Here’s another Betty Boop cartoon with a guest star from the funny pages… here with Carl Anderson’s Henry. Unlike the comic strip, for some reason they decided Henry should talk in the movie. A strange decision, as I don’t think it adds much to have him talk in the cartoon, or even to the storytelling… and it is certainly a big part of his comic strip’s appeal. Boy oh boy does Henry look wrong with a mouth. Come to think of it, boy does Henry look wrong.
Here’s an example I scanned of the bottom half of a badly mauled (the first three panels are entirely missing) Mr. Jack strip from 1903 by Jimmy Swinnerton.
Click the image to view the full strip.
Click here to read more examples of Swinnerton’s Mr. Jack at Barnacle Press.
Click here to read examples of Little Jimmy at Barnacle Press.
Click here to read examples of Swinnerton’s Mr. Batch at Barnacle Press.
Click here to read more examples of Swinnerton’s Mr. Jack at The Stripper’s Guide
Read an article from 1906 about Jimmy Swinnerton at The Stripper’s Guide.
See an example of Swinnerton’s Mount Ararat (second series) at The Stripper’s Guide.
See examples of Swinnerton’s An Embarrassing Moment at The Stripper’s Guide.
Click here to read about Jimmy Swinnerton at lambiek.net.
Click here to read more about Mr. Jack at Don Markstein’s Toonopedia.
Click here to read more about Jimmy Swinnerton at Don Markstein’s Toonopedia.
My friend Thrillmer at Barnacle Press has delighted me by managing to hunt down what is probably the vast majority of the run of the obscure and deeply bizarre Handy Man from Timbuctoo strips that I posted examples of the other week. These include the Handy Man’s first “origin” strip, and a cross-over strip with none other than Foxy Grandpa! The stylistic similarities of the Handy Man and Foxy Grandpa have made Thrillmer conclude that they are both strips by Carl Edward “Bunny” Schultze (who signed his strips with a bunny drawing), rather than the Handy Man being drawn by the mysterious CAW (who signs his strips with a crow drawing). Good eye, Thrillmer! Note also that CAW sounds like Carl with a drawl. I had noticed the similarities between the styles, but it hadn’t occurred to me that they were the same artist. I’m still not 100% convinced (I’m about 97% convinced, and I only go up to 99% convinced of anything… I need to compare them some more). Compare them and see what you think… and please let us know in the comments.
The Handy Man from Timbuctoo on Barnacle Press
The Handy Man from Timbuctoo on Stwallskull
Foxy Grandpa on Barnacle Press
Foxy Grandpa on Stwallskull
Here’s a Betty Boop cartoon featuring Jimmy Swinnerton’s Little Jimmy (I’ll be presenting some Little Jimmy strips soon for your reading pleasure). Betty is using a vibrating belt machine to lose weight… I remember playing with one of these at some relative’s house as a kid. I don’t think anyone ever lost weight with one of these contraptions, and it would be a good bet that a lot of people met their chiropractors with their assistance. This cartoon also reveals the little known fact that laughing causes obesity, which explains why fat people are always so damned jolly.
Read more about this cartoon on The Big Cartoon Database here.
Here’s an example I scanned of Mr. Jack from 1905 by Jimmy Swinnerton. Swinnerton was a popular and extremely prolific cartoonist, a contemporary and good friend of George Herriman (who shared Herriman’s passion for the southwestern United States, as seen in his Canyon Kiddies strips and his paintings). The hilarious Mr. Jack is the cutest little philanderer you ever saw. Yet another example of what was once considered amusing family fare that is contextually shocking to modern sensibilities. I’m happy to report that I’ll have a lot of Swinnerton to share with you in the coming weeks.
Click the image to view the full strip.
Click here to read more examples of Swinnerton’s Mr. Jack at Barnacle Press.
Click here to read examples of Little Jimmy at Barnacle Press.
Click here to read examples of Swinnerton’s Mr. Batch at Barnacle Press.
Click here to read more examples of Swinnerton’s Mr. Jack at The Stripper’s Guide
Read an article from 1906 about Jimmy Swinnerton at The Stripper’s Guide.
See an example of Swinnerton’s Mount Ararat (second series) at The Stripper’s Guide.
See examples of Swinnerton’s An Embarrassing Moment at The Stripper’s Guide.
Click here to read about Jimmy Swinnerton at lambiek.net.
Click here to read more about Mr. Jack at Don Markstein’s Toonopedia.
Click here to read more about Jimmy Swinnerton at Don Markstein’s Toonopedia.
Here’s another example I scanned of The Handy Man from Timbuctoo by CAW from 1904.
Please note that this strip contains ethnic depictions some would find offensive… if this sort of thing offends you, you may not want to view this strip.
Click the image to view the full strip.
Here’s another example I scanned of our sideshow hero, The Handy Man from Timbuctoo by CAW from 1904.
Click the image to view the full strip.
Here’s an example I scanned of The Handy Man from Timbuctoo by CAW from 1904. The Handy Man is a truly bizarre character… as bizarre as they come, really. A wandering hairy-man do-gooder, with a pet tiger sidekick.
Click the image to view the full strip.
Here’s an example I scanned of Peter Newell’s beautifully-drawn strip Polly Sleepyhead from 1907.
Click the image to view the full strip.
Please be advised that like many of the comic strips of the era, it contains offensive racial depictions. If this sort of thing offends you, you may not want to view it.
Click here to read more examples of The Naps of Polly Sleepyhead at Barnacle Press.
Click here to see more examples of The Naps of Polly Sleepyhead at nonsenselit.org.
Here’s another example of Dr. Seuss done right by Hollywood. Here’s the trailer for the great live action Dr. Seuss movie from 1953, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T
Read more about the film on Wikipedia.
Read more about the film on the Internet Movie Database.
Here’s a fun image-filled post about the movie at learning2share.blogspot.com.
