Coogy: Shakespeare - Coogy Plays To The Audience (3 of 5)

Coogy: Shakespeare -- Catch the Conscience of a Bear (2 of 5)

Coogy: William Shakespeare Speaks Through Big Moe (1 of 5)

Well, the Ides of March are just about upon us, which makes me think of Julius Caesar, which in turn makes me think of William Shakespeare, which again in turn makes me think of a Coogy serial. In truth, these five Sundays have nothing to do with the Ides, or Caesar...and my father certainly had nothing to do with Shakespeare. However, the Bard will make posthumous appearances throughout. They're from 1951, there are five of them, and they'll be posted in the next five consecutive days. Here's the first:

By now, you might have intuited that on some occasions that I post the strip -- which are already shot and imported into my ancient Windows ME computer -- then I'm biding time with you while I ready other posts. That would be true in this case.

As a head's up, these other posts will correspond to the Chuck Jones Olympiad Marathon Event that Turner Classic Movies will air on March 24th, and for which my dad did some damage on two of the productions: one credited, the other, not. You would do right by going over to Mark Mayerson's blog and see the Jones schedule he posted a few months back. That's where I was first alerted to it. Thanks, Mark!

THE RING A DING KID: Have You Seen Me? STILL WAITING!

What must I do to see this cartoon? Post a big-eyed Walter Keane portrait? (look up Keane on your own time). As far as totally complete Paramount/Famous storyboards, I have one left (not Ringading) -- and I vow not to put that complete storyboard online until someone can show me the actual Ringading Kid cartoon. Get crackin'! I ain't foolin'.

Paramount-Famous Studios: In The Nicotine - Model Sheets

Three model sheets (please pardon the seams) drawn by my father for the Paramount-Famous Studios cartoon, In The Nicotine. Synchronistically, serendiptitously, or just plain ol' coincidence, Cartoon Brew has posted the cartoon.

No story credit on this cartoon. Animation layout only.

You'll notice that his payment included monies for a title Poison To Poison. I'm not aware of a cartoon by that name, but I'm thinking it was an earlier working title for The Plot Sickens. Anybody have a different take on that? I'm open to it.

Everything's Bigger In Texas

So? Where's it from? I happen to really enjoy this drawing, although I've no idea if it's a one-off when the muse struck or if it belongs to an actual longer cartoon. By the paper and drawing style it looks like Paramount. Also, in my father's freelance ledger -- listed under Paramount, 1959, but might well have been released in 1960 -- I have a job listed simply as "Rabbit and Turtle".

THE RING A DING KID: Have You Seen Me?
In the near future I'll be posting a very short segment of boards and the story treatment to my father's Famous cartoon from the early sixties, The Ring A Ding Kid. I've never seen it, nor do I know anyone who has. But maybe YOU have seen it. If so, how did it turn out?: Stud or Dud? Even better, if anyone has the cartoon in a form that can be put online, I'd love to link it with the post. Much obliged, pardnuh'.

Famous Studios: The Plot Sickens (1961)

Over at Cartoon Brew, Jerry has posted one of my dad's very early sixties Famous Studios cartoon, The Plot Sickens. I wish I had some exciting additional items to accompany it, but mostly all I have is this entry from his personal ledger. In it, you can see that he thought of it as a "Hicthcockian(sic) type story." What a cartoon's title would eventually become was usually different than my dad's working title. Here he calls it "The Plot Thickens". Somewhere I have a couple of his billing invoices that he sent to Paramount, pay-as-you-go. I'd never locate them quickly enough to make this post timely, but in them you would see that at one time the title was referred to as "The Plot Quickens". Any which way - thickens, quickens, sickens -- you might want to go over there and take a look.