Comic Art &Festivals &SpornFilms 19 Oct 2007 07:53 am
Pabs & Sad Sack & Treasures
– The Heartland Film Festival opens tomorrow in Indianapolis. I have a real connection to this Festival and Jeff Sparks, the Festival Director. I’ve won their Crystal Heart Award four times in the past, and I’ve won the audience choice award once. I’ve been a judge at the Festival twice. They’re a great group of people, and they consistently put together a great program of excellent films.
Starting Saturday, my new short Pabs’ First Burger will premiere, playing once at 3PM and again at 9PM. It will screen a half dozen times total. It’s on a bill with the documentary Note By Note.
I just wish I could be there to introduce it.
This short will also open the program at the Museum of Modern Art on November 12th when John Canemaker chats with me about my work. So, if you can’t make it to Indianapolis, you can see it at MOMA.
At Live Journal, there’s an interesting collection of some of George Baker‘s Sad Sack comic strips as seen in Yank Magazine during WW II.
As a kid, I had an odd grouping of comic books to read regularly. I wasn’t really into the superhero strips, I appreciated more the cartoon strips. Naturally, I bought Carl Barks’ Donald Duck; they had the best stories and some great artwork. Little Lulu also appealed to me, and I read every issue. (Has there ever been a story on her creator, Marge?) In a pinch, I’d read Hank Ketchum’s Dennis the Menace, but I didn’t love it as much as others. When I got a little older, I read Archie.
Sad Sack was also among those comics I enjoyed. It’s interesting how a strip designed specifically for soldiers would have a life after the War. I guess the good writing and funny drawings kept it alive. Beetle Bailey popped up in 1950, and I suppose it really was nothing more than a rip off of Sad Sack. Although the drawings weren’t as funny, that strip offered enough to make it popular as well.
- I love the recreated background sites that Hans Bacher and Rob Richards have developed. On Animation Backgrounds, Rob has posted some backgrounds of the Witch’s Castle from Sleeping Beauty. I also really like seeing the two BGs he posted from Sword In The Stone and would love to see more from this film. 101 Dalmatians had a specific look to accomodate the new Xerographic process they were using in the cels. Sword In The Stone took another turn in its backgrounds, and I like both films.
It’s a real pleasure to visit both sites; I go there often. I can’t get enough of the Snow White BGs on Animation Treasures II.
on 19 Oct 2007 at 8:38 am 1.Stephen said …
“Pab’s First Burger” Is a lot of fun to watch. Good Luck!
on 19 Oct 2007 at 8:58 am 2.Larry said …
Beetle Bailey actually began as a college strip, it wasn’t until two years into it’s run that Beetle got drafted.
on 19 Oct 2007 at 11:01 am 3.Henry Lowengard said …
It seems to me that the comic book Sad Sack was redesigned to look more like Pvt. Snafu. Maybe all big-nosed soldiers look alike to me (except for Vip’s)!