Like many cinema fans the world over, we were saddened to hear of the passing of screen icon Richard Applewhite. A Stanislavsky-trained thespian, Applewhite began his career in film in the 1950s, ushering in a dynamic age of cinematic realism and tackling challenging issues with unflinching starkness. However, since we are an animation blog, the tribute here at The Ink and Paint Pigpen is pretty much limited to his 2007 CGI film Captain Smitty’s Boat Brigade.
Applewhite brought a sense of wisdom and dignity to the role of Grandpa Tugboat, the wise old ship that dispenses much-needed advice to the film’s protagonist, John B. Sloop. It was the kind of warm but powerful performance he consistently turned out in his live-action films as well, including the three that earned him Oscar nominations and four SAG awards. We like to think that his roles as men struggling to deal with a rapidly changing world in the 1960s and his gritty thrillers of the 1970s were the perfect preparation for bringing Grandpa Tugboat to life, finding the depth and soul of a character that could easily be “just another talking boat.”
Some may be quick to dismiss the role as a “needless cameo,” but we think that without the three minutes and forty-eight seconds that Grandpa Tugboat is in the film (including the minute and forty-two seconds of dialogue), the rest of the story would noticeably suffer. Without his guidance, John B. Sloop’s quest to “discover the ocean within himself” wouldn’t have the necessary grounding to make it emotionally resonant, and it would completely remove the context to make the final denouement where John B. Sloop faces off against the Octopus Boys make sense.
Perhaps the film would have been just as good with the producers' first choice for the role, Dick Van Dyke, but who can tell? Personally, we are thankful that Mr. Van Dyke turned down the offer, as he lacked the subtle roughness and machismo that Applewhite naturally emanated, whether as Grandpa Tugboat or as any of the complicated, aging men he played throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, as they struggled with both their inner demons and the challenges of aging in a world designed for the young. This effortlessly comes across to the audience when Captain Tugboat lets out a sigh and says, “Kids these days… More commotion than ocean, if you ask me…”
It is no surprise that these 1980s roles led to a career resurgence for Applewhite, although we secretly wish he had done at least one more cartoon voice so we would have something else to help us reach our necessary word count.
It is a shame that none of the wonderful songs from Captain Smitty’s Boat Brigade became standards the way many other songs from animated films did, particularly “I Can Sea A Future With You.” While maybe not as memorable as the other songs in the film, it does give us a taste of Applewhite’s wonderful singing voice, something that Broadway audiences in the 1950s will remember very well from his Tony-winning performance that first caught the eyes of film producers. We certainly think his take on the lines, “Don’t be a barnacle, it’s no fun-for-you,” stands toe to toe with any of the great vocalists of our time.
And although he rarely gave interviews, anyone who owns the Captain Smitty’s Boat Brigade DVD will be more than familiar with the brief clip of him on Disc 2 where he says that the film was “fun” to make and that “hopefully [his] grandkids will get a kick out of it.” We know that we certainly did. So from all of us here at The Ink and Paint Pigpen, thank you, Richard Applewhite, for Captain Smitty’s Boat Brigade and your other stuff, too.