Clips of some of the late June Foray’s BEST WORK in the Fractured Fairy Tales! (I should really say, RECENTLY “late”June Foray, as she died less than 3 months ago). More than 95% of the time, she was the SOLE female voice in these Jay Ward cartoons! Out of 91 “Fractured Fairy Tales”, there were only three, when she was not available, so they used Julie Bennett then. Also, on another Jay Ward cartoon, “Peabody’s Improbable History”, actress Dorothy Scott filled in, when June wasn’t free. Other than that, June did everything for all these cartoons associated with Rocky and Bullwinkle between 1959-1964. She also was the lone female voice actress in Jay Ward’s late 60s show, “George of the Jungle” (which included the side shows of “Super Chicken” and “Tom Slick”). I hope you enjoy my tribute!

Brian

July 18, 2002

Yes, I know!!………….with a title like “More Than A Woman”, surely you’ve got that Bee Gees’ late 70s hit running through your mind (one of my college dormmates, who hated disco, used to scornfully call the Bee Gees: THE MICE BROTHERS!). But this feature has very little to do with the song, “More Than A Woman” (except that June Foray and her work are every bit as beautiful as that song—-and I do like that song, so no “tongue and cheek” intended there!). But seriously, setting all jokes aside, what “More Than A Woman” means, when you talk about June Foray, is that she is MUCH MORE than just a woman’s VOICE !!

If one judged June Foray’s professional activity, just by her IMDB filmography, one would probably jump to the conclusion that she is no longer very active. Up until late Fall of 2002, her filmography only showed her most recent credits to be done two years ago. Finally some of her appearances for 2001 and 2002 were posted (including a guest spot in the summer of ‘ 01 on the animated adult series, Family Guy.)

There is an explanation, however, for why she has not done as much film work recently. Just as a professor or a teacher, sometimes steps away from teaching, and dedicates his energies to those of a principal, a dean or a president, at his school, so June Foray appears to have taken on a lot of “Administrative” duties over the last 10-30 years.

There are a lot of things that her filmography will not tell you. If you read enough articles about Ms. Foray, you will see that she is on quite a few animation and film committees. She has even served as President in some of these organizations. What’s more, there is a June Foray animation award, which is presented annually.

These previous achievements should be enough to impress anyone (in light of all the voice work that she has also done, for decades). Just when you think there are no surprises left, June’s résumé goes one step further. For years June has been extremely active, traveling to animation conferences all over the world. I cannot recall all the places, and countries, where she has been. I vaguely recall that she once went to one cartoon symposium in Japan.

Even more impressive……….June has traveled, throughout the U.S., giving workshops in voice acting; often on college campuses. In the late 1990s she gave a workshop, one Saturday evening, entitled “The Many Voices of June Foray” at the University of Hawaii at Honolulu. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin did an article about her, after that talk: http://starbulletin.com/96/07/11/features/story3.html. Other articles have alluded to the fact that she has even served on the faculty of at least one Southern California university (and taught courses within the Theater/Drama Department).

Imagine!…………Our own little June Foray (and I mean “little”, here, affectionately; this has nothing to do with her 4’11” frame): a part-time college professor! Who could deny it?…………..She’s far more than a woman’s voice.

From my perspective, it’s not that June couldn’t be working more; it’s just that she has given so much of her life, to performing and acting, that now she is at a place where she wants to give something back——and also grow professionally and help others grow.

Other actors do similar things; they get into directing and producing. June is probably one of the very best people, in Hollywood, to take on some of these administrative responsibilities. Ms. Foray is also very busy working on her autobiograpy. I learned, from the Voice Actor Appreciation site, that she had thought she would be all finished with this book (in early 2002), but she is now far from finished, and is working feverishly on bringing it to total fruition.

Last, but not least, the IMDB filmographies do not catch everything that an actor does. I have read about a number of cartoons, that she signed to do, in recent years (this was mentioned on the Voice Actor Appreciation website), but for some reason, IMDB website failed to list these.

May 25, 2001

I am reminded of a few cartoons, that June Foray has voiced, over the years, which have injected some beautiful scenes from nature, and the great outdoors. Though I, personally, like just about ALL of her work, I think the animation which combines her voice, and the beauty of Mother Nature, is some of the most charming work that she has done. June Foray, herself, is such an artist, that it seems appropos, that her voice would compliment, so well, the artistry of nature and the wilderness.

I have seen quite a few of the Fractured Fairy Tales, from her Rocky and Bullwinkle days, which took place in a thickly wooded forest (or even in an enchanted, magical forest). Such a nice background for Ms. Foray’s superb characterizations.

I also remember a nature scene, in France, in which I have seen and heard June’s voice used. It was in a Warner Bros. cartoon, in which she was the Narrator, of a story that took place in the beautiful French countryside (and the French Wine Country). She, of course, spoke in a French accent. She used a soft, charming, feminine voice, to go with this accent.

I think that one of my very favorite nature scenes, that she has done, was at the very end of a Tom Slick episode, from the old George of the Jungle series of the late 60s. Tom Slick was an auto racer, who talked exactly like Dudley Do-Right. June played his girlfriend, Marigold who, ironically spoke exactly like Dudley Do-Right’s girlfriend, Nell Fenwick. At the tail end of this episode, we saw a bit of a departure, from the normal fast-paced, fast action tempo of Tom Slick. Being a cartoon about drag racing, it is quite rare, that this cartoon had a more peaceful, slow pace. At any rate, Tom and Marigold (June) were closing out the episode, delivering their last lines in front of a beautiful, deep sunset.

It is true that June’s Marigold/Nell Fenwick voice has never been my very favorite voice, among her vast collection of characterizations. However, when paired with beautiful scenes from nature, I do think that, in that sense, that is one of my very favorites. This sweet, dainty, gentile, feminine voice (with a kind of soprano pitch) compliments, so well: a deep, brilliant, toasted sunset……..the beauty of a forest, filled with endless tall green trees………or a deep, green, rolling meadow, sprinkled with magnificent, colorful wildflowers.

In the last year or two, there have been a number of nights (especially summer nights) when I have sat out on my porch, and enjoyed the moon (especially the full moon or the kind of “finger nail”/paper moon), the beautiful seranading of the crickets and the frogs, the stars and the heavenly breeze. Of course, I found the overall darkness very soothing too.

On some of these occasions, these smooth, starry nights would jog my memory to some of the nature scenes, that June had done (especially those accompanied by her charming, feminine, soprano voice). I realized that I could not recall any cartoons, that she had ever voiced, which included a beautiful evening scene, like the one that I was gazing out on, from my porch. I also thought, to myself, that some of the most beautiful scenes, of nature, period, are those which one can behold at night. I told myself how neat……..how charming, it would be, to see and hear June do her Marigold/Nell voice, for an animated version of what I was looking at, from my porch.

Later on, when my sister got married, in the Las Vegas area, and we had the reception at a picnic area of the nearby Red Rock Canyon park, I pictured this same area at night (we were there in the afternoon)…….and I was reminded of how much more beautiful a scene, this Red Rock Canyon area was, than my front porch.

There were cottonwood trees, here, which made the most beautiful sound, when the wind blew through their round, dried, leaves (they were green, despite the fact that they were dry). How wonderful this rustling sound was, coupled with the cool of the day (Red Rock Canyon was probably about 20 degrees cooler than downtown Las Vegas)!

There was also an entire assortment of canyons, and rocks, in front of us………Many of the rocky configurations looked like they were falling all over the place (which seemed to suggest that there had been a lot of earthquakes, here, years and years ago). We were all there, long enough, to see the sunset, and hear
Southern Nevada’s own chorus of crickets…………

As I began to picture this scene, at night, I realized that the only things that we would miss, in the darkness, would be the piercing, blue, Nevada sky and the vast array of God’s brilliant colors, naturally painted on the various rocks (“a banquet for the eyes!”, to borrow a line from the late W.C. Fields). As far as those nicely splashed colors, were concerned, there is also a unique and charming beauty in viewing these same foothills and canyons in silhouette form……..or completely black………

That day, at Red Rock Canyon, changed completely how I view the night sky, whenever I sit on my own porch now. Many an evening, has passed, when my mind flashes back, to that same picnic area, where we were that day. I find myself envisioning, how it must look, at nightfall…….and how it must feel, with the desert breeze……..and how it must sound, with the crickets, locusts, and other desert insects, animals and birds……..

I found myself picturing June, doing her gentile voice, in an even prettier animated late night scene (prettier than just the setting of my own home). I pictured her doing this voice, not just in a valley or corner of Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, but in an area much closer to me……..the Big Bend Valley, in Southwest Texas………..I pictured her voice, in a cartoon set in one of Big Bend’s canyons, along the Rio Grande: the Santa Elena or Boquillas Canyons……….and I imagined the incredible array of twinkling and sparkling stars, in this scene………stars so brilliant, and amazing, compared to those of any typical
city horizon…………

Recently I read the transcript, of a live talk/question/answer session, that June gave, in August of 1998, at Walt Disney Productions. One of the members of the audience told June, that she was in the process of trying to start her own animation studio. She asked June:

“Will you do voices for my cartoons, once I get them off the ground?”.

June jokingly responded, in her Russian character voice, Natasha:

“Eet depends on how much you pay me, DAHLING!“

As I read that, I thought to myself, what a shame that I am not in the process of starting an animation studio…….I would try to hire June, to voice a nocturnal scene, like the one that I have been talking about……….How charming and neat a story that would be with her gleaming, priceless and QUAINT characterizations, which cannot really be found elsewhere.

Of course I have only scratched the surface, or tapped the tip of the ice berg, by alluding to June’s soprano rendition of Marigold and Nell Fenwick. There are so many thoughts, which could be written, about the incredibly endless coterie of women, who come out of the mouth of Ms. Foray (see some of our other articles, on June for more details on her characterizations).

There is one other, of her voices, however, which I have failed to allude to very often (and this voice is not that big of a stretch from her Marigold/Nell voice): that of her little girls. June has used this voice on many an occasion: as Grettel (in a Hansel and Grettel Fractured Fairy Tale), as the little blond-haired deck hand, on Cap’n Crunch’s ship (on those old cereal commercials), as Cindy Lou Who (in How the Grinch Stole Christmas), and also to fool a contestant, on the 70s game show, Truth or Consequences (she actually did trick a contestant, who was making phone calls, for host, Bob Barker, into thinking that she really was a little girl on the phone).

As a very brief digression, from my train of thought, I would like to say a few words, vis á vis June’s work in the Fractured Fairy Tales. I had mentioned, in a piece that I wrote, on Daws Butler, that if the Grimm brothers had lived to see and hear Daws breath life, into so many of their famous characters, they would most assuredly be proud, and thrilled, at the justice that he had done their work. I am sure that we are safe to assume that they would feel exactly the same way, about the sparkle, charm and warmth, that June has contributed, to many of their female characters.

At any rate, when my mind would occasionally stumble on June, on some of those soothing, moonlit nights, I would think not just of her voice, being used in a nocturnal cartoon, but also about something else……….I wondered, sometimes, if June happened to be looking out, at the same night sky, as I was………….and if she was enjoying the peacefulness, and beauty, of the natural darkness, at that exact same moment.

I thought a lot, too, about how June was (and is) the only gifted voice artist left, from all the really great, quality work, that Jay Ward and Bill Scott put out, over the years (going back as long ago as 1959). I also thought about some of her achievements, dating all the way back to the 30s and the 40s.

I have been very happy to read, over the last year or so, that not only is she still quite active, in her profession, but she appears to still be a ball of energy and is living life to its fullest. It is my sincere hope, that the many blessings, treasures and triumphs, that have fallen into June’s path, over the decades, will be so very nicely enhanced, and magnified, through many, many more years, as one of the last living, legends, from the classic era of Animation.

October 6, 2000

George of the Jungle was the LAST of the Jay Ward/Bill Scott duo’s three animated TV series. From that time (the late 1960s) until his death, in 1989 (interestingly enough, he died on my 30^th birthday), Jay Ward produced mostly just commercials for Captain Crunch (and other Quaker Oats cereals) and Aunt Jemima Waffles. His partner, Bill Scott, had preceded him in death, by about four years, for the record.

I think that one of the big reasons why Ward and Scott chose to no longer produce more series was tied to the fact that there had been a BIG PUSH, in the 60s, to come up with cartoons which taught the youth of America something…….whether it was values or useful knowledge of any kind. I had received a letter from Jay Ward’s office staff in the early 70s, explaining to me that it was the philosophy of Jay Ward Productions that their cartoons were to be, first and foremost, FUN and ENTERTAINING. The letter seemed to suggest Ward felt that to take great pains to give his cartoons a didactic slant, would possibly compromise the quality of the HUMOR and EXCELLENCE in his work.

If this is correct, that the studio decided to “stick to its guns” and refused to risk watering down the quality of its work, I would say that this was not only admirable on the studio’s part, but QUITE BRAVE!! Hats off and kudos to Jay Ward, if this was the noble principle under which he was operating. I could see very well, him wishing to be remembered for producing only a certain type of cartoons.

George of the Jungle was a superior endeavor, in my opinion, to that of Jay Ward’s middle series, Hoppity Hooper. I say this for a number of reasons. For one thing, when Hoppity Hooper came out in the mid 60s, almost all of its “side shows” were recycled shows from Rocky and Bullwinkle (Fractured Fairytales and Bullwinkle’s Corners episodes……none of which were being aired for the very first time). Hoppity Hooper even had a “side show”, which was not even germane to the Jay Ward Production house: The World of Commander McBragg (From Total TV Productions—-the people who brought us cartoons such as Underdog and Tennessee Tuxedo).

George of the Jungle, for its part, continued in the same vein as its predecessors, Rocky & His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, in that the “side shows” were all BRAND NEW SHOWS. These “side shows” were just as good, if not better, than the title show of George of the Jungle. Tom Slick and Super Chicken (the other two shows on George of the Jungle) were very cleverly written.

But there is another reason still why George of the Jungle exceeded the quality of Hoppity Hooper (and approximated the awesome stature of Rocky and Bullwinkle’s vintage series). Absent from the middle series was JUNE FORAY. With just a few exceptions, Jay Ward had loyally turned to Ms. Foray for ALL of the female voice characterizations (and even some of the male ones, like Rocky, newspaper boys, etc…..). During  Hoppity Hooper, Jay Ward and Bill Scott drew on the feminine wiles and vocals of Chris Allen. Ms. Allen, I acknowledge, did a good job in the title role of Hoppity the Frog. Nevertheless, she was always a writer FIRST, and a voice-over artist SECOND. Voice work was always a side-line for her. With all due respect, she had nowhere near the VAST ARRAY OF CHARACTERS under her belt as did Ms. Foray.

I can only assume that Ms. Foray was conspicuously absent from the middle series because she was very much in demand, and sought-after in many other animation ventures (as well as dubbing work, commercials, etc.). She has, after all, been used by so many of the other cartoon GIANTS, such as Warner Bros. (in tons of Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies and as Granny, in Tweety and Sylvester), Walt Disney (not only in many of this studio’s legendary cartoons, but in a couple of Disney on Parade shows), Hanna-Barbera, MGM, Woody Woodpecker’s producer, Walter Lantz and even Rankin-Bass (they brought us many of the most famous animated holiday specials, back in the 60s and the 70s).

If no one else said so back in 1967, when she returned for George of the Jungle, may I be the first to say that IT WAS SO GREAT TO HAVE JUNE BACK! There was a wonderful article written about Ms. Foray in 1994, called The Queen of Cartoons. It was published in Animato by Michelle Klein-Häss. Ms. Klein-Häss alluded to a fact, which is so very true in my opinion; she said that Ms. Foray’s  characterizations have a kind of UNIQUENESS, SPARKLE AND VERY SPECIAL STAMP of her own personality, that none of her peers can come even close to touching (I am paraphrasing)!! She further went on to  christen June Foray as the finest, living voice-over artist PERIOD (either male or female)!

So when June returned to Jay Ward’s lot……whether she was doing the Russian- like (or Natasha-like) voice of an evil villainess……….whether she was doing the sweet, young voice of Tom Slick’s girlfriend, Marigold (which was like a stroll down memory lane to Dudley Do-Right, as Marigold sounded just like Nell Fenwick and Tom Slick sounded just like Dudley Do-Right)……..or whether she was doing the ROUGH, GRUFF voice, of an overweight, GROUCHY, fifty-ish/sixty-ish Mother-in-law (or jaded woman), June was like a “jewel” in the crown of all those many episodes that Jay Ward and Bill Scott produced, on that very last series……..a “jewel” without which that “crown” would have been left at least somewhat tarnished………and would have lost some of its uniqueness and sparkle, of which Ms. Klein-Häss speaks so eloquently in her own article about June.

I am only too happy to add my voice, to all those tributes, which have already been written about Ms.
Foray………May you have many, many more years to come, June, of entertaining us with your craft.

Your eternal fan——Brian

(Trivia on June Foray)

Just a few weeks, before 1974, according to her “holiday letter” to me, June Foray:

• Still had the pleasure of enjoying her mother’s company: By this time her mother was most likely about 80 years of age. June described her mother as still “very much alive”……kind of a foreshadowing, I would say, of June, herself, in the 21st Century……..Very much a spunky, active, senior citizen……..the perennial role model of aging gracefully……..and never slowing down with achievements and living life to its fullest. Back on the doorstep of 1974 she wrote to me: “I’m always on the go!!”. Perhaps that is the secret to a long, healthy, happy life……..
• Had lost her father, about fifteen years earlier: The timing of her father’s death tragically preceded her work in Rocky and Bullwinkle, by about one year. How sad that he never got to see her accomplishments, on that series
• Claimed to have one brother and one sister
• Though she never had any children, she proudly claimed to be the mother of two Great Danes, whom she said that she and her husband truly adored: Interestingly enough there is a parallel between her life and Paul Frees’ life, in this respect. Paul Frees, in his own letter, claimed to never have had any children, but he said: “Our child is an apricot poodle, named Boogsy!”
• Mentioned about her husband, Hobart Donovan, the writer:
  1. He wrote originally for radio
  2. Then movies
  3. Then television
  4. Was only writing novels by that time
  5. Published a youth book, around this time, called Desert Stallion, about an Arabian boy and his horse. June said that, if I liked horses, it would be a charmer for me
  6. For the record, Hobart Donovan died in 1976
• She appeared to be highly-educated, perhaps almost completely self-educated, after high school: Her history tends to point to the fact that she probably never had time to go to college. She started in radio, at age 12, sometime around 1930, and her career never slowed down, after that. She became more and more in demand over the years. Nevertheless, she stated that she read and memorized many of the great classics, from Literature, which helped her career in voice. Reading and memorizing the classics helped make her an “omnivorous reader.” She stated that much of her waking time was spent reading………mostly non-fiction. For the record she got started in radio, at age 12, because one of her teachers, in Speech, had a local radio show, at the time, and invited June to participate in that show……..The rest was history (and this was in Springfield, MA………not California………on the WBZA radio station………After she moved to California, she continued in this medium of entertainment).June mentioned that she was doing old ladies, even when she was 12. She also credited her teachers, from the time that she was 6 years old, for helping her to refine her talent in the “voice category”.
• June had visited Walter Tetley, in the hospital, a couple years earlier, after his motorcycle accident
• She carved out a place in American History, for herself, by starting the Great Meat Boycott of 1973:She wrote:
  

  “In case you didn’t know, I’m the June Foray Donovan who started the Great Meat Boycott, last April, and went to Washington D.C. to testify before the Joint Economic Committee, conducted by Senator Hubert Humphrey. I was on the television news so many times that I am surprised that you did not see me.”

  I do remember, in the spring of 1973, seeing the covers of Newsweek and Time magazines, in my social studies class, proclaiming (even screaming): Don’t Eat Meat!! (sometimes picturing the charicature of an angry housewife, protesting). I did not see June, on TV, but I didn’t watch the news much, at age 13.

• Chris Allen, who voiced Jay Ward’s cartoon frog, “Hoppity Hooper”, from the series of the same name, wrote to me, about June, in her own April 1974 letter:
  

  “June has been involved with some very important consumer education projects and civic problems, in her local area.”

  So although many people have long been aware of June’s role in the ‘ 73 Meat Boycott (I have noticed that this has been well documented, on the internet), perhaps few folks knew of her community involvement in consumer education and civics matters. All of this bolsters, what I have already said, in trivia point # 6, above, about how highly educated and intelligent she was……..college or no college, she educated not only herself……..but many others in the process.

• Had done some on-camera work, in recent years, including in January, 1974:She did a TV guest spot, on Bob Barker’s Truth or Consequences game show, which aired in January, 1974. Bob Barker introduced her stating that, she had appeared on his programs, many times, over the years. She also said that she had been on The Today Show and The David Frost Show around 1971 or 1972. For the record……..See June Foray in one of the only movies, that she ever made with a speaking part!!! RENT THE 1954 MOVIE, SABAKA!! SABAKA was a movie, which took place in India. One of her co-stars was Boris Karloff. She played the character of Marku Ponjoy, the high priestess of Sabaka.Her filmography also alludes to a part, that she played, in the 1966 televised version of Arthur Millers’s play, Death of a Salesman.
• June was able to increase her stature with what she termed “clunky platform shoes:” Though surely she did not wear such shoes, all the time, June did mention, in her letter, that wearing such shoes did elevate her 4’11” height to 5′ 1.5″. She joked with me, in her letter: “How come at 14 you’re taller than I ?!?”
• Mentioned that an audition tape, for voice work, should never be more than 5 minutes in length. I continued to read this statement, from her, in interviews over the years. I am sure that she is absolutely correct, about this. I will say, however, that 5 minutes never seemed like very much time, at all, to showcase one’s talents and versatility.
• Mentioned that she loved visiting Kenya, East Africa, so very much, in July 1973, that she planned to visit it again, the following summer:She commented that Africa was so very beautiful. She
  added that she would visiting it, again, after she attended a film festival, in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. I was very impressed since Yugoslavia was behind the Iron Curtain……..and not exactly a very popular country to visit, among Americans who went to Communist countries back then. I would have liked to have visited it myself !
• Paul Frees said, in his own letter to me, about June:“June Foray is a very lovely woman” and “When you have a talent, like June Foray, you are ageless!!……..Her voice will just go on, forever, and will always be ageless!………”
• June closed her letter to me stating:
  

  “Brian, my boy, I feel that I’ve been at the typewriter for hours and still haven’t already answered all the questions, that you asked. But have patience with me. When you write next, I promise that I shall be more informative and shan’t make you wait so long.”

  I really liked the way she threw in the word “shan’t”……. It reminded me of the “classiness”, that I have always come to associate with June Foray. But anyway, over the years, she never did write again, despite the fact that she said this. I tried, several times, over the years, to correspond with her, and she never did follow through. It definitely was not the same, as writing to the Great Daws Butler, who welcomed my letters, and wrote several times.

  Be that as it may, however, my admiration for June, her many accomplishments, her incredible stamina and wonderful achievements, have not been diminished very much, by that fact. I still hold her up as a Wonderful Icon, in the Animation Field……..and I am very glad that she is still with us, at the Dawning of the 21st Century!

  I might add that, I wish that she had been awarded that Star, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, long, long before she was (in the year 2000). No one deserved it more………no one, of her great stature, should have had to wait so long, to get that Star……….

Post Script to the Trivia:

June enclosed, in her letter to me, an official 1973 “Prepared Biography” on her career/life. It appeared to have been compiled by her agent, at the time:

• Though busy, professionally, Ms. Foray finds time to indulge in her hobbies, including:
  1. Portrait Painting
  2. Sewing
  3. Writing Articles
• At the time of her letter, Ms. Foray was a Foster Parent to a Chinese child, Wong Mei Kay, living in Hong Kong
• Though mentioned briefly, in June of the Jungle, about her involvement with Disney on Parade, the biography alluded to the fact that:
  1. She recorded the voice of the Wicked Stepmother and Snow White, for the 1971 version of Disney on Parade
  2. She was then called, by Disney, to do the voice of many famous characters, in the 1972 and 1973 versions of Disney on Parade, then touring both the U.S. and Europe.
  3. In 1973 she had just recorded the voice of Mrs. Darling, for the road show of Peter Pan
• Her biography alludes to the fact that, like Walter Tetley, she recorded hundreds of children’s and adults’ albums for Capitol Records……..This was a big part of what helped her to become discovered, by many of today’s Animation studios.
• Some of the movies, from the 60s and the 70s, for which she did dubbing or special voice effects were:
  1. Doctors’ Wives
  2. Hospital
  3. Love Machine
  4. McHugh (with John Wayne)
  5. The Secret of Santa Vittoria
  6. The Little People
  7. The Counterfeit Man

May 30, 2001

Women with pointy, black hats……..or crocheting needles…………

As I mull over, this topic of discussion, I realize, for the first time in many years, just how very difficult it is for me to pick my favorite voice, of all June Foray’s many, many characterizations.

Ever since I was twelve, thirteen, fourteen years old, up to today (close to thirty years later), I always thought that I knew, without a doubt, which June Foray voice was my favorite. It always used to be that rough, gruff voice, which June used for grouchy, middle-aged mothers and mothers-in-law (many of whom were drawn as “heavy-set”, gray-
haired hags).

Pondering over June’s amazing collection of Witch voices ……….her Wicked Fairy and Fairy Godmother voices………..her Grandmother and Old Lady voices….. I have come to the conclusion that, it’s almost unfair, to compare her middle-aged, mother-in-law voices, with her elderly women’s voices. June’s stellar, shining repertoire would most assuredly never be the same, if those Witches, Old Ladies and Fairies were excluded from her craft.

In this essay, I hope to cover the bases, of most of the rest of Ms. Foray’s famous characterizations, that we have not already touched upon. Most likely that is an impossible feat, given the incredible abundance of characters to her credit……………

There are actually quite a few similarities, between June’s old lady/grandmother voices, and her witch voices. Both have a voice that tends to remind you of a skinny, little, old woman, whose face is quite drawn and full of wrinkles. Both also have a kind of scratchy, raspy voice, that you often hear in an older woman………but at the same time, they are totally feminine and high-pitched.

Both tend to evoke the image of an old woman with a kind of beaming, cheerful disposition……….Seldom have I heard an elderly June Foray voice, where there did not seem to be a bit of a smile, a bit of gusto, a bit of enthusiasm……….(the gusto and enthusiasm are especially true, in the case of her witches)!

Now as to how her witch and wicked fairy voices, are actually different, from her standard old ladies; there are definitely some tell-tale traits which distinguish the two. June’s witches and wicked fairies sometimes have the tendency to speak………even shriek……..like a lunatic!…………..there is a totally frenetic character, in the personalities of many of her witches, that most of her old ladies do not have.

Her witches and wicked fairies are, therefore, more excitable, and high-strung, than her average “grandma”. Many times they even speak in a higher pitch. Last, but not least, there is that shrill laugh…………even cackle, of those funny, old, evil gals!!!

I think that I have always loved June’s witches because they have always spoken, shrieked and cackled, in the exact same voice, that I have always envisioned, for a witch, since I was a tiny, little toddler (when my folks began to read me stories).

Of course the icing on the cake, of June’s witch voices, has always been their laugh. June’s priceless, bewitching cackle is just that!……..priceless!!………..that shrill, witchy explosive laugh, has always echoed from her mouth, with so much energy, reverberation and sheer, gleeful, feminine relish!! I might add that her cackle, in my opinion, is even better than that of Margaret Hamilton’s laugh, as the witch from The Wizard of Oz (and June’s laugh is much more ear-piercing, and higher-pitched, than was Margaret Hamilton’s).

The best way to appreciate some of June’s witchy characterizations, is to look directly at some of the great
scripts, that she was given, which helped to make these spellbinding women “stars” in their own right.

Consider June’s Witch Hazel character, from the WarnerBrothers cartoons. I am reminded of one episode with Witch Hazel and Bugs Bunny in the same script. In every scene, where Witch Hazel was gleefully fleeing the room (as she laughed and cackled)………….she didn’t just flee………..she ZIPPED from the room………..and when she ZIPPED, there were always a puff of smoke, with tons and tons of bobby pins, flying out of her hair (as well as the sight of her dress’s petticoat, flying up in the air)!!

In this particular Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bugs throws a magic potion at her, at the end of the episode, which transforms Witch Hazel into a beautiful, sexy, girl rabbit. The scene from this is very comic:

“Hello!” says June, now in the seductive, flirtatious voice
of a beautiful young she-rabbit.

“He-LLO!!”, responds Bugs, “Going my way?”

“Mmm-Hmmm!”, June purrs.

“EE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE!!!!!“, laughs June;
not a whole lot different from the Witch Hazel voice that we have already heard, this whole episode.

Bugs Bunny turns, and faces the audience, and says:
“Aw sure………I know!!………But aren’t they all witches inside???………..“

Or how about a few scenes from the Fractured Fairy Tale,
“The Frog Prince”?:

Scene I:

Edward Everett Horton, Narrator of the tale:

“Once upon a time there was a year that was a very bad year for witches………..they were everywhere!!!……..Big ones, little ones………Fat ones, Ugly ones……….It got so bad that there just weren’t enough people, to go around, for them to cast spells on!”

Witch, played by June (grabbing a hapless victim, and competing with another witch):

“Let go!!!………I want to put him to sleep for a hundred years!!!”

Witch, played by a male actor, Bill Scott:

“YOU let go!…………I’m going to turn him into a chicken!!”

June’s Witch: (screaming even louder now!):

“But I saw him first!!!”

Bill Scott’s Witch:

“You did not!!!”

(The poor, hapless, male victim manages to break free, and darts away, just in time, from both of them!).

Scene II:

(Another one of June’s witches, is making her way through the woods, talking to herself):

“If I don’t find something to cast a spell on pretty soon!!………I’ll…………

Edward Everett Horton:

“But just then, the witch saw a little frog on a lilly pad!”

June’s Witch (slowly, and as if she were licking her chops):

“Well…….Well!!………What have we here!!…….“

Frog:

“We have a frog!!……….What have we there?……….”

June’s Witch (happily and smiling):

“I’m a witch!!……..”

Frog:

“That figures!………”

June’s Witch:

“And I’m going to cast a spell on you!!”

Frog:

“Oh, c’mon!……….I’m already a frog!!………What else could you do to me?!?……….”

Edward Everett Horton:

“But the witch was determined, after going so very long, without casting a spell………and with a wave or her wand, she turned him into a handsome young prince.

June’s Witch:

(after a crashing sound, when the frog turns into a prince, the witch’s eyes, turn up and down, all over the place, as if she were crazy and she says):

“Ooh-hoo-hoo-HOO!!!……..OH BOY THAT FELT GOOD!!”

Frog:

“Hey! What’s the big idea? I don’t want to be a handsome prince!! I was happy as a frog!!”

June’s Witch:

“Well, I admit that it isn’t the kind of a spell that we usually cast, BUT TIMES ARE HARD!!………Tah-Tah,
Dearie!!…………EE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE!!!!!!! ………

And you can just hear that echoing, head-banging, cackle, now, can’t you?…………

June played a character, somewhere in between a typical old lady, and a witch, on The Flintstones, when she played the role of a supposed housekeeper, for Fred and Wilma. Unbeknownst to them, she was really a bank robber, with the alias of “Grandma Dynamite”! It was an incredibly funny episode and June stole the show!

Fairies, Accents and Dialects:

As far as her Fairy Godmothers are concerned, though she has undoubtedly used a variety of voices, over the years, for that character, I heard her in one Fractured Fairy Tale, where she used a substantially younger voice, than her average witch. The fairy’s voice was that of a woman who was forty-plus years old. She was also very cheerful, jolly and KIND………and she was laughing (she was also a bit fat). She spoke in a British accent. This lively fairy godmother brought the wooden puppet, Pinnocchio, to life, in this episode.

As a brief digression, speaking of her British accent, June, of course, is very well-versed at a variety of accents and dialects. The most common ones, that I have heard are: Russian, British, French and Mexican.

One could say that the above information, is pretty much “the meat” of this essay……….However, not wishing to leave any stone unturned, I will take advantage, of this theme, to use it for another point of departure. There are just a few, of June’s other “major voices”, left, that we have not completely touched upon, on The Walter Tetley Web Page.

Young boys and miscellaneous other information:

Of course it goes without saying that Rocky, the Flying Squirrel, is Ms. Foray’s most famous voice. June has not done a lot of male voices but, Rocky and young newspaper boys, from the Rocky and Bullwinkle shows, are two types of young male voices that she has done. The young newspaper boy voice, was really not a whole lot different, than that of Rocky. Usually the newspaper boy always had the same line: “Ex-TREE, Ex-TREE………Read all about it!!!”.

Around the time that The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle movie came out (in June 2000), there was an article, in the newspaper: “Meet the Woman Behind the Squirrel”. June said, in this interview, that after meeting with Jay Ward, and Bill Scott, over cocktails, it was decided that the voice of Rocky would be that of a wholesome, all-American boy, out to save the world.

She mentioned in, another interview, that she did voice him with at least one fault in mind. In so many words she said that Rocky does have convey a bit of smart aleckiness, in his characterization ……..a bit of an “I told you so” tone (but he pretty much has to, since he is collaborating with Bullwinkle………not at all a smart cookie!).

As an interesting aside, Ms. Foray said, of that first meeting with Jay Ward, that she was also told not to make Natasha “too Russian-sounding” (because there was already enough trouble, between the U.S. and Russia, at that time, given the deep freeze of the Cold War).

From a Newsweek article, from the year 2000, entitled: “You’ve got plan, Dahling?” (the article’s title, of course, is one of Natasha Fatale’s famous lines, to Boris Badenov), June said that the way that she avoided mixing up, the many parts that she played, simultaneously, was to use colored pencils, to highlight each character’s lines. Natasha’s lines (no surprise) were highlighted with a red pencil……..Rocky’s lines were highlighted in blue.

When we look at Rocky and those newspaper boys, it is almost impossible to believe that this same woman is also responsible for all of those delicious and colorful witches, old ladies and fairy godmothers!!!

What an incredible ensemble!!………What an incredible cast of thousands, June Foray has provided us with!!……..Not only could she be a one-woman show, but she actually was a one-woman show (during the many years that she worked for Jay Ward Productions)!!