Mel Leven
Sound
Biography
His most famous song is arguably "Cruella de Vil" from the 1961 Disney animated feature One Hundred and One Dalmatians. That same year, he also wrote the story and new lyrics to sixteen tunes for the film Babes in Toyland. In later years, he wrote songs, stories, and did voice-over work for the PBS children's series Big Blue Marble, and well as working on a number of projects for television commercials. He also composed "When The Buzzards Return To Hinckley Ridge" for the 1969 Disney animated short, "It's Tough to Be a Bird", which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Short Subject in 1970. The song was sung by comedienne Ruth Buzzi. Leven was also the original voice of Snoopy, and was in Snap, Crackle, Pop commercials. He also wrote the Little Ranger Nature series for Disney in the 1960s. His work has been honored with two Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards. A conservationist and talented fly fisherman, in retirement Leven traveled the world in pursuit of fish and became a beloved fixture along Northern California rivers in particular.[1] He features prominently in the 2009 documentary Rivers of a Lost Coast, on the decline of the California steelhead population. -Wikipedia
Known For
When a litter of dalmatian puppies are abducted by the minions of Cruella De Vil, the parents must find them before she uses them for a diabolical fashion statement.
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
No description available.
The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show
To restore his family's lost wealth, a young Boston lad stows away on a ship bound for the California Gold Rush. When their very proper butler gives chase, all roads lead to nonstop adventure, wild and woolly characters, and a lucky punch that leads to a bonanza of belly laughs!
The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin
A mouse and his child, the two parts of a single small wind-up toy, go on a quest to become "self-winding".
The Mouse and His Child
Part cartoon and part documentary, this film offers a humorous look at birds and the ways people perceive them.
It's Tough to Be a Bird
Party, enterianment, and Behind the scenes
Backstage Party
There is a focus on the need for physical, mental and social health to be fully developed in order for humans to function properly within society. The film is aimed at an adolescent audience who are independently confronting developments in these aspects of their well-being for the first time.
Steps Towards Maturity and Health
The Biblical story of Noah's ark full of animals gets the Disney treatment in this animated short.
Noah's Ark
The narrator tells of the three sides of health represented by a triangle with the physical side at the bottom, the mental side on the left, and the social side-the subject of this film-on the right.
The Social Side of Health
Insert from "The Boing Boing Show" written by Mel Leven and directed by Ernest Pintoff.
Fight On For Old
Exercise, rest and proper diet are essential for physical fitness. Diagrams show the structure and function of muscles and the importance of exercise to tone muscles, nerves and organs. With rest, muscles are cleansed of wastes and refueled. Food, our only energy source, provides fuel for the body mechanism. If the physical side of the Health Triangle is weak, the other two sides can be adversely affected.
Physical Fitness and Good Health
This pilot looked to be a welcome addition to TV animation, a series of skits with oddball characters doing their own things, with Joey Jingle (a boy with a bell on his head) being used as a framing device.