Issue No. 685

The other day I posted the first cover of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories from October 1940. That was then, this is now: here's the cover of the current issue, Number 685, to give you an idea of how far Disney's premier comic title has come. In addition to never-before-printed-in-the-US-stories, this latest issue features two stories from Halloween past (written and drawn by two famous “funny animal” artists named Carl) : Li'l Bad Wolf in a 1945 adventure by Carl Buettner and a classic, rarely-reprinted Donald Duck 10-pager by Carl Barks from 1961. The Halloween-themed cover (seen here) is also by the great comic master Barks, reprinted from issue 158 (November 1958) of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories. Issue number 685 is now on sale at comic book stores, Amazon.com, or from GemstonePub.com.

An Oscar AND An Emmy. Not Bad.

CartoonBrew.com had the news when it was actually, well, new, but in case you haven't heard, animation writer and historian extraordinaire John Canemaker became an Emmy winner on September 24. John’s animated documentary The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation was awarded an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Graphic & Artistic Design at the 28th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards. The Moon and the Son also won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Short, and since the film premiered on Cinemax in June 2006, it was eligible for Emmy consideration as well. Unlike most of us animation historian types, John is actually an animator and filmmaker himself, and as these prestigious awards attest, a darn good one at that. Congratulations. John! All of us who attempt in some small way to understand and analyze the art of animation—or even to construct a sentence—as beautifully as you, salute you.

Marvel Super Hero...Make that Super Saint

Sometimes you just need a saint. (I'm sure you understand, Spidey.) In 1980 Marvel Comics issued a special comic book telling the life story of one of the most recognized and revered saints, Francis of Assisi. Featuring art penciled by legendary Marvel artist John Buscema (perhaps best known for his art of The Avengers, Silver Surfer and Conan the Barbarian), this one-shot comic was published in honor of the 800th anniversary of the birth of this gentle "troubadour of God." Thought I'd run the cover of this unique Marvel comic today, as October 4 is the date honoring St. Francis of Assisi. Watch your local news for stories of animals being blessed in your community, as Francis is well known as the patron saint of all creatures large and small—in other words, he's not exactly Conan the Barbarian.

Because We Like You

Hard to believe but October 3, 1955, also saw the premiere of another classic children’s show: The Mickey Mouse Club. Produced by Bill Walsh and starring Jimmie Dodd as Head Mouseketeer and veteran Disney artist Roy Williams as the Big Mooseketeer, the show was an instant smash, thanks in no small part to the 24 youngsters who sang, danced and charmed as the legendary Mouseketeers. Roy Williams created their famous “Mouseka-ear” headgear, inspired by The Karnival Kid (1929) in which Mickey tips his ears to Minnie as though they were a hat. The show’s theme song “Mickey Mouse March”—written by Jimmie Dodd, as were many songs heard on the show—remains a Disney standard. And in a very visible testament to the show’s enduring legacy, millions proudly wear the “Mouseka-ear” caps at Disney theme parks around the world to this day.

The Keys to the Treasure House

On October 3, 1955, Captain Kangaroo opened the door to his Treasure House for the first time. Created and produced by Bob Keeshan, who also starred as the grandfatherly Captain, the show ran 5 days a week (some years it was on the Saturday morning schedule as well) on CBS, and when the program left the network (after being cut back to a weekend-only schedule) in 1894, it aired on PBS until 1993, an incredible run of 38 years. Uniquely low-key and sophisticated, the Captain Kangaroo program was the result of Bob Keeshan’s guiding philosophy: “Everyone involved with the show believed that our audience was composed of intelligent human beings worthy of our respect and with potentially good taste.” Millions of children tuned in, and more than one adult viewer valued the clever writing and the warm, humorous interplay between Captain and the other players, both people and puppets. This much honored show (6 Emmys, 2 Peabodys) still lives large in the memory of millions even though it's had extremely limited home video releases. Fortunately, YouTube has a number of clips, so celebrate the show's 52nd anniversary by checking it out—you'll see what it was like when Captain Kangaroo held the key to gentle, intelligent children’s programming.

October 3, 1955, was truly a red letter day in television programming. See the next post for more evidence.

It's a Jungle Out There (on DVD)

Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book was released today as the 10th animated feature to be given the deluxe Platinum Edition treatment by Disney DVD. One of the most intriguing aspects of the 2-disc DVD set’s bonus extras is the look at earlier treatments of the film differing from the version that reached the screen in 1967: there’s story artist Bill Peet’s oft-mentioned “darker” adaptation from 1963, audio demos of songs by Terry Gilkyson (his “The Bare Necessities” was used in the final version, along with songs by the Sherman Brothers, and an alternate version of “The Bare Necessities” is heard here) and a look at Rocky the nearsighted rhino, a character that was excised from the film. Other bonuses include an audio commentary and a new making-of documentary. To celebrate the DVD (which you can get here ), here’s the album cover of the original soundtrack recording, showcasing the Sherman songs, as well as Gilkyson’s Oscar-nominated “The Bare Necessities.”

The Scary Story of Scrappy Doo

Looking for a spooky tale for an October evening? Over at Mark Evanier's excellent newsfromme.com, the writer/historian tells the incredible story (in four chapters and counting) of how Scrappy Doo, the much-hated nephew of Scooby Doo, was added to the cast of Scooby's animated TV show. A writer for Hanna-Barbera at the time, Mark knows whereof he speaks, and his behind-the-scenes account will have you simultaneously intrigued at the Herculean efforts required for getting a TV project on the air and screaming at the terror of network thinking (an oxymoron), budget-obsessed producers and the horror of Scrappy Doo himself. For the whole terrifying tale go to this page. Warning: Your nightmares will be haunted by puppy power.

October 2, 1950

57 years ago today, an unassuming little comic strip made its debut in seven U.S. newspapers. Deliberately intended by its distributor, United Features syndicate, as a space-saving feature, the strip took the form of four small uniform square panels populated by tiny kids. It was an inauspicious beginning for Peanuts, which would become the most famous and widely read comic strip in history. In fact that is an understatement because Peanuts has long been a global phenomenon. Even today, seven years after Charles Schulz’s comic masterpiece published its last original installment—the Sunday page published on February 13, 2000—reprints of the poignant, satirical, fantastical, artful, inspiring, insightful (and funny) comic continues to appear in 2400 newspapers around the world. Not bad for a round-headed kid who’s the world’s biggest loser.

Issue No. 1

This month marks the 67th anniversary of Disney’s flagship comic book, Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories. The Disney comic anthology was an instant hit when it was first published in October 1940, and it has been printed almost continuously ever since. Today’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories is published in the prestige squarebound 64-page “comic album” format, and still features the winning formula of stories starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and such delightful backups as Bucky Bug, Grandma Duck, Scamp and Li’l Bad Wolf. Donald got things started as the comic book’s cover subject on Issue No. 1—and the temperamental Duck has been spotlighted on most of the 685 issues published since that first 1940 issue.

Happy Halloween Month!

During October I hope to make a number of posts about scary subjects, and I don’t mean The Barefoot Executive. I mean really scary topics like monsters, witches and Disneyland Showtime, starring Kurt Russell and E. J. Peaker. (To the uninitiated that particular 1970 episode of The Wonderful World of Disney celebrated Disneyland Park’s The Haunted Mansion, which had opened in 1969. Watch for more on this TV spooktacular later this month.) To get things off to a very Halloween-ish start here’s a classic 1953 Little Golden Book cover by Disney artist Dick Kelsey, an adaptation of the Donald Duck cartoon Trick or Treat (released in October 1952).