#Rick dees disco duck release date series#
#Rick dees disco duck release date tv#

Dees’ single and album crossed into the kid’s market. Rick Dees had struck gold with a novelty song called “Disco Duck,” using a Donald-type quack voice. In 1976, when disco music was becoming so popular that kids were starting to buy the records, Peter Pan was the first children’s record company to get on the bandwagon. On four albums for Peter Pan Records, Don Messick was “Irwin the Disco Duck”.

#Rick dees disco duck release date series#

One of his most successful and best-selling record series had only a passing connection to animation. His voice acting roles added into the hundreds, not just for Hanna-Barbera but also for Rankin/Bass, Disney, Warner and others, as well as an on-camera role on the short-lived sitcom The Duck Factory with Jim Carrey.Īlong the way, he recorded for children’s record companies. He and Butler wrote as well as starred with Doug Young in two original Colpix vinyl productions, Huckleberry Hound and The Ghost Ship and Quick Draw McGraw and The Treasure of Sarah’s Mattress.

#Rick dees disco duck release date tv#

His work made its way to recordings as early as Hanna-Barbera started making records based on their TV shows, from the Ruff and Reddy soundtrack album to Hanna-Barbera’s Atom Ant LP, “Muscle Magic” LP and beyond. Messick’s Precious Pupp, Muttley and one of Barbera’s favorites, Snuffles, are also classics of the genre. Some of these dogs could speak with the addition of “R’s” to words, as in Astro’s immortal “Rye, Reorge” and of course, his Scooby-Doo characterization is now in the capable hands of yet another legend, Frank Welker. Perhaps his greatest ability was to voice a number of canine cartoon characters while giving them interesting variations on a theme of whimpers, chuckles and barks. Even when he began to play more leads, Messick was the quintessential ensemble player, the Betty White of voice acting. Even Arnold the newsboy, Fred Flintstone’s pint-sized nemesis, was not played by Messick as a silly character, which gave Alan Reed (an idol of Messick’s) more room for comic reaction. His approach, like Butler, was to approach the voices as characters, and quite often he voices the more grounded and authoritative roles, like Papa Smurf and Dr. Messick was the perfect vocal counterpoint to Butler’s characters, whether a sidekick like Boo-Boo or a long-suffering opponent like Ranger Smith. Messick’s version of Droopy would carry over into the series as Professor Gizmo, though his voices generally were not imitations and impressions. It was similar to a voice he would after Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera chose him and Butler as the entire cast for the game-changing Ruff and Reddy cartoon series. He was the voice of Droopy for Tex Avery in several cartoons when Bill Thompson was not available. He acknowledged Butler as the person who helped get him into animation in a very high-profile way. Clampett also produced the short-lived puppet series The Adventures of Buffalo Billy, Thunderbolt the Wondercolt and The Willy the Wolf Show. Magoo’s Christmas Carol) he was given a puppeteer position–but not for Beany and Cecil. On the recommendation of Joan Gardner ( Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, Valley of the Dinosaurs, Mr. And like the voice acting legend most closely associated with him, Daws Butler, he was an unassuming gentleman who worked hard for years, never taking his success for granted nor those who helped him get there.Īccording to The Magic Behind the Voices by Tim Lawson and Alisa Persons, one of Messick’s first big showbiz breaks was working for Bob Clampett, but not in cartoons. From sidekick to superstar, here’s a salute to one of animation’s finest actors with a look at some unusual recordings from his career.ĭon Messick honed his craft first through his love of classic radio, then through a career in that medium’s latter days.