in my opinion. Again, Paramount wanted to be POLITICALLY CORRECT.

It boggles my mind how politics can even affect cartoons from a bygone era. It's weak and pathetic on the part of the corporate stooges responsible for these type of decisions.

For those who have never seen Charlie, here's a shot of him with Mr. Magoo from the episode "Buffalo Magoo."