Morty the Ghost

Morty the Ghost magically materialized as a member of our cast in October 2016.   He is featured in  the story “The Ghost Who Couldn’t Say BOO!” which is a segment of  The Kooky Spooky Halloween Show.

Did you say G-G-GHOST?!?

We certainly d-d-did.   Morty is a thoughtful ghost whose story is about being true to who you are, and not what others may think you should be.  In his story, he just can’t quite get the hang of haunting houses and clanking chains.  By the end, he finds a fun way to  say “BOO!” in a more artistic way that the audience may expect.

He’s a real a rod puppet

Our younger audience members often ask is Morty the Ghost real.  He’s a real rod puppet, and a very simple one at that.  The puppet was built  by Lara Rumizen in September 2016.  Morty is a Styrofoam ball mounted onto a dowel, with several pieces of fabric draped over the top, then glued down.  Lara  did not want him to appear to be too frightening, and went for a look inspired by the classic Peanuts cartoon  ghosts seen in It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.  He is a very light puppet to  perform.

Giving a ghost a silly voice

What Morty the Ghost may lack in visual looks, I try to  make up for with his voice characterization.  Keeping with the thought of silly, not scary, I model his voice on one of the greatest cartoon characters, known for his spook sleuthing skills, the one and only Norville Rogers,  better know as Shaggy in the  Scooby-Doo cartoons and movies. 

When my children were little, they loved  to watch this classic 1960s TV cartoon show on DVD.  I think  they may have watched it more than I did when it was first broadcast.  One Halloween our whole family dressed up as the Mystery, Inc.   gang to  go trick or treating around our neighborhood.  I shot this short video, while pretending to be Shaggy.  It’s very similar to the voice that I perform as Morty.