Wayne Allwine: A Celebration of Life
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Herb Tannen (Wayne and Russi�s agent) was the next speaker. �Watching Wayne from a different point of view was really amazing. He was a remarkable guy. He wasn�t just funny. He wasn�t just clever. He wasn�t just creative. He was like a great actor. He embraced Mickey Mouse in a way that was so endearing and touching �.He embraced Mickey Mouse beyond what I would expect an actor to do. He loved Mickey Mouse. �But he was also a noble warrior. He fought for Mickey Mouse�He would not allow anything to change the image, the integrity, the intelligence and lovability of Mickey Mouse.. and the same thing with Russi doing that with every role she has ever played�Thanks for the Memory.�
Don Hahn told the audience �Wayne was a master of sound of all kind�not just the drums, but the piano and the guitar and the harmonica and there was the saxophone, and the banjo, and also the ukulele and ten other instruments.� This led into a clip showing Wayne as a musician. The next speaker was Brian Kahanik (well known guitar musician) who was also a friend of Wayne. Brian said �Russi, thank you so much for asking me to be here� Last time I was on the beach and I was writing some songs and I wrote this tune. I think it kind of goes along with the way Wayne was and he brought the sunshine with him. This is a song called Sunshine Man (which he played.)�
John McEuen (founding member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) spoke next �It was such a shock to get a call from Russi, because I didn�t know that Russi was Minnie. But as she was telling me about this a month ago, her voice kept going higher and higher (he imitated Minnie�s voice saying It�s going to be so much fun!!!)�.I have a very special honor right now. I get to play Wayne Allwine�s banjo.� John performed several tunes by himself and some with his son.
Les Perkins, who had the original idea for Disney Character Voices Department, said �In Jan 1988, I started Disney Character Voices�Wayne finally became the official voice of Mickey across the board. For the first time in decades Mickey had one consistent voice and personality though out the company�toys, records, theme parks, everything. Now at that time Wayne had a successful career as a sound effects and foley artist as you�ve seen. With more Mickey work now showing up, it became increasingly difficult for Wayne to get away from the sound effects work and do recording sessions. So he gave up his sound effects career. He did some of it on the side a little bit. But that stopped so that he could dedicate himself just to doing Mickey�s voice�. He knew that meant a significant loss of income because after all, Mickey is not a full time job. I really think he did it out of a sense of responsibility and his love for the company.�
Rick Dempsey (Senior VP of Disney Character Voices and Disney Character Voices International) spoke next �I had the great pleasure of working with Wayne for twenty years. He was much more than just an actor or a character voice. He really was a great friend and just a joy to be around. When Les started Character Voices, he designed a character reference guide and it listed out all the characteristics of Mickey Mouse and we still use that today�some of those characteristics and you can see ..and these were written twenty years ago and you can see how much they parallel Wayne Allwine. First characteristic: Mickey is folksy, easy going, polite and well mannered. Second attribute�: Mickey is a kid at heart and that is certainly true of Wayne�. Next Mickey is very humble� Next description is that Mickey is clever�Mickey is a devoted friend�Mickey had a great sense of humor. ..Mickey is an ambassador of good will and.. that�s exactly the way Wayne was.�
The next speaker was Tony Anselmo (Donald Duck).� Thank you all for being here to help honor Wayne. Wayne had a sincere respect and understanding of what made Disney Disney..and he strived very hard through his work to preserve the character that began with Walt Disney himself�.We were taught by the veterans who had worked with Walt that the character doesn�t come from the vocal chords but it comes from your soul, and nobody knew that better than Wayne. Anybody can crack a falsetto and squeak out a couple of Mickey Mouse lines but Wayne created the illusion of the life in Mickey with his heart, preserving the integrity of the character�s personality, warmth and appeal for over thirty years. Walt described Mickey Mouse as a little Jimmy Stewart, a little Errol Flynn and maybe everything a good Boy Scout was. And Wayne was all that in real life, that part wasn�t acting. Wayne was a gentleman. He had integrity, was a dedicated employee. He was kind, a loyal friend, and funnier than any professional comedian. Being together on holidays and for dinners, and working in recording sessions with Wayne was a lot more fun than work. He would have us laughing so hard sometimes that it made it pretty tough to get any of the scripted lines recorded, especially for Russi. (Laughter) The fact that the Voice of Mickey was married to the Voice of Minnie was as happily ever after a story as any of Walt�s fairy tales and this one was for real. Wayne and Russi had a relationship that I envied. I�ve never known two people so in love, who respected and adored each other so sincerely and that came through in their work together as the mice. I feel very proud to have worked with Wayne for so many years and privileged to know Wayne was my friend but more than that, he was family. Wayne�s friendship, kindness, sense of humor and the innate talent that he brought to the character and life of Mickey Mouse will be sorely missed.� Then Tony spoke in Donald Duck�s voice �I am sure going to miss you, Mickey. Ahh.�
This was followed by the entire audience being deeply moved and sighing Ahh followed by lengthy applause.