Alicyn
Welcome to Alicyn's Wonderland. I'm your host, Alicyn Packard. Join us as we journey through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole into the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games.
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Hey everybody! Did you know there are only six people in the entire world that have been to every single San Diego Comic Con since its start in 1970? What?! And one of those people we have here on the show today is legendary comic book and animation writer, Mark Evanier. Hey, Mark!
Mark Avenier
Hey Alicyn!
Alicyn Packard
It's so good to have you here.
Mark Evanier
You've done my panel so many times. I feel I owe a return to visit.
Alicyn
Aww yes. Welcome. Usually we're on your large stage at San Diego Comic Con with like 3500 people, but today we're just in this tiny little studio.
Mark Evanier
We're alone together. Yes, except for the people running the cameras.
Alicyn
You know, nobody needs to know about them.
Mark Evanier
All right.
Alicyn
I’m just kidding. So Mark, tell us a little bit about how you got your start working in animation.
Mark Evanier
I did this backwards. Usually people go from animation to live action if they can. I went from live action to and I started actually in comic books. I started reading comic books when I was 17 years old. I apprenticed with a man named Jack Kirby. And if you don't know who Jack Kirby was You have no business watching anything on YouTube at all. And I wrote Disney comics for years. I wrote the Bugs Bunny comments. I wrote the Scooby Doo comic books I segwayed into writing for stand up comedians. I segued into writing TV situation comedies and variety shows and at one point I was working for Hanna Barbera, running their comic book division, writing and editing those comic books and I was writing live action shows for Hanna Barbera...
Alicyn
I didn't even know they had live action shows.
Mark Evanier
You had a live action division at one point and I kept saying to Joe Barbera, I'd like to write cartoons and he would say to me, "Oh, well, you're a live action writer. Live action writers don't know how to write cartoons." And I'd say I know more about your cartoons than anyone in this building, including you, Joseph. "Oh, yeah? Okay. Wilma Flintstones maiden name?" and I said Slag Hoople, and he went, I think that's right. Yeah. Okay. So, anyway, I started writing cartoons like
Alicyn
Slag Hoople. My maiden name as well.
Mark Evanier
Right, Alicyn's Slag Hoople.
Alicyn
Mmhmm, mmhmm. Yeah.
Mark Evanier
Okay.
Alicyn
Few people know that.
Mark Evanier
All right, well, secret's out now. And I started writing cartoons for a studio called Ruby Spears. Started running ABC weekend specials. I wrote Plastic Man, for Thunder the Barbarian. And I went around working for every cartoon studio in town, except for the ones I sued.
Alicyn
Next question?
Mark Evanier
And and then I just, you know, you work for one studio and somebody calls you and says, Hey, will you write for us? And that's how it happened.
Alicyn
Yeah. So how old were you? Fresh out of high school when you started?
Mark Evanier
I started writing college books when I was 17. It was the year I graduated high school. And I graduated in June of 1969. And made my first sale the first week in July.
Alicyn
Oh my gosh.
Mark Evanier
And I've been fooling them ever since, so....
Alicyn
What did your parents think of your chosen career path?
Mark Evanier
Well, there was a point in my life when I had to say to my father, "Hey, remember how you thought I was wasting my time watching all those cartoons. Hanna Barbera just hired me as a consultant to pick all their cartoons out for home video. And I'm doing it from memory." So you know, it paid off.
My father hated his job. I thought they had the worst job in the world. He was the person who had to come to you and say, "Ms. Packard, you haven't paid your income taxes and a few years, we have to work on a payment plan or start seizing your assets." And everybody hated him.
Alicyn
Oh, wow.
Mark Evanier
He's a sweet man who just hated that job. But he was just part of a generation that where you took a job to feed your family. And that was what you did. And if you didn't like the job, too bad. So he used to say to me, please, whatever you want to do in life, make it you can do anything you want, as long as it's something you love.
Alicyn
And it's not illegal.
Mark Evanier
And I would say I want to be a writer and he'd say, Do you have a second choice? Because every writer he ever met was broken, owe the government a fortune. But I began writing steadily. And he began to be excited about that. I think when he began to see my name on TV, it made a lot of difference. It sometimes helps to have a weird last name.
Alicyn
Evanier?
Mark Evanier
Evanier. Yes, yes. Well, it's one of those names, you know, the immigration department went oh, here comes from the Jews. Let's give them a really stupid last name. But it's so unique. And so when he saw Evanier on the screen, you know, if our name had been Smith, big deal, you see Smith on the screen all the time, but that made a difference. And I was making more money than he was and that made a difference.
Alicyn
He didn't have to come collect...?
Mark Evanier
No, no, he didn't even have to sue me for not paying the taxes. So I was fine. I had a very good shot. I have good parents. And you know, I grew up in West LA. This will impress the hell out of a lot of people. The lady next door to us played Thelma Lou on the Andy Griffith Show.
Alicyn
Okay.
Mark Evanier
And through her I started meeting actors and people like that and she would invite me over or when she had company and literally one time I was like 10 years old, she's come over and Mark, I got some allergy to meet and I walk in. I'm 10 years old, and I walk into her living room and she says, Mark, this is Betty Davis.
Alicyn
Wow.
Mark Evanier
And I knew who that was, which was even more impressive.
Alicyn
What was going through your head at that time?
Mark Evanier
I wanted to see if she would come over next door, look at my room and say "What a dump!" But I was afraid to say that two words. So I grew up around show business. When I was about 12. They she took me on the set of The Andy Griffith Show. And I played handball with Opie, Ron Howard.
Alicyn
My goodness!
Mark Evanier
That Barney Fife done.
Alicyn
How old was Ron Howard at that time?
Mark Evanier
He was same age as me, I think and kids. And I just had little ways of running into people and show business and meeting them and like that, so I just kind of gravitated towards that field.
Alicyn
Yeah. And so would you say, I mean, nowadays, nerd culture is so popular and so accessible to mainstream culture. What was it like back then, in the late 60s, early 70s?
Mark Evanier
Well, it was interesting, because comic books, which I had more of than anyone in the world...
Alicyn
For real?
Mark Evanier
Yeah. Oh, yeah. I had tons of Guinness Book of I always had more than anybody I knew sold better than they do now. But these days, everybody knows who Iron Man is.
Alicyn
Yeah.
Mark Evanier
These days. Everybody knows who Shang chi than all the characters in the movies are and but it was fun to feel like you were part of a little secret society that knew about all these weird comic books and cartoons and things. And you know if you can turn your passion into your career, that's a very good thing. It is amazing to me how I used to think that I was qualified to win a lot of money on a game show knowing whatever event but I remembered whose comic is it anyway. But I remembered...
Alicyn
Who's comic is it anyway?
Mark Evanier
An awful lot of stuff. When I my agent sent me out one day to meet said Marty Croft, who did all the HR profit stuff show and I knew everything about every one of their shows, which and they hired me.
Alicyn
Oh! And what did they hire you to work on?
Mark Evanier
I worked for them as called the Croft Superstar Hours. It started the Bay City Rollers before they were the unbelievable successes they are today to you. And then I worked on all their shows for about 10 years.
Alicyn
Wow.
Mark Evanier
I did all these specials for them and things like that. And Marty Croft would do this to me every time we'd have a guest star like literally he'd say, okay, Mark, I want you to meet Bob Hope. Mark knows everything about you, Mr. Hope, he will tell you everything you want. And I go thank you put me on the spot.
Alicyn
On the spot make you look like a stalker.
Mark Evanier
That's right. Yeah. And it was it was frightening. And I got to work with that generation. I was you know, we're going to talk about cartoon voices here obviously.
Alicyn
Yeah.
Mark Evanier
And I am very proud of the fact that I got into the field in time to work with Mel Blanc and Daws Butler and June Foray and Don Messick and all the people whose cartoons I grew up on.
Alicyn
And you were very close with June.
Mark Evanier
June Foray, very close with...
Alicyn
Everytime.
Mark Evanier
Autobiography with her and June was amazing. I took her to the Daytime Emmys when she won her first Emmy.
Alicyn
And what year was your first because she was...
Mark Evanier
She was 94, whatever year.
Alicyn
That was first.
Mark Evanier
Yeah.
Mark Evanier
Remember that and I took her up on stage. My job was to make sure she didn't fall down on the entire ceremony. I had a vise grip on her arm. I didn't like down here because June was like, Munchkin size.
Alicyn
Petite woman.
Mark Evanier
And I walked her up on stage twice once to present and wants to accept and then marched her around. And I was so proud that I got to take June to this great moment in her life. But the whole TV industry is giving her standing ovations and lining up to tell her how wonderful she was.
Alicyn
Oh, that's so amazing. She was quite the force.
Mark Evanier
She was the last one of that breed. There are no more voice actors who were in the business that long and I got to work with Stan Freberg a lot too. Stan Freeburg did his first cartoon voice in 90... I don't know if he's accurate. But he did his last cartoon voice job on my one of my TV shows. I directed him. 70 years after he did his first job.
Alicyn
Oh my goodness.
Mark Evanier
He was like 16 when he got his first job.
Alicyn
Wow.
Mark Evanier
How many people in this world are doing the same thing? 70 years later?
Alicyn
Let me ask you then Mark. Do you have a biography... an autobiography?
Mark Evanier
My blog is my outlet. I just do it a day at a time
Alicyn
And for our viewers that might you know some of the younger viewers that might not be familiar, can you tell us where we can find
that?
Mark Evanier
It's www.newsfromme.com N-E-W-S-F-R-O-M-M-E. M-E are my initials.
Alicyn
Hey editors, throw that in there.
Mark Evanier
And I am just about by the time this shows on the internet, I will have done my 30,000th post on that blog. Yes, so you can see I have a lot of free time.
Alicyn
Yeah, you might as well put that into a book makes you know, cash. So speaking of history, and rich, rich culture, let's talk about Comic Con 1970. Set the scene for us. What was that like?
Mark Evanier
Well, the first Comic Con they had they say they had 300 people there over the three days. I thought it was a little more than that but not much more. It was in the basement of the US Grand Hotel which you can still stay in that you can still stay in that basement effect in San Diego with the hotel still there and we thought that was incredible. We were just running around going oh my god, there's 300 people here and ow there's no 300 people heading in line to buy a diet Snapple it's that we've seen the thing grow and grow and grow and grow.
And I've just been there every year because I love the convention that my reasons for loving it have changed over the years, I miss the intimacy, I miss the chance to meet people who, whose work I grew up on. They're all gone now. But it's just exciting to be there. It's exciting for the same reason. It's exciting to go to Disneyland. You're surrounded by so many happy people. And this you're surrounded by so many creative people everywhere you look in that convention hall, somebody has written something or made something or designed something, someone's built a costume, someone's made a sculpture. It's just it's invigorating to be around so many creative people.
Alicyn
Yeah, it is. Wow. So, 70... 1970. So we're saying it was 50 years correct my math? Was it 50 years in 2020?
Mark Evanier
I didn't know that'd be math in this text here. The first one was 1970. We lost two years.
Alicyn
2020. So...
Mark Evanier
To COVID.
Alicyn
So we can't count those. So actually, this is kind of the 50th year anniversary. 2020 would have been 50 years.
Mark Evanier
Yeah, okay.
Alicyn
Yeah, we lost 2020 and 2021.
Mark Evanier
I guess that is. Yeah, well, I've been to all of them. So yeah, they're exciting. They're fun.
Alicyn
And what changes or have you been more excited to embrace?
Mark Evanier
Well, you know, one of the things that has changed is and this is some people will tell you this is not for the better is it used to be about comic books, and comic strips. But there was always an element of science fiction and a major motion pictures there. At the second or third one. I had lunch with Frank Capra, one of the greatest directors of all time, he was there. So it's not news that there's things other than comics there. But the focus has shifted, but then there's focus in the comic industry has shifted.
Alicyn
Yeah.
Mark Evanier
DC Comics and Marvel Comics are not comic book companies anymore. They're media companies, parts of conglomerates that produce movies and TV shows. And so the convention has changed along with the industry. And there's some people who rebel against it because they like things to be the way they were when they were 14 years old. But if you accept that the world changes and you change with it, or you get left behind, it's very invigorating. And the definition of comics has expanded, comics now are movies comics now are video games, comics now are dressing up as interesting costumes and laundry.
Alicyn
Yeah, I think that's interesting. The culture has shifted. What year did you start seeing people come to Comic Con in costume?
Mark Evanier
Oh, the first couple years there were costume?
Alicyn
Uh huh. In Batman or?
Mark Evanier
Well, you know, somebody was always going around in a superhero suit that's very primal. What is different now is the amount of effort and expense that people go to. And the fact that some of those people who were wandering around in costumes get themselves jobs, they get hired for movies, they get hired for personal appearances, they get hired to design somebody else's costumes or replicate them. It's a place that changes lives often. And you know, I've been doing the cartoon voice panel for a long time, we actually have gotten to the point where there are people who came to the cartoon voice panel as amateurs and beginners who wanted to get in the industry. And now they're on the cartoon voice panel.
Alicyn
Kaitlyn Robrock.
Mark Evanier
Kaitlyn Robrock, that's right!
Alicyn
She's been on the show.
Mark Evanier
She's a wonderful talent.
Alicyn
Kaitlyn Robrock, who of course, is the voice of Minnie Mouse.
Mark Evanier
That's right.
Alicyn
Best known as Minnie Mouse.
Mark Evanier
I did a podcast video podcast with her and everybody knew she was the voice of Minnie Mouse. But we weren't allowed to announce it yet. She had just gotten the pot part. So we're all talking around it and such because that's a major coup, the land that part inherit the dynasty that goes with.
Alicyn
Those are some big shoes to fill.
Mark Evanier
Very much and they have large bows on.
Alicyn
Large bows on them.
Mark Evanier
Yes.
Alicyn
You got the move, right. Yeah. Okay.
Mark Evanier
So that's a big change that has happened to ComiCon. The fact that you get to meet the people who are in the new- I mentioned I apprentice with this man, Jack Kirby, I was his assistant for a while.
Alicyn
Tell us...
Mark Evanier
Jack Kirby was the most creative person who ever worked in the comic book industry. He might be the most creative person who ever worked on this planet. He invented characters. He designed things the whole shorthand of superhero comics is built a largely around his visions. He was a lovely man. He was very creative. He was wonderful towards beginners and new talent.
And he also had this way of predicting the future through wisdom, not through psychic powers. And at one of the earliest San Diego Cons when it was like 3000 people we thought that was as big as it could get. He said, "The day is going to come when we're going to take over this city, the whole city will revolve around Comicon. And this will be where Hollywood comes to sell the movies they made last year and to find out what they're going to make next year." That is very close to a verbatim quote uttered around 1974. And we watched that, and with Jack and I learned this mostly in hindsight, if he'd say something like that, you know, yeah, sure, Jack. Yeah. Oh, yeah, you're right. That'll happen. And then it would he was right, way more off -
Alicyn
Visionary.
Mark Evanier
Yeah, he was a truly a visionary. And he was a guy who people thought, Oh, he's a comic book artist. No, he was a visionary. He saw ideas. He had concepts. The fact that he drew real well was a very small part of what he was, and he was the first person to single out the Comic Con. He was the guest of honor at the first one when he came to everyone he could as long as his health would permit until he passed away and there's still a void there. But if you go around that dealer's room, that big exhibit hall. You see him everywhere. Not only you see people dressed as characters he created or co-created, or you see posters you see, and you see his style. Everything's infused with Kirby. Well, you look, I just go there and I'm reminded of Jack every time I turn around, there's someone who was inspired by him. I tell people if he wasn't your favorite comic book artist, he was probably your favorite comic book artists' favorite comic book artist.
Alicyn
Wow.
Mark Evanier
And he is one of the many people who were involved in making the convention grow and expand and get bigger and bigger to the point where we do take over the city, we have the biggest convention space that the city can come up with. And we take over all the other spaces around all the other hotels and just try to get a reservation.
Alicyn
And you do some of the big panels there. Quick draw.
Mark Evanier
Yeah.
Alicyn
And then of course, cartoon voices, which is usually in Room A.
Mark Evanier
Cartoon Voices is sometimes in six A and synthesizing six BCF. Okay, we jumped back and forth between the two biggest rooms upstairs.
Alicyn
Did you get started hosting that panel?
Mark Evanier
I just had the idea that people would like to meet cartoon voices. I was directing cartoon voices. I think we're now on like, 20 years we've been doing it, roughly. And one day, I thought it'd be nice to see the convention said you can do any kind of power you want. So I said I'd like to bring a bunch of cartoon voice actors now. This is when you couldn't see almost every voice actor in the business wandering the halls. So that year, I asked my friends Rob Paulsen, Maurice Lemarche, Gregg Berger, and Joe Alaskey. And they gave us a room that I think seated 400 people and we turned away about 700 300 people. So the next year, they gave me a larger room and we turned away 700 800 people, they gave me a larger room. And we're up to the point now where we turn away 700 800 people in from the largest room they can give us Wow. So it became a an event. And now I'm not claiming credit for this. But now cartoon voice actors are a major part of not just Comic Con, but every convention that you probably get a lot of offers to go to different conventions and sign pictures of yourself.
Alicyn
Hey, I wish there was more.
Mark Evanier
And this is what is different from being a comic fan or a cartoon fan. When I grew up when I was 1410 12. watching cartoons I loved there was no way I could go meet Daws Butler or Mel Blanc or any of those people.
Alicyn
You worked with them until until I was until I hired them.
Mark Evanier
I got to meet Daws before I hired him he was a lovely man, he was just you will not find a single voice actor whoever was around Daws Butler who will not punch you out if you say a bad word about him. He was the nicest, sweetest man the most creative person June was like that too. Generally speaking, cartoon voice actors are very nice people, very few exceptions. And even though they are on some level, theoretically, competitors, you'd be amazed that we wouldn't be amazed by this. But people would be amazed by the number of times I will call a voice actor. I say I want to book you for this show. And he'll say "Listen, I got a friend who needs to make his SAG health insurance or says I know some guy who does that kind of thing better than I do. Why don't you call him?" They don't people don't give away on camera parts they will recommend each other for and I'm sure you've been in sessions where somebody has said, Hey, listen, I Ellison might do this better than what you give her a shot at this part. Because she does that kind of thing better than I.
Alicyn
It's been a while since and many of us have been in a group session. How has the pandemic been affecting you and the way that you work?
Mark Evanier
Well, I haven't directed a cartoon show that way. Yeah, I was insisting on getting everybody in the same room, which frustrated people who wanted to work remotely on the show, but I liked having everybody there. And somebody would call me up and say, "Hey, listen, can I be on your show? I'm in Cleveland, and I could you patch me in and make me play a part of your show?" And I'd say I've got Frank Welker coming into the studio, if Frank Welker is going to be in the studio, and that I'm not going to do you remotely. Yeah. So I haven't had the experience yet of directing a show that way. And the studio that I use for most of my recording sessions has gone out of business.
Alicyn
What studio is that?
Mark Evanier
Buzzy's. Over on Melrose. BecauseAnd you know, and it was the history there was incredible. One of the things that was I found out, you know, when you're doing a show in a recording studio, they're running backups all the time to make sure they don't lose anything. I was not aware of all the years I worked I probably did 25 years of shows at Buzzies that they were running a backup on everything, just a backup, a backup, and they kept them and they're giving them to me, they're on hard disks. And so I've got going to be getting when I get the whole thing I'm going to be getting seven hours of me directing Jonathan Winters and six hours of me directing James Earl Jones, four hours of me and 1000 hours of Frank Welker making feedback sounds and doing creature voices and stuff in between takes.
Alicyn
You'll have to share some of that
Mark Evanier
it's stunning the talent you have in there because as you know, most sessions tap and percent of what you can do, you go into a session and you're doing two characters or three characters and you can do 80 So those other characters or the sounds leak out in between them people or people try things different ways. You ever work with Corey Burton?
Alicyn
I haven't.
Mark Evanier
Well, we were doing a Garfield show and Cory does every single actor who was ever a great Narrator And I just wouldn't met him through go through every one of these places he read the copy that we had a bunch of lines of copy I had said okay read this as Hans contract now read this as Paul freeze. Now read this as Jackson Beck, now read this as Bill Woodson. Now read this all these great announcers of the read this is Norman Rose, because once you know all these great voice actors of history, you know, it's a shorthand language. I can say to an actor give it a little more Gary Owens, and they know what I mean.
Alicyn
Yeah.
Mark Evanier
Gary had a very distinctive very it's a guy I worked with a lot to lovely man.
Spiel
Hey, guys, this is Alicyn Packard. Sorry to interrupt, but I just want to let you know that if you like the show, please, please, please remember to subscribe to this podcast. And leave us a review on iTunes. It really helps us to get heard by more people. Thanks so much.
Alicyn
Let's talk about Garfield.
Mark Evanier
Okay.
Alicyn
You've been with Garfield for a long time. Yes. How about a couple different incarnations?
Mark Evanier
What happened was that that there's this thing called TV Q, if you know what that is, but it's a really surveys and it surveys the public and it kind of says two answers to questions. What celebrities what stars, what characters are you most familiar with and which ones do you have a positive feeling for? And one year the among cartoon characters, the most popular character that wasn't encumbered already on a cartoon show was Garfield, Jim Davis, his character, they were doing primetime specials of Garfield, Garfield, and CBS went to Jim and said, We want Garfield for Saturday morning. And Jim said, Well, I don't know because I can't write this as Jim now talking. I can't write a show every week. He had written the primetime specials and each one of those took him six or eight months. And he said I just I don't I don't think anybody else can write Garfield the way I want it written so no, and that of the CBS children's programming, a lovely lady named Judy Price said if I can find a writer you trust, would you let us do a Garfield Saturday morning show and Jim went okay, so Judy called me and I had just been working on her with her for her on a show that never got on the air. It was a Michael Jackson cartoon show we're doing we're gonna do a show that was called Michael's pets was about the animals that Michael had in his in his menagerie, okay, and he had to go out and meet with Michael Jackson.
Alicyn
Oh my god.
Mark Evanier
This is back when there wasn't Michael Jackson. And his image was a little cleaner than it came later. And the show just I thought the show wasn't working, right. I didn't like the show that is developing. i So i moonwalked off. And I owed CBS a script. And they I said, I'll get back the money. They said, Well, why don't you write a Garfield pilot for us instead? And I went, Okay, sure. So I wrote the Garfield pilot, they sent it to Jim Davis, and he called me up and he said, Okay, let's do a show. And we did this show. And it was more fun than anything I've ever worked on in my life. Oh, they let me just do whatever I want with it.
Alicyn
That was the 80s verson?
Mark Evanier
That was the 80s version called Garfield and Friends.
Alicyn
I remember that show my sister and I love.
Mark Evanier
We did 121 half hours of it.
Alicyn
Oh my goodness.
Mark Evanier
I wrote 121 will help one other writer who helped me on some of the episodes, but I'm...
Alicyn
Wow, that's so prolific.
Mark Evanier
And Well, Jim didn't want anybody else writing it. I actually had a lot of writers who were very angry at me, they couldn't get work on the show. But that was the deal with Jim will bring with to renew the contract every year if I signed to write them all. So I wrote them. And they let me do whatever I wanted. The network did not have approvals. The network was so eager to have Garfield, they agreed to not see the scripts in advance.
Alicyn
So, would Jim have approval?
Mark Evanier
Jim would have approval. And after the first dozen or so he stops, he says it I don't send it to me when I just do them. So I just wrote whatever I wanted, and I cast whoever I wanted, and the show was their number one show for seven years.
Alicyn
Wow. High five!
Mark Evanier
Yeah, I mean, and I'm not suggesting that a lot of writers and other producers couldn't do that. I think that their cartoon shows like most of television gets micromanaged. You got to let the creative people do what they do best. And as we've learned in directing cartoon voices, if you hire the right people, he just say, Okay, there's your microphone, you're playing girl number three and Fred and just go do whatever you want. And then we'll correct you later if there's a problem. But you know, look at the actors we had on some of those shows. I'm gonna give Lorenzo music direction on how to deliver a line. I don't think so. You know, we had Greg burger and felony Tom who he was the original John on the show, and I got to hire anybody I wanted. Yeah, and tricky as you hire the right people. You know, if we had Lorenzo music was the voice of Garfield in the first series, I'm not going to tell Reza how to deliver a line. Because he was brilliant. He was Lorenzo music because he didn't need direction. I find if you have to give the actors a lot of direction, you hire the wrong actors. If you've hired the wrong actors, you're not a very good director.
Alicyn
But it's interesting because it's also about like working together to create this safe space where you can do your best work. And when you have this, you know this rapport with your director, then it's like you feel free to try the bits or the improv or just the delivery that makes magic that's so connected when you guys can all be fully focused on delivering the message in the moment. You know, it's how do we get there?
Mark Evanier
Ya know, I mean, it's a very wonderful process. Sometimes I will have an actor read a line and it's nothing like what I heard in my head when I wrote it, and I'll go, Hey, that's better. That's interesting. And a couple of times, I've stopped sessions and said, Hold on, let me rewrite You had what you did, I think want to do more. We had a session one time Stan Freberg was playing a character and he decided to give the character a little bit of a list but tiny little very soft like Sylvester the cat has a little time and it was really good. So I stopped the session I told everybody go out and have coffee and I rewrote the rest of the script and put S and all his speeches to make that funny. Take advantage of it.
Alicyn
Oh, that's great.
Mark Evanier
And Stan Freberg was a boyhood hero of mine. If anybody watching this doesn't know who he is, if you're interested in cartoon voices, you should know Stan Freebird was it was a brilliant, brilliant man.
Alicyn
And probably now with YouTube. People can do research. Yeah.
Mark Evanier
Stan Freeburg basically invented the Funny Commercial and he was a voice guy for Disney. And he was he was the he was the beaver Lady and the Tramp. He was in he did the voice of Mickey Mouse a couple of times briefly, and he was the other guy and a lot of the Warner Brothers cartoons. Besides Mel Blanc, Mel got the sole credit. But you know, when they had the two gophers, one of them was Mel and one of them was Stan, when you had the two mice up and Bertie, one of them was smell and one of them was Stan and amazing, talented man, this enormous talent in the business. In fact, right now in the cartoon business is probably too much. There's probably too many good people for the number of job openings that are are and there are more job openings than there ever were.
Alicyn
Yeah. So I know I had read that Rue The Wanderer is currently being developed. And I was wondering, I don't know where you're at in the process, if you can share a little bit about how you got involved with the project.
Mark Evanier
Well, I don't know where we are in the process. Either group is a topic that I've been doing for 40 years with my best friend who's a man named Sergio Jonas, who has been drawn up from LA, he is from Hawaii. He's from Spain and Mexico. He grew up born in Spain grew up in Mexico, and he came to America in the 60s and began drawing from Mad Magazine. He drew from Mad until well, he's still drawing from Mad Mad is mostly reprint these days. But with every as new in the magazine is his little drawings in the margins that he does and he's amazing. I know I'm gushing about all these people, but they're highly searchable.
And Serge is my best buddy. And he came up with the idea for this comic book about an epic barbarian who usually slays the not only slays, the dragon, but domain names that are rescue stupid as barbarian. And we've now been doing it for 40 years, and we've made a deal with a company that is developing it as a cartoon series. And I'm not being evasive when I tell you I'm not sure where we are in the process. Right now it's off, it's on, it's off, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do that it's you know, you learned in this business, I'll tell you something interesting, which is that one of the reasons I like reading comic books is that you go to a publisher, you say, Hey, this is the book I want to do. And they go, Okay, fine, get into the first issue, and then you and an artist or two, and there's three people involved, and you just do the comic and it comes out more or less the way you want.
You do a TV show and you're letting yourself seven months of meetings and conference calls. And now they're on Zoom. So you're here sitting there in your underwear from the waist down and discussing, you know, pitching this here and foreign syndication. And it's a much more complicated process. And there are upsides to that too. I used to love writing variety shows because you're working with real people, I'd write a song and human beings would actually sing it, you know, but there's something great about something that's produced by two people three people also so there's a simplicity and doing the comic book that is not present and doing the cartoon show because the cartoon show of may cost millions of dollars to make doesn't cost millions of dollars to do one come up with
Alicyn
Yeah, lower barrier to entry. Yeah. Oh, Mark, I feel like we could chat all day, but it's time for us to wrap it up. I just was wondering so San Diego Comic Con, we'll see you can you announce anything about what panels
Mark Evanier
at the moment the plan is to go back to doing the two cartoon voice panels on Saturday and Sunday. I'm going to see if I can get some of the best pm let's see if I can get this Allison Packard lady to be on one of them. But she's kind of she's kind of busy. And I'm going to do the Quick Draw game with Sergio where we do I'm gonna do my panel my annual tribute to Jack Kirby panel, which we do because otherwise I just spend the whole convention talking about Jack anyway. And we're gonna do maybe his ghost will appear I'm gonna do a panel about a book I'm involved with editing, I'm supervising the reprints what I think was the greatest newspaper strip ever done, which was Pogo by a man named Walt Kelly was a wonderful comic strip. I think it was the best thing ever in the syndication strip, and we're reprinting all of them now. And we're doing a panel about that.
And I don't know what else I'm gonna do, I'll just I do the panels that aren't really to try to sell you anything. You know, a lot of the panels that Sandy, they'll turn into infomercials, or this new movie, or this new series, or whatever, I like the cartoon voice panels because we're not selling a show we're selling look at these brilliantly talented people just entertaining or just entertaining. You know, it's amazing to watch the audience when they hear I do this Quick Draw panel where we have these super fast cartoonists including Sergio and my buddy Scott Shaw drawing for people and I'm wandering around the audience getting suggestions with fishes, and I look at people's faces I see this amazement, they go like I can't believe I just saw someone draw that in five seconds. And then we do the cartoon voice panel and I'm just looking at the audience. I'm on stage for that, but they go I don't know how that person just sound like a donkey how that person just sound like like Meryl Streep. How do you know the the? It's the same look at the same look, I see. I'm a member of the Magic Castle and I go there and I see magicians making people levitate and saw him and half. It's the same look, it's these people going. I didn't just see that. Yeah. So you bring wonderment to people. And you because these, there's something these things all have in common. The fast cartoonists, the brilliant voice actors, the amazing magicians, they're just doing things that you would not think a human being could do.
Alicyn
It'd be really fun to combine them to have like voice actors at the Quick Draw. And then after he draws them, then they have to
Mark Evanier
try that a little bit. Yeah, we should do more of that. Yeah, maybe come down. And we'll we'll we'll design a character in front of everybody. And you can give her a voice.
Alicyn
I love it. sounds so fun.
Mark Evanier
Yeah. No, it's this is the reason I love Comic Con. It is this festival of creativity and talent everywhere you look. And you know, there's so much that I can't do that I'm not able to do I have occasionally cast myself in a voice job. And the thing is, and that's I'm pretty terrible at it. And I think why did I do that? Because, you know..
Alicyn
You got a good voice.
Mark Evanier
Greg Berger is standing over there. Neil Ross is it's out the waiting room. Why am I doing this voice? Jim Davis made me do it a couple of times. But I'm a really fan of people who can do amazing things, magicians and personas and such. And it's nice to be able to present them to the world and show them off.
Alicyn
Reveal what's behind the curtain of of the magic as it were.
Mark Evanier
You know, it's we live for wonderment. That's this. That's the common thread and everything that come with that. Yes. So yeah.
Alicyn
Well, thank you for sharing your rich history and all that you're wise years and perspective. I don't think there's anyone else that could grace us with such insight and wisdom. So thank you so much!
Mark Evanier
Except whoever you have on this show next week, or the week after.
Alicyn
The other five guys at the first Comic Con. I want to meet them this year.
Mark Evanier
Thank you for asking me.
Alicyn
Guys, if you like what you saw, please go ahead and click the subscribe button because we're doing these every week. And we I want to know what other guests you want to hear. So drop them in the comments, and we'll see you next week. Bye!
Outro
Thanks for tuning in to Alicyn's Wonderland, where we explore the wild and wonderful world of animation and video games. Please remember to subscribe and leave us a review. For more episodes of Alicyn's Wonderland. Please visit us at www.AlicynPackard.com. See you next week.