That's All Folks

I am sure there would be very few who have not come across the above image except for those really matured guys who don't watch cartoons. I just love cartoons and the characters more for their voices than their appearance and antics.

I just love the way Bugs says "aaanh whatszzzup doc" and Tweety says "i thot i thaw a putty cat". But I have never wondered about the person who gave those characters all their voices. It was really amazing that both the voices were given by the same person. I was actually going through some famous last words and came across "Thats all Folks" quoted by Mel Blanc. Then I did some research on the name and found this genius of a man who gave his voice to almost every cartoon character. No wonder he was called "The Man of 1000 voices", although he confesses that he had provided only 850 voices. What a man!

There is more to this guy, he wanted his gravestone to be inscribed with "Thats all Folks". The sentence which was used by Porky Pig at the end of ever Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies show. When you think more about it you realize that those three words mean everything that anybody can say while departing. One could write long poems or paragraphs and still miss out something that could have been said but , this short sentence.. these three words say it all. Here is a picture of his gravesite marker in Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California.

That one sentence and all those voices had made this man immortal. If I ever have a chance to choose the gifts that can be granted in another life I would want to be born with the gift that this man has got. A gift that would entertain millions of people across the world breaking language barriers and live forever in their hearts. In this life, if I had to leave suddenly and if I didn't have a chance to say anything before I leave, and if someone wonders what I would have said to them if I had the chance, I would tell them "That's All Folks".

The best tribute this wonderful man could get was from the characters he gave his voice to and here is the picture of the characters paying tribute to this legend.