Category: Cartooning

He Yam What He Yam

At last! The DVD set I have always wanted, even before DVD’s when I wanted it on LD, will soon become a reality. The Complete Popeye The Sailor.

Going waaaay back, to my earliest memories, ages 4-7, there were two things on TV that I absolutely loved watching. Superman and Popeye. It’s a visceral connection that I feel yet to this day — The Adventures of Superman with George Reeves, and the Popeye cartoons done by the Max Fleischer studio in the 1930’s.

I’ve posted a couple of items about Superman, here and here, but for more background on Popeye I recommend a visit to an excellent tribute site. [Link Here] Note: You’ll need Internet Explorer and the Real plug-in to watch the cartoons. A slightly different take on Popeye is here on DogRat.com. But — d’oh! — the YouTube video I linked to has been pulled. Any wonder why I post my own videos?

I’ve consciously avoided all Popeye releases until now, knowing that eventually the legal hassles associated with the property would be settled, clearing the way for a box set video release. This is super-duper news. Mike Dobbs [Link] is only person I can think of who must be looking forward to this more than myself.

More Making of Snow White

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/APR07/SnowWhite.flv 400 300]© Disney

Hey, this is a coincidence. Yesterday, I mentioned an old article about the making of Disney’s Snow White and Seven Dwarfs [link here], and today Mark Evanier pointed out a video on YouTube with a vintage short subject about the same thing [link here].

Not trusting YouTube to keep anything Disney-related online, I’ll post the video here.

Snowhite Mechanix

Woodsman - Snow White preliminary drawing
From Treasures of Disney Animation Art © 1982 Disney

The Modern Mechanix site has a scan of a Popular Science article about Disney’s making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The cover date is January 1938, which means it was on newsstands in December 1937 to coincide with the release of the movie. [Link here]. The text of the article is provided in addition to the scan, which is available in multiple sizes. Nice touches.

… And That Ain’t “Peanuts”

The availability and value of so-called collectibles has changed greatly since the rise of eBay. Prices for certain items plummeted when it became apparent that they were, in fact, not particularly rare, while others skyrocketed in value. One area that has seen incredible inflation is comic book and comic strip originals by particular artists.

Philip Weiss Auctions is hyping the winning bids for original comic strip art by Charles Schulz, including “Li’l Folks” originals. The name “Peanuts” is, of course, another (equally-outdated) way of saying Li’l Folks.

(Oceanside, N.Y.) – Seven original comic strips by the renowned cartoonist Charles Schulz sold for a combined $152,550 at a three-session, weekend multi-estate sale held March 24-25 by Philip Weiss Auctions. The strips included a Sunday “Peanuts” page from 1963 that alone realized $37,000; three “Li’l Folks” strips; and four “Peanuts” dailies. Prices quoted include a 13% buyer’s premium.

Spider-Man #43The money that the Schulz originals fetched at auction doesn’t surprise me. What stunned me, however, was the $101,700 for the cover art to Spider-Man #43.

Drawn by John Romita Sr., this is a particularly favorite issue of mine, although it’s not one of his best covers. How much was Romita paid for drawing this cover in 1966? Probably not even $100.

I’m pleased that a Romita original can command this much money, and I would like to believe that Jazzy Johnny will get a cut of the bucks transacted at this auction. It’s the right thing to do. (It’s possible that Romita was selling it himself, but given what I know about the history of such peak period Marvel Comics art, I doubt it.)

The Horror of Scanning

Here are two scans of the same thing. Pretty picture, huh? Well, one of them is prettier than the other. See the difference? One image I scanned using the Windows Scanner Wizard, the other I did with the software that came with the scanner. The latter is the better-looking one. The difference is from setting the de-screening feature.

Paint it (Charlie) Brown

Charles Schulz Wall

If you’re anywhere near Santa Rosa, California on Saturday, The Charles M. Schulz Museum will be presenting The Nursery Wall Uncovered at 1 pm.

The wall was painted by Schulz in daughter Meredith’s room during the time the family lived in Colorado, after leaving Minnesota and before moving onto California. It’s not The Last Judgment wall from the Sistine Chapel, but it’s certainly a unique piece of work by Sparky, done in a medium that he rarely if ever worked in again.