travsd

Thurl Ravenscroft: The Man Who Voiced Tony the Tiger and the Grinch Song

If I knew nothing about the man besides his credits, I’d be so glad to learn that his name was Thurl Ravenscroft (1914-2005), for when you learn what he’s famous for, you’ll agree that the man who did this stuff should be named Thurl Ravenscroft.

After attending the Otis Art Institute, Ravenscroft began a long association with Walt Disney, not as a cartoonist but as a voice-over artist. Ravenscroft possessed the deepest basso profundo voice in show business, one that remains legendary. He did the voice of Monstro the Whale in Pinocchio (1940), sang in Dumbo (1941) and Saludos Amigos. In 1948 he formed his vocal quartet The Mellomen, who sometimes performed with him on Disney projects as well as records by the likes of Spike Jones and others.

In 1952, Ravenscroft attained what may be his best known credit, the voice of Tony the Tiger in Frosted Flakes commercials (“They’re GREAT!”), which he performed for half a century. Ravenscroft’s voice can be heard on several of the classic rides at Disneyland, as well as in the films Alice in Wonderland (1951), Abbott and Costello’s Jack and the Beanstalk (1952), Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Paul Bunyan (1958), Sleeping Beauty (1959), One Hundred and One Dalmations (1961), The Sword and the Stone (1963), and Mary Poppins (1964).

I have to pause here to inform you that Ravenscroft’s is the voice that sings “You’re a Mean One, Mr, Grinch” in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966). His voice can also be heard in several Winnie the Pooh films, The Jungle Book (1967), Horton Hears a Who (1970), The Aristocats (1970), The Phantom Tollbooth (1970), The Cat in the Hat (1971), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Snoopy Come Home (1972), The Lorax (1972), The Hobbit (1977) and the Brave Little Toaster movies (1987-1998) among many other credits. He worked right up until his death in 2005.

Published by travsd

Writer and performer Trav S.D. (www.travsd.com) is best known for his books "No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous" (2005) and "Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube" (2013). He has written for the NY Times, the Village Voice, American Theatre, Time Out NY, Reason, the Villager and numerous other publications. Trav has been in the vanguard of New York’s vaudeville and burlesque scenes since 1995 when he launched his company Mountebanks, presenting hundreds of acts ranging from Todd Robbins to Dirty Martini to Tammy Faye Starlite to the Flying Karamazov Brothers. He has directed his own plays, revues and solo pieces at such venues as Joe’s Pub, La Mama, HERE, Dixon Place, Theater for the New City, the Ohio Theatre, the Brick, and 6 separate shows in the NY International Fringe Festival. In 2014 he produced and directed the smash-hit "I’ll Say She Is", the first ever revival of the Marx Brothers hit 1924 Broadway show in the NY International Fringe Festival.