Rest in Peace Ron

 

"Beatlemania" by Ron Campbell 

Mitch Axelrod interviews Ron Campbell at The Fest for Beatle fans in NYC 2014

Showing one of Ron's artwork at the Fest for Beatle Fans NYC 2014

I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of Ron Campbell this weekend.   If you aren't familiar with Ron, then I am sure you are familiar with his work.   Ron was a cartoonist.   He was one that worked on some really big-name shows:  Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons, The Flintstones, George of the Jungle, Rugrats, The Smurfs and so many others!

He also worked on the Beatles cartoon in 1965 which lead him into becoming one of the head animators on the Yellow Submarine movie.   Ron's work is some of the best scenes in the film.   He did most of the stuff with Max and the Cheif Blue Meanie and I believe all of the "Nowhere Man" song with Jeremy.   

While I don't believe he ever met The Beatles, his work on their animated projects should not be forgotten.   Ron made the Yellow Submarine into the classic film we love today.  

Once he retired, he spent time traveling around the country, displaying his artwork.  He was a frequent visitor at Beatle conventions where he showed himself to be a very kind and talented man who would happily sketch a cartoon Beatle for you.    

He will be missed.  

Happy Christmas!

 Ringo posted this cute drawing of him as Santa riding the Yellow Submarine on his Twitter tonight.  It made me smile and I hope it made you smile as well.   Happy Christmas!   

Remembering Al Brodax

Cartoon Beatles expert and one of the co-hosts of the "Fab 4 Free for All" podcast Mitch Axelrod has informed everyone that Al Brodax passed away on Thanksgiving day.

Al is an important figure within the Beatles story because if it wasn't for him, we would not have the Yellow Submarine as we know it.   There wouldn't be Yellow Submarine lunchboxes, Lego Sets, figurines, shower curtains, etc etc etc.


Al Brodax worked for King Features on such cartoons as Popeye, Casper and Krazy Kat.   He got an idea about doing a Beatles cartoon by chance after bumping into a guy that had drawn some Beatles cartoon sketches in his office building.    From there Al was able to get a hold of Brian Epstein and to make a very long story short, the Beatles cartoon was produced for ABC starting in 1965.   Many people (including the Beatles) hated the cartoon, but it was very cute and exposed a whole new group of people to the music of the Beatles.

The Beatles' cartoon was a hit and Brian Epstein had told Brodax that if the cartoon took off, he would consider him for a full length Beatles animated movie.    Brodax had an idea of love vs. bad film and wanted to call it "All you need is Love."    But Ringo came along and said that he thought "Yellow Submarine" was a  better choice because there was a lot of things you could put into a submarine.     And so Yellow Submarine it was and while the Beatles trotted off to India, Brodax and his team worked on the animated film full time.

Here at Meet the Beatles..for Real, I sent my condolences to Al Brodax's family and friends.   Al will always be remembered for what he did for the Beatles in animation.  

Paul talks to Al Brodax

Beatles Cartoons 50 years later

For some fans, it wasn't the Ed Sullivan Show or A Hard Day's Night or even hearing the Beatles on the radio that got them into the band--it was the Beatles cartoons, which premiered 50 years ago.   The Beatles cartoon show was only broadcasted in the United States and was on ABC along side the likes of George of the Jungle (watch out for that tree), Casper the Friendly Ghost and Spiderman. 

The cartoons were over the top cheesy with cartoon gags and jokes.   The show typically showed the Beatles traveling to some country and getting chased by girls.    It pushed the Beatles' sterotype of their personalities, as first seen in A Hard Day's Night to the extreme.   George was the quiet one, John was the smart one,  Paul was the cute one and Ringo was the dim-witted but lovable one (remember his laugh...huh huh huh yeah).    The speaking voices weren't even the Beatles or for that matter even a close imitation.   However, there was one thing the Beatles Cartoon series had that was strong and memorable---it had real Beatles music.     Every week Beatles' songs sung by the Beatles was featured in the show and the most ingenious idea---there was a sing along section.   Usually George and Ringo introduced the sing along with a silly gag and then the real Beatles voices were heard with the words underneath.    This way the young fans got to learn the words to the Beatles' songs and even if you were "too old" to watch Saturday morning cartoons, if you were a Beatles fan, you couldn't resist watching the show in order to hear Beatles' music.

The Beatles' cartoons haven't held up as well over the past 50 years as their music or movies, but they are fun.      In the late 1980's, when I first became a Beatles fan, the cartoons were shown on Mtv on Saturday mornings.   Even these were edited versions, as by the late 1980's the cartoon were already dated.     This is most likely the reason why we have never seen the Beatles cartoons officially released by Apple (who bought the right to them).     There is a lot of humor in the cartoons that today would be considered "politically incorrect."   I recall there being a lot of jokes about the Chinese and Japanese, but I am sure there are more than that.    However, there have been a lot of cartoons from the 1960's and before that showed things that aren't socially acceptable today and they have been released on DVD with warnings, so I haven't given up hope for the loveable moptop cartoon quiet yet.

If you are interested in reading a book about the Beatles' cartoons, I highly recommend Mitch Axelrod's book called Beatletoons.      This book is well written and researched by a high respectable Beatles fan who is part of my favorite Beatles podcast, the Fab 4 Free For all.   If you haven't read Beatletoons, you should!   http://www.amazon.com/BeatleToons-Story-Behind-Cartoon-Beatles/dp/0964280876/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443404094&sr=8-1&keywords=Beatletoons

Cartoon conference

July 29, 1965 was a very busy day for our Beatles.  In the afternoon they had to attend a press conference/party for the Beatles cartoon series that was going to start up in the United States in September.     As you can clearly see in these photos, the Beatles were NOT happy about the cartoon series  or the event they were attending.   I mean look at John's face!    John ended up sitting under a table during part of the party and asked a guard to get him some hot dogs from a vendor outside instead of eating the food there. 

Regardless of how the Beatles felt about the cartoon series, fans have always enjoyed them.  I remember watching the Beatle cartoons on Mtv in the 1980's and I feel sad for the fans out there (especially the kids) that never got to see them.    Maybe in the future they will see the light of day and be officially released.   

Just like heaven!

I thought this was just too cute!  Look at the little "Beatles" poster behind her.  And doesn't she look a tad like a cartoon version of Pattie Boyd?

Now THIS is the truth!

Mad moments

Many fanzines would have some pretty awesome cartoon drawings included.   This one comes from a very mysterious fanzine "The I.F.A." which was ran by anonymous fans.   I have two of these fanzines and the cartoons in them are pretty funny and cute.   This one of the Apple Scruffs and other fans is especially neat to see.

Back to school!

As I am sure most of you know, in my real non-Beatles life, I teach reading to elementary school kids (I am a Title 1 teacher for those of you who are in education yourself and know the lingo).    I do have that neat John Lennon children's book on display behind my desk all year.  School has been going on now for 2 weeks and they have changed my entire program.  I have to learn 4 new programs all at the same time and teach them to the children.   It has been stressful beyond belief and has been making me physically ill because of the stress.   So when I re-found this cartoon tonight in my files, I had a good laugh.  I think I might sneak that new Bob Whitaker Life magazine that I just got into my bag and read it during school!  :)

Sale at Apple!

Once I get that time machine working, I think I might just go to Apple boutique when they gave away all of the clothing.  I love see the Richard Avedon photos in the window.  And the cartoon made me laugh really hard.   Poor Ringo is always getting picked on in cartoons.  

Apple Scruff...Apple Scruuuuufs...how I love you!

Here is a pretty humorous cartoon that Lucy drew for a 1971 issue of the Scruffs Monthly Magazine.




I have been listen to George's wonderful song, "Apple Scruffs" tonight while scanning Beatles photos. I just really love everything about this song. The Apple Scruffs are my long lost soul sisters (alright maybe that is a far stretch), but ever since I first read about them when I first became a Beatles fan in the late 1980's, I wanted to know more about them. It totally blows me away that through this blog, I actually have had conversations online with them!! I get a little star-struck at times. So in honor of the beautiful ladies in the Apple Scruffs....thanks for everything!

Now I've watched you sitting there
Seen the passers-by all stare
Like you have no place to go
But there's so much they don't know about apple scruffs

You've been stood around for years
Seen my smiles and touched my tears
How it's been a long, long time
And how you've been on my mind, my apple scruffs

Apple scruffs, apple scruffs
How I love you,
how I love you

In the fog and in the rain
Through the pleasures and the pain
On the step outside you stand
With your flowers in your hand, my apple scruffs

While the years they come and go
Now, your love must surely show me
That beyond all time and space
Were together face to face, my apple scruffs

Apple scruffs, apple scruffs
How I love you, how I love you

Cartoon Beatles

I grew up watching the Beatles cartoons. However being a 2nd generation fan, I grew up watching the reruns of them on Mtv in the 1980's. (followed by the Jackson 5 cartoon). But I vividly remember watching them on Mtv and totally loving them! They were so silly! Ringo was such a dummy! They were so cute! The music was so good!

There is an amazing book about the Beatles cartoons call, Beatletoons, by Mitch Axelrod. If you have any interest in the cartoon series of the 1960's this book is a must have! I was lucky to have heard the author speak at a Beatles convention in the early 2000's. In his book, Mitch has stories told by executives and people who worked on the Beatles cartoons about the day in July 1965 when the Beatles had a press reception for the cartoons. Here are those stories.

Norman Kauffman remembers the Beatles coming by to see the progress being made on the films. "TVC had moved to 38 Dean Street in the West End of London in Soho. I had took some old eight millimeter film of the Beatles coming along to Dean Street. The police stood on both sides of the street, which was closed off. They allowed the Beatles' car to come through. They had been to a play or show, and they were recognized in the audience, which was not difficult. They ended up leaving early so they arrived at the studio a bit early as well. This surprised everybody, and we were all waiting. Here was me, this 17 year old kid with his movie camera ready to film the arrival of the Beatles. In those days, in order to shoot film, you had to have lots of lighting. I had four spotlights on a frame and a cine-camera in the middle, and as they walked in, I switched on the lights and started filming. I got into trouble because George Harrison didn't like it very much that we were filming. He thought that they were just coming along to have a little chat to meet the people who were going to do their cartoons, and there was this kid with a camera. He got rather annoyed and I captured this on film where he wasn't that happy. you can tell by his face. But John Lennon decided that wasn't fair. Here is this young kid trying to make a bit of film and he came out and posed for me. After the filming, he started chatting with me. We all got along quite well."

Jim Hiltz of Cine Cartoon Centrum gives his recollections of the atmosphere of the party. "There was lots of goodies and booze at the party. Long buffet tables of food, such as smoked salmon and caviar. It was a summer day and the Beatles were coming to the press conference on Dean Street in Soho to launch the cartoon series. It was funny because they didn't want to attract too much attention so they had security guards stand inside the doorway. They showed up in two huge limousines. The guys got out and stood around before entering the building, which attracted a LOT of attention." In those days each Beatles was assigned their own bodyguard. "I was talking to John and George. John was sitting on the window sill looking out onto the street which was two or three floors up. I told them the Snav Sniekus story. They both thought it was funny, but as I was talking, John saw a hot dog pushcart on the street below. He sent his bodyguard out to get four or five hot dogs. All that great food at the party, and John wanted hot dogs."

Ed Vane remembers: "The four Beatles came into the party and there was a lot of milling around and conversation about the animation series. I called the ABC news people in London and asked them to please send a film crew. I figured I'd get some good Saturday morning promotion and ABC London could maybe pick up something for their news feed. They sent their crew right over and taped the press conference for about twenty minutes right in front of the big enlargement of the animated Beatles characters. I got some use out of it for promotional purposes. The footage was transferred to eight millimeter kinescope. I had a copy of it, but through the years it has been lost. George was not being as communicative as the others Paul was wonderful. I sat and talked to him for a long time. He was so brainy. It was amazing. The kid was twenty-two years old. He was asking all these great questions like how do we plan to market the series?, did we have affiliates?, etc. They were the most sophisticated, penetrating , questions that a marketing expert might not know, and he was asking them. I thought, wow, this guy is more than just a guitarist. Ringo sat over in the corner looking like a frightened little sparrow. I went over there to talk to him, but I didn't get very far. One word answers. He didn't seem to be particularly interested. Looked a bit intimidated by the whole thing. The news crew came in, turned the lights on, and asked him a question, and the little sparrow became a roaring eagle. He came alive. He said all the funniest things and dominated the press conference. Then the lights went off and he shriveled up again. It was amazing. I got a chance to talk to all of the Beatles with the exception of John Lennon, who had climbed underneath one of the buffet tables. I thought he dropped something. I asked one of their assistants if he needed help, but they said not to pay any attention, and that he would come out in due time. It was funny. A grown man under a table with just his boots sticking out.