Paul Frees-A Disneyland Exclusive?


s8ntmark

Member
I might be wrong about this. But I was thinking about it and I dont think Paul Frees recorded much of the attraction audio for the Disney Parks other then DL.

Sure his tracks were brought over with the Pirates and HM attractions...but what about non-multiple attractions? I was looking at a really great site about Adventures thru Inner Space and realized that none of the other parks had this ride (obviously), plus I dont think Paul Frees recorded anything for the other park either

If Im totally off base please let me know, Id hate to be misinformed..

Mark!
 

X-S Tech

Active Member
Actually didn't he narrate the first version of Hall of Presidents. But beyond that I don't know that many attractions used much narration. Come the late 1970's more attractions were thrill oriented and while they had extensive backstory there wasn't much narration.
 

s8ntmark

Member
www.atommobiles.com

And let me tell you, Its equals Doombuggies.com for sheer exhaustive research, great site!

Mark!

In fact Im going to make a new topic for anyone who is interested...
 

Burnsland

Member
Actually didn't he narrate the first version of Hall of Presidents.

Although he didn't narrate the attraction, he did provide several voices in the movie portion, such as George Washington and Stephen Douglas.
 
W

wondergreg

The original narrator of The Hall of Presidents was Lawrence Dobkin. In addition to Frees, Dal McKennon played Andrew Jackson.
 
.....the film voices for Hall of Presidents (One Nation Under God) were recorded in late 1969.......Paul Frees left Disney on a very bad note.......after the this period of time. He did not work for Disney after the very end of 1969. The Disney/Freese situaltion had something to do with royalties........as a voice artiest gets a payment everytime his work is used........Paul wanted a similar form of payment......his concern: i was paid to do a 'ghost host' for single payment. yet my voice is now being used in two parks, and over and over..........so Paul refussed to work with Disney, and Disney refussed to work with Paul. Paul of couse wnet on to do countless voices for many, many projects outside of Disney. Most noted .Rankin-Bass animagic.


Paul Frees commited suicide in 1984 for undisclosed reasons.




DC-88 SPACELINER
 

1313

Member
Paul Frees did not commit suicide. He died on 11/2/86 of a heart attack at his home in Tiburon, California. He was 66 years old. There was nothing suspicious regarding his death.

Frees had been in failing heath due to his life-long pursuit of... well, let's just say that Paul REALLY enjoyed "wine, women and song" and leave it at that.

It is true that Frees and Disney parted company on bad terms. In fact, Jim Cora used to have a framed copy of one of Paul's "F-you, you cheap bastards, I'm going to sue you back to Kansas City" letters on the wall in his office.

On a strictly anecdotal note, Paul and Jack Wagner were drinking buddies and could often be found enjoying themselves at the Disneyland Hotel (the old Top of the Park bar and/or the old Monorail Bar) and occasionally afterward in the park itself during the '70s, whenever Frees was in town. There is a fairly well-known (and true) story of Wagner and Frees riding Adventure Thru Inner Space sometime after the Omnimovers were accelerated to get people in and out this infamous make-out attraction faster. To adjust for the more rapid pace of the vehicles, Frees' narration was sped up by around 8% with the result being that Paul now sounded more like Paul Lynde than his hero Orson Welles.

To put out it mildly, Frees did not go gently into the night as he exited the attraction. Eventually, security appeared and calmly guided Jack and Paul back to Ike's (the head of Disneyland Security for many years) office for some black coffee, a chat and a taxi.

Sadly, there is no reference to music of any kind in this post.
 

s8ntmark

Member
what a wonderful story-I had no idea that Paul was such a hard drinker...But for some reason it doesnt surprise me. Im glad he didn't commit suicide, that would have been a real downer (unless he hung himself from the from the top of the stretching room and they just never removed his body...that would actually be kinda cool)

;)
 

s8ntmark

Member
BTW

I love that these 2 Disney icons-Paul Frees and Jack Wagner-would go get drunk and raise hell at Disneyland...thats hilarious!

And oddly...modern
 

SharonKurland

Active Member
s8ntmark-

Um, I'm not sure, but I think that drinking and reveling has been going around for a long, long time. Heck, look at POTC!

-Sharon-
 
Sad eithere way to have lost a talent like Paul Frees, but i am glad that the info i had regarding paul's death was not true. I always found it difficult to belive.......and
i did forget his death was in 1986....not 84.



DC-88 SPACELINER
 
didnt know they were drinking buddies. That might explain one of Jack's funniest works, a sound file with the history of the "f" word set with Vivaldi in the background. Definitely one of the funniest things Ie ver heard, since you recognize his voice immediately....

Speaking of Adventure Through Inner Space, who was the composer of the wildest attempt at future synth music with a regular orchestra? The results I always loved, to say the least...
 
"the film voices for Hall of Presidents (One Nation Under God) were recorded in late 1969"

That's true for most of the program, but the Lincoln-Douglas debate section of "Hall Of Presidents" is actually a slightly condensed version of what was produced for the expanded LP of "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln" several years earlier.

Sorry to hear that Frees and Disney parted on bad terms, though in a 1976 CBC interview that's on the Haunted Mansion website www.doombuggies.com, he was quite willing to keep plugging the work he'd done for Disney.
 

s8ntmark

Member
You know now that I think about it, I cant think of any Disney animated features that Paul Frees did.

Am I incorrect? I know he was the voice of (my favorite Non Ratigan Disney character Ludwig Von Drake) but I have no recollection of him doing a voice for a feature.

Can someone correct me?
 

Gurgitoy2

Active Member
I don't recall him in any Disney animated features either, however I know he did do the voice of Meowrice in Gay Purr-ee.
 
I know Frees appears on-screen in THE SHAGGY DOG, and he is heard in DONALD IN MATHMAGIC LAND, but neither of those qualify as animated features... Interesting point you have there!
 
Paul Frees never did any Disney all-animated features as a major actor but DALMATIONS had him doing the voice of the THUNDERBOLT announcer within-the-flick.

One thing also might be noted about Sterling Holloway, rather what Holloway DIDN'T do at Disney--

1) Any of the Mickey, Donald, etc.shorts, despite his narration of many specials, oneshots,etc.

2) major voices, or any original character or narration for a Disney ride or otherattraction(closest was his original dialogue for the Cheshire cat)(too bad no Pooh rides were done when he was around, onyl Fantasylanbd's early 1970s Pooh showing from the two 1960s mini-flicks)

Maybe Diz just didn't wanna overexpose the guy.Or maybe they thought Holloway wouldn't fit in with the ghosts, pirates, and Small World children, though IMHO Holloway's voice WOULD fit in totally with the Tiki Tiki TIki birds.Pity the attraction whcih I still enjoy anyhow didn't have Holloway..:D
 
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