ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 5, 1996 TAG: 9610070121
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT MOORE THE WASHINGTON POST
No matter how many other successes they have - and there have been many - Michael McKean and David L. Lander will always be best known as Lenny and Squiggy.
So, when they were asked to come up with character voices for the new ``Jungle Cubs'' Saturday-morning cartoon series, the two actors decided to give the show's buzzards the dim-witted personalities that shot them to fame in the 1970s on ``Laverne and Shirley.''
``They called us up and said they wanted two goofy guys,'' McKean said. ``And we had some standing by.''
``When they said I didn't have to wear a buzzard suit when they drew me, I knew I was a shoo-in,'' Lander added.
Their comedy-team routine for inept buzzards Cecil and Arthur adds laughs to the story of young animals Bagheera, Baloo, Louie, Hathi, Shere Khan and Kaa growing up in an Indian jungle.
This Disney prequel to ``The Jungle Book'' - years before they are introduced to the man-cub Mowgli - debuts on ABC Saturday morning (at 8 on WSET-Channel 13).
The charming and carefree environment - no violence, weapons or gadgets, story editor Sam Graham promises - is a tough place for buzzards in search of a meal.
``They're buzzards, and it's a rough life when you're in an area where nothing dies,'' Lander said. ``We hope some day to spin off into a desert. ... ''
``With nothing but carcasses as far as the eye can see, '' McKean added.
``That's right,'' Lander picked up, ``and a house with a two-carcass garage.''
The actors are as quick to defend their versatility as they are to lapse into their most familiar characters. They point out their pre-``Laverne'' work with The Credibility Gap, a satirical group with Harry Shearer in which they played 20 to 30 characters a night. They also were writers for ``Laverne and Shirley.''
``It's not like we only have one note,'' McKean said.
But what a note it was.
Actually, McKean and Lander developed the buddy act - once called Lenny and Ant'ny - while students at Carnegie-Mellon University in the late '60s.
``They were nine years in rehearsal,'' said Lander, who played short, squeaky Andrew Squiggman. ``The only people who knew about it were friends of ours. Penny Marshall [Laverne] happened to be one of our friends, and she suggested we do the characters as last-ditch dates for Laverne and Shirley.''
Their first scene came after Laverne consoled her roommate by saying, ``Don't worry, Shirl, your Prince Charming could walk right through that door.''
Hello!
With that began a seven-year ride as screwball beer-truck drivers who frequently burst into Laverne and Shirley's unlocked dwelling. (``It's like Bob Dole says,'' McKean said, ``he grew up in a place where they didn't lock the doors - he grew up in Seinfeld's apartment!'')
Despite the rapport between the two New Yorkers - McKean is from Manhattan, Lander from Brooklyn - the first agent they had together insisted on breaking up the buddy act.
McKean, who turns 49 next month, followed his role as Lenny Kosnowski with several more fan favorites. He plays hen-pecked lead singer David St. Hubbins for the mock-rock group Spinal Tap's movie, tour and IBM commercials; he spent one season on ``Saturday Night Live''; and he directed episodes of HBO's ``Tracey Takes On ... '' and ``Dream On,'' for which he received a CableAce nomination for his recurring role as Gibby.
Lander, 49, also achieved post-Squiggy success. In addition to film roles and voice work, he had regular roles on ``Twin Peaks'' and the short-lived ``On the Air'' and is playing Bulgarian bike mechanic Elvis Kryzewski on USA Network's ``Pacific Blue.''
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: File photo. David L. Lander (left) and Michael McKean,by CNBbest known for their ``Laverne and Shirley'' roles as Squiggy and
Lenny, will do character voices for ``Jungle Cubs,'' premiering
Saturday at 8 a.m. on WSET-Channel 13.