And for that matter, shows us how deeply talented Billy West is for having to master such a voice. He can't beat Frank Welker only because Frank's larynx is weird. He's like an X-Men with his esophagus, he mimics an entire forest with it alone.
I don't personally think I would carry that banner too high ever since Paramount took all the cartoon rights from Fleisher Studios and went to Famous Studios for the Popeye cartoons series. They were almost as pathetic as the Felix the Cat Cartoons to me.
@@ericcaires6423 Bonnie Poe was the first voice of Olive Oyl, but then Mae Questal quickly took over the role for every cartoon, except when production moved to Miami and she was recast with Margie Hines.
William Costello may have been the first voice of Popeye, but Jack Mercer WAS the character. And he voiced him for all his cartoon appearances since 1935 to 1957, except for select cartoons from 1945-1946 due to the WW2 draft. No actor can compare to Jack Mercer.
Jack Mercer is the 2nd Voice of Popeye from 1935-1945, 1946, 1947-1984 (Mercer passed away in 1984), and William 'Billy' "Red Pepper Sam" Costello is the original voice of Popeye from 1933-1935 (Costello also passed away back in 1971).
There was one other Popeye voice in one of the Popeye cartoons from 1935, "Be Kind To Aminals", a really weird-sounding voice. I used to think that it was Disney voice actor Candy Candido, who said in a magazine interview that he did Popeye's voice in only one Fleischer cartoon because his price was so high and that "I was the lowest Popeye ever.". But now I think that Candy Candido misremembered which studio it was and that he did some of Popeye's voice in "Peep in the Deep", with some of it being done by Jack Mercer, maybe when he was on leave. I think Floyd Buckley, who was one of the voices of Popeye on the Popeye radio show, is the oddball voice in "Be Kind To Aminals". I have a 78RPM record of "Floyd Buckley, Radio's Popeye" singing songs from the Fleischer cartoons like "A Clean Shaven Man" and "Brotherly Love", along with an original song, "Popeye on Parade".
@@denniseudela411 Right; .....just because of Dennis...I'm off to watch (Thanks to RU-vid) an episode of Popeye (with the 'sliding doors' intro) and totally relive my lovely childhood!Thanks Dennis (and RU-vid)
@@mitchly Hi Billy...I can relate so well. I was always longing to see those doors episodes, like since the late 60's. Then... (No You Tube yet), I ordered online a 3-disc special Popeye collection Vol 1 1933 -'38 in 2007. That's when I feasted my eyes & traveled in my time machine to be a kid again, this time with my own (2) kids & introduced them to the Sailor guy! The discs contained both B&W & when they first have shorts in technicolour!😊👌 Of course now, just type it on YT!
When Jack mumbles them zingers under his breath in the old Popeye cartoons, I'm rolling back again constantly to hear the last 3 lines I just laughed over
Jack had a wonderful voice and was skilled/talented. I love the train whistle he does at the end. My late father introduced me to Popeye, when I was a child. He would record lots of episodes on VHS tapes and play them. Popeye and Tom and Jerry. Happy memories. Kindly, C.
Thanks for the Vid. Reminds Me of My Old Grandpa. He Would Do Funny Stuff To Make His Grandkids Giggle. Thanks for Bringing Back Such Great Memories from My Childhood. Much Appreciated. 👍
when i was a kid, i literally wore out my vhs tape of popeye and sinbad the sailor/ ali baba and 40 thieves....the voice acting is incredible...some of popeyes seemingly random mumblings and weird jazz scatting are actually really, really impressive
I've read that other actors who did Popeye's voice found it to be a strain on their voice doing it over lengths of time, but Jack Mercer did it naturally. He practically had monopoly on Popeye for close to 50 years.
You’re related to him and yet your family doesn’t have any of his tape or memorabilia? That’s sad to think about. But I’m glad the internet basically has everything lol
No I think his final performance as Popeye was for a TV commercial for the home version of the Nintendo Popeye video game. The commercial also had Mae Questel doing the voice of Olive and Jackson Beck doing the voice of Brutus. So the old gang was back together again one last time. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tTGUameYJmk.html
Pretty sure Jack Mercer could easily do Tuvan throat singing if he wanted to. Is anyone else here hearing how much control he has over his projected overtones?
my son is all over jack mercer as them other characters in those paramout cartoons regularly without the stars besides popeye when he was going against inuyasha for them when we still had directv which we don't anymore he likes jakatsu and kagura over over those stupid noveltoon kids in land of the lost jewels cause of global wrestling federation on espn classic that still lives on at&t uverse
wish there was an actual full length candid interview of this great man who gave meaning to our childhood instead of this bullshit tv game where they waste pointless minutes "guessing" who the real celebrity is.Worst part,this seems to be the ONLY actual video of Jack on the internet :/
I edited this from a tape of Mercer's full appearance - the link is in the description. Mike Sporn - a NY animator, interviewed Mercer in 1978. Here's a link to the audio file on SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/cartoon-research/jack-mercer-interview-by
FYI, "To Tell The Truth" never does in-depth interviews with anyone. Hell, you should be thankful for this "bullshit TV game" show; otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten to see Mr. Mercer in action.
@sagniknath5537 Jack Mercer was interviewed by animation historian G. Michael Dobbs, though I don't where you would find it. Here's a quote (probably not exact): "One of my greatest pleasures was interviewing Jack Mercer. He was a very nice man and he wasn't really aware of his large number of fans and his influence on animation."
@sagniknath5537 G. Michael Dobbs' long-in-the-works history of the Fleischer studio is finally finished. But it's so long that it's going to be published in more than one volume! So far the first volume, Made of Pen and Ink: Fleischer Studios, The New York Years, has been published. As I said in my above post, G. Michael Dobbs interviewed Jack Mercer while he was still alive.
from Popeye the Sailorpedia: Bluto was voiced by a number of actors, including William Pennell, Gus Wickie, Pinto Colvig, Tedd Pierce, Dave Barry and Jackson Beck. Beck also supplied the voice for Brutus in the early 1960s. In the 1980 live-action movie, he is portrayed by Paul L. Smith. In The All-New Popeye Hour and Popeye and Son, he is voiced by Allan Melvin, and in Popeye's Voyage by Garry Chalk.
@@tdalaskaJack Mercer did Bluto's voice in some of the Popeye cartoons released in 1940 like "Fightin' Pals" and "Nurse Mates". For some reason he did the voice of Brutus in one of the made-for-TV Popeye cartoons from the early 1960's, "Sea No Evil", instead of Jackson Beck. And he did the voice of Brutus in the Saturday Superstar Movie "Popeye Meets The Man Who Hated Laughter" from the early 1970's, which I watched for the first time last year. But I didn't know that writer Tedd Pierce was one of the voices of Bluto. There are 3 Popeye cartoons from 1939 and 1940 that I can't pin down the voice of Bluto: "Customers Wanted", "Ghosks is the Bunk" and "Stealin' Aint Honest". None of them sound like Pinto Colvig or Jack Mercer. I wonder which one is Tedd Pierce?
Finally, I can puts a faesk to the voisk... and it's not the face I excepted such a voisk to come outta! Translated from Popeye-speak: Finally, I can put a face to the voice... and it's not the face I expected such a voice to come out of!
I couldn’t help but think this man was lip-synching to a cartoon soundtrack instead of actually singing this live! I could not put his actual face to what I only know as Popeye.
Per Wikipedia: Winfield B. "Jack" Mercer (January 13, 1910 - December 4, 1984) was an American voice actor, animator and writer. He is best known as the voice of cartoon characters Popeye the Sailor and Felix the Cat.
@@bobbybickert Thank you Bobby. I just watched it. Pretty funny episode, although I don't even think Mr. Mercer used his actual voice speaking as the rental attendant either. Let me know if you find any other opportunities!
@@stevealaska73 Another RU-vid member uploaded this entire episode of To Tell the Truth, in which you can hear Jack Mercer's natural voice when he's being asked questions by the panel. It's definitely the same voice as the man at the skate rental counter counter in "A Date To Skate". (Taking into account the time difference of over 35 years.) ("A Date To Skate" was one of the first Fleischer Popeye cartoons I watched, back when I could only watch them while visiting an aunt and uncle who lived near Atlanta. "The Woody and Popeye Show" opened with the bit of Popeye asking for a can of spinach from someone in the theater audience. Luckily I got to see the entire cartoon the next year, 1984.)
