Marie Matthews 1934-2024

Sad news to report, Marie Matthews, the singing voices of Young Scrooge and the Cratchit daughter in Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, and the last surviving cast member, has passed away after a long illness.  She is most well known for her touching rendition of Bob Merrill's heartfelt lyrics in "Alone in the World" from the classic 1962 animated TV special.

Although this was her most famous role, her singing voice can also be heard in a number of films: Julius Caesar (1953), The Egyptian (1954), Bhowani Junction (1956), Counterfeit Traitor (1962) and The Singing Nun (1966).  Later she appeared on screen in the TV movie Weekend Nun (1976) and in the series, Angie (1976). 

During the research phase on my book on the making of the groundbreaking special, Marie proved to be the most difficult cast or crew member to find.  There were numerous Marie Matthews in California and I considered it no small victory when, after numerous dead end letters and calls, I asked the man on the other end of the line if this was the number for the Marie Matthews that had sung in Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.  Yes, it is, replied her husband, Wayne, ending a months long search.

From L to R, Jack Cassidy, Marie Matthews and Joan Gardner

Marie had a fascinating story of how she came to be part of the cast, which is recounted in my book. Although it had been 45 years before, she provided key details about the song recording session which helped to flesh out the events of that momentous day.

Shortly after the book was published in 2009, Roberta and Judy Levitow were in New York at The Paley Center for Media and somehow the fact that their father, Abe Levitow, directed Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol came up which quickly led to a request for a presentation and screening of the classic animated special that December at the Paley.  I was asked to bring a cast or crew member to participate in the event and I approached Marie about joining me.  She readily agreed and ended up performing "Alone in the World" live and on stage for an appreciative audience.

Unbeknownst to me, Marie had never been to New York City.  Adding to the specialness of the trip, we visited St Patrick's Cathedral, where her father had once played the organ.

A few years later, and fifty years after the recording session, in 2012, Marie, her daughter Melinda and I were treated to a tour of the Warner Hollywood lot and the soundstage where she sang "Alone in the World" and "Lord's Bright Blessing," which was the subject of a previous blog post here.

Many times over the years, we would get together for a Christmas lunch at The Smokehouse restaurant in Burbank, which once shared a parking lot with the UPA studio, where Marie auditioned for the part and where the special was actually produced.  It had become a part of my Christmas tradition.

One of the hardest parts about researching and writing a book isn't the actual process, although that's plenty difficult, it's becoming friends with the interview subjects and then having to say goodbye, sometimes just a few years later.  Most everyone who graciously participated in the book has now left us and I'm grateful to have met and spent time with each one of them as well as having been able to tell their stories.  Marie will be missed by her children and grandchildren as well as the millions of viewers who were touched by her singing in Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.  It goes without saying that I will miss her, too.  Thank you for everything, Marie.

Back in print!

 After 8 years of being out of print, I'm pleased to announce that my book on the making of the first animated Christmas special is back in print!  But wait, there's more!  This edition is softcover but instead of reprinting the 2009 book, this is a reprint of the 2012 deluxe slipcased 50th anniversary edition, which had 48 more pages than the original and over 200 more images.  This edition has the added bonus of 2 more pages with 6 more rare photos from the song recording session, photos that were uncovered years after the deluxe edition had sold out.  

To sum up, this printing has 180 pages vs the original edition's 128 pages and 439 images vs 232 in the original.  Because of the limited print run of the deluxe version (only 250 copies), very few people have seen the extra material.  If you only own the first printing, you owe it to yourself to get this version, it's the most complete edition ever printed.  Available online only from the usual suspects like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Rocky & Bullwinkle in Mexico

Frank Hursh, head of background dept at Gamma

If you grew up with Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, it's a good bet you watched Rocky &
Bullwinkle and all the rest of Jay Ward's series.  For the next few weeks, my Jay Ward blog takes you behind the scenes at the Mexican studio, Gamma Productions, that actually produced those series.  This week, meet the ex-pat American head of the background department, Frank Hursh, and in the ensuing posts see some more rare photos and art from that era. Take a gander here.  And if you need a guidebook for your tour, get one here.

Bob Inman, 1927-2016

I'm sorry to report that Bob Inman, one of the two main background painters on Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, has passed away.  Bob was one of animation's unsung talents, largely because he spent his career painting for television animation which has never received the kind of recognition theatrical animation has.  He was part of a generation of highly trained artists who were nominally known in the industry as background painters but who might be more properly defined as color stylists, using color boldly and expressively, oftentimes outshining the low quality animation that served as the foreground.


Bob started at Bob Clampett's Snowball Productions, churned out BGs by the dozen for Hank Saperstein's UPA TV productions of Mr. Magoo and Dick Tracy, painted numerous backgrounds in the manner of various French Impressionists for the stylish feature, Gay Purr-ee and served as one of two main color stylists and painters on Christmas Carol. 

Stylish yet spartan BG from an unknown Magoo TV short

When work at UPA dried up, he followed Christmas Carol producer Lee Orgel over to Cambria for The New Three Stooges and then moved to Chuck Jones' incarnation of the MGM studio, working under Maurice Noble on such productions as Tom & Jerry and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  Bob later styled and painted The Pogo Special Birthday Special and reunited with Christmas Carol director Abe Levitow for We're Off to See the Wizard.
 

Moody BG likely from a Magoo GE comercial

He had brief stints with Jay Ward on the George of the Jungle series and with Abe Levitow on B.C.: The First Thanksgiving.  Later years were spent on seasonal work at Hanna-Barbera along with stints for Bosustow & Associates and freelance for most of the commercial houses in LA.  Bob returned to UPA in 1970 to once again work for Lee Orgel and Abe Levitow on Uncle Sam Magoo, where he was chief color stylist for the special.

Shortly before retiring, he freelanced for Chuck Jones on his stylish TV special, Mowgli's Brothers, below is one of his color keys for the show.  He finally left animation in 1976, tiring of the on again, off again nature of the industry and spent the rest of his time pursuing his passion for fine arts painting.

Bob's unorthodox approach to color in Christmas Carol

While the Saperstein years at UPA were without a doubt a factory system, the painters were left alone to style and paint as they saw fit.  Being able to paint using various techniques and unusual color schemes were the hallmarks of Bob's time at UPA as evidenced by his work on Christmas Carol and The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo.


 
Right, one of Bob's more painterly backgrounds from the 4 part Robin Hood episode of The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo. Below, a background from the Cyrano De Bergerac episode from the same series. You can read a little more about Bob and see some more of his work here from a profile I did over 5 years ago here on this blog. 

Bob, like so many of his contemporaries in TV animation (David Weidman, Gloria Wood, Jack Heiter and Sam Clayberger among many others) has remained "in the background" of animation history.  I was fortunate to have met and interviewed Bob Inman and, because he saved so many examples of his work, highlight his legacy for future generations.  Thanks for the memories, Bob.

What's new on the Jay Ward blog

This has nothing whatsoever to do with Mr. Magoo or Christmas but if you're a fan of Jay Ward you might want to check out the latest post at artofjayward.blogspot.com where I show very rare images from the original Dudley Do-right pilot produced in 1948, 13 years before he first appeared on The Bullwinkle Show.  The above image is NOT from the pilot but drawn by UPA and Ward director, Pete Burness. 

The making of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

Welcome to my 100th post on this blog!  It's been 6 years since I published the first edition of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol: The Making of the First Animated Special, which recounted the virtually lost story of two Broadway songwriters, Styne and Merrill, and the once cutting-edge animation studio, UPA, both of whom had an outsized impact on all future animated Christmas specials.  The book that no publisher would take on went through two sold-out printings and an out-of-print special commemorative 50th anniversary edition because I decided the story was compelling enough to publish it myself.

I'm sorry to say that the limited print runs have ensured that any edition of the book you can find from third party vendors will now likely be both rare and pricey.  However, if you're looking for a special Christmas gift or just want to get the book before it's gone forever, I recently discovered a few treasures in storage so here's your last chance.  This is a list of the final remaining inventory:

First printing of the book, signed by the author and 9 of the original cast and crew, #50 of 50: Marie Matthews, Laura Olsher, Jane Kean, Bob Singer, Gloria Wood, David Weidman, Bob Inman, Marty Murphy and Anne Guenther.  $199

50th Anniversary Collector's Edition, signed by the author,  #204 of 250, #248 of 250.  This edition was revised and expanded from the first edition with 48 new pages and over 200 more images.  Includes a separate Blu-ray/DVD with bonus material, which features the lost Overture and one of the song demos played and sung by Styne and Merrill.  $175 each. 

If you'd like to purchase any of the above items, send me an email at info@oxberrypress.com.  First come, first served.

To all my readers over the years, have a Merry Christmas!

Activities on the Art of Jay Ward blog

As you may have noticed, updates on this blog are few and far between.  As new information or artwork comes in, I will post on this blog but in the meantime, check out my sister blog, artofjayward.blogspot.com where I continue to post new info and art on the Jay Ward studio.  Lately, I've been posting regularly on Bill Scott's gag cartoons on life at Ward's and will continue to do so for the next few weeks.  Bill Scott, Jay's partner and head writer, producer and all around voice artist (Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-right, Super Chicken, George of the Jungle, etc) came up through the animation ranks and, as a cartoonist armed with biting wit, made humorous observations on their difficulties with ad agencies, networks, their status in the industry, and even each other.

This week, a series on ad agency shenanigans:

Check out this and previous postings at artofjayward.blogspot.com.  And if you haven't bought the book, The Art of Jay Ward Productions, a limited number of copies are available HERE for half off the cover price of $49.95.  For those of you without calculators, that means just $25.  Christmas is coming, I'm just saying...