June Foray & Michael Maltese
I never got a chance to blog about the June Foray event. A few Wednesdays ago, the Animation Writers Caucus of the WGA had a night with voice actress June Foray. I'd never met her before, but she was awesome - a very classy individual. She had the room eating out of her hand, and that was BEFORE she did the Natasha voice doing "Kill the moose and squirrel." Afterwards, I asked her about her experience working with Michael Maltese.
Michael Maltese worked on Warner Bros cartoons during the 1940s and 1950s and his name is attached to a lot of great ones - especially his classic collaborations with Chuck Jones. While he was a story artist, his real genius was writing, and Maltese is sometimes described as the first animation writer. It's hard to know what exactly he wrote, due to the collaborative nature of the process used to create those classic toons, but he's given "story" credit on most of the best of the old Looney Tunes shorts.
This Bugs Bunny line from "Rabbit Hood" was probably Maltese's genius-
"In the name of my most royal majesty, I knight thee. Arise, Sir Loin of Beef! (WHACK!) Arise, Earl of Cloves! (WHACK!) Arise, Duke of Brittingham! (WHACK!) Arise, Baron of Munchhausen! (WHACK!) Arise, Essence of Myrrh! (WHACK!) Milk of Magnesia! (WHACK!) Quarter of Ten!"
Like I said. GENIUS. The problem is that I haven't been able to find much about Michael Maltese. There aren't any biographies written about the man and what little I know about him is from books about people he worked with. So when I had the chance, I asked June Foray what Michael Maltese was like. She asked me, "Did you know him?" I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was in elementary school when he died, so I just said I was a fan.
June Foray said that Maltese was one of the funniest people she'd ever met. I was hoping to get a little insight into his brilliant genius, so I asked if there was anything else about him. Then Foray explained that Maltese was very into astrology and could tell someone's zodiac sign just by looking at them.
Okay. Not really what I was looking for, but I guess that's what I get for hoping for insight into someone's genius talent. I thanked Ms. Foray for the info, which all things considered, is still first-hand info about someone who I can only hope to be 1/10th as good as. In the meantime, I'll stick to learning what I can about the man from his work.
I wonder if Mr. Maltese would've been good with that? I heard someone say that as a writer, you have to always do your best, if only because your work will live on long after you're gone. And speaking as someone who's written dialogue for talking turtles and blogged about video games, I have a feeling my great-great-great grand kids will either adore me - or they'll change their last names and take to my branch of the family tree with a hacksaw.
Michael Maltese worked on Warner Bros cartoons during the 1940s and 1950s and his name is attached to a lot of great ones - especially his classic collaborations with Chuck Jones. While he was a story artist, his real genius was writing, and Maltese is sometimes described as the first animation writer. It's hard to know what exactly he wrote, due to the collaborative nature of the process used to create those classic toons, but he's given "story" credit on most of the best of the old Looney Tunes shorts.
This Bugs Bunny line from "Rabbit Hood" was probably Maltese's genius-
"In the name of my most royal majesty, I knight thee. Arise, Sir Loin of Beef! (WHACK!) Arise, Earl of Cloves! (WHACK!) Arise, Duke of Brittingham! (WHACK!) Arise, Baron of Munchhausen! (WHACK!) Arise, Essence of Myrrh! (WHACK!) Milk of Magnesia! (WHACK!) Quarter of Ten!"
Like I said. GENIUS. The problem is that I haven't been able to find much about Michael Maltese. There aren't any biographies written about the man and what little I know about him is from books about people he worked with. So when I had the chance, I asked June Foray what Michael Maltese was like. She asked me, "Did you know him?" I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was in elementary school when he died, so I just said I was a fan.
June Foray said that Maltese was one of the funniest people she'd ever met. I was hoping to get a little insight into his brilliant genius, so I asked if there was anything else about him. Then Foray explained that Maltese was very into astrology and could tell someone's zodiac sign just by looking at them.
Okay. Not really what I was looking for, but I guess that's what I get for hoping for insight into someone's genius talent. I thanked Ms. Foray for the info, which all things considered, is still first-hand info about someone who I can only hope to be 1/10th as good as. In the meantime, I'll stick to learning what I can about the man from his work.
I wonder if Mr. Maltese would've been good with that? I heard someone say that as a writer, you have to always do your best, if only because your work will live on long after you're gone. And speaking as someone who's written dialogue for talking turtles and blogged about video games, I have a feeling my great-great-great grand kids will either adore me - or they'll change their last names and take to my branch of the family tree with a hacksaw.
posted by Eugene at 8:58 PM
2 Comments:
I just came across this. I'm Michael Maltese's Granddaughter. Just tonight I was having dinner with friends and the subject of my grandfather knowing what sign someone was just by looking at them came up. So yes, he would have liked what June said. If you have any questions, maybe I can help you. Thanks for this great story. He would have loved it.
Lisa
PS I can be reached at LAM1126@aol.com
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