Tribute To Blanc's Animated Voice

When Mel Blanc died in 1989, his legacy for providing words from the mouths of animated characters such as Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig, was passed to son, Noel Blanc.

From Bugs Bunny's signature "Eh, what's up, Doc?" and Porky Pig's stuttering "Th-th-that's all, f-f-folks" to the staccato, high-pitched "Huh-huh-ha-HA-ha" laugh of Woody Woodpecker and the distinctive "Meep-Meep" of the Road Runner, Mel Blanc is credited with inventing the profession of animated voice acting.

"Sometimes it was hard to tell where my dad's personality left off and his characters began," Blanc said Tuesday. "He was a Method actor and taught me that I had to 'become' the character in order to effectively do the voice."

"He always said that there was a physiological transfer that came across by becoming the character, even for just a single sentence or sound," Blanc said.

Noel Blanc is honoring his father with a limited-edition lithograph featuring Warner Bros. characters that Blanc helped make famous.

The poster-size "Passing the Baton: A Tribute to Mel and Noel Blanc" lithographs are numbered, signed and will be personalized by Noel Blanc. Produced by Warner Bros. for Great American Ink, they cost $495.

The lithographs are companion pieces to a memorial commemorative lithograph produced when Mel Blanc died in July 1989. Titled "Speechless," it shows the cast of Blanc animated characters in mourning, standing with heads bowed in front of an empty microphone.

The lithograph remains the most popular piece of animation art Warner Bros. has produced, Blanc said, with $20 million in sales.