These often performed a function similar to the later Classics Illustrated but with more space to work with and the guidance of a single talented craftsman, did a better job of it. He put the cast through quite a few two-month adaptations of famous novels, such as Ivanhoe and Treasure Island. As silent movies gave way to talkies - and as strips such as Tailspin Tommy and Buck Rogers began doing serious stories - Wheelan’s own strip grew more serious. ![]() Between features, he sometimes parodied the gossip columns, inventing silly facts about the stars’ private lives. He made full use of the silent movie practice of introducing characters and crediting actors with head shots accompanied by title cards. Still sticking to the theme, Wheelan introduced such cinematic techniques as close-ups, long shots and irises to the comics. Wheelan maintained the movie theme so well, according to early comics historian Martin Sheridan, children would often write in to ask for the stars’ autographs. Then there was Hazel Dearie, who played opposite Dick as leading lady Ralph McSneer, who usually played a villain Blanche Rouge, a vamp in the style of Theda Bara Herbert Honey, a child star and even animals such as Dynamo the Wonder Dog and Milo, a monkey. The first was leading man Dick Dare - handsome, steel-eyed, and always ready for adventure or romance. As time went on, and stories stretched out to a month or more, he introduced various “stars”, who played a variety of roles but were generally typecast in certain positions. He covered every genre of film - pirate stories, westerns, detective stories, even short subjects and newsreels, all supposedly directed by the fictional Art Hokum. This made the panels very small (or “minute”, in keeping with the title) but allowed Wheelan to cram a lot of them in. Minute Movies was the same size and shape as other comic strips, but was divided into two tiers. Meanwhile, Hearst launched another continuity strip with a similar name - Elzie Segar’s Thimble Theatre, which in 1929 introduced Popeye. As Minute Movies, the Adams syndicate launched it in 1921. In court cases over The Yellow Kid, Buster Brown and The Katzenjammer Kids (all involving Hearst), the precedent had been set that a cartoonist could take his work to a new publisher, but the trademarked title stayed with the old one. ![]() Some latter-day commentators scoff, pointing out most of Wheelan’s stories weren’t all that serious, but there aren’t many other examples of continued stories among such early daily strips.Ī year or two later, Wheelan quit Hearst (and had few kind words to say about him afterward) and took his strip to The George Matthew Adams Service (Cap Stubbs & Tippie, Sky Masters). In later years, Wheelan claimed to have introduced serious continued stories to the comics. Soon it was doing week-long continuities. The next day, and the one after, it ran a two-part story. On April 8, 1918, it received a name: Midget Movies. Wheelan took to parodying current movies and their stars and that soon became the sole focus of the strip. ![]() Wheelan’s Minute Movies grew out of a strip that ran in the sports pages of The New York American (a Hearst paper), during the mid-19-teens. In every way possible, he strove to make his comics look and feel just like movies.Įdgar S. But Ed Wheelan, who predated them all, did more than just adapt a few techniques. Milton Caniff (Steve Canyon), Will Eisner (The Spirit), Carl Barks (Uncle Scrooge) … the list goes on and on. Later changes consisted mainly of costume changes, taking him out of his red shorts, for instance, and putting him in more contemporary clothes.įollowing is a list of the 120 Mickey Mouse cartoons:ħ4.Many cartoonists have achieved good results by adapting cinema techniques to comics. In the early 1940s, animators gave him perspective ears shadowing them to give a three-dimensional effect but this change was short lived. His body became more pear-shaped than round, and pupils were added to his eyes, making them more expressive. The Pointer, in 1939, was the first cartoon that featured a drastically new design for Mickey. Mickey Mouse was originally drawn using circles for head, body, and ears. ![]() He was followed by Wayne Allwine and Bret Iwan. Walt Disney provided Mickey Mouse’s voice up to 1946, when Jim Macdonald took over until his retirement three decades later. He starred in the Mickey Mouse Club television show in the 1950s, appeared on thousands of merchandise items, and acted as chief greeter at the Disney theme parks. In all, there were 120 Mickey Mouse cartoons, with a 30-year gap between The Simple Things (1953) and Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983). Mickey’s heyday was the 1930s in the 1940s his popularity on the screen was overtaken by Donald Duck and Goofy. Mickey Mouse Walt Disney’s primary cartoon character, who made his debut in Steamboat Willie on November 18, 1928, at the Colony Theater in New York.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |