February 26 – March 03 (2024)

RANDOM PIC OF THE WEEK

And in keeping with the “star” theme, I found this Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. As an avid star watcher, I feel this cartoon validates me somewhat.

While sitting at Denny’s dining with friends last Friday night, their music system played a song I hadn’t heard in a long time. It sounded great! “Stars” by Simply Red is a wonderful tune!

Monday the 26th – SUPERSTARS! – Prepping my home studio was the first order of the day. Once everything was a go I signed on to do a Source Connect test (Source Connect is a communication program that allows you to do a Voice Over session over the internet), and once they were satisfied that the line sounded good I had something to eat. Just before 1, I signed back on to Source Connect and did my session for ESPN. It took about 20 minutes, but they told me to hold tight while they inserted the lines into the spot. While I waited I wrote Wally’s Week. They came back on about a half hour later and said they needed just a few more lines. After the session finished I did some work around the house, printed my tickets for the “Jesus Christ Superstar” screening later that night, and got my soundtrack LP and movie poster ready to have signed. Several of the cast and crew were going to be at the screening and I was very excited. It’s always been one of my favorite movies. Ted Neeley, who played Jesus, and Barry Dennen, who played Pilate, were at my house for a movie night several years ago and it was wonderful. My buddy Chris Malmin came over in the early evening, and soon after my gal Angi arrived. We drove to the theatre, found parking, and went inside to get situated. We got in line to see Ted and say hi. He’s what I refer to as an ‘ascended being.’ He’s such a dear, sweet soul, and he takes time to speak with everyone who comes up. Chris had never met him before so he was elated to finally get the chance. Angi had never seen this movie so she had no idea what was going on. But she was in for a big surprise. As a student of film, it would be good for her to experience a rock opera on the big screen. After a hug Ted said to me, “I want to buy your hair.” I told him to come over sometime as there was lots in my bathtub drain. And there was getting to be more every day! He laughed heartily. By the time we got into the theatre the best seats seemed to be in the very back row. It’s a very high theatre, so the back row is looking directly at the screen. Perfect! Before the screening Ted, Yvonne Elliman, who played Mary, Larry Marshall, who played Simon, Rob Iscove the choreographer, and David James the set photographer all spoke and told stories. It was magical! I saw my Voice Actor buddy Jess Harnell there, as he’s a huge “Superstar” fan as well. Dave Foley was in the theatre too. I was tempted to say hi, as I had met him before on the set of “Hot In Cleveland,” but I doubted he’d remember. I’m his stunt voice for any Flik jobs he doesn’t want at Disney. As Chris, Angi and I sat in our seats anxiously awaiting the film to start, a young lady ran up the entire flight of stairs and stood before me. “Are you Wally Wingert?” she asked. I told her I was. She said her name was Mona and she proceeded to tell me that her mom used to be a Show Controller at Universal Studios when I was working there as Beetlejuice, and she always told fun stories about me. Mona also mentioned that she would visit her mom at the park from time to time as a little kid, and I always included her in some of the interactive fun of the show. I told her to be sure to tell her mom hi for me, but Mona said, “She’s downstairs in a wheelchair.” I immediately got up and said, “Well let’s go say hi!” A lady sitting next to us said, “I think I’m going to cry.” It was great seeing Mona again and telling tales about the old days at Universal Studios. But the film was beginning so I told her we’d speak more after the movie. The restored 70mm print looked vibrant and fantastic. The experience was a very emotional one for me for several reasons. First, I remember Pastor Jerry Wickre at the First United Methodist Church in Aberdeen, South Dakota dedicating two weeks’ worth of Sunday school classes to the study of this rock opera. It was my first exposure to it. Secondly, I’ve loved this film for years. Thirdly, I recollected several wonderful memories of being in this show back in 1982 at the Sioux Falls Community Playhouse, and my pal Chris Malmin had seen several performances of that show. And now here we were together enjoying the film. And finally, my buddy Barry Dennen has been gone for several years now, and seeing him on the big screen choked me up considerably. He was one of the first celebrities I met when I moved to L.A. back in 1987. I saw him at a screening of “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Cinerama Dome, but the print was awful. When I spoke to him after the film I told him I was a big fan of his Chamberlain character in “The Dark Crystal,” and he seemed surprised by that. Years later he would be on the autograph show circuit signing Chamberlain pictures for thousands of fans. To be honest, I don’t think my eyes were dry at all throughout the entire film. The movie is nothing short of an absolute masterpiece. After the show I bought a cool metal print that featured the cast in the “Hosanna” scene. Photographer David James had mentioned in the pre-show interview that he had many of the original negatives of the images he shot on the set. He produced a few brilliant metal prints for collectors. When he mentioned this, I knew I had to get one. It was already signed by David, so I had Ted and Yvonne (both of whom were pictured in the print) sign it. I also had Larry Marshall sign my soundtrack LP and movie poster. David James and Rob Iscove were kind enough to add their signatures as well. I spoke with Larry Marshall for a bit (he performs a show-stopping number in the film called “Simon Zealotes”) and asked him what it was like to see himself 50 years ago on a screen that was 3 stories high. He said, “I see things that I should have done differently.” It’s hard to believe as I feel the film is perfect. Even Ted had told me before that he wishes he would have done something different after the leper scene. He said that Mary comes to him to put a blanket around his shoulders, but he doesn’t acknowledge her at all. He said he wished he would have at least smiled or nodded. But the director Norman Jewison said the take was perfect. After all, in that scene, Jesus had a lot on his mind, so being a bit “distant” played into the scene nicely. Speaking of director Norman Jewison, Larry had explained in the pre-show that Norman came to him after the first take of “Simon Zealotes” and told him to “take it out.” The metaphor was as if Larry was in a very nice high performance vehicle, but was driving it too carefully. Norman’s advice to “take it out” meant to get it out on the highway and drive it for all it’s worth. Which is exactly what Larry did, and that’s why it’s a show-stopping number. So when Larry signed my LP and poster I asked that he inscribe it with “Take it out!” Good advice for all sorts of life experiences. Since it was late the only place open in the area was Little Toni’s. Chris, Angi and I had a great meal, and it was the perfect end to a wonderful day. I got home, did my auditions, and hit the hay.

Tuesday the 27th – ART’S, AMERICAN AIRLINES, & AMANDA! – After I did a little work I headed to Art’s Deli in Studio City to get some lunch. It’s right across the street from Voice Trax West where I’d be doing a session for American Airlines at 4. I was connected with the team in Australia who is now supplying American with all of their on-board content. I found them both delightful and we had a lot of fun chatting. The session didn’t take quite an hour, so I headed to the grocery store to get some supplies, and then headed home. My friend Amanda happened to be in my area, so we went to get some food at Bob’s Big Boy. When I got back home I did some work around the house, and recorded my nightly auditions.

Wednesday the 28th – FRAME FUN! – Since I hadn’t seen my pal Edi in a while we decided to meet at Paty’s for lunch. Afterwards she met me at Michael’s crafts so I could look for a frame for my “Jesus Christ Superstar” metal print. I also needed the framing pros at the store to remove my “Jungle Book” animation cel from its frame temporarily. This coming weekend I’d be meeting Bruce Reitherman, who provided the voice of Mowgli in the original 1967 film. I wanted to have Bruce sign the cel of Mowgli sitting atop Baloo the bear’s shoulders. Edi picked up a canvas so she could start a painting in her in-home art studio. When I got back home I did some work, and later I did my nightly auditions. I took a WOG (walk/jog), which I hadn’t done the past few nights, and it felt great to be back out again. It was a nice enough evening, I even got to spend some time outside afterwards in the anti-gravity chair. But when it started sprinkling lightly I came back inside. Puzzled as to where I was going to hang my new metal “Jesus Christ Superstar” print, I finally settled on the kitchen. There was a perfect space for it there, so I set about getting it hung.

Thursday the 29th – FEZ…FINALLY! – A few days ago Kyle at Plastic Depot let me know that my custom display case for my Laurel & Hardy “Sons of the Desert” fez had been completed. I hadn’t had time to pick it up until today. It turned out very well, and I couldn’t wait to finally get it installed and complete my new display. When I left Plastic Depot I drove to the Radford Studio Center to meet my pals Rob Klein and Jim Pierson at the Sid & Marty Krofft production offices. We got lunch at the commissary and sat in the late Marty Krofft’s office and ate our food and discussed projects. It was amazing! I couldn’t wait to get back home though, and complete my fez display! I set it all up and it looked amazing! WOW! I was over the moon to have such a wonderful piece of film history! Later Angi stopped over and we hit the Coral Café for dinner. Later I did my auditions, took a WOG, enjoyed some quiet cool-down time in the anti-grav chair, came back inside to iron my Jungle Book bowling shirt, and I organized some items I wanted to have autographed at the Hollywood Show on Friday.

Friday the 1st – “I WANNA BE LIKE YOU!” – The maids arrived to clean Planet Wallywood, and just as they were leaving my pal Edi arrived so we could drive over to the Hollywood Show in Burbank to collect some autographs. It was like the old days, when Edi and I used to frequent these shows and meet amazing folks. My first stop was Bruce Reitherman’s table. I had brought along my animation cel from “The Jungle Book” which features Mowgli sitting on Baloo’s shoulders at the end of the film. I call it “Good Old Papa Bear.” I also had him sign a wonderful new coffee table book which details the making of this amazing film. I also brought along two original soundtrack albums from when the film was first released in 1967. One of the albums I bought on eBay. But the other album (the one in slightly worse condition) was the album I’ve owned since I saw the film in the theatre with my dad upon its release. I was 6 years old. We loved the music in the film so much we went out and bought the soundtrack album immediately afterwards. But when you release the album from its shrink wrap, it folds open to display several amazing images from the film. The ones that my 6 year old mind obsessed over were the shots of the Voice Actors hanging out with their animated counterparts. Though I have loved cartoons since I was really little, I had never seen anything like this before. I remember asking my folks who those guys were in the pictures with the animated characters, and they said they were the guys who did the voices. BINGO! The seed was planted. I thanked Bruce for the inspiration to follow in his footsteps and become a Voice Actor too. He’s a delightful fellow with a lot of great stories. I went over to Clint Howard’s table to have him sign my stuff as well, as he provided the voice for Hathi Jr. in the film. After the stuff was all signed I took it back to the car, as it was going to start raining soon and I didn’t want to get caught in the rain with that stuff. I came back inside to buy a photo op with Ted Neeley and Yvonne Elliman, since I wasn’t able to get a shot with them earlier in the week at the “Jesus Christ Superstar” screening. Unfortunately the line to buy the photo op wasn’t moving at all, and I was in line for about an hour. This ended up being wasted time, as it kept me from being on the floor buying stuff from other vendors. I hope they work on that system and find a way of expediting it in the future. I ended up missing Jamie Farr altogether because I was stuck in that line so long. I got to see some old friends and chat for a while, and then a panel for “The Jungle Book” was starting at 6. Listening to Bruce and Clint talk about their experiences working on my favorite Disney film was amazing. As soon as I got out of the panel I rushed toward the photo op room and got in line for my Ted and Yvonne pic. When it was printed I took it to their tables to have it signed. What a fun night! I was hoping to catch Jamie Farr at the end of the evening, but he had left early. Rats! Several others that I had been wanting to meet had also left early. The big surprise of the evening was seeing my pal Alex Zsolt from Nashville at the show. He hadn’t told anyone he was going to be in town, and it was a total surprise. He was with his friend Larry, so I asked them to join us for dinner after the show. Edi, Larry, Alex and I had fun eating at Denny’s across the street as the rain began outside. I drove back to my house in the rain and collapsed inside. What a day! Since it was raining, I wasn’t able to get outside for a WOG.

Saturday the 2nd – “COUNT” ON YOUR FRIENDS! – In order to complete my Muppet Replica Resource page on my website, I needed to get some high quality shots of my Count Von Count replica Muppet taken. Scott and Vickie Sebring came over mid-afternoon and loaded in all the gear. My pal Officer Mark also stopped over to assist. We got some great shots and had a wonderful time. I hadn’t told them that our friend Alex was in town, as we wanted it to be a surprise when he “crashed” our dinner plans later. In addition to getting some Count photos, Scott also suggested we get a couple of “beauty” shots of the Sons of the Desert fez. When we finished we headed to Paty’s for dinner, and I texted Alex to tell him where to go. About halfway through our dinner Alex and Larry arrived and surprised everyone. What fun! We closed the place down, and then we headed back to Planet Wallywood so everyone could collect up their stuff and head home. I relaxed for a while, and then took a nice WOG, and even spent some anti-grav time outside. As it was the first Saturday of the month, it was my traditional “Laurel & Hardy Theatre” night. I only have 3 films left on the “Year One” Blu-ray set, so I watched two of them, “Call of the Cuckoo,” and “Putting Pants on Philip.” In April I’ll watch the final film “Battle of the Century” and the “This Is Your Life” episode featuring Stan and Ollie. After that, who knows? I made my traditional Chef Boyardee pizza, enjoyed a banana Twinkie, some popcorn, and lots of ice cold Diet Pepsi in the Stan Laurel mug my mom made me at ceramics class back in 1973. A truly WONDERFUL evening!

Sunday the 3rd – CRASH DAY! – Given the very busy week I had, it was nice to dedicate a day to just crashing out and relaxing. It looks like the rain is gone for the time being, so that’s nice. Later I took my nightly WOG, but it was too cold for outdoor time in the anti-grav chair. I did some work around the house, made a salad and watched another episode of “The High Chaparral” before bed.

And how was YOUR week??!!

PIX FROM THE WEEK

This shot that was taken by Officer Mark makes it look like Count Von Count and Sulley are about to sneak up on somebody!

The shoot went so well, even Oscar approved!

We put the original “Sons of the Desert” fez on my Stannequin, and it fit perfectly!

For the archives Scott Sebing captured several beauty shots of the fez.

Here’s the final fez display found in The Chaney Room!

This photo op with Ted Neeley and Yvonne Elliman from “Jesus Christ Superstar” was well worth the money!

Bruce Reitherman, who voiced Mowgli in “The Jungle Book,” poses with me and the animation cel he just signed.

Larry Marshall, who played Simon in “Jesus Christ Superstar” and I ‘take it out!’

After several attempts, we finally got Yvonne to look into Angi’s camera for a photo. Yvonne apologized and said she couldn’t stop looking at Angi because she was so stunning. Now Yvonne knows how I feel!