Call this a "special edition", if you will - a prequel to issue 3.2
since my report on the San Diego Comic Con 2000 still isn't quite
completed.

But enough excuses, let's get to the news.

LITTLE MERMAID SINGS FOR ... DREAMWORKS?

Jodi Benson (voice of Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID) will be featured
in
the upcoming direct-to-video JOSEPH: KING OF DREAMS (a "prequel" to
PRINCE OF EGYPT) singing 5 songs for the soundtrack, along with David
Campbell and Maureen McGovern. Other cast members include Ben
Affleck,
Mark Hamill, Steven Weber and Judith Light.

According to Reuters, "the 75-minute movie, three years in the
works -- even before PRINCE OF EGYPT -- was completed in April and is
being released on Nov. 7."

For the full story, see the following link:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000727/re/video_joseph_dc_1.html
[Source: http://www.animationartist.com/ ]

Incidentally, I just learned that Jodi Benson will be performing and
signing autographs for an event in Warm Springs, Georgia, on August
19. More details available below in the "Events & Appearances"
section.

STATIC'S VOICE A 'SHOCKER'

Comedian Phil LaMarr (Futurama, Mad TV) said in a recent interview
with ComicsContinuum.com that he has completed voice recording on all
13 of the first season episodes as the lead voice of Virgil
Hawkins/Static in Kids' WB!'s upcoming Static Shock! animated series.

"This is the first show where I'm the main guy," LaMarr said. "This
is
also the first time I've done basically animated drama."

LaMarr, a regular on Fox's MAD TV and an avid comics reader, said
that
the animated series is faithful to the original Milestone Comics
series.

"It's interesting because Virgil is a good guy in the sense that he's
a really good kid," LaMarr said. "He loves his father. He knows
what's
right and wrong and does it.

"But, at the same time, it's not goody-two-shoes. He's still flawed
enough to be interesting. He hates his older sister in that
brother-sister kind of hate, and he makes mistakes, even though he's
a
really smart kid and recognizes the importance of studying. Sometimes
he jumps out without thinking and sometimes he can be selfish or
inconsiderate to his friends and his family."

"It's great, because you can get the benefit of being a role model
because he's a good guy and he's on the right side, but at the same
time it's not boring."

[Source: http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0007/31/index.htm ]

JOKER'S GOT A BRAND NEW BAG

Here's some news I witnessed first-hand at the San Diego Comic Con,
but alas, now I must credit ComicsContinuum.com as the source since
he
beat me to it.

Mark Hamill returns as the voice of the Joker in October's
straight-to-video movie, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, but the
character won't be quite the same.

"We're playing him darker this time," producer Bruce Timm said. "One
thing that threw Mark initially the first day is that we said that we
don't want him to be quite as manic as he was.

"He's a different kind of Joker. The initial design theory was that
he
was Hannibal Lecter, although he doesn't eat people. Mark said, 'Well
that's interesting.' He still has the maniacal laugh and things, but
he's much more scarier."

"It was different this time with fitting into another cast. Also, the
Joker is a different Joker," Hamill said. "I couldn't slip on the old
glove. I had to look at it as a whole different animal."

The movie, which will be released on video and DVD, has been moved up
a week to an Oct. 24 release.

Hamill called getting the chance to play the Joker again "an
unexpected pleasure."

"I have to tell you the quality of the script is so high, I really
relished the role," he said. "I never expected to find a character as
rich as this one in animation. So I consider myself very, very
fortunate.

"In fact, I had moved on. I mean, Batman Beyond was a great success,
so they decided to stop doing what they called the 'Coke Classic.' I
saw Paul Dini at Golden Apple (a Los Angeles comics store). I've had
some experience at franchises that move on with out you -- and I
think
you know I'm referring to Wing Commander. I said, 'Paul, what's the
matter? You haven't seen Futurama? The Joker can't come back as a
head
in a jar?' He said, 'Be careful what you wish for.'

"They asked me to do the movie, and I said I'll do it if Joker can
come back."

[Source: http://www.comicscontinuum.com ]

LOOK AT ALL THESE RUMORS

For the record, if you happen to read or hear a report anywhere that
Gregg Berger (Men In Black: The Series; Duckman; Garfield & Friends;
Transformers) died on July 5th, 2000 as the result of falling down a
staircase... DON'T BE TAKEN IN! It's absolutely untrue. The rumor
leaked out into the newsgroups over the weekend when some sick mind
thought it would be "amusing" to see how many would be sucked in by
submitting a false report of Gregg Berger's death to The Internet
Movie Database (imdb.com). IMDb is to blame for not confirming the
accuracy of the story, and according to a message I received from
IMDb
yesterday, it will be August 8th at the earliest before the error can
be corrected.

Gregg Berger is indeed alive and well - I met him in person at the
San
Diego Comic Con on July 22 (which is AFTER the date reported at IMDb,
naturally) after the Cartoon Voices panel. Mark Evanier (who hosted
the panel), also confirmed that this rumor was untrue, having seen
Gregg this past Sunday.

Additionally, any reports you hear of Mark Hamill having throat
cancer
and having to drop out of the cast for BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE
JOKER, are also untrue.

Ironically, what I find hilarious about this latter story is... I'm
the one who is responsible for this rumor!

Now, hear me out, please.

During the Warner Bros Animation panel at the San Diego Comic Con, a
gentleman with an Australian accent stood up to ask Mark Hamill about
his bout with throat cancer and having to quit the movie. When I
heard
this, my mouth literally fell open and a moment later, I couldn't
help
but laugh out loud, much to the chagrin of those sitting around me.

Hamill was absolutely dumbfounded, as were the rest of the guest
panelists, and Hamill answered slowly that it must be some kind of
internet rumor and that his voice was perfectly fine and he'd never
had any sort of serious illness that would have caused him to drop
out
of any project.

I'm sure you're all curious now to hear I'm responsible for this?

Well, let's go back to April 1st, otherwise known as "April Fools
Day". Myself and my fellow staff members at toonzone.net decided to
maintain the tradition of posting absolutely contrived and even
improbable news for our News Page at Toon Zone in honor of April
Fools
Day. We had a lot of fun with it (I admit to writing most of the fake
news items), and tried to make sure visitors were aware that it was
all in fun.

Well, I can see now that didn't happen, but for the record, I NEVER
said Hamill had "throat cancer". But I did write that he'd dropped
out
of the Batman cast. See for yourself here:

http://toonzone.net/news/2000/apr/april-fool.html/

Just shows to go you how powerful the written word can be, and just
how far rumors can travel.

When I met Mark at his Warner Bros Studio Store signing event that
evening, my first words were, "You know that rumor that guy mentioned
at the panel about you having throat cancer?"

Mark didn't look up at me, but he replied as he signed his autograph,
"Yeah, how do rumors like that get started?"

I said sheepishly, "Well, I'm afraid I'm the one responsible for it."

He stopped abruptly and looked up at me, "Wha...?"

I continued, elaborating how that for April Fools Day we had written
fake news items at Toon Zone, and that I myself had written an entry
stating that he [Mark Hamill] had to drop out of the cast on account
of developing "serious vocal problems". I went on to say how that
Warner CEO Jaime Kellner had suggested (fictionally, of course) that
they should just get another Star Wars actor to replace him.

At this point, a smile began to widen across Mark's face.

I then said that because no other Star Wars actors were available,
that Ahmed Best, the voice of Jar-Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace had
been hired to replace Hamill.

At that moment, Hamill burst out laughing and said, "That's
hilarious!
But it's such a shame it got passed around as a rumor. I wish you had
stood up and corrected him so we could have cleared it up. I hate it
when rumors like that get started."

The moral of this story is - be careful of inventing fictional news
items on celebrities for April Fools Day. You might end up having to
confess to them in person.

And now you know... the rest of the story.

EVENTS & APPEARANCES

- Bill Cosby just added two new dates to his concert schedule -
August
11 and 12 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. I
had the opportunity to attend his concert here in Memphis on June
3rd.
I can only say it was one of the highlights of my life. Cosby just
talked about married life after 30 years - I'm not married myself,
but
I can't think of a single time in my life I ever laughed that hard or
was more entertained.

I wrote a review of the performance which I might post here at a
later
time, but let me just say that if you ever enjoyed Bill Cosby's work,
whether it's from his stand-up performances, The Cosby Show, or "Fat
Albert & The Cosby Kids", you owe it to yourself to make the trip to
see his live concert. Experiencing Bill Cosby live in concert is
fantastically entertaining and unforgettable.

To see if "The Coz" might be appearing in your area, you'll find a
concert schedule from August to September here:

http://www.pollstar.com/tour/searchall.pl?By=Artist&Content=BILCOS&AN=
Y

- Gilbert Gottfried (Aladdin's Iago; Superman's Mxyzptlk) has 4
performances this month in the Chicago area:

August 10: Zanies in Chicago, IL
August 11: Zanies in St. Charles, IL
August 12-13: Zanies in Vernon Hills, IL
November 10: Giggles in Seattle, WA

Gottfried is a "regular" (and I use that word loosely) celebrity
guest
on Hollywood Squares, along with Brad Garrett (Toonsylvania; A Bug's
Life; 2 Stupid Dogs). For the week of 7.31.2000, comedian Bobcat
Goldthwait will be on the show. Profiles of all guests can be found
under the "Who's Who" section of the official site, along with some
amusing photos of Garrett and Gottfried mugging for photos with other
celebrities.
http://www.hollywoodsquares.com/

Speaking of Gottfried, I recently added some interviews with him to
his category at The V.A.U.L.T. If there's one thing Gottfried's got,
it's a quick wit, and these interviews are proof of that:

http://dmoz.org/Arts/Animation/Voice_Actors/G/Gottfried,_Gilbert/Artic
les_and_Interviews

- Jodi Benson makes one of only four of her appearances this year on
August 19th, in Warm Springs, Georgia, as a guest of Sacks Route 1,
an
animation gallery there in Georgia. She will be performing live and
signing gallery pieces. See the following link for more details:
http://www.sacksroute1.com/disney%20art.htm

For other Events & Appearances for the month of August, visit The
V.A.U.L.T. and scroll to the bottom of the category for the latest
events:
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Animation/Voice_Actors/Events_and_Appearances/
There are only 4 other events happening this month before there's a
whole month with nothing going on as fall sets in.

I've got a whole slew of other general news I've been saving, along
with plenty of additions to The V.A.U.L.T., but I think I'll save it
longer still because of the length of this issue.

I will announce however, that just last night I hit a new milestone
for The V.A.U.L.T. when I added link #1,200 to the database. I don't
mean to toot my own horn, but I'm quite proud of the achievement.

And that brings this issue to a close.

Coming next issue: interviews with Pat Fraley and Bill Farmer, more
news, updates and additions to The V.A.U.L.T., and that exclusive
Comic Con report I've been promising.

Thanks for reading!

Craig Crumpton
- Host, Voice Actor Appreciation
http://www.egroups.com/group/voice_actor_appreciation
- Assistant Editor "Gookie" for http://www.toonzone.net
- Editor "Voiceroy" for http://zip.to/thevault
The Voice Actors Ultimate Links Treasury
Exclusively at Netscape's Open Directory
http://dmoz.org