John Kassir's Buster

[Daffyfan2002]

Here's something I was curious about. I recently saw the episodes "Toons from the Crypt" and "Best of Buster Day." However I've noticed it said in the credits that Charlie Alder did the voice of Buster in those episodes. However, I've seen sources where it said that John Kassir did the voice in those episodes. I thought it was the end credits that were right since they were written when the episode was made, but maybe their wrong. Buster didn't sound different at all in "Best of Buster Day" so I would think that was Charlie. In "Toons from the Crypt," I couldn't tell because Buster was imitating the Cryptokeeper through the whole episode and didn't use his real voice. Could someone give me more info on this? Thanks.

[Daffyfan2002]

I guess this board's not very active. Maybe I'll have to write to Warner Brothers or something like that.

[Psycho Fox]

Originally posted by Daffyfan2002
I guess this board's not very active. Maybe I'll have to write to Warner Brothers or something like that. I really don't know and the only one on this board that might know is Joe Alaskey but he only pops into TZ from time to time.

Yhea writting to WB might work.

[Lonestarr]

About "Best of Buster Day": IIRC, both Adler and Kassir were credited as Buster, but I think that Kassir voiced Buster in the last cartoon (ironically, Adler co-wrote the first two cartoons in that episode).

and "Toons from the Crypt": I vaguely remember this episode, and I found it a good in-joke that Buster was the Crypt Keeper. I think (do not hold me to this, whatever happens) that Adler voiced Buster in this episode. Another irony rears its head: Adler was just as so-so as the CK as Kassir was as Buster.

These are my opinions and what I can remember from the show, which I am now rediscovering.

[Daffyfan2002]

About time I got an answer here. Lol. Well, like I said, Buster didn't sound different at all in "Best of Buster" day, except when he was doing impressions. But you're probably right. What I don't get is why it's Alder who gets the credit if it was Kassir doing the voice. My guess is they probably didn't want to write a new voice credit. Maybe it was a money saving thing or something like that.

[Mike]

Originally posted by Daffyfan2002
About time I got an answer here. Lol. Well, like I said, Buster didn't sound different at all in "Best of Buster" day, except when he was doing impressions. But you're probably right. What I don't get is why it's Alder who gets the credit if it was Kassir doing the voice. My guess is they probably didn't want to write a new voice credit. Maybe it was a money saving thing or something like that.

I remember one episode--can't for the life of me remember the title or the cartoons included in it, as I saw it several years ago--that had both Adler AND Kassir credited. I guess it must've been "Best of Buster," as I think there was only one episode that had both Adler and Kassir voicing Buster.

This is probably as good a place as any to ask: why did Adler leave Tiny Toons? And what's everybody's take on Adler Buster versus Kassir Buster? Give me Adler any day. I don't know if he was trying to hard to imitate Adler, but Kassir's line readings always seemed flat to me. A shame that Adler didn't come back for the three post-TTA specials.

Mike

[don Jaime]

Kassir played the Crypt Keeper, and as Buster, he just does his CK voice. It's not much like Buster at all.

As for Adler's departure...that's touchy, especially since the story I heard touches on Joe Alaskey, too, and he might have a different opinion. The gist of it is this: Alaskey and Adler, who had the same agent, were anticipating plum roles on the new show Animaniacs and were hurt when they didn't get any. A little digging revealed the agent fell down in another area; Tress MacNeille, who had a good agent, was making as much money as Adler and Alaskey combined. The two men sacked the agent and had a huge row with WBA brass over it. Both Adler and Alaskey were fired. Kassir was hired as a last minute Buster, Moe LaMarche was briefly cast as Plucky. Alaskey swallowed his pride and came back, though he never did work on Animaniacs or anything else from that creative team that I'm aware of. Adler didn't budge. Hasn't hurt him too badly professionally - he directs a lot of Nick stuff like Wild Thornberries.

I read this in article about Adler when Cow and Chicken came out. It ain't pretty. If Joe Alaskey returns, you might consult with him and see if this is correct, or I've been spouting some bizarre animation urban legend.

[Morac]

Originally posted by Mike
I remember one episode--can't for the life of me remember the title or the cartoons included in it, as I saw it several years ago--that had both Adler AND Kassir credited. I guess it must've been "Best of Buster," as I think there was only one episode that had both Adler and Kassir voicing Buster. Actually there are 2 versions of the last act of "Best of Buster Day", "Class without Class". It's been a while since I've seen either of these so they may not be 100% correct, but they should be pretty close.

One version has Buster pulling the switch and electricuting Dizzy when he's in the electric chair for the crime of "killing her" (Her being a female tasmanian devil costume). Buster also accidently electrocutes himself in the process as well.
The other version, Dizzy is accused of "killing the comedy", but Buster finds the whole thing "too stupid" and doesn't electrocute Dizzy (or himself). Both versions end with them joining forces and blowing up the electric chair.

IIRC the 2nd version is an editted version done to appease Fox's censors (when TTA was exclusively on Fox). Adler had left shortly after voicing this episode, so they had Kassir fill in the new lines done for the edit. So the editted version has both Adler and Kassir voicing Buster in the same act. The uneditted version, which has been shown on either Nick or CN (I forget which) only has Adler in it.

Adler played Buster playing the Crypt Keeper in the "Toons From the Crypt" episode, because when that episode was made Adler was still voicing Buster. What confuses some people is that episode was never aired on Fox (again the censors) and didn't show up until the show moved to Nick a few years later. Some people assumed that since it was shown after "Best of Buster Day" and "Tiny Toon It's A Wonderful Christmas Special " that it was newer and therefore Kassir voiced Buster in that episode. The fact that Kassir does voice the actual Crypt Keeper on Tales from the Crypt, didn't help the confusion any.

As far as I remember, Kassir has only voiced Buster in 3 episodes (plus one edit): TT:XMAS, TT:Spring Break and TT:Night Ghoulery (and the editted Class without Class). Basically Kassir voiced Buster in anything made after the series ended (toons, games, etc).

As for Adler leaving, what don Jaime said is what I remember reading at the time. There has been nothing official stated by any of the parties involved though (even to this day), so like don said, whether or not this is truth or fiction is debatable.

[Mike]

Originally posted by don Jaime
As for Adler's departure...that's touchy, especially since the story I heard touches on Joe Alaskey, too, and he might have a different opinion. The gist of it is this: Alaskey and Adler, who had the same agent, were anticipating plum roles on the new show Animaniacs and were hurt when they didn't get any. A little digging revealed the agent fell down in another area; Tress MacNeille, who had a good agent, was making as much money as Adler and Alaskey combined. The two men sacked the agent and had a huge row with WBA brass over it. Both Adler and Alaskey were fired. Kassir was hired as a last minute Buster, Moe LaMarche was briefly cast as Plucky. Alaskey swallowed his pride and came back, though he never did work on Animaniacs or anything else from that creative team that I'm aware of. Adler didn't budge. Hasn't hurt him too badly professionally - he directs a lot of Nick stuff like Wild Thornberries.

Wow, thanks for the info--that's a very interesting story. Were any TTA episodes produced with Maurice LaMarche as Plucky? I wouldn't think so, since Kassir is only heard on the specials produced after the series (well, that and some of "Best of Buster," but I don't recall much of Plucky in that episode anyway).

As for Alaskey, yeah, I don't think he ever appeared in Animaniacs or Pinky and the Brain, but he supplied voices for Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, and while I know it wasn't a Steven Spielberg production (like TTA, Animaniacs, or Pinky were), didn't members of the TTA crew work on it? In any event, he and the brass at WBA seemed to mend fences pretty nicely, since, in addition to Sylvester and Tweety, he also provided the voice of Daffy for several years. And he was the best Daffy since Blanc, too.

Mike

[Schroeder]

As for Adler's departure...that's touchy, especially since the story I heard touches on Joe Alaskey, too, and he might have a different opinion. The gist of it is this: Alaskey and Adler, who had the same agent, were anticipating plum roles on the new show Animaniacs and were hurt when they didn't get any. A little digging revealed the agent fell down in another area; Tress MacNeille, who had a good agent, was making as much money as Adler and Alaskey combined. The two men sacked the agent and had a huge row with WBA brass over it. Both Adler and Alaskey were fired. Kassir was hired as a last minute Buster, Moe LaMarche was briefly cast as Plucky. Alaskey swallowed his pride and came back, though he never did work on Animaniacs or anything else from that creative team that I'm aware of. Adler didn't budge. Hasn't hurt him too badly professionally - he directs a lot of Nick stuff like Wild Thornberries.


S: Wasn't there a bit of a talk-and-you'll-miss-it in-joke on Tiny Toons, on the Plucky/Star Wars parody episode, where Buster, Hamton and Babs are sitting down at a table in the Acme Loo stadium discussing their pay scales (and being *royally* outraged when Plucky says to them, "Y'know, I'm getting paid double schcale for thisch epischode...") just before realizing they were on-air?! Life imitates art imitates life. ;)

[don Jaime]

Originally posted by Mike
As for Alaskey, yeah, I don't think he ever appeared in Animaniacs or Pinky and the Brain, but he supplied voices for Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, and while I know it wasn't a Steven Spielberg production (like TTA, Animaniacs, or Pinky were), didn't members of the TTA crew work on it? In any event, he and the brass at WBA seemed to mend fences pretty nicely, since, in addition to Sylvester and Tweety, he also provided the voice of Daffy for several years. And he was the best Daffy since Blanc, too.

I'm sure there was some crossover, but after TTA went off the air, WBA seemed to split into roughly three units. Paul Dini became almost exclusively a DC show specialist, Animaniacs and its spinoff Pinky and the Brain were Tom Ruegger's babies, and Art Vitello was the boss of S&T Mysteries. Alaskey appears in Vitello's show, but not Ruegger's. For that matter, Ruegger was instrumental in developing Freakazoid! and Histeria! as well, and I don't recall Alaskey being involved with those, either. Bottom line speculation: if there was lingering acrimony, it was with Ruegger, not the other big guns.

[The Lizard]

I know that John Kassir played buster from late 1993, to early 1994, and in the late specials that Tiny Toons had, but I think the credits for the episode are most likely right.