12 Facts About Dallas McKennon

Dallas McKennon's mother died when he was a child, so he lived on a farm with his aunt and uncle where he was fascinated with nature.

Dallas McKennon was the voice of the Hardy Boys' sidekick, Chet Morton, in the 1969 animated mystery series.

Dallas McKennon sang and provided many character voices, mainly for Walt Disney Animation.

Dallas McKennon voiced characters in Pinocchio, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Mary Poppins, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks; his laughter as a hyena in Lady and the Tramp was later recycled as a stock sound effect for the voice of Ripper Roo in the Crash Bandicoot video game series.

Dallas McKennon provided the voices for many Disney attractions such as the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad safety announcement, a pair of laughing hyenas in the Africa Room portion of It's a Small World, Benjamin Franklin's voice in Epcot's The American Adventure, Epcot's WorldKey information kiosks, and Zeke in the Country Bear Jamboree.

Dallas McKennon had a bit part as a diner cook in The Birds and as a gas station attendant in Clambake.

Dallas McKennon voiced Gumby, Fatbuckle, Lucky Claybert, and Professor Kapp.

Dallas McKennon visited schools around the Northwest lecturing children about Oregon history and worked at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center giving instructional speeches, and put together plays, skits, songs, stories, and informational documents leading up to the Oregon Trail's sesquicentennial.

Dallas McKennon worked with Oregon Public Broadcasting creating The Pappenheimers, an instructional video series to help teach children German.

Dallas McKennon's character lived in a Volkswagen Type 2 and would tell stories about relatives in Germany.

In 1942, Dallas McKennon married his childhood love interest, Betty Warner, in Portland, Oregon.

Dallas McKennon died from natural causes aged 89 on July 14,2009, at the Willapa Harbor Care Center in Raymond, Washington, five days shy of his 90th birthday.