Mr. Ed was a Standardbred/Arabian/Grade mix palomino. His real name was Bamboo Harvester, and he was originally taught to move his lips to cues provided by a light touch to his chest or hock, although he quickly learned how to 'speak' on cue when Alan Young paused. His double was named Pumpkin, and both horses were taken for trail rides in the Hollywood Hills on weekends. Equines are prey/flight animals, and his initial nervousness is the result of being in an unfamiliar situation, surrounded by predators (people). The latter portion of his 'interview' was probably shot in calmer circumstances without an audience present. He died in 1970 at 21.
He was NOT cued by a light touch to his chest or a hock. Alan Young revealed in an interview that they'd get a bit of fishing line/wire and run it across the inside of his upper lip, which would cause him to react by moving his upper lip to try to get rid of the irritant. After a while, he became conditioned to this tactic & just would naturally move his upper lip as soon as he'd notice Alan Young stop speaking. Alan Young said he went and rode Ed at a local park with the shows producer who rode another horse While Alan &the producer chatted as they rode alongside each other, the producer pointed out to Alan that every time Alan stopped talking, Ed would start to move his upper lip right after
My favorite show... I love Mr Ed as if he's my own pet. Their couldn't of been a better actor to play Wilbur... perfect match! Older TV makes me so happy.
i lucked out as a kid. in 8th grade my stepdad got us two horses! (my brother and I voted hot tub...sis got her way lol) So I do count myself as one of the few blessed people on this earth , to, sadly not now, was able to care for, ride, challenge and love a horse. its a real thing. Even more than a dog ...as it is humbling, if you can imagine that. I still love the oldies. Mr Ed will always be there. Green Arce's is my favorite though !!! lol !
Hey we guys born in the 50's are modern. My parents remembered a time when they did not have indoor plumbing, or electricity, and many people still drove a horse and buggy uptown but we are totally modern.
@@muckeyduck3472 my family moved from Chicago to Indiana in 1953 we went from having just to walk out the door to take the trolley anywhere YMCA store museum friend to an old hand pump in kitchen an outhouse outside
He's being a little territorial with Alan (boop-ing his face), but he doesn't seem distraught. It's also possible that he's flapping his lips against Mr. Young, which is like a kiss for horses, since he knows him.
As someone who's used to ranch horses that are less tame than this, I can tell you he's fine. A little territorial and needy maybe (whinnying and giving Alan's face a boop-- though that could also be a horse's version of a kiss since he knows Alan), but not upset.
I think it was partially because it was a downtown soundstage which he was not used to and after having been trucked downtown... and then, perhaps more so, the audience. He was used to working with Alan Young and cameras and lights and crew and even "guest stars" -- which, to him, is what Andy Williams would have been... but to have bleachers filled with a couple of hundred people who all laugh in unison -- that was not at all what he was used to. Even Alan Young, while trying, was unable to calm him very much.
gilberticus69 where is your proof of that? I've seen an old video that they were putting peanut butter and fishing line on his lip the peanut butter was for him to try and get off of his lip and the fishing line was his queue to talk.
@Likes&Favorites Yes--in his book "Mister Ed and Me," Alan Young wrote exactly that. Soon he didn't need the string, and he, Alan, and Alan "Rocky" Lane (an old-time Western movies actor who provided Ed's speaking voice [not his singing voice; that was someone else, whose name escapes me], and also taught Alan Young how to ride) naturally fell into a "Three Musketeers-like" sympatico pattern, and effortlessly did their Wilbur/Mister Ed conversation routine.
