Category: Cartooning

Jonny Questioning

Previously on Dog Rat, I featured a Marvel Super Heroes cartoon with Captain America. The low-budget cartoons in this series went into production thanks in large part to the relatively successful and ambitious Jonny Quest, a half-hour primetime cartoon from two years earlier.

Jonny Quest was developed by cartoonist-animator-comic book artist Doug Wildey, who had worked for Alex Toth on an earlier cartoon called Space Angel, which shouldn’t be confused with Toth’s Space Ghost. We’ll be seeing some of both those spacey guys later.

The premiere episode of Jonny Quest, “Mystery of the Lizard Men”, originally aired on ABC-TV at 7:30 pm, Friday, September 18, 1964. I had just turned nine, and I thought this was one very cool cartoon — except for Bandit!
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Give Pet A Chance

If you’ve been reading the interviews with Petula Clark I’ve linked to, you may have caught a comment about her being in a certain place at a certain time. Don’t blink, or you’ll miss her in this video clip.

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Why was Pet there?

“I’d been staying in French-speaking Canada but was starting to have hits with records in English as well. So when I was booked to perform at the Place des Arts in Montreal, I thought I’d do a bi-lingual show. Wrong. It was open war.

“After the show, I was upset and I went to John’s hotel to ask his advice. I didn’t really know him that well, but I do remember he was very rude about the audience.

“There was a very strange atmosphere in the suite and I remember the cameras being there but I really didn’t realise [sic] they were making Give Peace A Chance at the time.”

Al “Capp” Caplin was a full-time jerk. I never did much like Li’l Abner. But in fairness, John Lennon was a part-time jerk. It would have been much more interesting seeing Pet, instead of Capp, talking to John. Recognize any other faces in the crowd?

Two Arms! Two Arms!

Blogging newspaper editor Mike Dobbs has posted some scans from a 1939 magazine article called “The Movies Launch a Kindergarten of Democracy”. [Link] The pictures are scenes promoting the Warner Brothers cartoon “Old Glory”, directed by Chuck Jones. Here’s the cartoon, released in 1940, in all its patriotic, rotoscoped, Technicolor™ old glory.

http://youtu.be/utkBu-mqi-c

Notice the two words that are missing from the Pledge of Allegiance? And of course there are two states missing in the map of the United States.

Hart Has Stopped

B.C. pencil sketch, by Johnny Hart

B.C. by Johnny HartSpeaking of Easter, cartoonist Johnny Hart has died. What does the creator of the comic strips B.C., and The Wizard of Id have to do with Easter? After hitting bottom as an alcoholic, Hart found Jesus, big time. He embraced Christianity in a way that was, shall we say, insensitive to the beliefs of others. Hart’s faith found expression in his work, and was most notably depicted in the controversial comic strip in the upper left corner. Click the thumbnail picture to enlarge. The always even-handed Mark Evanier (and I mean that sincerely) has a remembrance of Johnny Hart. [Link]

Have GunXSword, Will Travel

The latest Animé series we’re watching with Eric is GunXSword, about a western-style character named Van, seeking revenge against a man named Claw, for the death of his betrothed. There are giant robots involved that look like the Transformers. It’s not as silly as it sounds!

In this 10-minute clip there are no robots. Carmen99, overly endowed and scantily dressed, is visiting her hometown. She finds the townsfolk suspiciously happy.

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