Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects artist)
| Jimmy MacDonald | |
|---|---|
| Born | John James MacDonald 19 May 1906 Monks Coppenhall, Cheshire, UK |
| Died | 1 February 1991 (aged 84) Glendale, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Animator, voice actor, musician and head of Disney sound effects department |
| Years active | 1936–77 |
John James "Jimmy" MacDonald (19 May 1906 – 1 February 1991) was a British voice actor and the original head of the Disney sound effects department. He was also the voice of Mickey Mouse from 1946 to 1977.[1][2]
Contents |
[edit] Early life
It is a popular misconception that MacDonald was born in Dundee, Scotland. He was, however, born at the family home in Monks Coppenhall, Cheshire, on May 19, 1906. His parents were Richard William MacDonald and Minnie Hall.[3] The family emigrated to America when MacDonald was six months old. They travelled via the SS Haverford from Liverpool, arriving in Pennsylvania 15 days later.
As a young man MacDonald landed a job as a musician on the Dollar Steam Ship Lines, which in 1934 led to an opportunity to record music for a Disney cartoon. He went on to secure a permanent contract with Disney, becoming head of the cound department.
[edit] Career and sound effects
In addition to directing sounds for animated shorts as aurally complicated as Mickey's Trailer (1938), he developed many original inventions and contraptions to achieve expressive sounds for characters like Casey Jr., the circus train engine from Dumbo (1941); Evinrude the dragonfly from The Rescuers (1977); the bees in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966); and Buzz-buzz (later called "Spike"), the bee who gets the best of Donald Duck in his 1950s short films.
MacDonald also added voice effects, like on-screen humming for Kirk Douglas in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), and chipmunk chatter from various Chip & Dale cartoons, starting with 1943's Private Pluto.
[edit] Voice acting
By 1947, Walt Disney was getting too busy and too hoarse from smoking to continue voicing Mickey Mouse, so he was replaced by MacDonald, starting with the film Fun and Fancy Free (1947). MacDonald voiced the mouse on a regular basis until 1953, and a recurring one until 1977, when he was replaced by young Disney sound effects man Wayne Allwine for The New Mickey Mouse Club (Allwine's first theatrical role of Mickey was in the 1983 featurette Mickey's Christmas Carol).
MacDonald also provided the voice of Jaq and Gus and Bruno the dog in Cinderella (1950), the Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland (1951), Humphrey the Bear, and the Wolf in The Sword in the Stone (1963). He also appeared in the feature film Toby Tyler as the Circus Band Drummer, but was uncredited.
MacDonald also found time to play drums in the famous Firehouse Five Plus Two jazz band. He played with the band on and off from its inception until it disbanded in the early 1970s.
[edit] Death
Having retired in 1977, MacDonald died of heart failure in February 1991 at the age of 84. He was buried in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
[edit] See also
- The Disney Channel's "Disney Family Album: James MacDonald", circa 1985
- Some of his SFX can be heard in non-Disney cartoons like Cow and Chicken, Rocko's Modern Life, CatDog, Disney's House of Mouse, Fish Hooks, Inspector Gadget (1999), Johnny Bravo, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, Mickey Mouse Works, Ed Edd n Eddy, and Saban's Adventures of Oliver Twist, SpongeBob SquarePants, Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz, Timon & Pumbaa, Trail Mix-Up, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story and also various UPA cartoons
- Disney-related SFX are included in Cartoon Trax, the Hanna-Barbera Sound FX Library and the International Sound Effects Library
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- James MacDonald at the Internet Movie Database
- Biography at Disney Legends website
- Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects artist) at Find a Grave
- The Voice of Mickey Mouse at The Scotsman website
- The Voice of Mickey Mouse at BBC Radio Scotland
- Dundee honours the voice of Mickey Mouse at The Times
| Preceded by Walt Disney |
Voice of Mickey Mouse 1946–1977 |
Succeeded by Wayne Allwine |
