MICHAEL REAVES DEAD AT 72

 

You can read the announcement here.

He wrote for The Secrets of Isis, Shazam!, The New Archie/Sabrina Hour, Space Sentinels, Tarzan and the Super 7, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, The New Shmoo, Space Stars, Blackstar, The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, The Smurfs (1981), The Incredible Hulk (1982), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, The Biskitts, Benji, Zax & the Alien Prince, Pole Position (which he also developed), The Mighty Orbots (also story editor), CBS Storybreak, Dungeons & Dragons, The Littles, Challenge of the GoBots, Star Wars: Droids, Star Wars: Ewoks, The Real Ghostbusters, Teen Wolf: The Animated Series, Jem, Superman (1988), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), Dink the Little Dinosaur, Tiny Toon Adventures, Peter Pan and the Pirates (also story editor), Batman: The Animated Series and two of its movies  (also story editor), Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, Conan and the Young Warriors  (also story editor), Gargoyles  (also story editor), Young Hercules, Godzilla: The Series, Spider-Man Unlimited  (also developer and story editor), Beast Machines: Transformers and Max Steel (2000). He also wrote an issue of Batman Adventures and three issues of Superman Adventures.

WILL RYAN DEAD AT 72

 

You can read the full story here.

He voiced Wishing Well in an episode of The Wuzzles; Slime, Selwyn Quarrel, Cousin McDougall, Wizard Anton, and additional voices in The Smurfs (1981); Chubs in Teen Wolf: The Animated Series; Ogres, Gad and Zook in Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears; McKraven, Webster the Rabbit and additional voices in Garfield and Friends; Mr. Cross Ghost, a Medic Guardian and Voices in The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat; Willie the Giant in Disney’s House of Mouse; and played various characters in various episodes of ABC Weekend Specials, for which also wrote, produced and provided music for an episode. 

MARTIN PASKO DEAD AT 65

You can read the full story here.

Along with a notable stint in writing and editing comic books, including working on DC Comics’ first Batman Adventures series and Marvel Comics’ Gargoyles, he wrote episodes of Thundarr the Barbarian, Blackstar, Goldie Gold and Action Jack, The Incredible Hulk (1982), Mister T, The Berenstain Bears, Teen Wolf (1986), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987), Superman (1988), Batman: The Animated Series (including the film Mask of the Phantasm), and The Tick (1994). He also served as a story editor for the second season of Thundarr, Batman: The Animated Series, and Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, which he also helped develop. 

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: JUNE FORAY

JUNE FORAY

(September 18, 1917-July 26, 2017)

Notable Roles: Rocket J. Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Granny, Witch Hazel, Jokey Smurf, Magica De Spell

Foray got her start in radio through the WBZA Players, getting her own series, Lady Make Believe, in the late 1930s. She became a popular voice actress, appearing on multiple national network shows. In the 1940s, she began doing film work which included a few live-action roles but was mostly voice work; including roles in Disney’s Cinderella and Peter Pan, Donald Duck short Trick or Treat, and a variety of characters in Woody Woodpecker cartoons. She was invited to join Warner Bros. in the mid-50s where she became the permanent voice for Granny in their Looney Tunes franchise (taking over for Bea Benaderet, whom she would lose the role of Betty Rubble to in Hanna-Barbera’s The Flintstones). Along with Disney, WB and Hanna-Barbera, she would do work for Jay Ward Productions, DiC Entertainment and Nickelodeon. In the 1960s, she became an advocate for the preservation and promotion of animation, writing numerous articles about it. She joined ASIFA-Hollywood and came up with the idea of the Annie Awards, which began celebrating the field of animation in 1972. Foray would also continuously lobby the Academy to make an award for animation, which they did in 2001 by creating the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. ASIFA-Hollywood would also establish the June Foray Award in 1995, which honored “individuals who have made a significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation”. Foray was the first recipient. She made sporadic appearances in live television and had cameo roles in the films Boris & Natasha and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, both based on the Rocky and Bullwinkle franchise she was part of. Foray died in 2017 after suffering from declining health caused by a car accident two years prior.

Saturday Credits:

Andy’s Gang

The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle

The Bugs Bunny Show

George of the Jungle

Super President

Here Comes the Grump

The Pink Panther Show

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

The Pink Panther Laugh and a Half Hour and a Half Show
These Are the Days

Fabulous Funnies

Heathcliff (1980)

ABC Weekend Specials

The Smurfs

Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends

The Incredible Hulk (1982)

Saturday Supercade

Alvin & the Chipmunks

Pound Puppies (1985)

Adventures of the Gummi Bears

CBS Storybreak

Foofur

Teen Wolf

The Real Ghostbusters

Flintstone Kids

DuckTales (1987)

Garfield and Friends

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

Tiny Toon Adventures

Rugrats

Mother Goose and Grimm

The Plucky Duck Show

All-New Dennis the Menace

The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat

The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries

Cave Kids

Duck Dodgers

JUNE FORAY DEAD AT 99

You can read the full story here.

June Foray was an actress whose career began during the golden age of animation and led her to work for just about every production company there ever was. Her longest-standing role was that of Granny throughout the various incarnations and spin-offs. She also performed several other roles, notably that of Witch Hazel. Her other longest roles were Rocket J. Squirrel and Natasha Fatale in the Rocky & Bullwinkle franchise.

On Saturday mornings, she starred as Mother Gruesome in Frankenstein Jr. & the Impossibles; Ursula and Marigold in George of the Jungle; a gypsy fortune teller in an episode of Scooby Doo, Where Are You!; Mrs. Baker in The New Scooby-Doo Movies; Granny, Sonja, Iggy, Muggsy, Crazy Shirley and Marcy in Heathcliff (1980); Jokey Smurf and Mrs. Sourberry in The Smurfs; Aunt May in Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends; Grandma Howard and Mrs. Seslick in Teen Wolf (1986); Grandma Cavemom in several episodes of The Flintstone Kids; Bertha Bird in an episode of Denver, the Last Dinosaur; Constance McSnack in an episode of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo; Mrs. Rogers, the Mayor’s wife, and Mrs. Dweeb in The Real Ghostbusters; Magica De Spell, Ma Beagle, Mrs. Featherby and Scrooge’s mother in DuckTales; Bathsheba, Saturna, Sister Mouse and Duchess in various episodes of The ABC Weekend Specials; Grammi Gummi and several other roles in Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears; various roles throughout Garfield and Friends; Blocky and Svetlana the Spy in Rugrats; and Martha Wilson in All-New Dennis the Menace.

She also provided voices for Super 6, The Pink Panther Show, The Incredible Hulk (1982), Saturday Supercade, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Foofur, CBS Storybreak, Tom & Jerry Kids, and The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat.

SMF ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (PART 5)

This weekend, we continue our 2 year anniversary celebration.

As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. For this installment, we recognize those shows turning 30. Yeah, let that sink in--you first saw these programs 30 years ago.

Take a walk down memory lane with us, and feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page. We'd love to hear from you!

Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...