Bert and Harry Piel Live Again! Long-Lost 1950's UPA Cartoon Commercials Resurface

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The awesome ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive has started to transfer and share some of the most important (and long-hidden) animation of the modern age: The famous UPA commercials starring the Piels Brothers and their beer!

Bert and Harry Piels pitch their beer in these classic animated commercials
click on the picture of Bert and Harry to jump to the downloads!

At the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive post you can download and watch a super-high-quality QuickTime movie featuring well OVER 7 minutes of long-lost cartoon footage from these incredibly influential animated spots. They look very simple, but UPA's Bert and Harry Piel cartoon commercials really broke new ground and set the stage for a whole new era of "modern" cartoons.

...and according to Steve @ ASIFA, this is just the first HINT of the treasures recently uncovered there!

from Wikipedia: In the 1950s, the Piels brewery had a very successful television and radio campaign when the Young & Rubicam ad agency created Bert and Harry Piel, the fictitious animated owners and pitchmen for the brewery. Voices were provided by the comedians Bob and Ray. Harry (Bob Elliott) was tall and soft-spoken, always calming down the short loudmouth Bert (Ray Goulding) when something went wrong. The first Bert and Harry commercials aired December 1955 and ran until 1960.

More on the Cartoon commercials of Bert and Harry Piel at http://www.tvacres.com/admascots_pielsbrothers.htm

Mega-thanks to Stephen Worth and the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive

A Sparky Watts EPIC Funny Adventure Comic at Pappy's

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Don't miss this awesome Sparky Watts comic adventure
over at Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blog!
Sparky Watts Comic Book by Boody Rogers -- Are you extra small or am I a giant?

SpongeBob Magazine Halloween Pumpkin Cover Painting - On your Newsstands Now!

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The new issue of SpongeBob SquarePants Magazine has a cover I painted a few months ago...a special Halloween themed portrait of SpongeBob and Patrick as seen from inside a Jack-o-Lantern pumpkin...
SpongeBob and Patrick Pumpkin magazine cover painting
(Click on the cover above for a bigger version)
...and here's the original painting before all the word-balloons, headlines and logos:
SpongeBob and Patrick Halloween Pumpkin
(Click on the image above for a bigger version)
This was painted digitally using the fantastic (and cheap) graphics program, ArtRage 2.5
I saved a bunch of different versions of this one as I was working on it so I could recreate a sort of step-by-step drawing painting process. Keep an eye out for that post in the near future.

Early Peanuts Animation: Charlie Brown and Snoopy on the Ford Show

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Here's a nice treat from CartoonBrew.com ...in remembrance of Peanuts animator Bill Melendez, Jerry Beck has posted some animated rarities from the earliest days of the Peanuts cartoons. You can watch it below, but it's bigger and better on CartoonBrew.



At the 2:30 mark of this video, (after a trailer for the first full-length Peanuts animated cartoon, "A Boy Named Charlie Brown,") we get to see the very first occurance of an animated Charlie Brown, Snoopy and company...animated by Bill Melendez for an opening on the Tennesee Ernie Ford Show. The voice of Charlie Brown? None other than Paul Frees!

Peanuts TV commercial Linus and PigPen sell a Ford car
The video above features commentary by Jerry Beck, but he has also included a link to the commentary-free version of the video. Check out the whole post at http://www.cartoonbrew.com/brewtv/peanutsephemera

PS...if you like this sort of retro-cartoon commercial post, check out these other winners:

Mr. Owl, How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie-Roll center of a Tootsie-Pop?
How Many Licks, indeed? The full-length UNCUT version of the classic Tootsie-Pop commercial!

Fizzies Vintage Cartoon TV Commercial - Brilliantly Simple Story and Design Work!

Vintage Cartoon Commercial - Dandy Drawings and a Jaunty Jingle!

King Aroo - Mr. Elephant and Yuptop Make Some Magic - July 20th 1952

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This is one of my favorite King Aroo strips so far...Yuptop gets dressed up and takes center stage, we got magic, and we get to have some fun with Mr. Elephant, too. Every panel has got that little special something that makes this strip a worthy companion to the gentle lyrical humor of Pogo and Krazy Kat.

It's also fun to watch Yuptop got though all his emotions without even having a mouth!

Click on any panel to view a nice BIG hi-res scan
King Aroo Cartoon elephant approaches Yuptop in wizard outfit
King_Aroo cartoon magician reading from magic book while comic elephant looks into magic top hat
King Aroo - Mr. Elephant gets all excited about learning magic tricks
King Aroo Yuptop hand cartoon elephant a page from the magic book
King Aroo listens as cartoon elephant reads the magical spell from a paper
King Aroo POOF! Mr. Elephant disappears by magic as a cartoon rabbit pops out of Yuptop's magic hat


Click on the thumbnail below to see the full color King Aroo Sunday comic strip from March 30th 1952 in high-resolution splendor!
King Aroo - Mr. Elephant and the Magic Act


More King Aroo Sunday strip scans:




King Aroo Makes a Movie

More on King Aroo and cartoonist Jack Kent:

More about King Aroo at Toonopedia

Wanna see more King Aroo Sunday strips?
Just let me know in the comments below and I'll keep 'em coming ^_^


King Aroo Makes a Movie - Sunday Comic Strip Scan from March 30, 1952

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"What transpires?"

King Aroo and friends decide to make a movie in this Sunday comic strip scan from March 30, 1952. Written and drawn by Jack Kent.

Click on any panel to view a nice BIG hi-res scan
King_Aroo cartoon king and kangaroo with movie camera
King_Aroo cartoon bird wearing a beret reading from Mother Goose
King_Aroo cartoon characters making a movie near a well
King_Aroo cartoon king recites lines from script as cartoon bird acts as director
King_Aroo cartoon king forgets his dialogue lines
King_Aroo Yuptop gets pulled out of the well

Click on the thumbnail below to see the full color King Aroo Sunday comic strip from March 30th 1952 in high-resolution splendor!

King Aroo Sunday Color Comic Strip drawings by Jack Kent March 30 1952


Here are the previous posts in this series of King Aroo Sunday strip scans:





Wanna see more King Aroo Sunday strips?
Just let me know in the comments below and I'll keep 'em coming ^_^
Update: Lots more King Aroo daily and Sunday comic strips at:

King Aroo and Yuptop Meet the Sloth - More Sunday Color Funnies by Jack Kent

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Here's another King Aroo Sunday comic strip scan...
this one from March 9th, 1952!
Click on any image for a BIG high-resolution comic strip scan!
King Aroo and Yuptop chat with a cartoon sloth King_Aroo_Sunday_030952-01
Why is it you sloths always hang upside down like that? King_Aroo_Sunday_030952-02
Yuptop thinks the sloth is lazy King_Aroo_Sunday_030952-03
King_Aroo_Sunday_030952-04
cartoon sloth is hungry in King_Aroo_Sunday_030952-05
King Aroo meets a cartoon sloth hanging from a tree
and the whole King Aroo Sunday strip scan is right below:
King Aroo Sunday strip scan
There you'll also find a list of links that talk about King Aroo creator Jack Kent and his works!

Update: Many more King Aroo Sunday Comics scans right HERE.
Update #2: Still MORE King Aroo dailies and Sunday strips HERE.

King Aroo Sunday Comic Strip By Jack Kent - December 30, 1951

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Here's a really fun King Aroo color Sunday comic strip by Jack Kent from December 30th 1951. As described in The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics:
King_Aroo "King Aroo is one of the most celebrated strips of the recent past in the comics ... appealing largely to the members of the readership that loved Krazy Kat, Barnaby, Pogo and Little Nemo. The strip began in 1950 ... but was discontinued after a few years. It was kept on in limited syndication until 1965."
I recently made some hi-res scans of some color newspaper samples of the King Aroo strip that I collected a few years ago.
Little cartoon bird writing on a piece of paper - Drawing by Jack Kent from King Aroo comic strip


Since there was only ever one book collection of the strip (in 1953) and very little merchandising, Jack Kent's King Aroo has been largely forgotten, except by a rabidly loyal group of fans that swears lifelong allegiance to the King. I have listed some links at the bottom of the post where you can look to find a few more strips, and a lot more information.
King_Aroo_looking-left
Click on any image for a BIG high-resolution comic strip scan!
King_Aroo_Sunday_ cartoon King and bird holding a watch
King_Aroo_Sunday_Yuptop takes a look at Cecil's watch
King_Aroo_Sunday_Yuptoip learns how to tell time with Cartoon bird and cartoon drawing of a King
King_Aroo_Sunday_ Cartoon King  holding a sliderule
King_Aroo_Sunday_123051-05
King_Aroo_Sunday_123051-06
Here's the whole King Aroo Sunday Comic Strip in High Resolution:
King_Aroo_Sunday_123051-2400
...and here are those King Aroo links I promised...
King Aroo article on Toonopedia
http://www.blogger.com/All%20about%20King%20Aroo%20and%20Jack%20Kent
A few King Aroo daily strips
Example of King Aroo daily Original Art by Jack Kent, November 24, 1960
King Aroo: Two color Sundays and a daily comic strip
The great Jack Kent and his wonderful "King Aroo"
Wanna see more King Aroo Sunday strips?
Just let me know in the comments below and I'll keep 'em coming ^_^
Update: Many more King Aroo Sunday Comics scans right HERE.
Update #2: Still MORE King Aroo dailies and Sunday strips HERE.