Video: Walt Kelly's "We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us"

On Earth Day, which was first established on April 22, 1970, Walt Kelly drew this famous drawing, which became a print, above. 

 

He also made a short movie about the topic. Nancy Beiman, who met and became friends with Walt Kelly's wife, Selby, posted this on her Facebook page on April 22, 2021. Here's Nancy and then a link to the short film: 

"In 1970, for the first Earth Day, Walt Kelly released a 12 minute animated short film with his wife Selby Kelly called WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US. I saw it in our Environmental Science class in high school. Kelly's animation is stunning. He was one of the all time greats. Selby was art director and her son Scott Daley wrote the final music.

 

"In 1979 I started working for Zander's Animation Parlour in New York. I was 21 years old. One day our production manager told me that one of the assistants wanted to speak to me. I figured that they wanted to complain. No. The assistant was Selby Kelly, and she wanted to know who this young female animator was.

 

"We became friends. One day Selby said casually, 'Kelly and I made a film together. Would you like to see it?' (She always called him Kelly).

 

"Of course I would love to see the film again, I replied. I had a 16mm projector in my apartment and invited Selby for dinner and the screening. I saw something odd about the reel immediately. WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY was only 12 minutes long, yet this reel was a full 30 minutes (Before digital media we could measure the length of film by how much space it took up on a reel.) 

 

"I checked the first 30 feet for bad splices (another quaint custom.) 'There seem to be a lot of them,' I remarked.

 

"'Oh, this is the work picture. There are no copies,' Selby replied. My guts turned to ice. I checked the entire reel. I had to make one new splice.

 

Then I threaded up the projector and worried...but I had nothing to worry about. But I sure had something to look at.

 

"This was not the same film. Not at all. It was a Leica reel or story reel with filmed storyboards and Kelly reading the script, and a 'needle drop' track. (canned temp music) And it was twice as long because it had a horrific dream sequence and decidedly downbeat ending.

 

"Walt Kelly could not get anyone to produce this version. No TV studio in the USA, then or now, would have produced it. He got backing from a NGO for a 12 minute version, cut out the horror sequence and gave it an upbeat ending. The 12 minute version still exists, but not on YouTube.

In 1991 I was working for Warner Brothers New York. Selby was planning to move West and leave the city.

 

"I contacted producer Greg Ford and said 'We have to transfer this to tape before it disappears forever.'

 

"Greg did this and gave the Kelly family the Beta tape. 

 

"They released the film on VHS in 1992. Here it is.

 

"A word about the soundtrack: Kelly couldn't afford a session director. So the soundman in the booth never told him when to cut or do a retake. 'He read the script cold, and was getting madder and madder, because he wanted the man to tell him when he made a mistake,' Selby told me. (Kelly was a big bear of a man who took absolutely no crap from anyone and he obviously terrified the sound man). Kelly read the entire script in one take. He did indeed make mistakes, but kept on going. This is what a good animation story pitch man does. I was amazed by how effortlessly Kelly switches between character voices.

 

"And this is the only recorded example of a Golden Age Disney Studio Story man doing a pitch.

Watch it. The shorter film has some dialogue cuts that help it, and Kelly made some lovely layouts that 'plus' the visuals. But this film is the more powerful version. It pulls no punches.

 

"There is no happy ending."

 

 

EDIT: The YouTube version, which I previously posted, has been pulled, but here's a 13 minute version from Archive.org: 

 

 Link to the longer "Leica Version" here.

- This is an edited version of a blog entry from April 22, 2021.

Kremos AKA Niso Ramponi

Here are ten cartoons by Italian superstar cartoonist Niso Ramponi, AKA Kremos, a master of GGA (Good Girl Art).

"Sir, if you try to kiss me when go through the

tunnel, I will call for help."

But there isn't any tunnel on this line."

Then I won't call for help." 

I was first introduced to Kremos in Craig Yoe's ARF FORUM book) and Shane Glines' Cartoon Retro site.

"Who drove the auto?"

I, naturally. My husband can't drive."

Aside from his obvious talent at drawing voluptuous women, look at the way he composed the drawing above. From left to right: cop, girl, smashed car, husband. You have the whole story laid out. It's no wonder that he would later open an animation studio outside Rome.

"Either she gets undressed or I don't touch the case."

It's the physics of all that mass on those tiny highheels that fascinates me!

"I don't like to be followed, Mister. Walk in front of

me and wait for me on the corner."

Above: even though the background is made up of portions of items (corners of posters, a bit of a car, a building, a few squiggles for clouds), you get a strong sense of place.

"Doctor, today number 68 thinks he is Napoleon."

"You mustn't contradict him."

"I didn't contradict him, only he

thinks that I am Josephine."

The cartoons are from 2 books BEST CARTOONS FROM ABROAD 1955 AND BEST CARTOONS FROM ABROAD 1956, both edited by Lawrence Lariar and Ben Roth and copyright those years by same.

"Will you make up tour mind, Lana? It's already three

marriages that you've kept me waiting for your 'yes'!"

Niso Ramponi would, after years, eventually stop using the pen name "Kremos" to avoid confusion and possible litigation with an Italian artist of the same name.

"I didn't get the part. The director couldn't 

see my good points."

To paraphrase the Roger Rabbit line: the girls may not be bad, but they sure are drawn that way.

"But in this suit, Luigi, people won't think that you

married me only for my money?"

I see a little bit of Frank Thorne in some of the art, and that's high praise.

"You don't love me anymore, Billy. You named a

hurricane after another girl."

Sure, the jokes are not the best, but here's one where style overshadows the gag.

"It's all the fault of Pampa, Lillobrigida, and Sophia

Loren that men have become annoyed with our type."

Related:
Vintage Cartoon Pinups
Imgur gallery
Niso Ramponi alias Kremos (a biography in Italian)

"'Hello Jeep!' The Mystery of the Missing Cartoon by Kremos and Federico Fellini"

-- This was an edited version of a blog entry that originally appeared on November 4, 2008.

Be KInd Rewind

 

If you watch that Kevin Smith movie CLERKS, then you can see what a video store was like. Or maybe you actually remember video stores. Like people of a certain generation, I miss them. It was fun to be able to walk thru the aisles and see the art on the boxes. There was, in the early 1990s, a huge one on Broadway on the Upper West Side. It was three stories of rows and rows of VHS tapes for rent. I think it was there for about a year. Renting videos was a sustainable business model for a while!

Well, that's all gone. VHS tape had certain advantages. Being able to fast forward past the FBI warning and all the darn previews before the feature was a big advantage.

One disadvantage was that you had to rewind the tape once you were done watching it. And if you didn't, well then the video store would charge you maybe 50 cents for having to rewind it themselves. It spawned many "Be Kind Rewind" posters and stickers. Here are some.

Free Digital Copy of "Cartoon Modern" — a Rare, Out-of-Print Artbook on Mid-century Animation

The Animation Obsessive newsletter has links (low res and hi res) to a free copy of Cartoon Modern — a rare, out-of-print artbook on mid-century animation.

"Many of the best animation books are rare. They have a small print run, sell to a core audience and then disappear. On eBay and Amazon, second-hand copies go for hundreds. Only a tiny group gets to see the inspiring art and key information inside.

"A major example is the artbook Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation.

"Released in 2006, Cartoon Modern is the guide to the so-called 'UPA style.' It’s full of art and production insights you can’t find anywhere else. The whole mid-century cartoon movement is here, from UPA to Mary Blair to Sleeping Beauty and beyond. On the back, you see a blurb from Craig McCracken of Powerpuff Girls fame:

Besides the fact that it’s filled with tons of incredible, inspiring, and intimidating artwork, Cartoon Modern is impressive to me because it goes beyond the studios and really focuses on the fact that these cartoons are all made by unique and individual artists. I’ve been waiting a long, long time for a book like this!

"The author of Cartoon Modern, Amid Amidi, owns the book’s copyright and digital rights — and has written that he wants to see it reborn. 'Would be delighted if someone scanned in and made available a high-quality PDF of Cartoon Modern,” he tweeted in 2019. “Book has been out of print for a long time and should be readily available to all.'

"So, that’s what we’ve done" 

 

An art gallery couldn’t get this artist’s permission to use her most famous piece. It used it anyway.

Image from Hallie Bateman's Instagram.

It's always gratifying when someone, some business, would like your art. In this case, a Belgian art gallery Stichting Ijsberg asked artist Hallie Bateman if they could use her art. She didn't agree. And then, as this Fast Company magazine article, states, "she was surprised to learn that it had purchased a print and used it to promote a show" 

 

"The piece in question is It’s a Miracle We Ever Met. In it, a bunch of people and one dog, all drawn in Bateman’s deceptively rudimentary style, are each walking off on their own separate trajectories, trailed by primary color vector lines. Love’s triumph over randomness, eloquently evoked.

"Given that the gallery’s show is about various types of connections people make in life, including—ironically, it now seems—those between people and artists, It’s a Miracle makes an ideal avatar for the show. But the Belgian gallery is far from the first to make that connection between Bateman’s art and their own thing.

"'A lot of people reach out to me about this drawing and want to use it for their album cover or their podcast art or their book cover,' says the artist, whose latest book is Directions. 'But I’ve never licensed it to anyone. It’s my work. There’s stuff you make for the job and there’s stuff you make that’s yours. And I’m not about to turn my stuff into just shit to license.'

It’s a Miracle We Ever Met is Bateman’s most well-known piece—and also her most stolen. Deepak Chopra’s namesake center, for instance, has used it without permission before, like a spiritual FuckJerry, and so have other Instagram and Pinterest accounts with large followings."

Theft of images is a common thing. Usually, when my own images are taken, it's not for profit. Most of the time, someone just likes the cartoon I drew. Like when Itzhak Perlman posted my cartoon on his Twitter account.

"'It’s just so odd that you can love a piece of art so much and give absolutely negative shits about who made it and just treat it like it’s a leaf that fell from a tree or something,' Bateman says.

The gallery has maintained that it's given credit to her for the work, but, as Ms. Bateman states:

"The credit is not the issue; Consent is the issue. I said no, and no means no."

Read the entire Fast Company article here.

PBS News Hour: How Brian Fies Used Art to Process a Devastating Wildfire

I'm very fortunate to have my friend, the award winning graphic novelist Brian Fies, visit (virtually) my History of Comics class this afternoon. (I'm teaching the Fall 2020 History of Comics class at New Hampshire Institute of Art and Design at New England College -- as well as a History of Political Cartoons course.)

Back in 2019, PBS News Hour did a profile of Brian Fies, and his then-new book A FIRE STORY. The book has recently been reissued in paperback in an expanded form.



He references the Emmy Award winning KQED short FIRE STORY animatic. It's here:

Video: Alex Toth In Depth Episode 010 - In Discussion with James Romberger

From the "Alex Toth In Depth" YouTube series, hosted by Paul Fricke, cartoonist and comics instructor at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design since 2012:

 

"Fine artist and cartoonist, and comics essayist and author, James Romberger joins in a discussion of Alex Toth's development, excellence, notable work and occasional stumbles, and lasting legacy. We also discuss James's work and approach. Check out his website, books and articles, links below. For a daily dose of Toth images, and for updates on the show Follow @alextothindepth on Instagram."

The Garden As of November 1, 2021

Here is the last of the garden and environs. Really, just some zinnias and marigolds and the green peppers are hanging in there. No frost yet, but that could come this week. Lovely fall colors. 

 

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Old Joke Cemetery 1946 - 1971

Since it's a few days before Halloween it's time to look at some old gag cartoons with gags so old they SHOULD be dead, but, like zombies, they live on. Thank you, Dick Buchanan, for fearlessly dealing with these undead bad jokes. They are moldy oldies, but we love them. 

---

OLD JOKE CEMETERY
(1948 – 1971)



The Old Joke Cemetery is where old jokes are laid to rest. We say rest because some of them are only resting, lying in wait until someone calls for an encore and they spring to life. We’re not sure these will spring to life, but they’re old favorites of ours so give them one more chance . . .

1. HARRY MACE. The Saturday Evening Post November 21, 1953.

 

2. DICK CAVALLI. The Saturday Evening Post October 28, 1950.

 

3. BILL KING. Collier’s February 23, 1952.

4. LEW FOLLETTE. The Saturday Evening Post June 5, 1948.

 

5. TOM HENDERSON. Look Magazine July 28, 1948.

 

6. CHON DAY. True Magazine July, 1963.

7. TOM FLANNERY. American Legion Magazine February, 1949.

8. LAFE LOCKE. Collier’s March 28, 1953.

9. DON OREHEK. American Legion Magazine December, 1967.

 

10. STAN HUNT. The Saturday Evening Post June 5, 1948.

 

11. CORKA (Jon Cronin) True Magazine March, 1952.

 

12. AL CRAMER. American Magazine June, 1955.

 

13. BILL HOEST. American Legion Magazine March, 1971.

 

14. JEFFREY MONAHAN. The Saturday Evening Post November 2, 1963.

 

15. SCOTT TABER. The Saturday Evening Post March 9, 1957.

 

16. ERNEST MARQUEZ. American Legion Magazine November, 1950.

17. JOHN DEMPSEY. Look Magazine November 8, 1960.

 

18. SYD HOFF. Collier’s January 26, 1952.

19. CHARLES STRAUSS. Collier’s January 26, 1952.

 

20. ROBERT DAY. This Week Magazine April 8, 1956.