Mr. Magoo
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Mr. Quincy Magoo is a cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus (also famed in popular culture for his role as Thurston Howell III in the 1960s sitcom Gilligan's Island), Quincy Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his nearsightedness, or latent myopia, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem. Affected people (or animals) consequently tend to think that he is a lunatic, rather than just being nearsighted. In later cartoons he is also an actor, and generally a competent one except for his visual impairment.
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[edit] History
Mr. Quincy Magoo's first appearance was in the theatrical short cartoon The Ragtime Bear (1949), scripted by Millard Kaufman. His creation was a collaborative effort; animation director John Hubley is said to have partly based the character on his uncle Harry Woodruff [1], and W.C. Fields was another source of inspiration. Columbia was reluctant to release the short, but did so, only because it included a bear. However, audiences quickly realized that the real star was Magoo, one of the few "human" cartoon characters ever produced in Hollywood at the time. The short became a box-office success. John Hubley, who created Magoo, handed the series completely over to creative director, Pete Burness. Under Burness, Magoo would win two Oscars for the studio with When Magoo Flew (1955) and Magoo's Puddle Jumper (1956).
On talk shows, Backus often told the tale of how he originally discovered Magoo's voice when he put on a fake rubber nose that pinched his nose slightly, giving it the nasal sound. He was only able to perform the voice with the help of the rubber nose for some time, but eventually learned how to recreate it without its assistance. He would usually pull out the nose (or a facsimile, since the original had been lost some years before) and put it on and break into the familiar voice.[citation needed]
In the 1955 film Rebel Without A Cause, Jim Stark, played by James Dean, made a bitterly sarcastic remark about children ("Drown 'em like puppies!") imitating the voice of Mr. Magoo. This is an interesting example of metafiction, since Jim Stark's father was portrayed by Jim Backus, who even taught Dean how to do the voice properly.
In 1957, the record album Magoo in Hi-Fi was released. Side 1 consisted of a dialog between Magoo and his nephew Waldo taking place while Magoo was attempting to set up his new sound system. Music on the album was composed and conducted by Dennis Farnon and his orchestra. Side 2, the Mother Magoo Suite, was a series of musical pieces which included two solos by Marni Nixon.
In 1959, Mr. Magoo starred in 1001 Arabian Nights, directed by Jack Kinney, UPA's first feature-length production.
In the 1960s, UPA transferred its attention to television, and began producing the series The Mr. Magoo Show for the character. Because of the demands of the television industry, UPA was forced to churn out cartoons at a far greater quantity than the studio had done for theatrical release; the quality of these cartoons was thus criticized in some circles though they also had a decent fan following.[citation needed]
However, one bright moment in the UPA television era came with Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, a shortened but largely faithful retelling of Charles Dickens's tale. It is considered to be a holiday classic of the 1960s, ranking alongside A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.[2] The special inspired production of an animated TV series entitled The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo, which placed Magoo as an actor in other well-known stories. After an introduction in Magoo's backstage dressing room, Magoo was depicted in such roles as The Count of Monte Cristo, Merlin in an upbeat retelling of the story of King Arthur, Friar Tuck in Robin Hood, and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
In the late 1970s, Mr. Magoo appeared in a new Saturday morning CBS television series called What's New Mr. Magoo?. This series was made under license by the DePatie-Freleng studio, as UPA had by this time ceased in-house cartoon production.
In 1997, during a fad for live-action films based on cartoon characters, Mr. Magoo was portrayed by Leslie Nielsen in a live-action Mr. Magoo feature film. It failed to find critical or popular success, in part because many support groups for the disabled protested it on behalf of the blind (although Magoo is not actually blind – he simply refuses to wear glasses for his nearsightedness).
Classic Media/Sony Wonder began issuing the Mr. Magoo cartoon series on DVD in 2001, beginning with Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.
Mr. Magoo helped advertise the General Electric line of products throughout the 1950s and 60's.[3] In 2005, Mr. Magoo became the spokesman of the optical retail store Sterling Optical. Magoo also was featured in a series of commercials for Stag Beer in the 1960s.
Mr Magoo's catchphrase was "Oh Magoo, you've done it again!"
Mr. Magoo is an alumnus of Rutgers University. The reason behind this is that his creators wanted him to be "a college alumnus who was still fired up with the old school spirit [and they felt] Rutgers was the embodiment of the 'old school tie' in America."[4]
[edit] Characters
- Mr. Quincy Magoo - An elderly, bald man whose eye-sight is failing, though he either does not know it or is too stubborn to do anything about it (voiced by Jim Backus).
- Waldo - Magoo's nephew (voiced during the original UPA theatrical films era, first by Jerry Hausner, then Daws Butler, then later by Casey Kasem in the 70s series).
- Angesis McBarker - Magoo's dog, appeared only in the 70s cartoon series, What's New, Mr. Magoo?, voiced by Frank Welker (mainly known for his vocal talents in popular cartoon series like Scooby-Doo and Transformers).
- Mother Magoo - Magoo's "momma", Linda.
- Charley - Magoo's Chinese houseboy. Charley's depiction as a Chinese stereotype was controversial. The character was prone to unusual misuses of English, such as referring to himself in the third person as "Cholley", and calling Mr. Magoo "Bloss" instead of "Boss". In the late 1960s, episodes featuring Charley were dropped from the series and his character was never mentioned again.
- Grandma "Granny" Magoo.
- Prezley - Waldo's "partner in crime" in the 1960 cartoon.
- Bowser - Magoo's dog (really a Siamese cat).
- Wheeler and Dealer - two children Magoo often babysits.
[edit] Theatrical cartoon shorts
- For a complete list of theatrical Mr Magoo cartoons, see List of Mr. Magoo cartoons
The following Mr. Magoo cartoons were either nominees for or recipients of the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons):
- 1950: Trouble Indemnity
- 1952: Pink and Blue Blues
- 1955: When Magoo Flew (winner)
- 1956: Magoo's Puddle Jumper (winner)
[edit] References
- ^ Letter from Hubley. Kaufman claimed in a 2007 interview that the character was based on his uncle[1].
- ^ Hill, Jim (November 28, 2006). Scrooge U: Part VI -- Magoo's a musical miser. JimHillMedia.com. Retrieved on 2006 12-25.
- ^ General Electric advertisement featuring Mr. Magoo. Life Magazine December 14, 1959
- ^ Rutgers timeline Rutgers University. Accessed 2008-01-05.
