Thurl Ravenscroft

Thurl Ravenscroft
Biographical information
Full Name	Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft
Date of birth	February 6, 1914
Place of birth	Norfolk, Nebraska, U.S.A.
Date of death	May 22, 2005
Place of death	Fullerton, California, U.S.A.
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Man

Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft (1914-2005) is a historic actor and singer who frequently worked with the Walt Disney Company. He is best remembered for having voiced Tony the Tiger for Kellog's Frosted Flakes cereal and for having sang, "You're a mean one Mr. Grinch" in the 1966 TV special, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". His voice was featured in many Disney Parks attractions, most famously for Uncle Theodore in the Haunted Mansion, Tangaroa and Fritz in Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, and Buff in the Country Bear Jamboree.

Jungle Cruise contributions

• Ravenscroft was voice-actor behind the 1968 Disneyland Records product, "The Enchanted Tiki Room & the Adventurous Jungle Cruise", portraying a skipper (unofficially given the nickname of Skipper Thurl).

Other connections & contributions

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: In this film, Ravenscroft was an uncredited singer for one of the sailors.
• Disneyland Railroad: Ravenscroft is narrator of this attraction.
• It's a Small World: Ravenscroft is singer for one of the dolls in the finale.
• Jungle Book: Ravenscroft was the uncredited voice-actor of an elephant in this film.
• Phantom Manor: The name of the Ravenswood family was inspired by Thurl Ravenscroft's surname due to his affiliation with having played the character, "Uncle Theodore" in the Haunted Mansion. The Ravenswoods are connected to Rowan D. Falls, a character believed to be related to the Jungle Cruise's Falls family. The character of Uncle Theodore also appears within the attraction, haunting the catacombs under Boot Hill Cemetery. In Disneyland, Ravenscroft also voiced the first-mate of the Mark Twain Riverboat, a boat which in-universe was once captained by Rowan D. Falls.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Ravenscroft is singer for one of the Wicked Wench's crew-mates.
• Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room: Thurl voiced the bird Fritz. In the Magic of Disney Animation, Fritz's character was identified as, "Fritz Ravenscroft" on credits for a Mickey & Minnie Mouse film called, "Mouse Pacific". Ravenscroft also voices assorted tikis and the deity Tangaroa.

Trivia

• Due to its time of release, many removed elements from the Jungle Cruise are still referenced in The Enchanted Tiki Room & the Adventurous Jungle Cruise. This includes the rhinoceros family, giant gorillas, headhunter tribe, and Schweitzer Falls being attributed to the historic humanitarian Albert Schweitzer rather than the fictional British colonizer Dr. Albert Falls.