Mr. Bloomsberry was not a character from the original Curious George books, but was added as the museum director when saving the museum became a driving feature of the story. Bloomsberry’s history was that of an explorer and adventurer, who spent his youth traveling the world in search of artifacts for scientific study that eventually filled this museum with wonderful things. The museum was now loosing money because there hadn’t been anything new added to it in years. Though Mr. bloomsberry was still very enthusiastic, and mentally sharp as a tack, physically he was way too old to be an explorer. In order to emphasize just how physically decrepit he was, I came up with a running gag in which he constantly had to perform some sort of chiropractic adjustment on himself in order to keep moving. This character was voiced by Dick Van Dyke, who did a superb job and was very inspiring to me. I did both the character development stage, and was the lead animator on this character. (Please see “character animation reel” in this blog for examples of Mr. Bloomsberry animation.)
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- I’ve still kept a manly physique!
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- The cane is just for show… really!
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- I can’t remember the joke… but the punchline’s a killer!
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- I’m NOT hunched over, the rest of the world is too darn erect.
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- Now WHERE did I put that cane gain?
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- If someone would please slide my horse underneath me… I’ll be off!
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- I think I’ll sit down now… my cane needs a rest.
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- My innermost secrets.
Stevan Wahl 