MORRISON MONDAYS meets TOYHEM — again! By BILL MORRISON Well blow me down! December is the birth month of Elzie Crisler Segar, the creator of Popeye the Sailor! Over the decades, Segar’s comic strip, Thimble Theatre Starring Popeye, along with the Fleischer brothers’ (and later, Famous Studios’) cartoons, generated an incalculable number of laughs, and possibly an equally multitudinous amount of toys. I was introduced to the one-eyed sailor through Popeye and His Pals, a local TV show from Windsor, Ontario, that we picked up across the Detroit River in the Motor City. The show was emceed by two sailor-themed kiddie show hosts, Captain Jolly on weekdays, and Poopdeck Paul on the weekends. I was plopped down in front of the TV set pretty much every day to watch that show, and it made me an avid Popeye fan, so naturally, Popeye toys were a part of my childhood. But it was as a young professional artist that I began collecting Popeye toys and other merchandise, due to a more serious interest in the Fleischer cartoons, and to reading the early comic strips in a series of books published by Fantagraphics. My accumulation of Popeye stuff has always competed for attention with my Batman collection, so it’s modest at best. But since December is not only Segar’s birth month (he was born Dec. 8, 1894) but also the annual TOYHEM! celebration here at 13th Dimension, I thought it would be fun to show 13 FAVORITE POPEYE TOYS from my collection! — This rubber jointed Popeye doll was made by Cameo in the 1950s. I’m still on the hunt for the missing pipe! — In the 1960s Soaky bubble bath always made bath time fun. A few decades ago, I had a huge collection of Soaky bottles featuring just about every cartoon character you can imagine, from Huckleberry Hound to Jiminy Cricket. That collection took up a lot of space, so I ended up selling most of it. But of course, along with Batman, Robin, Superman, and the Universal Monsters, I kept this wonderfully off-model Popeye bottle. — Before Spotify and iTunes, and even before Walkmans, kids took their music with them via transistor AM radios. This cool Popeye radio, complete with carry strap and wooden pipe, was made in the swingin’ ’70s by Philgee International in Hong Kong. —...
MORRISON MONDAYS and the greatest of them all… By BILL MORRISON Tuesday marks the 60th anniversary of the first airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas on December 9, 1965. I was in front of the Morrison family Motorola on that day, and have been a fan of Charles “Sparky” Schulz’s comic-strip creation ever since. The special, which came about by happenstance and was considered a disaster by TV executives, went on to win both Emmy and Peabody awards and has become ingrained in the popular culture of the holiday season. To commemorate this special day, here is A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS AT 60: 13 SECRETS BEHIND THE HOLIDAY CLASSIC: — 1. The cherished holiday special began its life as a Peanuts documentary. Lee Mendelson, a producer of documentary films for television, approached Peanuts creator Charles Schulz about making a film focused on the popularity of his comic strip. Sparky was an avid baseball fan and had seen and enjoyed Mendelson’s film about Willie Mays, A Man Named Mays, and agreed to meet with the producer. Despite the popularity of Peanuts, networks weren’t interested in the documentary, but in April of 1965, fate stepped in when Mendelson was approached by an executive at the McCann Erickson advertising agency named John Allen. Coca-Cola, a client of Allen’s, was looking for a Christmas special to sponsor, and Allen asked Mendelson if he had one. Mendelson said he absolutely did, even though he absolutely didn’t. The ad executive asked for an outline to be delivered in a few days, so Mendelson phoned Schulz and told him they had sold A Charlie Brown Christmas. Schulz replied, “What in the world is that?” to which Mendelson responded, “It’s something you’re going to write tomorrow.” — 2. The original opening segment of the special included a Coke ad. In the scene, Snoopy skates around on the ice pond, grabs Linus’s security blanket, pulls him back and forth, and entangles Charlie Brown in the blanket as well. Then Snoopy whips them both around, sending Charlie Brown into a tree which dumps its load of snow onto our hapless hero, cueing the superimposed title. But what happened to Linus? Well, in the original sequence, after we see the title, we go back to the ice pond where Snoopy continues to whip Linus around, flinging him into a sign that...
A MORRISON MONDAYS anniversary salute!
MORRISON MONDAYS Meets JOKER WEEK!
