Enchanted Tiki Room Voice


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Tim Hollis

Member
The voice credits for the original Enchanted Tiki Room list an Ernie Newton as the voice of Pierre. Some of the longtime Disney singers have also identified him on some of the LP's of the late 1960s (particularly in the Grandpa role in the "second cast" version of THE ONE AND ONLY ORIGINAL GENUINE FAMILY BAND), but other than the fact that Newton is no longer living, we have been unable to learn anything else about him for the forthcoming book.

Has anyone who has researched the Tiki Room ever discovered biographical info on Ernie Newton, or does anyone know whether he has any surviving family who could help identify his voice on the records he supposedly made?
 
s8ntmark

s8ntmark

Member
HI Tim~

Yeah, Ernie Newton is a hard voice to identify. Either it wasnt very distinctive or he was really good at disguizing it for the Tiki Room. The only other credit Ive seen for him is during the Worlds Fair. About a month into the show, Ernie replaced Wally Boag as Parrot in the Toucan and Parrot show, and Fulton Burly replaced Paul Frees.

This info can be found in the footnote section of the Worlds Fair Issue of Persistence of Vision.

I just checked IMDB. There is an "Ernest Newton" I wonder if it is the same guy. He is listed for 4 very small uncredited roles. Very Odd.

Well, good luck in your search.

Mark!
 
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Joseph

Member
I just came across this old post and wanted to add some info if anyone is still interested.

Ernest (Ernie) Newton is mainly known for being a Hollywood "ghost singer", doing the offscreen singing for various onscreen actors. Some of the films he dubbed for are BRIGADOON (1954), singing for various characters, SILK STOCKINGS (1957), singing for Peter Lorre, and SOUTH PACIFIC (1958), singing for Jack Mullaney.

Of particular note for Disney fans, he did the singing for Buddy Ebsen in THE ONE AND ONLY, GENUINE, ORIGINAL FAMILY BAND (1968), and his vocals were used on the soundtrack LP as well.

Finally, in addition to being Pierre in the Enchanted Tiki Room, he can be heard today as the voice of the singing Decapitated Knight in the Haunted Mansion.
 
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Greg Ehrbar

Member
He dubbed Buddy Ebsen? I too thought it didn't sound like him. As Johnny Carson used to say, "I did not know that!"

Newton also sang for Boo-Boo Bear in "Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!" (alongside the great Bill Lee singing for Yogi). He also received rare album credit for the weird and fascinating album "Seven Dreams" by Gordon Jenkins, which starred Lee with Thurl Ravenscroft, Jeannette Nolan, Dick Beals and many other familiar voice actors. The album is very creative (two years in the making and pretty edgy for 1953) but it's not for everyone. It's been reissued on CD here:
http://www.amazon.com/Musical-Prodigy-Gord...6446&sr=8-2
 
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Joseph

Member
Regarding Buddy Ebsen, we have to remember that he made FAMILY BAND quite late in his career, and oftentimes older actors believe their voices no longer have the quality they used to, and it is often they themselves who insist on having their singing dubbed. Peggy Wood, for example, who played the Mother Abbess in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, was a wonderful singer in her younger years, but by the time she played the Mother Abbess she was up there in years, and she was concerned her voice couldn't do justice to the songs, so she was dubbed in the movie by singer Margery McKay. So it's possible this is what occurred with Buddy Ebsen.
 
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Greg Ehrbar

Member
The oddest offscreen singing to me was when they used Betty Noyes (who also sang "Baby Mine") to dub Debbie Reynolds when, in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, she was supposed to be dubbing Jean Hagen in the song, "Would You." A dub of a dub.

The only other Disney ghost singing I can think of offhand in the Walt era was Dorothy McGuire, dubbed by Marilyn Hooven in SUMMER MAGIC.

But does anyone know if, in THE JUNGLE BOOK, that's really George Sanders singing at the end of "That's What Friends Are For?" I've been told by some that it is him, but it sounds kinda Lee to me.
 
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merlinjones

Member
>>The only other Disney ghost singing I can think of offhand in the Walt era was Dorothy McGuire, dubbed by Marilyn Hooven in SUMMER MAGIC.
 
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Joseph

Member
Bill, regarding Maureen O'hara, she actually recorded the full song "For Now, For Always" for the PARENT TRAP "soundtrack" LP (BV/STER-3309) but she only sang a few bars of it in the movie, and hummed a little of it. I guess she just wasn't very good at lip synching. There are several singers who have this problem. It's definitely a skill. I read somewhere that she wasn't very happy about not getting to sing the full song. She actually was a very good singer.

Regarding Bill Lee singing for George Sanders in THE JUNGLE BOOK, it's been assumed for many years that Thurl Ravenscroft did the singing. He even gets credit for it on the 1990 CD reissue (606122) of the soundtrack. But it sure sounds like Bill Lee to me.
 
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diegorivera2

Member
In case anyone's attempting to google Fulton to learn more, please note the last name is 'Burley'. (Not that anyone but me would be so inclined to spend their time in such a manner. . .)
 
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