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Meet the man behind your favorite dogs: Scooby-Doo, Scrappy, Astro, and more!
The man of a thousand barks!
If Mel Blanc is the man of a thousand voices, Don Messick is the man of a thousand barks because he voiced nearly all of the cartoon dogs during the Golden Age of Animation. After beginning his career in radio as a fifteen-year old aspiring ventriloquist, he was told his Baltimore accent was too strong and to work on it before pursuing a radio career again. It's wild to think that a boy who was told his accent was too strong would go on to become one of the most prolific impressionists and voice actors Hollywood would ever see. He tirelessly worked at his craft and one of his first entertainment positions was in the Special Services branch of the military. Messick joined in 1944 and for 20 months he performed for the troops. After the war, he began a career in radio that eventually led to him being recommended for Tex Avery's Droopy series.
At MGM, Messick met the cartoon collaborators he would work with for years: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. They also worked on Droopy and when they formed their own animation studio, they brought Messick along. Messick worked as a voice actor in 297 productions over the course of 47 years. Even though he played leading roles on many cartoons, he often filled in additional voices and sound effects. He did not retire until he experienced a stroke in 1996 in the recording booth at Hanna-Barbera. While we are unable to include every single cartoon character he played, these are some of the greatest hits of an incredible career and commitment to animation.
Bamm-Bamm Rubble
One of Messick's earliest voice roles was playing the strongest toddler ever, Bamm-Bamm! Messick had provided additional voices for the show since its first season but became a full-time character in season 4 when Bamm-Bamm joined the Rubble family.
Boo-Boo Bear
Messick originated the role of Yogi Bear's sleepy little sidekick, Boo-Boo. Many fans thought that Boo-Boo was Yogi's son but it turns out they are just friends, and like a good friend, Boo-Boo often acts as Yogi's conscience and encourages him to make wiser decisions.
Ranger Smith
While Ranger Smith is the main antagonist of Yogi Bear, he's actually a very good park ranger! He does his job of protecting people and wildlife from each other, dare we say he's a model conservationist? Messick does a great job of highlighting Ranger Smith's frustration and aggravation with Yogi balanced with the understanding that the park is Yogi's home as much as it is Smith's responsibility. While Daws Butler originated the role at first, Messick voiced Ranger Smith from 1959 until his retirement in 1996.
Mr. Peebles
Speaking of balanced, annoyed performances, Messick also voiced Mr. Peebles of Magilla Gorilla. As a pet store owner, Mr. Peebles needs to sell Magilla Gorilla because Magilla is eating enough bananas to bankrupt Peebles. However, Peebles clearly cares for Magilla, which is why he always welcomes him back home after another owner returns him. It could be very easy for a voice actor to portray Peebles as a jerk, but Messick made him sweet, understanding, and a frustrated man in a difficult decision.
Dr. Benton Quest
Not all the humans Messick voiced were miserable! He voiced Dr. Benton Quest, Jonny Quest's father and world renowned inventor and explorer. For his voice, Messick kept it simple and chose to use his narrator voice for Quest.
Bandit
Bandit is different from the other dogs and cats Don Messick voiced because Bandit did not have human-level intelligence. Most of the other dogs and cat characters kept up with humans and completely understood what they were saying. Bandit was different because he acted (and sounded) like a real dog. Bandit's behavior led to a lot of key plot moments, like barking at bad guys and exposing the position of a hiding Jonny and Hadji.
So-So
So-So is the only primate Messick voiced. Messick used a higher pitch with So-So that is similar to his approach to Shag Rugg.
Atom Ant
Up and at 'em, it's Atom Ant! Messick took over the role in season 2 after original voice actor Howard Morris abruptly cut ties with Hanna-Barbera after an alleged disagreement. After this incident, Messick took over the role and later voiced Atom Ant for all appearances in movies, shows, and commercials.
Shag Rugg
Also from The Atom Ant Show, Shag Rugg was the youngest member of The Hillbilly Bears and beloved little troublemaker of the group. Unlike his work with Boo-Boo, Messick brought a rambunctious, childlike energy to Shag.
Precious Pupp
One of Messick's many dog roles, Precious Pupp was a mangy, neighborhood terror of a dog who only his owner, Granny Sweet could love. Unlike the other Messick dogs, he doesn't bark or talk much, but occasionally gives a wheezy laugh - the same wheezy laugh Messick would use for Muttley in Whacky Races.
Muttley
Speaking of Muttley! Messick voiced Muttley on Wacky Races and Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines. Muttley's speech patterns are an interesting combination of Messick's other roles - Precious Pupp's raspy laugh and Scooby-Doo's speech impediment of replacing other consonants with R's (he often grumbles and says "Rick Rastardly!" instead of "Dick Dastardly!").
Professor Pat Pending
Messick voiced a number of other characters on Wacky Races, including Professor Pat Pending, Sawtooth, Ring-a-Ding, Little Gruesome, and Gravel Slag.
Sebastian
Don Messick doesn't just voice dogs...he voices cats too! Sebastian is one of many fictional cats that Messick voiced. He voice Alexandra Cabot's raspy, snarky little kitty on both Josie and the Pussycats and Josie and the Pussycats in Space.
Scooby-Doo
Perhaps his most well-known role, Scooby-Doo was a role Messick really brought to life. In an interview, Casey Kasem said "I think Don got into the psyche of an animal...that dog was alive". Messick voiced Scooby from the first recording session of Scooby-Doo! Where Are You? in 1969 all the way until the Scooby-Doo Mystery video game in 1995. Later, at a charity event in London Messick performed all of his characters except for Scooby-Doo. He claimed that since quitting smoking, he no longer had the natural raspiness to do the voice properly.
Scrappy Doo
While Lennie Weinrib was the first voice actor for Scrappy, Messick took over the role in 1979 and voiced Scrappy in every Scooby-Doo production until 1988. After 1988, Scrappy did not appear in the Scooby-Doo universe again until the 2002 live action movie which, sadly, premiered after Messick's death.
RUDI
RUDI is George Jetson's computer coworker at Spacely's Sprockets. Messick also voiced other robots and computers, including Mac (Rosie's boyfriend) and Uniblab. But out of all the robots, RUDI is George's closest friend and colleague.
Astro
Is Don Messick even on your show if he isn't voicing the dog, too? Messick put his canine skills to work as Astro, the beloved Jetson family dog and George Jetson's best friend. Astro and Scooby-Doo sound very, very similar but Messick actually voiced Astro first, starting in 1962 and continuing until the 1990 movie, Jetsons: the Movie.
Papa Smurf
From 1981 to 1989, Messick provided the kind, fatherly voice of Papa Smurf in the television show, specials, movies, and anything else they needed Papa Smurf's voice for. In the 2011 movie The Smurfs the role was taken over by Jonathan Winters, who had worked with Messick on the original show as Grandpa Smurf.
Azrael
A less Smurfy character on The Smurfs, Messick put his paws up and his cat skills to work to voice Gargamel's irritable cat, Azrael.
Boo the Cat
Another cat Messick voiced was Boo, the Revolutionary era ghost cat on Funky Phantom.
The Scarecrow
Like many of his fellow Scooby-Doo castmates, Messick also joined the cast of Super Friends, as the Scarecrow. Messick's Scarecrow really honed in on creating fear in everyone around him, especially Batman. If you haven't seen the episode "The Fear", it's one of the best episodes of Super Friends; Messick's Scarecrow exposes Batman's weaknesses and fears, nearly destroying Gotham in the process.
