Mel Blanc

A case could be made that Mel Blanc, via his connection with Bugs Bunny, is actually the voice of one of the most popular and influential creatures known to mankind. After all, the Warner Brothers studio estimated at one point that on any given day, approximatly 250 million people hear and recognize the voice of Bugs. What? Bugs Bunny is not real? A much better way of describing the relationship between Blanc and Bugs is to tell the story of when the talented Hollywood voice artist had a terrible car accident and as a result was in a coma for a long period of time, with little hope of recovery. That is, until one day a doctor came into the room and decided to try something different, seeing as how it was that time of the day when the old Looney Tunes cartoons were being broadcast. He turned up the sound and the voices of Porky Pig and others began booming around the room. The comatose Blanc began to stir. All of a sudden he was snapping out of his coma and working the voice of Bugs Bunny. The busy career Blanc created for himself out of his ability to work unusual voices and his comical personality included not only the well-known cartoon work and television appearances such as the Jack Benny Show, but in a variety of recording projects aimed at children but appreciated by cartoon fans of all ages. It was his muscular vocal chords that made Blanc a natural for any kind of recording project, and it was said that no matter what he had been up to or how much he had been using his voice, he could still work the constantly shouting, overblown Yosemite Sam for hours, no problem. Blanc supposedly developed his gift for doing voices and other vocal calisthenics early on. The madcap, piercing laugh that would eventually be associated with Woody Woodpecker was a gimmick Blanc...