A View Of the Peanuts Voices

'Tis the season for the classic Peanuts TV specials so here, thanks to TV Guide, is a look at the kids (along with Peanuts animation director Bill Melendez as the"voice" of Snoopy) who performed the voices for He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown (1968).  Included are Peter Robbins and Chris Shea are the original voices of their respective characters, having originated the vocal roles even before A Charlie Brown Christmas in the Ford commercials of the early 1960s. I like the way TV Guide had the actors mimic the facial expressions and physical attitudes of the animated characters. (Peter Robbins expression in the color photo is especially good—you can really see, as Andy Griffith might say, the actor in the man, er, boy.) The talents of these young actors are one reason the special as featuring their voices are so outstanding—they weren't simply kids cast to get a certain sound, Peter and Chris were actually actors with true performing skill. Just think of  Linus proclaiming the Gospel's Nativity story or Charlie Brown saying, "I got a rock,"and you'll see—and hear—why their original vocalizations remain the gold standard.

Karloff The Uncanny

As mentioned back here, Boris Karloff brought his considerable acting skill to his vocalizations in Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, which made its debut on CBS this night, December 18, in 1966. The great Karloff was born on November 23, 1887, so the Grinch special debuted less than a month after the master actor's 79th birthday. (By the way, Karloff's star-making triumph, Frankenstein, turned 80 in 2011.) To celebrate Karloff's uncannily good voice performances in this Christmas classic here's the TV Guide Close-Up listing celebrating its December 1966 debut. (Click on the image for a larger view.) It's interesting to note that Thurl Ravenscroft is credited here whereas he is not in the special itself. Both Dr. Seuss and producer-director Chuck Jones felt terrible about this accidental omission so we can assume they made sure Thurl received mention in TV Guide. (And by the way, watch Tulgey Wood for more about Frankenstein—or at least one of its many related productions—sometime in the future.)