Movie Titles: Animated and/or Drawn Sequences

There are decades of animated and drawn opening title movie sequences out there, and I'll be darned if Sam Henderson has put a couple of hundred together for easy browsing here. In the meantime, below is one of the hundreds: a politically incorrect animated opening title sequence from Coffee, Tea, or Me (1973) just for fun.

One Hour of The Great Pumpkin Waltz from "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" by Vince Guaraldi

Mort Walker on Roy Lichtenstein

The time Lichtenstein was invited to a National Cartoonists Society meeting by Mort Walker. This is via Craig Yoe:

Related:

Russ Heath on Lichtenstein

Lily Renée 1921 - 2022

Golden Age comic book artist Lily Renée has died at the age of 101. 

 

From the documentary of her life "Lily" (2019).

 

Via The Daily Cartoonist:

Lily’s children have notified comics fandom through Trina Robbins:

"It’s with great sadness that my sister and I regret to inform you of the passing of our mother. She died peacefully at home, as was her wish, yesterday after living a full life of more than 101 years. There is a time for all of us and her death comes on the heels of the birth of her third great grandchild earlier this year. Thank you all for being part of her life in her twilight years. We plan on holding a Celebration of Life in September"

CBR:

"Lily Renée, a comic book pioneer who was one of the first female comic book artists during the Golden Age, an achievement that went mostly unnoticed until she got to revel in her newfound fame in her 80s and 90s, has passed away at the age of 101.

"Renée, born Lily Renée Willheim, came of age in a well-to-do family in Vienna, Austria, in the 1930s. However, since her family was Jewish, they became targets when Nazi Germany annexed Austria in March 1938. As a teenager, she was part of the Kindertransport, a widely organized effort to transport over 10,000 Jewish children out of Europe into the United Kingdom before the start of World War II. She worked odd jobs in England until her parents were able to emigrate to the United States. She joined them there at some point around 1939.

"Once the United States entered the war in 1941, it caused a problem for the booming comic book industry. There was a tremendous demand for comic book content during World War II, but a number of artists (like Jack Kirby, Will Eisner and Bob Kane) were being drafted, so the comic book companies needed new artists and became willing to hire female comic book artists. Renée recalled to Trina Robbins what her life was like right before getting into comics, 'At that time, I was painting Tyrolean designs on wooden boxes, and then I got a job on the 46th floor of Rockefeller Center at Reiss advertising agency. They paid me 50 cents an hour to draw catalogs for Woolworth's. And so I was making some money too and I was going to night school, and then I think I told you that my mother saw an ad in the paper for comic artists? I went to [the comic-book publisher] Fiction House and I was hired on a trial basis, and they kept me. And then after a year-and-a-half, I was doing covers and I got a big Christmas bonus....'"

She would go on to work at Fiction House, drawing Señorita Rio, which was created by Nick Cardy. By 1948, she had left for St. John's Publishing -- along with her then-husband, Eric Peters -- drawing humor and romance comics. 

 

CBR

"She then married Randolph Phillips, a financial consultant who was heavily involved in the American Civil Liberties Union. She stopped working in comics, doing some children's books and playwriting over the years, as she also raised two children with Phillips.

"Like many Golden Age artists, Renée was mostly unknown until her granddaughter actually contacted the great comic book historian, Trina Robbins, in 2006, to let her know that her grandmother was Renée and, to Robbins' amazement (and delight), she was still alive and would love to talk about her comic book career. Robbins interviewed Renée for The Comics Journal in 2006 and in 2007, Renée visited Comic-Con International at San Diego for the first time and was inducted into the Hall of Fame."

From the Fritz Ascher Society: "The Pencil and the Sword. How Lily Renée put her Art to work against the Nazis," January 5, 2022. Featuring Sabine Apostolo, curator and collection manager at the Jewish Museum Vienna, and Michael Freund, media communications professor emeritus and lecturer at Webster University Vienna, and writer and guest curator at the Jewish Museum Vienna, Austria. Introduced by Rachel Stern, Director and CEO of the Fritz Ascher Society.

From the Fritz Ascher Society: "Lily Renee (born 1921): From Refugee to Renown" from November 17, 2021. Featuring Trina Robbins, Comic Herstorian and Artist, San Francisco CA, Adrienne Gruben, Mexican-American director of the film "Lily," and David Armstrong, Executive Producer of the film "Lily." Moderated by Rachel Stern, Director and CEO of the Fritz Ascher Society.

Editorial Cartoonist W.K. Starrett on the Cartooning Life in 1913

William Kemp Starrett, who was editorial cartoonist Albany Knickerbocker Press, wrote about the cartooning life in February 1913 issue of Cartoons Magazine. He was just 25 years old when he wrote this, but had already drawn cartoons for newspapers in New York City. His first sale was at the age of seventeen to the Brooklyn Eagle.

After a couple of years of freelancing, he signed on upstate, as sports cartoonist at the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, NY. At the time he wrote this article for Cartoons magazine, he had switched to drawing editorial cartoons, and had been at the Knickerbocker Press full-time for about two years. Allan Holtz has transcribed the article at his Stripper's Guide blog.

"After you get the job you hie yourself to the office at 7 a. m., grab all of the morning papers, and proceed to dig up an idea. Possibly the boss has requested something very funny for that day, and after scanning the columns telling of murders, suicides, divorces, hold-ups, accidents, and tales of woe, you wonder if there is really anything funny to draw about."

Just three months later, Cartoons Magazine, in its May 1913 issue, reported that Starrett had left the Knickerbocker Press. As the magazine put it he "has cut loose from his salary and returned to New York where he purposes drawing cartoons on a 'free-lance' basis. For the time being Abe Lipschutz is doing the cartoons for the Knickerbocker Press."

By 1915, he succeeded C.R. Weed, and was doing cartoons full-time at the New York Tribune. He was also "house-hunting in the suburbs."

But by the spring of 1917, he had left the Tribune and was doing magazine and book illustration, something he would continue doing for years. He would build up an "A" list of clients including the old Life Magazine and Harper's.

"W.K. Starrett's cartoons will hereafter reach the public through the medium of the Providence, Rhode Island News to which he goes from the New York Tribune," states a news item in a 1918 copy of Cartoons Magazine.

Photo of W.K. Starrett from a 1913 Editor and Publisher profile of the cartoonist.


After that, not much else I can find out about him. Did he go to war? I don't know. Did he continue on, from paper to paper, year to year? I know he was doing cartoons for magazines through the 1920s. There is a fellow, a Vincent Starrett, who wrote the introduction to editorial cartoonist's John McCutcheon's book titled (of course) JOHN McCUTCHEON'S BOOK, which was published in 1948. And there are a few other Starretts around who drew cartoons.

There is a "Kemp Starrett" who drew cartoons for The New Yorker magazine  Kemp was also an active comic strip artist who lived from 1890 to 1952, so he seems like he may be the same fellow. The list of papers he worked on corresponds with his early editorial cartooning career.

So, if that's the man -- if he dropped the "W" permanently -- then he did go on to do a lot of comic strip work in the business?

EDIT: Here's something that's related:
Kemp Starrett and Henrietta McCaig Starrett are "Artists Who Wed Upset Popular Ideas" in this 1930 interview via Allan Holtz. My thanks to Jim Powell for finding this! Wow!

James Sturm Interview

Filmmaker Len Davis talks to James Sturm about comics and his graphic novels and his school (The Center for Cartoon Studies) and some "social issues based projects he's been working on."

 

Comic Book Artist and Inker Tom Palmer 1941 - 2022

 

Tom Palmer, whose career began with inking Gene Colan's Doctor Strange pencils in 1969, passed away on August 18, 2022. He was 81.

His lush ink line enhanced the work of comic book pencilers like Gene Colan, Neal Adams and John Buscema.

Via CBR:

"He would continue to work for Marvel regularly until the early 2000s, and later in life would continue to work in comics, shifting his focus to smaller companies like Valiant and IDW.  Palmer also had a long career as a painter and illustrator in the advertising industry, working with companies like Hertz and Panasonic.

"Palmer would go on to work with iconic artists like the Gene Colan and Neal Adams on a variety of Marvel titles. He would earn acclaim working on Colan especially, because the artist's style was notoriously difficult to ink, and Palmer had a reputation for making it work.

"'We are very sad to share the news that legendary comic book inker and artist Tom Palmer passed away on August 18, 2022 at the age of 81,' a post to Palmer's Facebook page said today. 'He will be remembered fondly by his loving family and his many fans.'

"... Besides seeing his work on the big screen in Kick-Ass's animated sequence, Palmer worked on film tie-ins and spinoffs, including the comics adaptation of Jaws 2 and Marvel's 1980s Star Wars comics, where he also pencilled and colored several issues, and painted a number of covers. In the days when major publishers used to make Classics Illustrated-style comic book adaptations of influential novels, Palmer drew The Man in the Iron Mask and The Three Musketeers.

"During his career, Palmer won an Alley Award, a Comic Fan Art Award, and an Inkwell Award, as well as 2014's Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award from the Inkwells."

 

Paul Gravett privides some great links:

 

"Last November, Comic Book Historians conducted a career interview with Palmer you can watch here: https://youtu.be/XiDs65zCIo4 and here's a summary bio on his website: https://tompalmerillustration.com/bio Look back at 13 classic covers here: https://13thdimension.com/13-covers-a-tom-palmer-tribute/"

 

From the Dick Buchahan Files: Back to School Gag Cartoons 1946 - 1961

It's always a mixture of dread and joy when it's "back to school" time. This 1996 Staples store TV advertisement pretty much captures the feeling:

 

But what was going back to school like back in the golden age of gag cartooning? Dick Buchanan answers that question and shares some single panel cartoons of that era. Thanks, Dick, and take it away!

--

BACK TO SCHOOL
  (1946 – 1961)
 

It’s that time of year once again . . . Back to School. Did you ever wonder what was school like in mid-20th century? Your friendly cartoon curator doesn’t know.  Sure, he lived through it all, but he wasn’t paying attention. So, we delved into the Cartoon Clip File for some answers. The result was some gag cartoons which illustrate clearly what education had wrought and continues to wrought. Take a look . . .


1.  ALBERT SWAY.  American Magazine  September, 1951.

2.  STANLEY STAMATY.  Collier’s  September 20, 1947.

 

3.  HANK KETCHAM.  Collier’s  September 21, 1946.

 

4.  STAN FINE.  In the 1950’s schools cleverly skirted child labor laws by using kids as crossing guards. This was the “Baby Boomers” first taste of power.  Look Magazine  February 27, 1961.

 

5.  BRAD ANDERSON.  The Saturday Evening Post  November 21, 1953.

 

6.  SHARP.  1000 Jokes Magazine  May – June, 1946.

 

7.  WALTER GOLDSTEIN.  The Saturday Evening Post  May 21, 1949.

 

8.  JOE CAMPBELL.  American Magazine  December, 1952.

 

9.  HAROLD SPARBER.  Collier’s July 20, 1946.

 

10.  BOB GALLIVAN.  The Saturday Evening Post  January 11, 1947.

 

11.  GEORGE WOLFE.  The Saturday Evening Post  June 11, 1949.

 

12.  CHARLES PEARSON.  Collier’s  September 14, 1946.

 

13.  HARRY MACE.  American Legion Magazine  January, 1959.

 

14.  LESLIE STARKE.  Collier’s  September 18, 1948.

 

15.  REAMER KELLER.  The Saturday Evening Post  February 24, 1951.

 

16.  BORIS DRUCKER.  The Saturday Evening Post  October 28, 1948.

 

17.  CHARLES SHARMAN.  American Legion Magazine  June, 1955.

 

18.  MORT WALKER.  The Saturday Evening Post  May 21, 1949.

 

19.  WALTER GOLDSTEIN.  The Saturday Evening Post  February 7, 1951.

 

20.  HAROLD R. CURRIER.  American Magazine  June, 1950.

 

21.  SYD HOFF.  Collier’s  March 9, 1946.

 

22.  ELDON DEDINI.  Look Magazine  May 9, 1961.

 
Complied by Dickie Buchanan
1955 Graduate, Barboursville Elementary
Barboursville, WVA

Remembering My Mom

 

When I first started this blog, I wasn't sure about posting EVERYTHING. I mean, I would post about cartooning for sure. And then I posted about my garden. And sometimes more personal things. This is one of those times. Well, really, the most personal.

 

My Mom died at the age of 85 on May 26, 2022. By a fortunate quirk of fate, I had just been out there to visit the week before. The memorial for her was this past weekend. My sister, Penny, gave a speech, and then I spoke. Here's what I said:

Thank you for coming. Thank you, Penny, for arranging this.

I am Barbara's son, Mike.

Like all of you, I wish she was here.

Dad: It was very helpful to hear that you still have things that you'd like to tell your mom, our Gramma. I live in a different state and didn't get to see Mom very often, but we often talked on the phone. 

Several times a day I think of something I would like to tell Mom about. Things like this:

Just a week after she passed, I was driving in our town of Milton, NH and I saw an eagle pluck a very surprised little fish out of the lake and fly over the car.

We often talked about nature, birds, flowers, our garden...and I know she would have liked hearing about the bald eagle.

Speaking of hearing ...

Here are some expressions of Mom's I will miss hearing:

Michael! Don't egg on your sister! 

Don't get too close to the edge. We used to take camping vacations when Penny and I were young and we were lucky enough to visit lots of national parks and beautiful camping areas. But those camps came with peril: there was always a cliff edge or steep hill that one false step might send us toppling over. Luckily, Mom was always on watch and we're both here to tell the tale - but I still worry about getting too close to the edge.

I'll shoot you with my big fat knife. This expression originated from her mother, my Grandma Powell, and was used as a serious admonition to young Barbara. Try as Mom might though, she could not say it without cracking herself up, since it made no sense.

Junky lunch. Junky lunch was a quicky, no-cook lunch involving whatever cold cuts, veggies and potato chips were available, arranged artistically in the shape of a face. We loved it.

I learned a lot being raised by Mom. Here are two lessons I want to share:

When I was a little kid, I drew on the wall and got in trouble. Both of us, Mom and me, scrubbed the wall clean. She told me later that she realized the wall IS a very good place to draw: it's big and clean. So, Mom bought a roll of shelf paper and taped it to the floor so I could draw on it. Sometimes we would tape a very long piece of this white shelf paper in the breezeway and I would have a "drawing party" with my friends. Mom realized how important drawing was to me and she made it possible.

Later on, when I was in 4th grade, I had to learn my times tables. I told my mom I couldn't do it. She did not accept that. She went over and over the times tables with me. There was no escaping the times tables at my house when I was in the 4th grade. She would stick her head in my bedroom door: "Four times six!" "Oh, Mom! It's 24!" The next day, we would be in the grocery store:  "Six times eight!" and I would whine but eventually say "48."

I thought it was impossible. But with persistence, and Mom's constant grilling me the times tables, I learned it was NOT impossible. I could do things I didn't think I could.

Mom showed me how to see things in new ways. Not just possible, but with hard work, probable.

But for today, I identify with that little fish plucked out of the lake -- looking all around -- confused and bewildered because my world is suddenly different.

 

I love you Mom.

 

From the Dickens Funeral Home site:

Barbara F. Crow (nee Powell), 85, long time Bay Village resident, died May 26, 2022.  She was born December 19, 1936 in Hastings, MI.  Barbara retired as a computer field technician from NASA.  She was a member of John Knox Presbyterian Church, North Olmsted and was active within the Bay Village Senior Center.  She enjoyed bird watching, old movies and traveling with her husband, Walter.

 

Barbara is survived by her daughter, Penny (Steve Ouellette) Lynch of Elyria; son, Michael Dennis (Stacy) Lynch, Milton, NH; step children, Christy, Barb, Brian and Debbie; a sister, Judy Chilson; and 2 grandchildren.

 

She was preceded in death by her husband Walter in 2014 and parents, Charles and Virginia (nee Coleman) Powell.

 

A memorial service will be Saturday, August 13, 2022 at 11:00 am at John Knox Presbyterian Church, 25200 Lorain Road, North Olmsted 44070.  Burial will be in Lakewood Park Cemetery, Rocky River.

 

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Doctors Without Borders. 

Harvard Magazine: "Truer Than Reality: Kevin Kallaugher On the Art of Editorial Cartooning"

Kevin "Kal" Kallaugher is the subject of a Harvard Magazine profile. He talks about his early years of struggle:

"They asked him to caricature Henry Rosovsky, then-dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. But they didn’t have any photographs for reference. 'Can you draw him from memory?' he remembers them asking. 'Oh, my God. I can’t draw my own father from memory, much less Dean Rosovsky!'

"Nevertheless, Kallaugher summoned a mental image: big forehead, 'Coke-bottle-thick glasses,' and a mole beneath his lip. 'And [the editor] goes, ‘Yeah, that’s Dean Rosovsky! That’s great!' So, there was another 50 bucks.” 

He also talks process:

"Kallaugher’s ideas emerge from a process he calls his 'production pipeline.' He scans the news and talks with editors and friends, pondering how he feels, what observations he can make, and whether a cartoon is the best medium for an idea. This is followed by frenetic sketching—he scrawls hieroglyphic thumbnails across the page—and more inner dialogues. After getting editors’ feedback on his rough sketches, the heavy-duty artistry begins. It’s a confluence of new and old technology. For heavy cross-hatching, labor-intensive handwork, Kallaugher keeps a repository of pen nibs, some more than a century old and purchased years ago at Philip Poole’s His Nibs pen shop in London. For the final alterations, he uses Photoshop."

Go read!

 

Sho Murase 1969 - 2022

Comic book and manga artist Sho Murase, whose distinctive graphic style merged western European art Asian sensibilities, passed away from complications of kidney failure on August 12, 2022. 

She was an in demand graphic artist, and her client list reflected her worldwide appeal. DC Comics, Marvel, PaperCutz, Disney and many others worked with her.

From her Facebook page:

A Special Message About Sho Murase

It is with a heavy heart that we bring you this message about the passing of our dear friend Sho. Last Friday August 12, Sho passed away in her sleep after a long battle dealing with kidney failure. For the last few years Sho dealt with difficult health complications and now she can finally rest in peace.

For those of us that knew her and followed her career, there are many gifts Sho left us. Her unique art style and creativity lives on for us to study and admire with the body of artwork she created.

For those that knew Sho personally, she gave us the gift of her loving kindness, generosity, and selflessness. Her presence was a very special gift and will be remembered fondly by those who were close to her.

In the past you may have been a supporter of Sho and donated to her cause. We are not taking donations at this time but we ask that you hold Sho in your thoughts and prayers.

A memorial is being organized and we will follow up with an announcement once the dates are confirmed.

In regards to any recent or outstanding artwork inquiries, we will go through each inquiry shortly. The custody of Sho’s artwork has been passed to the beneficiaries. At an appropriate time we will address any future artwork requests.

In loving memory of Sho.

You will be missed.

 

Now, back in 2006, I was co-curator (with the great Stan Goldberg) of a large gallery show of cartoon art in Great Neck, Long Island. It was a tremendous show with lots of original art. The title of the exhibit was "This Inking Life." I really wanted to have a lot of different kinds of comic art represented. Through Jim Salicrup, I was successful in having an original Murase piece of art for the show. I remember she mailed it from her home in San Fransisco. We communicated via email and I bought a copy of her book "Me2" thinking that one day I would meet her in person and ask her to sign it. She was very gracious and self-effacing. Such a talent!

 

The Garden As of Mid-August

It's been a dry and hot summer, which has been good for some (tomatoes) and bad for others (people).

 

Above: the zinnias make the hummingbirds very happy.

The Queen Anne's Lace, in the foreground, was just an accident. In the back, the raised bed, has a tomato plant, some Asian peppers and a soon-to-be-depleted cucumber plant.

The tomatoes are nearing the end now. But my oh my how lovely and red they are.

This sad bed has a half dozen green pepper plants that were, on July 5th, eaten by deer but miraculously returned and are now bearing cute little peppers. The rest of the bed used to have squash, but the squash was destroyed by the squash borer worm. One lonely squash lived (upper left). I planted some watermelons, and those are the vines in the middle. They are too little to actually yield a proper watermelon.

This final box had all of its squash plants destroyed by those borers, so I took the weed cloth and straw off and turned the soil. The box is in need of repair (upper left). I may either refresh the box with some manure and/or plant some winter rye.

The next couple of weeks will see the last of the tomatoes. These are all different kinds.

Baby watermelon.

Little green peppers.

Asian peppers. I don't know much about these, but I think they are ready to be picked.

 Lovely zinnias.