RIP, Mr Key

It came across the wires today that Ted Key died. He was 95, which was good, he almost made it a whole century.

Most of you, well, those who know the name at all, probably know Mr Key as the cartoonist who created Hazel, the maid who ran roughshod over a family, and who was later played by Shirley Booth on TV. However, he was also the man who created Sherman and Mr Peabody.

When I saw the report this morning I was at work. I saw "creator of Sherman and Peabody," and thought, "Wait, that can't be right." I knew he was something on the S & P team, but I had it in my mind that he was a writer. Well, I had it wrong.

I went to the shelf of my office and pulled out my book. The book "The Moose That Roared," which was written by Keith Scott and is a goldmine of information on the Bullwinkle gang. I mean, if you've ever enjoyed an episode of Bullwinkle, it would do you well to seek this book out. It tells just about everything there is to know about the Rocky and Bullwinkle World.

And so I opened the book. And there it was. Yes, Ted Key was singularly responsible for the birth of Sherman and Peabody. And everything else I'm going to say here is taken from one section or other of Mr Scott's book, and I give him all credit.

Key got the idea for our favorite boy and dog team by watching, of all things, his cat. He found it amusing how our pets dictate how we behave, and also decided what a cute idea it was for a dog to have a pet boy. And he'd been asked to create something for Jay Ward's upcoming "Rocky and his Friends," and began to form a basis for "Peabody's Improbable History."

Only that wasn't the original title. It was, believe it or not, "Danny Daydream." Sherman was called Danny, and he was the pet boy of a genius dog named Beware. Mr Key knew he wanted time travel to be a part of their segment, and he started thinking of ways to incorporate a time machine into the story. When he met Jay Ward and the other powers that be to pitch his idea, they loved it. And with a few roundtable discussions it would be decided that not only would the two characters go back in time, they would actually have a hand in creating the history they observed. Because it would be funnier if all those historical figures were "complete boobs," according to Ward.

And so the WABAC machine was created, and Beware turned into Peabody, which was the name of Bill Scott's - show writer and voice of not only Peabody, but Bullwinkle as well - dog at the time. Danny became Sherman, from Sherman Glas, a technical director. And thus was born a legend.

The character of Peabody was actually modeled after Clifton Webb's Mr Belvedere, a fact obvious to anyone who's seen a Peabody cartoon and a Mr Belvedere movie. To me, they even look alike. Scott remarked once that it was actually rather painful doing the voice of Mr Peabody, because to do so he had to contort his mouth into a tight purse. Walter Tetley voiced Sherman. Tetley was an actor who, due to a genetic condition, had a high voice and sounded quite young. He was also the voice of Andy Panda, and for those of you lucky enough to have heard "Stan Freeberg Presents the United States of America," Tetley provided the very Sherman-like voice of Myron, the kid who lived next door to Ben Franklin, from whom Franklin stole all his inventions.

Ted Key, when "Peabody's Improbable History" got the green light, created 93 episode ideas, and in the end 91 were scripted.

If only there could have been more!

So raise a glass and wish Godspeed to Ted Key, please.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* Acrowinners, we have acrowinners. What is the name of your big band?
- Runner-up goes to Kellie (with an ie), with her, "Rolicking Ned Lerner's Oboe Enthusiasts, 'Nifty Five.'" (Nothing like rollicking oboists!)
- And this week's winner is LilyG, with her, "Red's Nebraska Lovin' Orchestra, Evenings, Noons, Fridays." (Go see them at noon, they swing!)
- Thanks to all who played, you've all done very well!