Month: December 2014

Christine Cavanaugh, voice of Babe and Rugrats’ Chuckie, dies at 51

BBC News Online

Christine Cavanaugh in 1996  
 
Christine Cavanaugh won an Annie Award in 2000 for providing the title voice on Dexter’s Laboratory
 
Voice actress Christine Cavanaugh, who brought to life characters including Babe and Chuckie on Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats, has died aged 51.

Her sister, Deionn Masock, confirmed the actress had died on 22 December at her home in Utah.
Ms Masock said the cause of death was not known.

“She was able to do incredible and amazing things with her voice and bring lots of smiles and many laughs to many people,” her family said.

Announcing in the death in the Los Angeles Times, they wrote: “Her imagination, humour and intelligence were evident to anyone who had the pleasure of meeting her.

“Many know of her from the roles she played, but in each role there was a part of her showing through that the ones who truly knew her could see.”

Cavanaugh was a prolific actor, providing the voices of dozens of cartoon characters in the 1990s.

She began her career with small parts on TV shows including Cheers, before landing her first big role in 1991 as Gosalyn Mallard on Darkwing Duck.

Still from Babe and Chuckie from Rugrats  
 
The voices of Babe and Chuckie from Rugrats were among Christine Cavanaugh’s best known

The same year she was cast as the cowardly Chuckie Finster in Rugrats – a role she would perform for a decade.

In 1995, she gave her voice to the title character in the hit movie Babe, based on Dick King-Smith’s 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig, about a talking pig who wants to be a sheepdog.

Cavanaugh also provided the voice to kid genius Dexter in Cartoon Network’s Dexter’s Laboratory for seven series from 1996.

She was twice nominated for an Annie Award for the role, before finally winning the prize in 2000.

Over her career, the actress also provided voices for animations including Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Wild Thornberrys and The Powerpuff Girls.

She retired from voice acting in 2001 and moved back to her native Utah to be closer to her family.
According to her obituary, a memorial for Cavanaugh has been held on Antelope Island in Utah.

Tempus fugit

The Dark Night Detectives – Makes Orwell’s 1984 Look Like A Boy Scout Manual
Ben R. Dilworth
Paperback,
A4
50 Pages 
Black & White Supersuspiscion-o-scope
Price: £8.00
Ships in 3-5 business days.
Its a world where if you stand up for what is right you’ll be lucky if its just a beating you get. 
A world where people are starving (if poor) and the rich live in luxury. 
A world where you have to have birthing Rights. 
Where sacrificing someone to the Devil is acceptable -as long as they pay the wages. 
A world where if you DO NOT take that bribe you WILL be made an example of. 
Some of Ben Dilworth’s most provoking and dark work in ages -and far too real in 2014!

Decisions Made

Like all of us, I tend to let myself think “its going to get better this year” or “This should sell” but my mind tends to kick me very hard. Dreams -feck: no one controls their dreams!!

Last night, after a very very depressing day I finally got about an hour’s sleep and my subconscious pulled out two fine pump-action shotguns and blasted away -only think missing was Arnold Schwarzenegger in his biker leathers (that is a whole other dream I will NEVER talk about!).

Anyway, after 40+ years in publishing/comics and being ripped off, back-stabbed and defrauded and five years of the worst sales ever (and yet great quality books covering all genres) I made a decision.  As far as I can see it will not be reversible because, getting close to 60 (2017?) I just do not want to continue struggling on.

I have The Green Skies and a couple other projects I want to finish.  Clear my brain.  Now, yes, I know I am only a minor comic creator and I have never had a big ego to tell me otherwise, but I have seen similar creators to myself live the same life.  They die and suddenly their original art becomes sellable and the money they so desperately needed when they were alive goes to others.  I’m a comic historian  and I’ve seen this -no one was interested enough to even comment on the artwork Mike Western did for Comic Bits number 1 or the Leopard From Lime Street illo he pencilled and I inked.  Mike dies and suddenly I get offers of £200-300 BUT no.  They have sentimental value.

So, come 1st January, 2016, once everything has been scanned and printed, I will be burning a couple thousand or so pages of original art.  Nothing original will remain but anything I miss will be burnt as per my instructions.  Seriously, if no one has the slightest interest in the books or art while I’m alive like feck are they going to profit from stuff after I’m dead.  You are not supporting a dead artist!

It’s simple logic. Six people in the lifeboat and five have skills vital to survival -sixth person goes in the sea. In this case that “sixth person” are my original art pages.  And my online store gets closed the day I retire. Another year which should be as bad as the last four so I’ll be looking forward to that bonfire which will be a release in itself.