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Potentially on the verge of losing his most prized cycling medals, and already shedding sponsors who gave him enormous wealth, Lance Armstrong said Sunday it's been 'an interesting and at times very difficult few weeks.' Speaking to participants in his cancer-fighting foundation's annual Ride for the Roses, Armstrong said, 'People ask me a lot how are you doing.
Biography Early years and start in animationLantz was born in, to immigrant parents, Francesco Paolo Lantz (formerly Lanza) and Maria Gervasi from. According to Joe Adamson's biography, The Walter Lantz Story, Lantz's father was given his new surname by an immigration official who it. Walter Lantz was always interested in art, completing a mail-order drawing class at age 12. He was inspired when he saw 's animated short, '.While working as an auto mechanic, Lantz got his first break. Wealthy customer Fred Kafka liked his drawings on the garage's bulletin board and financed Lantz's studies at the. Kafka also helped him land a job as a copy boy at the, owned.
Lantz worked at the newspaper and attended art school at night.By the age of 16, Lantz was working in the animation department under director. Lantz then worked at the on the Jerry On The Job series. In 1924, Lantz directed, animated, and even starred in his first cartoon series, 'Dinky Doodle', which included the popular fairy tale animated shorts Cinderella (1925) and Little Red Riding Hood (1925). Lantz soon replaced as head of production at Bray. (In the 1920s, Bray began to concentrate on competing with, the 'king of two-reelers'). At the urging of his friend, Lantz moved to, after Bray switched to a publicity film studio in 1927, where he attempted to set up his own cartoon studio with, but their sound cartoons never got produced.
In the meantime, he worked briefly for director and was a gag writer for comedies. He also resorted to odd jobs, one of them being the chauffeur for one of Hollywood's most important moguls.The Oswald era. This section does not any. Unsourced material may be challenged and.Find sources: – ( March 2020) In 1928, Lantz was hired by as director on the cartoon series for. Earlier that year, Mintz and his brother-in-law George Winkler had succeeded in getting several animators from the Walt Disney Studio to work for their own studio instead. Universal president grew dissatisfied with the Mintz-Winkler product and fired them, deciding instead to produce the Oswalds on the Universal lot.
While schmoozing with Laemmle, Lantz wagered that if he could beat Laemmle in a game of poker, the character would be his. As fate would have it, Lantz won the bet, and Oswald was now his character.Lantz inherited many of his initial staff, including animator and musician Bert Fiske from the Winkler studio, but importantly he chose fellow New York animator, to help develop the series. Nolan's previous credentials included inventing the panorama background and developing a new, streamlined '. Nolan was (and still is) best known for perfecting the. In September 1929, Lantz released his first cartoon, '.By 1935, he parted company with Nolan. Lantz became an independent producer, supplying cartoons to Universal instead of merely overseeing the animation department. By 1940, he was negotiating ownership for the characters with whom he had been working.The Woody Woodpecker era.
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This section does not any. Unsourced material may be challenged and.Find sources: – ( March 2020) When Oswald had worn out his welcome, Lantz needed a new character. Meany, Miny, and Moe (three ne'er-do-well chimps), Baby-Face Mouse, Snuffy Skunk, Doxie (a comic dachshund), and Jock and Jill (monkeys that resembled ' ) were some personalities Lantz and his staff came up with. However, one character, stood out and soon became Lantz's headline star for the 1939–1940 production season.In 1940, Lantz married actress (he was previously married to, and had a child with, Doris Hollister). The same year, first appeared in an Andy Panda short entitled.
According to Lantz himself, he came up with the character during his honeymoon. He and Stafford kept hearing a woodpecker incessantly pecking on their roof. Grace suggested that Walter use the bird for inspiration as a cartoon character. Taking her advice, though a bit skeptical, Lantz created the brash woodpecker character, similar to the early. Woody Woodpecker became an instant hit and got his own series during 1941.supplied Woody's voice for the first three cartoons. When Blanc accepted a full-time contract with and left the Lantz studio, he was replaced as Woody's voice by Danny Webb, who would only voice the character in the next two shorts ( and ) before Webb himself was replaced.
After Rogers went into the service due to, gagman, the man who was the main force behind Knock Knock, became the bird's voice. Despite this, Blanc's distinctive laugh was still used throughout the cartoons until 1951.In 1948, the Lantz studio created a hit -nominated song titled 'The Woody Woodpecker Song', featuring Blanc's laugh. Mel Blanc sued Lantz for half a million dollars, claiming that Lantz had used his voice in later cartoons without permission.
The judge, however, ruled for Lantz, saying that Blanc had failed to copyright his voice or his contributions. Though Lantz won the case, he paid Blanc in an out-of-court settlement when Blanc filed an appeal, and Lantz went in search for a new voice for Woody Woodpecker.In 1950, Lantz held anonymous auditions. Grace, Lantz's wife, offered to do Woody's voice; however, Lantz turned her down because Woody was a male character. Not discouraged in the least, Grace made her own anonymous audition tape and submitted it to the studio. Not knowing who was behind the voice he heard, Lantz picked Grace's voice for Woody Woodpecker. Grace supplied Woody's voice until the end of production in 1972, and also performed in non-Woody cartoons.
At first, Grace voiced Woody without screen credit, thinking that it would disappoint child viewers to know that Woody Woodpecker was voiced by a woman. However, she soon came to enjoy being known as the voice of Woody Woodpecker, and, starting with 1958's, allowed her name to be credited on the screen. Her version of Woody was cuter and friendlier than the manic Woody of the 1940s, and Lantz's artists redesigned the character to suit the new personality.Lantz's harmonious relationship with Universal, the studio releasing his cartoons, was jarred when new ownership transformed the company into Universal-International and did away with many of Universal's company policies.
The new management insisted on owning licensing and merchandising rights to Lantz's characters. Lantz refused and withdrew from the parent company by the end of 1947, releasing 12 cartoons independently through in 1948, into the beginning of 1949. Financial difficulties forced Lantz to shut down his studio in 1949. Universal-International re-released Lantz's UA (and several earlier) cartoons during the shutdown and eventually came to terms with Lantz, who resumed production in 1951. From this point forward, Lantz worked faster and cheaper, no longer using the lush, artistic backgrounds and stylings that had distinguished his 1940s work.Lantz used his TV appearances on (which began in 1957) to demonstrate the animation process. Later, Lantz entertained the troops during the and visited hospitalized veterans. Walter Lantz was a good friend of movie innovator.Retirement and deathBy the 1960s, other movie studios had discontinued their animation departments, leaving Walter Lantz as one of two producers still making cartoons for theaters (the other studio was ).
Lantz finally closed his studio's doors for good in 1972, because by then, he explained, it was economically impossible to continue producing them and stay in business as rising inflation had strained his profits, and Universal serviced the remaining demand with reissues of his older cartoons.In retirement, Lantz continued to manage his properties by licensing them to media. He continued to draw and paint, selling his paintings of Woody Woodpecker rapidly. On top of that, he worked with and other youth groups in his area. In 1982, Lantz donated 17 artifacts to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, among them a wooden model of Woody Woodpecker from the cartoon character's debut in 1941.
The Lantzes also made time to visit hospitals and other institutions where Walter would draw Woody and Grace would do the Woody laugh for patients.During the 1980s and 1990s Lantz served on the advisory board of the.In 1990, Woody Woodpecker was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1993, Lantz established a $10,000 scholarship and prize for animators in his name at in. Walter Lantz died at St.
Joseph Medical Center in from on March 22, 1994, at age 94. Awards. In 1959, Lantz was honored by the City Council as 'one of America's most outstanding animated film cartoonists'. In 1973, the international animation society, ASIFA/Hollywood, presented him with its. In 1979, he was given a special Academy Award 'for bringing joy and laughter to every part of the world through his unique animated motion pictures', being the second animator to receive this award (the first was, who received it three times, while was in 1995 the third to receive the merit). In 1986, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Folkart, Burt A.
Retrieved 2011-11-22. Retrieved 2011-11-22. Solomon, Charles (1985-12-29). Retrieved 2011-11-22. Maria Gervasi was born on December 4, 1878 in Calitri to Michele Arcangelo Gervasi and Maria Concetta Bozza. Governmentcheese.ca. Lenburg, Jeff (2006).
Retrieved 2012-12-01. Editor (June 10, 1994). National Student Film Institute/L.A: The Sixteenth Annual Los Angeles Student Film Festival. The Directors Guild Theatre.
CS1 maint: extra text: authors list. Editor (June 7, 1991). Los Angeles Student Film Institute: 13th Annual Student Film Festival.
The Directors Guild Theatre. CS1 maint: extra text: authors list. Brady, David E. Retrieved 2011-11-22. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
When I described this show to people, they gave me the look over. NO ONE believed me when I said there was a show about a chimp in a high rise building, wearing a grey suit with a red tie, sitting in a leather chair, speaking English. And another girl chimp in a dress, also speaking English (Yeah, would YOU have believed me?). I remember Nickelodeon briefly showed it, and it's one of the shows that I vividly remember when I watched back in the good ol' days of Nick with 'You Can't Do that On Television,' and 'Double Dare' (aka the 1980s). I remember it either came on before, or after 'The Monkees.'
I highly enjoyed this, because the chimps were talking! And it was so cool how they got them to interact, and I guess 'act' human. It was so funny. And I was like, 4 or 5 or something. So basically anything that came on I got a kick out of. I have searched high and low for information on this show.
It has taken me forever to figure out what the title was. I heard it was on TV Land, but I don't think it is anymore.
Everytime I see someone doing a 'chimp' thing where they have clothes on, I totally think of this show. I finally have closure on it now.
I know I'm not crazy. If you have a chance.look around for it on TV!
The one scene I described is the only thing I can remember. If I enjoyed it when I was 4, then it has to be good, something good for the kids. The earliest kids' show I can recall watching with any regularity, and probably still one of my favorite guilty pleasures. In the grand tradition of 'The Man from Uncle', 'Secret Agent', and 'The Avengers', comes this late 60s spy series, with a twist. It was done ENTIRELY with live chimps acting out the roles of the characters, with voiceover artists providing the dialog. It was incredibly funny watching the chimps talk, brandish weapons, drive cars, ski, and doing just about anything we higher-order primates are capable of. And probably with more sincere acting!
Lancelot Link is a brilliant (though slightly inept) secret agent with the Agency to Prevent Evil (APE) fighting to thwart the evil schemes of CHUMP - a renegade syndicate bent on world domination, run by a vicious Baron, and his horde of evil-doers. Trotting around the globe waging a covert war against CHUMP, Link is aided in his battle against the forces of evil by his trusty lady agent sidekick, Matta Hairy, as they carry out the orders of the venerable Commander Darwin (who usually runs afoul of Link's attempts to be helpful). The show provides a big tip of the hat to 'Get Smart', which it parodies mercilessly (a spoof of a spy spoof!). Veteran character actor Bernie Kopell (Conrad Siegfried on Get Smart, and Doc on The Love Boat) even reads the role of the villainous Baron in all his 'Goot Evenink Shmart!'
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The episodes were always filled with simian puns (a rock group called 'The Evolution Revolution', etc.) The Baron's Rogues Gallery of Bad Guys included the despicable strong monkey, Creto, the Hong Kong-based Dragon Woman, and the despicable Dr. The real fun of this piece is that after a few minutes, you get so involved in the plot and the action that you almost forget you are watching a group of live monkeys performing tricks.
You really begin to believe that they can talk and do all that other stuff. I loved it as a kid, and years later when a local affiliate ran a few reruns, I loved it as a teenager. I imagine if I see it again on cable, I will love it as an adult. This series was semi-recreated years later on Fox with a series of bumpers for their Saturday morning series, called 'Dynamo Duck' - a secret agent baby duckling thwarting the evil plans of guinea pigs, lab mice, and other small creatures. A little hipper and edgier than Link, but it's Link that everyone remembers. I was a small child when this ran during its one season in 1970, and it had a profound effect on me, although at the time I had no idea why.
While some people argue that 'H.R. Puffinstuff' was the most psychedelic, drug-fueled kids' show of all-time (and of that period), I would say it comes in a close second to 'L.L.' Watching 'L.L' now, you can almost picture the haze of pot smoke and LSD trips the creators and writers of this show must have gotten their ideas from! It's like a stoner's PhD thesis! Is a surrealistic masterpiece worthy of Salvador Dali (wonder if the old boy ever watched it?
Now THAT would be something to behold!). It's easy to understand why it only ran for one season, and equally easy to see how it has achieved the cult status it enjoys today. Truly a time capsule of the late 60s/early 70s, thank goodness that it's now preserved for posterity on DVD!
Children and heads of the world unite! I remember this one when it was passing on the french CBC Network. A good and funny french-Canadian dubbing (among those voices: Ronald France, Benoit Marleau and Elizabeth Chouvalidze) who made those chimpanzees much more funnier. However, it's this spoof of all spy and psychedelic series (James Bond, the Man from U.N.C.L.E. And the Monkees among others) which makes this series worth to watch. It maybe bad and dumb for others, but leave your seriousness at the door when you'll watch Lance and Mata Hairi make the move on the Baron, the Dragon Lady and all the CHUMP villains. And like the Baron says at the end of each show: we'll meet again!
And that Ed Sullivan spoof, it is so funny! I too am in the position of bizarre looks and 'yeah,right' comments. Only one of my dearest friends is behind me on this bandwagon. No one else but he remembers Lancelot Link, Spy Monkey. Everyone else thinks we are crazy. As we tell them it is impossible for both of us to remember a show so vividly if it wasn't real.
We like to bring it up occasionally to see if anyone else remembers the show. I remember the chimps acting so person like and solving crimes/mysteries. I would like to see some of the show again as an adult with a different perspective. I'm so glad that others are in the position of weird looks and doubtful statements. Yep it was a cool show and I remember it well. Thanks for validating what we already know. I remember this show.
I was a kid in 1970 when Lance Link: Secret Chimp went on, and sadly, off, the air. Even after it was cancelled, it was still on in reruns on Saturday mornings. Lancelot Link was a pop star by day. He played in a rock band called The Evolution Revolution.
(A good question for a JEOPARDY! Rhyme Time category.) He was also a secret agent for a spy agency called APE. (The Agency to Prevent Evil.) Lance's two enemies were Dr. Strangemind and the Dragon Lady. I loved it at first but as the show went on, I didn't buy it. I mean chimps playing musical instruments? Lance Link, Secret Chimp, whatcha gonna do when that Dr.
Strangemind comes after you? I absolutely loved this show when it came out in 1970, and I would be thrilled to have the episodes on DVD. It was clever, campy and utterly silly - qualities which some viewers may not fully appreciate.
How could you not laugh at Ed Simian and the bad banana jokes? The parody of the spy-show genre was dead-on. Exotic locations (chimps skiing is a sight one never forgets), cool gadgets, villains with accents - this show had it all. Of course, in today's world the chimps would be computer-generated so as not to upset the animal rights folks, and therefore the charm of the original would be totally lost. When I asked people about this seldom seen and forgotten show,I noticed I get a strange look. However,I vividity remember this show as a child back in the early 70's when it was shown mostly on Saturday Mornings. This was a show that had a combination of 'The Monkees' mixed throughly with key elements of Robert Vaughn's spy spoof,'The Man From U.N.C.L.E' (in which you had a chimpanzee in the Robert Vaughn role and a man in a gorilla suit played the head agent in the Leo G.
Carroll role)for good measure and believe me it didn't last long when it premiered in the fall of 1970. The series was cancelled that same year. It may have been fun back in its heyday but executives at the network as well as kids weren't buying it one bit since it was pathetically stupid as one of the worst children's TV shows of all time-second to another monkey show called 'Me And The Chimp'(case in point-kids were watching it). I don't know where to begin. This is welded into my childhood memories, more so even than Thunderbirds (tt0057790).
This is pure anarchic, demented children's teevee that simply will never be made again. As a species, we have become so jaded with multimedia that we forsaken our innocence and no longer play with with wisps of imaginative folly and allow them to run free and unrestrained. This is another '60s styled espionage show (Man from UNCLE, Avengers et al.) - except with a cast entirely of chimpanzees. That are in a psychedelic band as a cover. This will never happen ever again anywhere in the universe. But it happened then. It brought so much joy to my eight year old mind.
And it still does. Plebs now will watch it and dismiss it with a hipster 'meh'.
Contextualize and imagine. This was made in a world on the brink of annihilation.
This is how we reacted - absurdist farce delivered with a chimp middle finger salute. Really appreciated this show in 1970. My kids now understand who I am as a person by watching this with me.
The humor and the vibe here are who I am and match my values to a tee. 1) Never take yourself too seriously 2) Regardless of the situation keep the right perspective. 3) Enjoy your life and what it has to offer to the fullest extent. There are many other life lessons I have gleaned from the various episodes of Lance.
Just keep an open mind and a true heart. Learn to appreciate and accept other people and cultures. Understanding and patience are the attributes of good character. Aggression and impulsive behavior should be avoided. Suffice it to say this is a funny satiric period show that describes the ethos and freedom of a simpler more innocent time. Thank you for producing it and I'm glad I can enjoy it once again. Amusing at first.
Got old real fast. I thought it was cute for about ten minutes. It was inevitable that someone would create a series where Chimps acted and talked like humans (after all, Mules and Horses had talked in movies and on t.v., hadn't they?
Why not Chimpanzees?). Mel Blanc supplied the Humphrey Bogart voice for Link. What really got to me was Lance's Chimp girlfriend, Mata Hairy(?), with her smarmy voice bleating out, 'Laaaanshalot,' a la Edith Bunker. It aired on Saturday afternoons in my town where the t.v.
Would be running but the family was involved in other pursuits and giving it momentary nods of attention. Cute monkeys acting like a detective and his secretary/girlfriend. Why pay attention to a plot? A lot of thought and creativity went into the show but it just couldn't hold my attention.
I'm glad for those who liked it and were entertained by it. To me, the best kids shows are the ones that both kids and parents can enjoy together. Well, 'Lancelot Link' is definitely NOT a program that the parents can watch.as after about five minutes the novelty will wear off and the parents will be praying for their own death! It simply is a chore to watch this show unless you are a child. Think about it.the show is nothing but chimps dressed up in human guise and acting out (very crudely) a James Bond-style show. As a 6 year-old, I was even bored by it-though I had friends who watched it regularly.
Heck, when I was a senior in high school, I even knew a guy who skipped school just to watch it!! So, obviously someone liked it.
But then and now, I simply don't get it and it's a one-joke show that you'll either tolerate or it will annoy you to no end.especially if you are older than 5. This was actually a show about torturing animals; in this case, chimpanzee min-keys (as Clouseau would say).
I remember this show when it first came out. My brother loved it; I thought it was sick stuff. Really sick stuff. I knew it was a satire on shows such as Get Smart!, but it made no difference. I simply watched in horror at the unnatural things they did to those hairy critters They would dress up these poor chimps in the most uncomfortable looking clothes and force them to do outlandish things, all while flapping their lips. Often they would do things like drop a barrel of bananas on their heads as they tried to scamper away. If you watched the chimps closely, you could see that they were not amused.
I don't mind seeing a chimp running around after Johnny Weissmuller, but this was over the top, especially when they did stuff that obviously scared the living crap out of those chimps (I don't envy the dude who had to change the chimp's clothing).
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