We mourn the passing of Russi Taylor, who sadly left us on July 26, 2019, at the (no longer old) age of 75!
Ms. Taylor, as most people know, was the longtime voice of Minnie Mouse...
...The life's delight of "you-know-who"!
Sharing the good times...
...And the not-so-good!
But, to me, Russi Taylor's most astounding accomplishment was heard on the original 1987 version of DuckTales...
...Where she somehow managed to imbue Huey, Dewey, and Louie with understandable speech, while still allowing them to sound like their unintelligible "Unca Donald"!
Yes, Russi Taylor could make HER Duck Nephews speak lines like this (above), and this (below)...
...And still maintain that air of "Shared-Duck-Identity"...
...That was such a key aspect of stories like these! Be they animated...
...Or in comic books where they were at their best!
So much so that I began to "hear" Russi Taylor SPEAK as the nephews, as I read the comics - though I never heard Donald's overly-quacky original voice actor Clarence Nash, or his successor Tony Anselmo, speak DONALD'S comic-book dialogue!
To become my "official comics-reading character voice" takes a really indelible impression... and Russi Taylor had indeed made one, when it came to Huey, Dewey, and Louie!
And also as Minnie Mouse!
When it was my great privilege to "do translations and write dialogue scripts" for these comics, it was Russi Taylor who "aided-from-afar" when it came to my putting just the right words in the mouths (balloons?) of Minnie Mouse...
...And Huey, Dewey, and Louie!
Other notable characters voiced by Russi Taylor include Martin Prince and Purple-Twins Sherri and Terri on THE SIMPSONS...
...And the indisputably indomitable and utterly unsinkable WEBBY, also on DuckTales (1987 Series)!
But, the most "Disney-Magic-like thing" about Russi Taylor was that in 1991 she married Wayne Allwine (who passed away in 2009), who was THE LONGTIME VOICE OF MICKEY MOUSE!
And, while we all feel the loss, we can also feel good, knowing that Mickey and Minnie are reunited... as they should always be!
4 comments:
We are fortunate to be able to revisit her wonderful performances on YouTube and on DVD. Russi Taylor really gets a lot of screen time in 1990’s DuckTales the Movie, as the nephews and Webby get a large chunk of the film (along with Rip Taylor as the Genie). It may not be the best the series has to offer, but Russi Taylor is a joy to listen to as usual.
Deb:
It’s a joy to listen to Russi Taylor in whatever form… DuckTales, House of Mouse, The Simpsons.
And that’s the great thing about being a performer, or a writer, etc. Often the best of your work lives on long after you are gone.
Russi Taylor will forever be in my head as the voice of our little heroes. Her take is timeless, and if you'll pardon my lateness to the blog post, we're far the lesser for her loss. I can't wait to watch the series again with my own little ones, and to enjoy her performance(s) once more.
On a lighter note: "Pyramid of Geezer!" Classic! Ha.
Kathan:
I’ll pardon your “lateness to the blog post”, if you’ll pardon my lateness to responding – and getting the next blog post out! It’s WAAAY overdue!
As you may know from other posts, I have a wonderful “grand-little-one” who’s two. I’ll be enjoying this with her, as well.
Funny thing, I really do have Russi Taylor to thank for "Pyramid of Geezer", because it just seemed such a natural thing to come from the beaks of her particular interpretation of Huey, Dewey, and Louie in such a situation.
Hope we hear from you again.
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