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Jimmy MacDonald (sound effects artist)

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Jimmy MacDonald
Born
John James MacDonald

(1906-05-19)May 19, 1906
Crewe, Cheshire, England
DiedFebruary 1, 1991(1991-02-01) (aged 84)
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Glendale
Citizenship
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
Occupations
Years active1934–1989
Spouse
Sarah Roberta Cullen
(m. 1936)

John James MacDonald (May 19, 1906 – February 1, 1991) was a British and American foley artist and voice actor. He was the original head of the Disney sound-effects department and was also the second official voice of Mickey Mouse from 1947 to 1976 after Walt Disney stopped playing the character and before Wayne Allwine became the third voice of Mickey in 1977.[7]

Early life

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MacDonald was born on May 19, 1906, in Crewe, Cheshire.[3][4] His parents were Richard William MacDonald and Minnie Hall. The family emigrated to America when MacDonald was a month old. They travelled via the SS Haverford from Liverpool, England, arriving in Pennsylvania 15 days later.

Career

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Sound effects

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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 sound department.

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 such as 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 that gets the best of Donald Duck in his 1950s short films. He also made the sound effects of Tick Tock the crocodile from Peter Pan (1953) and Dragon Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (1959) by using castanets.

MacDonald also added voice effects, including on-screen humming for Kirk Douglas in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).

Most of his effects are available on Cartoon Trax Volume 1, from The Hollywood Edge, which was released in 1992. A few of his other effects showed up on other non-Disney sound libraries, such as the International Sound Effects Library, BBC Sound Effects Library, and the Hanna-Barbera Sound Effects Library, both from Sound Ideas. Some other releases containing MacDonald's sound effects include a few specialty sound-effect record releases from Disneyland Records, most notably Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House.

At the time of his death, he was preparing to work on the sounds for the Splash Mountain attraction in Tokyo Disneyland and Walt Disney World.[8][9]

Voice acting

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James MacDonald did the first test yodeling for the dwarfs in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) before they brought in professional yodelers[10] as well as doing some sounds for Dopey, such as his hiccupping and sobbing.[11]

By 1947, Walt Disney was getting too busy and hoarse from smoking to continue voicing Mickey Mouse, so he offered the job to MacDonald. MacDonald voiced Mickey Mouse until his retirement in 1976, when he was replaced by his sound-effects protégée, Wayne Allwine, for The New Mickey Mouse Club.[1][6] MacDonald returned to voice Mickey again, though, for an appearance at the 50th Academy Awards in 1978 and the opening of Star Tours at Disneyland in 1987.[5] Despite formally retiring, MacDonald remained involved with several Disney productions; he voiced Evinrude from The Rescuers (1977) and was often consulted for sound-effects projects.[12][8]

MacDonald was the original voice actor for Chip, one half of the duo Chip and Dale. He provided the voice of Lumpjaw in Fun and Fancy Free, Jaq and Gus the mice and Bruno the dog in Cinderella (1950), the Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland (1951), Humphrey the Bear, the howling of the dogs at the pound (along with Thurl Ravenscroft) in Lady and the Tramp (1955), the Wolf in The Sword in the Stone (1963), and the hyena in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). He appeared in the film Toby Tyler (1960) as the Circus Band Drummer, but was uncredited[citation needed] and appeared in Fantasia (1940) as one of the musicians[13]

MacDonald played drums in the Firehouse Five Plus Two jazz band. He played with the band on and off from its inception until it disbanded in the early 1970s.

Personal life

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MacDonald married Sarah Roberta Cullen in 1936, they remained married until his death in 1991.[12]

Death

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MacDonald died of heart failure at his home in Glendale, California, on February 1, 1991, at the age of 84. He was buried in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.[1]

Filmography

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Sound-effects work

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Film

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Year Title Position Notes
1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Sound effects Sound effects
1938 Mickey's Trailer Sound effects
1940 Pinocchio Sound effects
1941 The Reluctant Dragon Sound effects
Baggage Buster Sound effects
Dumbo Sound effects
1942 Bambi Sound effects
Saludos Amigos Sound effects
1943 Victory Through Air Power Sound effects
1944 The Three Caballeros Sound effects
1946 Make Mine Music Sound effects
Song of the South Sound effects
1947 Fun and Fancy Free Sound effects
1948 Melody Time Sound effects
Inferior Decorator Sound effects
Seal Island Documentary film, sound effects
So Dear to My Heart Sound effects
1949 Honey Harvester Sound effects
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad Sound effects
1950 Cinderella Sound effects
Beaver Valley Documentary film, sound effects
1951 Nature's Half Acre Documentary film, sound effects
Alice in Wonderland Sound effects
1952 The Olympic Elk Documentary film, sound effects
Water Birds Documentary film, sound effects
1953 Peter Pan Sound effects
Bear Country Documentary film, sound effects
Powlers of the Evergladers Documentary film, sound effects
The Living Desert Documentary film, sound effects
1954 The Vanishing Prairie Documentary film, sound effects
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Sound effects
1955 Lady and the Tramp Sound effects
The African Lion Documentary film, sound effects
1956 Secret of Life Documentary film, sound effects
1957 Perri Sound effects
1958 White Wilderness Documentary film, sound effects
1959 Sleeping Beauty Sound effects
1960 Jungle Cat Documentary film, sound effects
1961 One Hundred and One Dalmatians Sound effects
1963 The Sword in the Stone Sound effects
1964 Mary Poppins Sound effects
1966 Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree Sound effects
1967 The Jungle Book Sound effects
1968 Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day Sound effects
The Love Bug Sound effects[14]
1970 The Aristocats Sound effects
1971 Bedknobs and Broomsticks Sound effects
1973 Robin Hood Sound effects
1974 Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too Sound effects
1977 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Sound effects
1977 The Rescuers Sound effects
1979 The Black Hole Special sound effects

Music

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Year Title Position Notes
1964 Mary Poppins Assistant conductor Credited as James MacDonald
1968 The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band
1971 Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Acting credits

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1936 The Cowboy Star Still Photographer Sound effects
1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Dopey (voice, hiccuping and crying) Sound effects
1940 Donald's Vacation Various voices Sound effects
Fantasia Percussionist Sound effects
1941 The Reluctant Dragon Sound effects man Sound effects
1942 Out of the Frying Pan Into the Firing Line Butcher (voice) Sound effects
1943 Private Pluto Chip (voice) Sound effects
1946 Squatter's Rights Chip (voice) Sound effects
1947 Fun and Fancy Free Bongo, Lumpjaw (voice) Sound effects
Chip an' Dale Chip (voice) Sound effects
1948 Mickey Down Under Mickey Mouse (voice) Sound effects
Pluto's Purchase Sound effects
Three for Breakfast Chip (voice) Sound effects
Mickey and the Seal Mickey Mouse (voice) Sound effects
1949 Pueblo Pluto Sound effects
Winter Storage Chip (voice) Sound effects
All in a Nutshell Sound effects
Toy Tinkers Sound effects
1950 Cinderella Jaq, Gus, Bruno (voices) Sound effects
Crazy Over Daisy Chip (voice) Sound effects
Trailer Horn Sound effects
Suspense Jeff Episode: "Wisteria Cottage"
Food for Feudin' Chip (voice) Sound effects
Out on a Limb Sound effects
1951 Chicken in the Rough Sound effects
Corn Chips Sound effects
Plutopia Mickey Mouse (voice) Sound effects
Test Pilot Donald Chip (voice) Sound effects
Alice in Wonderland Dormouse (voice) Sound effects
R'coon Dawg Mickey Mouse (voice) Sound effects
Out of Scale Chip (voice) Sound effects
1952 Donald Applecore Sound effects
Lambert the Sheepish Lion Wolf (voice) Sound effects
2 Chips and a Miss Chip (voice) Sound effects
Pluto's Party Mickey Mouse (voice) Sound effects
Pluto's Christmas Tree Mickey Mouse, Chip (voices) Sound effects
1953 The Simple Things Mickey Mouse (voice) Sound effects
Rugged Bear Humphrey the Bear (voice) Sound effects
Working for Peanuts Chip (voice) Sound effects
1954 The Lone Chipmunks Sound effects
Dragon Around Sound effects
Grin and Bear It Humphrey the Bear (voice) Sound effects
Social Lion Lion (voice) Sound effects
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Ned Land humming "Whale of a Tale" (voice) Sound effects
1955 Bearly Asleep Humphrey the Bear (voice) Sound effects
Beezy Bear Sound effects
Up a Tree Chip (voice) Sound effects
1956 Chips Ahoy Chip (voice) Sound effects
Hooked Bear Humphrey the Bear (voice) Sound effects
In the Bag Sound effects
1959 Noah's Ark Animal sounds (voice) Sound effects
1960 Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus Drummer Sound effects
1963 The Sword in the Stone Wolf (voice) Sound effects
1966 Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree Bees (voice) Sound effects
1967 The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin Saloon Percussionist Sound effects
The Jungle Book Shere Khan, Bagheera (voice, roaring) Sound effects
1968 The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show Mickey Mouse (voice) Sound effects
1971 Bedknobs and Broomsticks Hyena (voice) Sound effects
1977 The Rescuers Evinrude, Brutus and Nero (voice) Sound effects
1981 The Fox and the Hound The Bear (voice, archive audio only) Sound effects

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1955–1968 The Magical World of Disney Mickey Mouse, Chip, Lumpjaw (voices) Episodes: "The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show", "This Is Your Life", "Pluto's Day", "Adventures of Mickey Mouse", "Jiminy Cricket Presents Bongo"
1989 Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Humphrey the Bear (voice) Episode: "Bearing Up Baby"

Theme park attractions

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Year Title Role
1971 Mickey Mouse Revue Mickey Mouse (voice)

References

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  1. ^ a b c MacDonald, Jimmy (February 8, 1991). "Obituaries: James MacDonald, 84, Mickey Mouse's Voice". LA Times. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  2. ^ Obituary Variety, February 18, 1991.
  3. ^ a b Birth certificate
  4. ^ a b "California, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGXY-5T13 : Sun Mar 10 23:22:02 UTC 2024), Entry for John James MacDonald and Roberta Sarah MacDonald, 16 October 1940. Born May 19, 1906 in Crewe, England.
  5. ^ a b Korkis, Jim (February 12, 2021). "Animated Characters At the Academy Awards". Cartoon Research. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  6. ^ a b McLellan, Dennis (May 21, 2009). "Wayne Allwine, voice of Mickey Mouse, dies at 62". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  7. ^ [1][2][3][4][5][6]
  8. ^ a b "Interview: Jimmy MacDonald – The Dundee voice of Disney". scotsman.com. December 23, 2009. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  9. ^ Variety Staff (February 18, 1991). "James MacDonald". Variety. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  10. ^ Thomas, Frank; Johnston, Ollie (1995). The illusion of life : Disney animation (1st Hyperion ed.). New York: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-6070-7. OCLC 32509417.
  11. ^ YouTube. "Disney Family Album #4-Jimmy MacDonald". YouTube. Archived from the original on February 6, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  12. ^ a b AP (February 8, 1991). "James MacDonald, 84, Mickey Mouse's Voice". The New York Times. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  13. ^ "Jimmy Macdonald".
  14. ^ Segaloff, Nat (2017). Screen Saver Too: Hollywood Strikes Back. BearManor Media. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
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Preceded by
Original voice
Voice of Chip
1943–1977
Succeeded by
Preceded by Voice of Mickey Mouse
1947–1977
Succeeded by