dracula
TV Tuesday: The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy 2001
Twenty years ago, today, the animated series The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy or just Billy & Mandy premiered on the Cartoon Network. Created by Maxwell Atoms, the story line follows a ditzy, kind-hearted boy and, a sinister, cynical girl, that have the Grim Reaper as a personal slave after he lost a wager in a limbo match. They use the Reaper’s supernatural powers to visit the underworld and other weird locations for twisted adventures. They encounter creatures such as Dracula, the Wolfman and the Bogeyman.
Voice Credits:
♥ Billy (Richard Steven Horvitz)
♥ Mandy (Grey DeLisle Griffin)
♥ Grim Reaper (Greg Eagles)
♥ Irwin (Vanessa Marshall)
♥ Harold (Richard Steven Horvitz)
♥ Gladys (Jennifer Hale)
♥ Dick (Phil LaMarr)
♥ Grandmama (Phil LaMarr)
♥ Mindy (Rachael MacFarlane)
♥ Sperg (Greg Eagles)
♥ Phil (Dee Bradley Baker)
♥ Claire (Vanessa Marshall)
♥ General Skarr (Armin Shimerman)
♥ Pud’n (Jane Carr)
♥ Hoss Delgado (Diedrich Bader)
♥ Jeff the Spider (Maxwell Atoms)
♥ Nergal (David Warner)
♥ Nergal, Jr. (Debi Derryberry)
♥ Bogeyman (Fred Willard)
Trivia Bits:
♦ The spooky droning gibberish played in the end credits in a creepy voice is Maxwell Atoms talking backwards, saying: “No, no. This is the end of the show. You’re watching it backwards!”
♦ Originally, Maxwell Atoms wanted Grim to speak in a “British” accent and had Jonathan Harris in mind to voice him. When Greg Eagles auditioned, and spoke in a Jamaican accent, he was impressed and had him retooled.
♦ Tom Kenny was originally considered to voice Billy in the show, but he declined.
Story Sunday: Vampire Slaying Kit Up For Auction
Update:
“The hammer finally fell at £2,500 and the item was purchased by a private UK buyer.”
“The box has been valued at up to £3,000 and, includes a glass phial with unknown contents and a bottle of shark’s teeth.”
A “vampire-slaying kit”, containing a pocket-sized pistol and a 19th century copy of the New Testament, is going under the hammer. The gothic-looking container, worth between £2,000 and £3,000, also comes packed with pliers, [a] rosary and a bottle of shark’s teeth. Also inside the metal-bound box is an ivory-robed wolf carrying rosary beads, as well as a blue phial with mysterious contents, and a silver-bladed pocket knife. And inside the lid is an oval enamel painting that depicts the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
There’s no record of the box’s origin but, the 1842 copy of the New Testament within does bear the inscription of an Isabella Swarbrick. The current owner from the West Midlands, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that they do not know very much about its history. “I have had it in my own collection for three years now,” they said. “I bought it from a large antiques fair in Newark-on-Trent. I loved the look of the Gothic box and, when I opened it, I just had to have it. I thought it was so interesting…a great conversation piece.”
Charles Hanson, owner of the Derbyshire-based Hansons Auctioneers, the firm selling the box, said: “People are fascinated by stories of vampires, hence their continued appearance in films and on TV today. They have been part of popular culture for more than 200 years. The publication of John Polidori‘s The Vampyre in 1819 had a major impact and that was followed by Bram Stoker‘s 1897 classic Dracula.”
He added: “However, a belief in vampires and strange superstitions goes back even further and persists to this day. The task of killing a vampire was extremely serious and historical accounts suggested the need for particular methods and tools. Items of religious significance, such as crucifixes and Bibles, were said to repel these monsters, hence their strong presence in the kit we have found.”
The box will be sold online on [July 16] as part of a five-day-long antiques and collector’s auction.
Sky News
July 9, 2020