The Don of Hanna-Barbera

We all know who this man is. I don't need to tell you, but I will. And it won't be a short paragraph. That's not enough. This man deserves the outright Vocal spotlight. He's done it all. Residing in Jellystone Park. Handling bad guys in the Old West. Living with the first family of the future. Snickering his way to our hearts. Being that sage father figure to so many, and of course, solving so many mysteries in the scariest of places.

We all know the name. Don Messick.

On September 7, 1926--100 years ago today, Donald Earle Messick was born in Buffalo, NY, and his foray into voice acting started as early as the age of 15, during a time where he had designs on becoming a ventriloquist. His first ever cartoon role came in Tex's Avery's short, The House of Tomorrow, which was released on June 11, 1949. The short was Avery's first of four shorts that took a humorous look into the future, and while a bulk of the narration was provided by Frank Graham, it was Messick who narrated the short's scene involving a pressure cooker.

Avery continued enlisting Messick to voice one of his greatest characters: Droopy. The character was originally voiced by Bill Thompson, but when he wasn't available, Messick was hired to fill in, with the recommendation coming from another cartoon legend: Daws Butler. Messick's debut as Droopy came in the 1949 short, Wags to Riches, which is one of the character's best known shorts. In this, Spike and Droopy attend the reading of the will left by their wealthy deceased owner. Spike expects to be the heir to the fortune, but to his shock, it's Droopy who gets it all. One caveat: in the event of Droopy's death, Spike gets it. We all know what follows.

Wags to Riches was released on August 13, 1949, barely over two months after The House of Tomorrow. Messick voiced Droopy again in 1950's The Chump Champ, which had Droopy and Spike competing against each other in various sports, and his voice was heard again in 1956's Millionaire Droopy due to the fact that it was a scene by scene remake of Wags to Riches.

When William Hanna and Joseph Barbera went on their own in 1957, Messick served as one of their top voice actors along with Daws Butler, John Stephenson, and Mel Blanc, among others. A year after beginning his run on The Ruff and Reddy Show, Messick began a long stint on the Yogi Bear cartoons as Boo Boo and Ranger Smith, the respective sidekick and foil to Butler's Yogi. This was the tone during H-B's early years. Messick and Butler were often paired together, with Butler as the lead while Messick was either the sidekick or foil, while also providing narration. One notable exception was the Pixie and Dixie shorts, as Messick's Pixie and Butler's Dixie were equals.

Messick's H-B work continued vastly during the 1960s, and it included voicing family dog Astro on The Jetsons, and voicing Bamm-Bamm Rubble, the Rubbles' adopted son, on The Flintstones. The heart of the decade also saw Messick provide the voice of Dr. Benton Quest, the father of the titular Jonny Quest, and he also took on so lead roles, including voicing Precious Pupp, as well as Sheriff--bing, bing, bing!--Ricochet Rabbit, the heroic Western gunslinger aided by Mel Blanc's Deputy Droop-A-Long. 1968 saw Messick add another signature character in the form of Muttley, the wheezing, snickering canine sidekick to Dick Dastardly on Wacky Races, as well as Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines.

So yeah, Don Messick voiced quite a few canines. Astro, Precious Pupp, and Muttley. I feel like there's one more I'm leaving out:

Scooby-Doo. We all love Scooby-Doo, at least we better; he's only one of the greatest characters ever. It was on September 13, 1969 that the character first appeared, and it was Don Messick who brought life and so much to the Great Dane, as he and his four human teenage friends--Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and of course, Norville "Shaggy" Rogers--solving various mysteries in the scariest places. It all started with Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! from 1969-70, and it was followed by so many incarnations: The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972-74), The Scooby-Doo Show (1976-78), Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979-82), The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show (1983), The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1984), and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985).

During Messick's many years voicing Scooby, he also went on to voice Scooby's nephew, Scrappy-Doo, in 1980, replacing original voice Lennie Weinrib in the role. Messick voiced Scrappy during the rest of the incarnations, as well as the three telefilms: Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987), Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, and Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (both 1988). Also in 1988, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo premiered, which featured younger versions of Mystery, Inc. Messick continued voicing Scooby during that run, which lasted from 1988 until 1991, and was the final Scooby series to feature Messick in the title role.

The 80s also saw Messick voice another iconic character: Papa Smurf, the leader and father figure to all of the titular Smurfs. The series aired for nine seasons (1981-89) on NBC, one of the longest-running Saturday morning cartoons in history. Messick also voiced Papa Smurf in seven TV specials that aired between 1981 and 1987. During this time, Messick also participated in several other Hanna-Barbera projects, including Yogi's Treasure Hunt, which aired from 1985-88. Messick also participated in all but one of the "Superstars 10" films, including the final one, Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears, which was Daws Butler's final film.

I've always been fascinated by Messick's work in the 80s and 90s, because as much as he did in the 80s, it seems like he did a lot more in the 90s. One project Messick did in the 90s was Tiny Toon Adventures, and in that series, Messick provided the voice of Hamton J. Pig, who was the show's younger equivalent of Porky Pig. The series aired for three seasons from 1990-92, with specials airing between 1992 and 1995. The 90s also saw Messick voice Droopy for the first time in 40 years, doing so not only on Tom and Jerry Kids, but also in 1992's Tom and Jerry: The Movie, and the short-lived series, Droopy, Master Detective. Messick did a lot of work during this time, participating in shows such as 2 Stupid Dogs and Garfield and Friends.

And then, there's Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights. I don't expect a lot of people to remember this; it's only the diehards who know it. The film features Scooby and Shaggy in the Arabian setting, and also features two stories--one featuring Yogi and Boo Boo, and the other featuring Magilla Gorilla. The special aired on September 3, 1994, and marked the final time that Messick voiced Scooby and Boo Boo in a film. Around that same time, Messick reprised his role as Dr. Benton Quest in a pair of Jonny Quest telefilms, and voiced a spoof of the character, Dr. Vernon Danger, in a 1995 episode of Freakazoid!

In 1996, Messick was actually enlisted to reprise his role of Dr. Benton Quest on The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, but in September of that year, Messick suffered a stroke and ended up retiring. On October 24, 1997, after suffering a second stroke, Messick passed away at the age of 71. Just under a year after Messick's passing, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island was released; the first Scooby-Doo project in four years, and the film was dedicated to Messick. Since Messick's passing, Hadley Kay voiced Scooby in a pair of episodes of Johnny Bravo, Scott Innes voiced Scooby in the films that came out between 1998 and 2001, and Frank Welker has voiced Scooby since 2002.

I've been a Don Messick fan for over 30 years, and while I love his classic work, I've always been fascinated by Messick's 90s stuff, and I know why. When the 1990s began, the cartoon world was coming of a heartbreaking end to the 80s. Daws Butler was gone. Mel Blanc was gone. Messick was the lone core representative from that very classic era still doing his thing the 1990s; voicing classics and originals. He was part of Hanna-Barbera entering a new era and getting a new identity in the 90s, and his last works in 1994 and 1995 are always emotional for me, because to me, once Messick was gone, that final true thread from classic H-B left with him.

Don Messick is always appreciated, but it seems like he's vastly underrated compared to Butler and Blanc. Messick wouldn't have a true star character until Scooby-Doo, and that character ended up being one of the greatest of all time. Don Messick contributed so much to the world of cartoons, and on this day, on what would have been his 100th birthday, I am so grateful to Don Messick's many, many roles and contributions!