British-born actor Alan Young, who provided the voice of Scrooge McDuck in TV cartoon DuckTales, has died, aged 96.
Young played the role of the uncle of Donald Duck, and great-uncle of Huey, Dewey and Louie on the popular Disney cartoon from 1987-1990.
We’re sorry to say that Alan Young, who voiced Scrooge McDuck, died yesterday at the age of 96; born in 19/11/1919. pic.twitter.com/5jMLLdvHA6
— KH13 · for Kingdom Hearts (@KH13com) May 20, 2016
Young, who was best known for starring opposite a talking horse in the 1960s US sitcom Mister Ed, died of natural causes at a Hollywood retirement community where he had been residing for the last few years.
Alan Young (1919-2016) & Mister Ed: #Getty pic.twitter.com/vKR7W7lQDd
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) May 20, 2016
Young was born in North Shields, England, in 1919. His parents were both in entertainment: his dad was a tap dancer and his mother a singer. The family moved to Edinburgh when he was a child, and later to Vancouver, Canada.
He made his movie debut in Margie in 1946, and enjoyed an almost five-decade long career in TV and film. His other voice work involved stints on The Ren & Stimpy Show, The Smurfs and The Great Mouse Detective.
But to anyone who grew up watching kids TV in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Young will always be loveable Scottish miser Scrooge McDuck on DuckTales. The show was an enormous hit, and is credited with rejuvenating the fortunes of the Walt Disney animation wing, leading to the studio’s “golden age” of the late ’80s and ’90s, when it released the likes of The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast and Aladdin.
Thanks for the memories, Alan. Now, altogether…
(And here are the lyrics)
“Life is like a hurricane here in Duckburg
Race cars, lasers, aeroplanes, it’s a duck-blur!
Might solve a mystery
Or rewrite history
DuckTales! (Woo-oo!)
Everyday they’re out there making
DuckTales! (Woo-oo!)
Tales of daring do bad and good
Luck Tales!
D-d-d danger lurks behind you
There’s a stranger out to find you
What to do, just grab on to some…
DuckTales! (Woo-oo!)
Everyday they’re out there making
DuckTales! (Woo-oo!)
Tales of daring do bad and good
DuckTales! (Woo-oo!)
Not pony tales or cotton tales, no,
DuckTales! (Woo-oo!)”
