Above is a publicity clipping of Jonathan Winters for the first movie he ever “appeared” in – as the voice of Sir Quigley Brokenbottom, a pig, in American International’s anime pick-up Alakazam The Great (coincidentally one of the first anime films ever imported to the US).
His final film will be released later this year – the mostly-animated film, Smurfs 2 – where Winters completed his long-running role as Papa Smurf.
Jonathan Winters passed away today of natural causes and was, without a doubt, one of the funniest human beings on Earth. You can read the tributes and see the clips on other blogs. Here we want to celebrate this “living cartoon” who was an inspiration to – not only other comedians, comedy writers and all who loved to laugh – to animators and the world of animation, and left his mark (and voice) in numerous features, TV series and specials.
Winters was a member of the original cast of Hanna-Barbera’s Smurfs (as Papa), as well as a regular voice on H-B’s The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley and Film Police, appeared often on Garfield and Friends, Tiny Toon Adventures, and Linus The Lionhearted. His one-off appearences in animated shows are too numerous to mention – but I’ll mention a few anyway: Johnny Bravo, The Flintstones, Ahhh, Real Monsters, Captain Planet and Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. On the big screen he voiced the Thief in The Princess And The Cobbler, and was featured in the clay animated stop-mo, I Go Pogo (1980).
I can’t let a tribute go with mentioning his scene stealing role in It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, his live action cameo in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and his straight role in the Alex Baldwin’s The Shadow (1994).
Here’s a scene (below) from the Pogo film – with Winters as “Porky Pine”. Not his best role, but a rare clip to represent a rare individual.
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