People on Paper

It's a John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short. He examines the world of the comic strip. It's interesting to see these old comic strips, but I don't really know most of them. If I know them, it's from other places like a movie or a reboot. Some IPs never die. I may have seen an actual Dagwood strip a long time ago. I know nothing of the actual creators. That does leave this documentary without any sense of nostalgia from me. It is still fascinating history. It gives a sense of this era unlike from any other ways. These comic strips both influence people of those days and they also reflect upon them.

People on Paper (1945)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This is a pretty interesting entry in John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series, which was produced at MGM. This time out he talks about how people want to know about items in the papers they read so this short is dedicated to the cartoonist and their most famous drawings. Chester Gould (Dick Tracy), Al Capp (Li'l Abner), Hal Foster (Prince Valliant) and Chic Young (Blondie) are just some of the famous faces we see. The narrator starts off by introducing us to the men and then we get to see them quickly draw part of their comics. I think it's safe to say that the majority of the people who are going to be interested in this are those fans of the people being highlighted. I was never much of a comic fan so seeing these being drawn didn't strike me the same way I'm sure it will those who enjoy seeing this stuff. If you're a fan of these people then this here is pretty much a must-see because I'm really not sure how many of these people were photographed while they were working.

If you love the "Funnies" you're in for a real treat with this short film. (I saw it on TCM 04-28-2005) For animation buffs Li'l Abner has a ten second spot at the end where he comments to the audience. (It is not revealed who does the voice of Li'l Abner.) It starts off with shots of old comic pages like Little Nemo in Slumberland and quickly works it's way to the 1945 era of comic art. Hard to believe some of these strips like Blondie and Gasoline Alley are still being drawn. A real gem from the Turner Vault. It really made me smile. Turner should do a DVD box set of Shorts like these they are a real glimpse into the past.

This short I just watched on Mark Evanier's "newsfromme" blog as linked from Facebook. It showcases various cartoonists that were active in 1945 like Chic Young at a pier drawing "Blondie" or H. H. Knerr drawing "The Katzenjammer Kids". By the way, that strip was created by Rudolph Dirks for King Features but after he left, Kneer replaced him but Dirks then started drawing the same characters for United Feature Syndicate and called it "The Captain and the Kids". None of that was mentioned in the short. Another cartoonist shown was Al Capp and his "Li'l Abner". The short ends with that character being animated with him talking. Other artists shown were-Chester Gould on "Dick Tracy", Harold Gray on "Little Orphan Annie", Fred Lasswell on "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith", etc. This was quite an interesting short so on that note, I recommend People on Paper.

There are still comic strips, even though most of them seem to be on the Internet these days: the ones I read, anyway. However this art form, which arose about the same time as the movies, has spent more than a century in cross-fertilizing. Not only do comics provide source material for movies, from Buster Brown through the latest Garfield TV show, but a lot of film makers set up their movies in comic book form as a guide to scenes, composition and action.

In that context, this episode of MGM's long-running THE PASSING PARADE series, with John Nesbitt's amused but admiring survey of the origins of the comic strip, and its leading practitioners as of the year it was produced, is an interesting and nostalgic look at a form of amusement that seems to be passing away.

But not really. Good to see them.