Fun Discovery: The Voice Actors Behind Your Favorite Holiday Shows

During our family's Christmas 2020 Film Festival (made possible by social distance due to COVID), we watched some of the animated Christmas specials from my childhood: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Little Drummer Boy, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and  Charlie Brown Christmas.

Thanks to the internet, we interspersed our watching with looking up trivia on the people behind the voices (links at the bottom of his blog).

One man had quite the prolific career: Paul Frees. If Wikipedia is correct, he also had five wives and died by suicide.

Still, the amount of projects to which he contributed is astounding, to say the least.

https://www.otrcat.com/p/paul-frees

https://www.oldtimeradiodownloads.com/actors/paul-frees

And now, check out the faces behind the voices of your childhood favorites:

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Rudolph-the-Red-Nosed-Reindeer/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Santa-Claus-is-Comin-to-Town/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Frosty-the-Snowman/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Little-Drummer-Boy/

https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/How-the-Grinch-Stole-Christmas/

Christmas 2020 Film Festival: Did We Watch all the Movies?

Since my extended family couldn't get together over the holidays, I decided to sit down and watch a long list of movies I have either never seen or have not seen in many, many years.

Rebekah and Timothy joined me for all of them. Daniel joined us for most of them.

You can find the list on this post: http://bryonyseries.blogspot.com/2020/12/christmas-2020-film-festival.html

Now, did we get through all of them? Well, not quite.

But really only because we forgot one (White Christmas, which I've never seen), we ran out of time for a second A Christmas Carol (Reginald Owen), and we added three more films. 

One of those additional films was The House Without A Christmas Tree, which (thanks to the internet) I learned was based on a true story.

We actually own the DVD, worth buying because we couldn't find a decent copy to stream. And worth watching because, even though it was a low budget film, the results were outstanding and the film and concept holds up well to time.

We also added "Hi-Tops," a rare 1985 Christian musical about three angels sent on a special mission to a high school on earth to study peer pressure.

Before you laugh, this movie was a hit among teens when we ran The Higher Ark youth group for our church, and I don't know why. The kids came from some tough homes, but the high amount of enjoyment (and buzz) for this film really surprised us.

Yes, it's deliberately cheesy, but if you can accept that, you can actually enjoy a movie concept that was groundbreaking for its time (MTV was only a couple years old when it was made).

The musical launched Christian artist Crystal Lewis, but some of the other actors are genuinely talented (I'm looking at you Jeff Carter, i.e. Norman J. Pitts - and "Louie" was pretty good, too).

The full move is actually on YouTube.

Finally, the last movie we added to our list is worth a post of its own. You probably haven't heard of it, much less seen it, and it will be hard to get your hands on it, too.

It was on my wish list for "film day" when I home-schooled, but it was so obscure that even when it became available on DVD, the copies cost hundreds of dollars.

The book is short, only 98 pages, but these, too, cost a couple hundred dollars (if you can find one).

I'd only seen it twice on TV, the last time being more than forty years ago. I was surprised at how much dialogue I'd known by heart.

Stay tuned.

Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, Oct. 2 through Oct. 7

All righty, vampire fans: a quick recap. I'm running behind, and it's a long work day and a packed weekend.

YES, I'm still working on Before the Blood. Also this month, we've been working on releasing two books, the first in the Adventures of Cornell Dyer series for middle schoolers and the first book in the Bertrand the Mouse series for young children. We're eyeing an early November release and launching a Bertrand the Mouse Instagram page, too.

Also, if you're a fan of the BryonySeries or any of its elements, please follow the series at @BryonySeries. 

Why? Because I share posts related to writing and anything topical in the series, from history to literature to art to architecture to pop culture to recipes to cats.

What else?

I'm appearing on my very first author panel at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning at the Plainfield Public Library. That panel will be followed by an author fair at 11 a.m. You must register to attend the author panel. Details on that and upcoming events are Here: http://www.bryonyseries.com/Fetes_and_Feasts.html.

Also tomorrow, I've giving away free copies of Snowbell while they last. So if you haven't sampled my "other" writing (not my official newspaper features writing), here's your chance.

And now, the weekly recap:

First, the non-bylined work: the health, faith, and arts and entertainment calendars. Three of them can be found at the link below. http://www.theherald-news.com/lifestyle/ Gotta Do It, runs each Sunday and often stays on the home page throughout the week.

Feature briefs for Tuesday (health), Thursday (faith), Friday (Arts and Entertainment), and Sunday (People) are also edited (texted and photos) by the lady of this blog, but only the stories have bylines.

Another option: I do post the briefs and calendars on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.

And if you do peek at these stories, to quote our editor Kate Schott, "Thank you for reading The Herald-News." :)

Mokena man found success in tile and grout

Dan Lundstedt owns the top-performing location for a national company

“The thing about Dan is he’s creative; he’s not afraid to take chances; he’s very trainable and very coachable; and he has a true entrepreneur spirit. It’s built into his DNA. I can see it,” Jeff Gill, co-owner of Sir Grout, said.

http://www.theherald-news.com/2016/09/29/mokena-man-found-success-in-tile-and-grout/ak1o3gg/

Crest Hill breast cancer survivor forms nonprofit, hosting Oct. 22 fundraiser (VIDEO EXTRA)

Castela McElrath is raising funds and awareness for breast cancer patients and their families

“The black community doesn’t speak to each other much about cancer,” McElrath said. “They don’t like to think about it. They think it will go away.”

http://www.theherald-news.com/2016/10/01/crest-hill-breast-cancer-survivor-forms-nonprofit-hosting-oct-22-fundraiser/amilglk/

Joliet man lived goodness and promoted togetherness

Jerry P’Pool gave, gave and then gave some more

Jerry lent money to those in need, never expecting to receive it back. In fact, people who couldn’t pay it back were those most likely to receive help from Jerry. Angela thinks Jerry still is keeping that tradition from heaven.

“I find pennies every week in the most random places,” Angela said. “I like to think they’re from my dad.”

http://www.theherald-news.com/2016/09/19/joliet-man-lived-goodness-and-promoted-togetherness/afou3kr/

The tale of the church sheep at St. Francis Xavier in Joliet

Imitation sheep at Joliet church are building real community

Positioning the sheep has strengthened the communal sense in the 560-family parish. It’s also been good for the sheep, who certainly aren’t lonely. Langsdorf surmises the church has 16 sheep, but he isn’t certain.

“During the summer, someone went out and bought more sheep,” Langsdorf said.

http://www.theherald-news.com/2016/09/29/the-tale-of-the-church-sheep-at-st-francis-xavier-in-joliet/afzh3xy/

Joliet Junior College's film festival addresses elections, gender identity and the Plainfield tornado

Joliet Junior College’s 4th film festival to feature 3 different movies

“This is a time when we need empathy. There is a shortage of it in the world,” Gisele Atterberry, JJC fine arts professor, said. “Films help us understand people and their situations. I think there is something about being in an audience with other people, hearing when they laugh and sensing when they are silent.”

http://www.theherald-news.com/2016/10/06/joliet-junior-colleges-film-festival-addresses-elections-gender-identity-and-the-plainfield-tornado/amjn7lk/