<Li> Francis in the Haunted House (1956) </Li> <P> Francis Goes to Washington, based on the 1948 novel by Stern, was meant to be the first Francis sequel, but filming was postponed as there were "too many complications" for it "to be made as things stand at the present". </P> <P> The distinctive voice of Francis was provided by veteran character actor Chill Wills, who lent his deep, rough vocal texture and Western twang to the cynical and sardonic mule . As was customary at the time, Wills never received billing for his vocal work, though he was featured prominently on - screen as blustery General Ben Kaye in the fourth entry, Francis Joins the WACS . </P> <P> The actual mule who appeared on - screen was not a male at all, but a female named Molly, selected because she was easy to handle . She was purchased from Jake and Jenny Frazier in Drexel, Missouri . According to author Pauline Bartel, Universal paid $350 for the animal, but made millions from the film series . Molly was trained by Les Hilton, a former apprentice of Will Rogers, who would also go on to train Bamboo Harvester, the horse who played Mister Ed . To create the impression that the mule was actually talking, Hilton used a thread fed into the animal's mouth, which when tugged, would cause Molly to try to remove it by moving her lips (the same technique used for Mister Ed). </P>

Who was the voice of francis the talking mule