Reading the Comics

Phil Harris (1904-1995) was a Hoosier. His hometown, Linton, Indiana, proudly claims him, even if he did leave behind the name he was given at birth. Can you blame him? Would you want to go through life with a handle like Wonga? That's his real-life wife, Alice Faye, looking on in disapproval as Phil reads Whiz Comics behind the cover of a dictionary. Whiz was the home of Captain Marvel, the original Fawcett superhero whose looks were based on Fred MacMurray's. Harris acted in movies and on radio for decades. In the late 'sixties and early 'seventies he lent his voice to Walt Disney and played Baloo in The Jungle Book (1967), Thomas O'Malley in The Aristocats (1970), and Little John in Robin Hood (1973). In The Aristocats, Harris sang a duet with Scatman Crothers, another Hoosier and a topic for another day.

Text copyright 2013, 2024 Terence E. Hanley

In the News-Jim Davis and Garfield

Garfield Software Launched

Garfield Comic Boom, a new cartooning software from Toon Boom Animation, made its world debut at the Montreal ComicCon, September 17-21, 2011. The software, a collaborative effort between Toon Boom Animation and Garfield creator Jim Davis, allows children to create their own storylines and comic illustrations by using digital art tools and an extensive library of props and scenery. 

Davis, an Indiana native born in Marion and raised in Fairmont, calls the program a “jet pack to creativity” and muses that the software may soon leave him unemployed by the next generation of computer-savvy cartoonists. The program even makes it possible for users to create voice-overs and sound effects, and includes simple-to-use options that allow users to share their completed cartoons via social media sites and mobile devices. The software, which was released for sale in early August, also includes a bonus tutorial from Davis himself, imparting tips and wisdom on cartooning. 

Davis, who began his career as a cartoonist in 1969 by assisting Tom K. Ryan, creator of Tumbleweeds, is also the creator of Gnorm Gnat, a strip featured in the Pendleton Times for five years in the 1970s, as well as U.S. Acres, an internationally syndicated strip (known outside the U.S. as Orson’s Farm) featuring Orson the Pig.  

Garfield began syndication in more than forty U.S. newspapers on June 19, 1978, and nw appears in more than 2,400 papers worldwide. In 1988, Garfield came to television in the animated Saturday morning cartoon series Garfield and Friends, which aired on CBS from September 17, 1988, to December 10, 1995. Now syndicated on the Cartoon Network, the show, which began as a half-hour program, was extended to an hour in its second season and featured two Garfield cartoons and a U.S. Acres cartoon in each episode. 

Garfield has appeared on the large and small screen, and in newspapers, books, DVDs, and video games. While certainly one of the most high-tech of Garfield-related products to hit the market, Garfield Comic Boom is only the newest venture by Jim Davis and his Paws, Inc.  Other excursions into the digital arena include the Garfield.com website and the ProfessorGarfield.org site, which promotes children’s literacy.

You can read more about Garfield Toon Boom at PRNewswire.com in the story “Garfield Creator Says ComicBoom Software Could Put Him Out of Business,” posted August 8, 2011.

By Bridget Hanley, Proficient Pen.
Copyright 2011, 2024 Terence E. Hanley

In the News-Deerspace Toons

New Animation Studio Launches

Deerspace.com, a company dedicated to information and education on hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities, recently announced the formation of a studio for producing animated cartoons. Called Deerspace Toons, the studio is busy producing "Hunter Ed Adventures," a series of public service announcements for television and the Internet. Each episode features the characters Hunter Ed and Buddy Buck as they demonstrate an important principle of outdoor safety. You can read a press release (dated May 9, 2011) at the website PRLog, here. You can of course also view the parent website of Deerspace Toons at Deerspace.com. Finally, you can view "Hunter Ed Adventures" on YouTube.

Deerspace.com, founded by John Jackson, is based in Waterloo, Indiana.

Copyright 2011, 2024 Terence E. Hanley

Cartoonist of the Month-Feb. 2011

Bill Justice (1914-2011)

The life of animator Bill Justice was bracketed by February days. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, on Feb. 9, 1914, but graduated high school in Indianapolis in 1931. After high school, Justice attended the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, but he apparently did not complete his degree. Walt Disney may have had something to do with that. In the mid-1930s, Disney was in the middle of something that had never been done before: he was making a feature-length animated cartoon. Justice heeded the call of the Disney studios and--like scores of other cartoonists--headed west to work on Snow White, which premiered at the end of 1937 and was released nationwide on  Feb. 4, 1938, during the week of Bill Justice's twenty-fourth birthday.

That was the beginning of Justice's decades-long association with the Disney studios. Over the years, he worked as an animator and director on some of the studio's favorite features and shorts: Fantasia, Bambi, Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, and Make Mine Music. As an "Imagineer," he was also instrumental in the development of Disneyland and Walt Disney World. His memoir, Justice for Disney (1992), seems to have a double meaning in its title, but if you want to read what the author has to say, be prepared to pay: the book is very hard to come by.

Bill Justice died on Feb. 11, 2011, two days after his ninety-seventh birthday.

Text copyright 2011, 2024 by Terence E. Hanley

In the News-Bill Justice

Disney Animator Bill Justice Dies

Disney animator Bill Justice died on February 11, 2011, in Santa Monica, California. He had just turned 97 years old. Born in Dayton, Ohio, on February 9, 1914, Justice grew up in Indianapolis. He graduated from Arsenal Technical High School in 1931 and and studied at the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis. Justice was among a crop of Hoosiers to sign on with the Walt Disney studio during the 1930s. The others included Bill Peet and his brother, George Peed, along with Harry Reeves, Cornett Wood, and Earl Freeman. Justice worked on Fantasia, Bambi, The Three Caballeros, Peter Pan, and many other features and shorts as an animator and director. As one of Disney's Imagineers, he helped program audio-animatronic attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. He retired in 1979 and wrote a memoir, Justice for Disney, published in 1992. You will find one of many accounts of his life and passing on the website of the Los Angeles Times, here.

Copyright 2011, 2024 Terence E. Hanley