Brian Cartoons and "Diver Dan"

This the first blog post designed to answer a question from the Children's Media Archive YouTube Channel:

"I wonder what happened to Brian Cartoons. Seemed they ONLY existed for that one show [Diver Dan]..."

Brian Cartoons, Inc., was an animation company established in 1955 as a part of Louis W. Kellman Productions, a producer of commercial and industrial films based in Philadelphia. Along with producing the making the popular "Diver Dan" TV series, Brian also created the first animated film produced in Philadelphia. The company was named after Kellman's son.

Although the goal was to produce animated cartoons, records and press articles of the time suggest that only one theatrically released cartoon was completed before the "Diver Dan" series. "Li'l Davy and Dan'l Coon", a seven minute color cartoon was listed in film magazines and screened in at least one theater in the Philadelphia area.

The Brian Cartoons production - "Li'l Davy and Dan'l Coon" listed in the August 22, 1956 edition
of the Motion Picture Herald.  Click HERE to see the full cartoon listing. 

The cartoon was about the childhood of Davy Crockett and a raccoon friend, most likely made to capitalize on the Disney/Fess Parker/Davy Crockett craze of the time. If this cartoon still exists, it is not cataloged in any known film archive or library collection. Perhaps it is in the hands of a private collector or historian.

Diver Dan was the creation of Philadelphia cartoonist and puppeteer J. Anthony "John" Ferlaine. The new series was based on an underwater fantasy comic strip idea that was never syndicated. Ferlaine was also a longtime art director at WCAU-TV the local CBS affiliate station. He produced a live-action marionette pilot for this new series in 1956 titled "Fish Tales" using WCAU-TV talent. When the series was not picked up, Ferlaine partnered with Martin B. Young of Young Development Inc, (Young Productions, Inc as subsidiary) a local TV producer, and Louis W. Kellman of Brian Cartoons, and the rest is history.

Snippet from a February 1961 Philadelphia Tribune ad for the new Diver Dan series. Note that it the series was filmed by "Louis Kellman-Brian Cartoons"

It was easier to find out what Brian Cartoons did before Diver Dan that after. For now, what productions Brian Cartoons made after "Diver Dan" are unknown, but the company was listed in production directories as late as 1969.

Louis W. Kelleman passed away in the 1988 at the age of 82, Martin Young in 2000, and John Ferlaine in 2011 at age 90.

Lost Classic TV: "Operation Neptune", 50,000 Feet Under The Sea!

Operation Neptune 

(also known as "Captain Neptune" and "Operation: Neptune".

June 28, 1953 - August 16, 1953. NBC TV 

Sundays 7:00PM EST

Creator/writer: Maurice Brockhauser

Advertisement for "Operation Neptune", the NBC undersea adventure series, from the Star Gazette (Minneapolis, Minnesota), July 28, 1953.

Captain Video, Flash Gordon, Tom Corbett Space Cadet, nearly all the fantasy heroes of the Golden Age of Television took young viewers into the realms of outer space. In the summer of 1953 one program dared to be just as fantastic, but on Earth in the depths of the ocean, more in the territory of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or the 1936 movie serial Undersea Kingdom.

From the cast of "Operation Neptune" (left to right), Tod Griffin as Commander Hollister (Captain Neptune), Richard Holland as Dink Saunders, and Margaret Stewart as Thirza a native of Nadiria. From the Wilmington Sunday Star, August 3, 1953.

The series starred Tod Griffin (1919 - 2002) as Commander Bill Hollister, who was also referred to as "Captain Neptune", and Richard Holland as Dink Saunders his young second in command. The heroes discovered that the disappearance of U. S. Navy ships was due to the evil Trychus Maximus (Humphrey Davis), ruler of Madiria an underwater kingdom "32,000 feet beneath the sea's surface" who wanted revenge against the surface world. The emperor of Nadiria gave orders to his sinister lieutenant Kebada (Harold Conklin), and his henchman Mersennus (Dehl Berti). Aiding Captain Neptune and Dink in their adventures were Admiral Bigelow (Rusty Lane), and Thirza (Margaret Stewart), a Nadirian who had allied herself with our heroes.

The series which was broadcast live from New York, was easily compared to Captain Video. It was a serialized television adventure of a captain and his young partner, against evils of another world, with a lackluster budget broadcast live from New York. An even stronger connection to Captain Video, was that "Operation Neptune" was created by Maurice Brockhauser, who had been the lead writer of "Captain Video" during its first two years, from 1949 - 1951 under the pseudonym "M. C. Brock".  Many sources claim that Brockhauser's writing on "Captain Video" was so erroneous that he was fired from the show (even thought it was hit with kids), and was not known to write a TV program again, but that was not the case. As the creator/writer of Operation Neptune he was credited as both "Brock" and "Brockhauser".

Reviews from the New York Times, Variety, and other periodicals weren't so harsh on the show's writing as it was its production. It was noted that the special effects were limited to toy submarines in an aquarium or a washtub, and the illusion of the Nadirians being underwater was created with the illusion of bubbles passing in front of the camera. Not very technical even for 1953. The idea of an underwater adventure show with such primitive effects make the show a bit intriguing, and it is unfortunate that no recordings of this series have survived.

The same press image with more descriptive details of the show. 

All cast members of this series are known to be deceased except for actress Margaret Stewart. Very little information is known about her. If she were still living as of this writing, she would be one the oldest living leading ladies of a sci-fi series along with Margaret Garland of Tom Corbett Space Cadet.

Underwater fantasy adventures would endure more with 1960s children with the successes of "Diver Dan" (1960), Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (1964 - 1968). and Captain Fathom. 

Sources:

Fischer, Stuart. 1983. Kids' TV: the first 25 years. New York, NY: Facts on File Publ.

Terrace, Vincent. 2009. Encyclopedia of television shows, 1925 through 2007. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland.

Woolery, George W. 1985. Children's television: the first thirty-five years, 1946-1981 Part 2. Children's Television. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press.

Articles from multiple newspapers and periodicals were consulted for this article. Please comment or email archivebuilder@gmail.com for these sources.