Category: Cartooning

Pratt Attack – 8

Last week’s Newsweek had a feature on comedy in the Baby Boom generation. I was surprised and pleased to see how much influence MAD Magazine is credited as having.

Alfred E. Neuman, a slightly altered spelling of the name of one of Randy Newman’s uncles, is of course the MAD Magazine mascot. The image of the face and the famous catch phrase, “What, Me Worry?”, were far from new when Harvey Kurtzman, MAD’s creator and its first editor, adopted them.

Helen Pratt was one Pratt who really did go on the attack! She sued MAD Magazine for copyright infringement. Her husband, Harry Stuff, had obtained a copyright for this image and slogan, for this postcard that he produced in 1914:

Helen Pratt Stuff lost after the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. The full story was written up by Maria Reidelbach in chapter 8 of her excellent 1991 book, Completely MAD. Here are excerpts of Reidelbach’s account.
Continue reading Pratt Attack – 8

Happiness Is …

peanuts
© UFS, Inc.

Here is today’s Peanuts comic strip reprint. Look at the self-satisfied expressions on the faces of Violet and Patty! Lucy was self-centered, and she tormented Charlie Brown, but these girls are out-and-out cruel.

Schulz & Brown.jpg
Charles Schulz with the real-life Charlie Brown

It’s no secret that Charles Schulz and his first wife, Joyce Halverson, had a rocky 20-year marriage. They divorced in 1972, and a year later Schulz married Jeannie Clyde. The characters Violet and Patty disappeared, and they were more-or-less replaced by Peppermint Patty and Marcie, who both liked Charlie Brown.

One of the few times Schulz ever publicly spoke of his first wife can be read in this interview. Schulz mentions a then-new biography about himself, written by Rheta Grimsley Johnson who was, at that time, the wife of cartoonist Jimmy Johnson.

Beastly Studio Trick

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/FEB07/BeautyBeast.flv 400 263]

After I played around with the audio speed for the Ross Bagdasarian posts and South Park, my sister wanted to hear a speed correction of Robbie Benson’s voice from Beauty and the Beast. There’s a video clip above, and below is the audio sped up by 15%. Not sure if that percentage is exactly right, but it sounds close enough.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/FEB07/BeautyBeast.mp3]

Stan Lee’s Amazing Marvel Universe

Daredevil

MarvelButtonFor Christmas, my best buddy Dennis Rogers gave me a very nifty book. Well, nifty for an old comic book fanboy such as myself. It’s Stan Lee’s Amazing Marvel Universe, by Roy Thomas. Roy was Stan’s right-hand man at Marvel, starting in the mid-60’s.

The book is a history of Marvel Comics, mostly from the 60’s, with short audio commentaries by Stan. This simple sort of multimedia could be done easily on the Internet, but it’s nice to have it in book form. And this way Stan and Roy can make some money, right? The audio player works well, and unlike similar players in the past, this one takes standard AAA batteries.

The first Marvel super hero I followed was Daredevil. I’ve recorded Stan’s commentary about the creation of the character and put it on the player below. My son Eric and I really enjoy having this book. Thanks, Denro!

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/FEB07/StanLee.mp3]

Pigs is Pigs

http://youtu.be/kkW3XQKBy1M

The 1937 cartoon “Pigs is Pigs” is disturbing in a way that the previously posted “Spooks” isn’t. As nightmarish as the prospect is of being turned into a skeleton, by a skeleton, it’s totally unreal. In contrast, eating oneself to death is an all-too-real possibility for millions of people.

The pig in “Pigs is Pigs” isn’t Porky, but he appears to make an appearance as the running piggy in the middle. Why does Mama Pig have a German accent?