Paid to take the Mickey
QUESTION How many actors have voiced
Mickey Mouse?
Walt Disney was the first to provide Mickey’s signature falsetto. the character debuted in 1928’s steamboat Willie, but wasn’t given a voice until the following year in the Karnival Kid, the ninth short in which he featured.
Disney’s workload and increasing hoarseness, brought on by smoking, meant Foley (sound over-dubbing) artist Jimmy MacDonald sometimes deputised.
in 1947, scots-born MacDonald became the official voice of Mickey. On his retirement in 1977, he was replaced by soundeffects man Wayne allwine for the new Mickey Mouse Club.
in 1991, allwine married Russi taylor, the voice of Mickey’s girlfriend, Minnie. He provided the voice of Mickey for 32 years until his death in 2009.
the current voice of Mickey is California-born voice artist and illustrator Bret iwan. as well as the cartoons, his voice features on the Disney cruise line, Mickey toys, theme parks and video games.
Due to ever-increasing demands, Disney broke with tradition and created a second official voice of Mickey in 2013.
Chris Diamantopoulos voiced the character for the Mickey Mouse tV series. the producers were looking for a voice similar to Walt Disney’s portrayal to match the vintage look of the series.
Other artists who have provided the voice of Mickey over the years include Joe twerp in Mickey Mouse theatre Of the air, 1938; stan Freberg in Mickey Mouse’s Birthday Party, 1954; and les Perkins for the tV specials 1986’s DtV Valentine and 1987’s DtV Doggone.
Andy Biggs, Crewe, Cheshire.
QUESTION Was eating fish once condemned as ‘popish’?
tHe Roman Catholic Church forbids the eating of meat during fast days, but coldblooded fish are acceptable.
When the Medieval Church institutionalised 40 days of fasting during lent, this helped maintain a healthy fishing trade. eating fish was so commonplace that a 15th- century schoolboy moaned in his notebook: ‘though wyll not beleve how werey i am off fysshe, and how moch i desir to that flesch were cum in ageyn.’
in 1522, after the Church refused his divorce from Catherine of aragon, Henry Viii broke away from the religion and its traditions. in Protestant england, eating fish or ‘Popish flesh’ was considered antimonarchy. supply was further damaged by the Dissolution of the Monasteries because monks tended inland fisheries.
Furthermore, in 1541, Henry proclaimed that eggs and milk could be consumed on fast days and the number of holy days was reduced by a quarter.
the decline in fisheries caused major problems for the english court. the cheapest way to supply a naval force was to encourage the building of ships that, while used for commercial purposes most of the time, could be impounded along with their crews in times of crisis.
edward Vi’s chief adviser William Cecil attempted to rectify this by reintroducing fasting days in 1563: ‘let the old course of fishing be maintained by the straitest observation of fish days, for policy sake; so the sea coasts shall be strong with men and habitations and the fleet flourish more than ever.’
Wednesdays, known as Cecil’s Fasts, were declared fish days in addition to the existing Friday and saturday meatless days. However, there was considerable opposition in Protestant circles and by 1585 the legislation was allowed to lapse.
Jenny Lewis, Kingsbridge, Devon.
QUESTION The Duke of Marlborough wrote daily letters to his wife from battlefields in the 17th century. How did they make their way to England?
FROM the earliest days of organised military expeditions, field commanders maintained contact with their monarchs and governments through the use of couriers. the word stems from the latin
currere, meaning to run. the most famous courier was Pheidippides, who carried the news to the spartans of the victory over the Persians at the battle of Marathon in 490 BC. His achievement gave us the sporting event that bears the name of the battle.
not only did couriers have to contend with the physical exertion, weather, thirst and hunger, but they might also be ambushed. For this reason, several couriers carrying the same message were dispatched by different routes.
From Roman times, couriers changed horses, ate and slept at staging posts. these were usually garrisons or fortresses, but were sometimes inns. this use of the word post gave rise to the term for the mail service.
By the 17th century, if dispatches had to cross the sea, they were taken to the nearest friendly port where Royal navy packet ships — small, fast craft — would be waiting.
as well as dispatches, the networks would be used by senior officers for private correspondence. letters were also sent poste restante, which means they were collected from a staging post.
While John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, might write to his wife every day, it could take weeks or even months for the letters to be delivered.
Couriers became known as dispatch riders, because they carried dispatches. they swapped horses for motorbikes from World War i.
the descendant of the courier system is the British Forces Post Office (BFPO). this service operated by the Royal logistics Corps from RaF northolt not only handles all official mail to and from armed Forces units stationed abroad, but also personal mail for service personnel and their families overseas.
Bob Dillon, Edinburgh.
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