Angus "Alan" Young was an English-Canadian-American actor, voice actor, comedian, and radio and television host/personality, who starred in his own radio and TV shows in the 1940s and 1950s, including his self-titled Emmy Award-winning show The Alan Young Show. He was best known for his leading role as Wilbur Post in the classic prime time sitcom Mister Ed, and also co-starred with Rod Taylor in the 1960 sci-fi film The Time Machine.
For Disney, Young was best known for providing the voice of Scrooge McDuck from 1974 to 2016. He was the first actor to voice Scrooge with a genuine Scottish accent. He was born to Scottish parents[1] and raised in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh after his father moved the family there when Young was a toddler, and although he had tried to get rid of his Scottish accent when he moved to America, it proved useful when he was cast as Scrooge.[2][3] Young once said in an interview that he based Scrooge's voice on the voice of his own Scottish father.[4] Young was later cast as another well-known Scottish cartoon character: Haggis MacHaggis from Nickelodeon's The Ren & Stimpy Show.
Young's other animated roles included voicing Hiram Flaversham in The Great Mouse Detective and Doctor Cooper in the TaleSpin episode "The Old Man and the Sea Duck". His only live-action role for Disney was Dr. Winger in The Cat from Outer Space.
He also voiced Mickey Mouse and Merlin in the Disneyland Records album An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Performed by The Walt Disney Players, for which Young also wrote the script. It would be the first and only time that Young voiced them.[5][6] The album also marked Young's first performance as Scrooge McDuck.
Filmography as Scrooge McDuck[]
Alan Young with Scrooge McDuck
Young's most notable animated role was that of Scrooge McDuck, a character he voiced for over 40 years, making him one of the longest-running voice actors for the same character in Disney history. While he is best known for portraying Scrooge as the main character in the popular 1987–1990 animated series DuckTales, Young portrayed the role throughout a wide variety of Disney projects, including (but not limited to):
1970s[]
1980s[]
- Mickey's Christmas Carol
- Mickey's Christmas Carol (audiobook version)
- DuckTales
- All episodes (with the exception of "Superdoo!", "Sir Gyro de Gearloose", and "Launchpad's Civil War", since Scrooge did not appear in these episodes)
- Various commercials and promotional material
- Disney Read-Along series
- Welcome to Duckburg
- Launchpad's Daring Raid
- Dinosaur Ducks
- Scrooge's Treasure Hunt
1990s[]
- DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp
- Raw Toonage
- The Twelve Days of Christmas (Disney Records)
- Disney's Sing-Along Songs: The Twelve Days of Christmas
- Disney On Ice
- Disney theme park appearances
- Disney Mania (1990–1992)
- Mickey's Starland Show (1990–1992)
- A Sparkling Christmas Spectacular - Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
- Numerous others
- Mickey Mouse Works
- Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
2000s[]
- House of Mouse
- Mickey's Christmas Carol (Storyteller version)
- Disney's Party
- Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas
- Disney Th!nk Fast
2010s[]
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
- DuckTales Remastered
- DuckTales: Scrooge's Loot
- Disney Magical World
- Disney Magical World 2
- Mickey Mouse
- "Goofy's First Love"
- "No"
Roles[]
(An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Performed by The Walt Disney Players)
(The Cat from Outer Space)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Alan Young was one of the many celebrities to attend the opening of Disneyland and can be seen in the Dateline: Disneyland opening day broadcast. In particular, he is seen getting off of Peter Pan's Flight (which he apparently rode with Captain Hook) and is interviewed about it by Art Linkletter, one of the commentators. Young tells Linkletter that he flew over the real London a few months prior, and the Peter Pan ride was the exact same thing.
- Although his role as Scrooge McDuck had already been recast in the reboot series of DuckTales, Young was originally going to have a guest voice role in the new series as Fergus McDuck (Scrooge's father). However, these plans were cancelled, as Young had passed away before his lines could be recorded, thus voice actor Graham McTavish was given the role for Fergus McDuck.[7]
- Young and Carl Barks (Scrooge's creator) were in contact with each other, as well as familiar with each others' work on the character. In an interview, Barks said that he liked Young's portrayal of Scrooge and thought it fit the character well.[8]
- Young's voice role as Scrooge McDuck is virtually identical to his non-Disney voice role as Haggis MacHaggis in Nickelodeon's The Ren & Stimpy Show.
References[]
- ↑ "Alan Young Actor – Obituary". Telegraph (May 26, 2016).
- ↑ "The Making of Mickey's Christmas Carol". YouTube (Oct 21, 2012).
- ↑ Hollis, Tim (2011-08-16). Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records (in en). Univ. Press of Mississippi, page 142–143. ISBN 9781617034336.
- ↑ "Forever Young: A Conversation with Alan Young". Pop Culture Addict (Nov 15, 2019).
- ↑ "Dickens' Christmas Carol by Disneyland Records". MouseVinyl (Dec 25, 2009).
- ↑ "Mickey's Christmas Carol". Cartoon Research (Nov 12, 2013).
- ↑ Tweet Aug 17, 2017
- ↑ "Mister Ed and Beyond: An Interview with Alan Young". Cinema Retro (May 22, 2016).
