70th Anniversary of "Santa's Surprise" and Little Audrey

Little Audrey, or her long-running comic book title "Playful Little Audrey" was one of my favorites of the all classic cartoon characters I was exposed to on public domain cartoon VHS tapes. In cartoons like "The Seapreme Court" and "Tarts and Flowers" you knew that once Audrey fell asleep there was something fun ahead.

In Santa's Surprise, (released December 5, 1947) which was Audrey's first appearance, she is one of a group of international children who sneak away to the North Pole to thank a tired and weary Santa Claus. This cartoon seems to have been popular enough for a reissue the following year and in 1954. Audrey would appear in her first solo cartoon "Butterscotch and Soda" in 1948. Like dozens of other pre-1950 cartoons produced by Paramount Famous Studios, Santa's Surprise would be acquired for television by the National Telefilm Associates, and some available prints of this cartoon contain their logo instead of the Paramount opening.

Frequently cited sources claim that Audrey was created to replace Marge's "Little Lulu" character when Famous Studios did not want to pay anymore to license a character. There was at least one Lulu cartoon made after Santa's Surprise so maybe someone remembered the little girl with three ponytails and decided to turn her into a star. They didn't have to look far for a new voice. Mae Questel (1908 - 1998) was already the voice of Lulu (and Popeye's girlfriend Olive Oyl) and she was given the part. In fact Audrey and Olive basically have the same voice. Try watching a 1950s Popeye cartoon and a Little Audrey cartoon back to back.

Today the depiction of most of the children would be deemed racist and offensive. An interesting twist to this is that Little Audrey was noted as one of the first kids comics characters to have a non-stereotypical black character with the appearance of "Tiny" in her 1950s comics.

From Little Audrey #42, June 1955.
Image from "Out of this World" comics blog. Click Image for full article

One could also take into consideration that this was a post World War II film. In that time period there were a number of films and radio programs that tried to address racial unity, like the "problem pictures" of 1949 Pinky and Intruders In The Dust, or the Adventures of Superman radio episodes in which the Man of Steel took on the KKK.

Audiences were used to seeing films with white and black children interacting (Our Gang/Little Rascals most famously). However, a color cartoon that suggested Santa loves Chinese, Hawaiian, Black, White American, European and Russian children (and that they loved him too) may have been very special 70 years ago.

This Month In Children's Media : Christmas 2017 Part I

Banner for the 80th Anniversary of the
children's Christmas radio serial "The Cinnamon Bear".

25 Years Ago 

December 1, 1992 - Frosty Returns (not a sequel to Rankin & Bass' Frosty The Snowman, 1969) premieres on CBS with John Goodman as Frosty and has aired each year since. Co-produced by Bill Melendez, (A Charlie Brown Christmas), the child characters look like they could fit into the "Peanuts" world.

Cover to the Little Golden Book's adaption of the holiday special, by Muller and Bill Langley,
From the Author's Collection

December 4, 1992 - Noel one of the last TV Christmas specials written by Romeo Muller (Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman) premieres. It is the story of a joyful Christmas ornament narrated by Charlton Heston. Muller passed away on December 30 that year at the age of 64.

50 Years Ago

News story about the new Christmas special "Cricket On The Hearth". Albany (New York) Times Union) 1967

December 18th 1967 - The Rankin Bass special "The Cricket On The Hearth", based on the Charles Dickens story, debuts as an episode of the Danny Thomas Hour. Naturally it starred the voices of Danny Thomas and his daughter Marlo Thomas. It has not been screen on TV is some time, but is available on DVD.

75 Years Ago

December 14 - 25, 1942. "What is the name of the Lone Ranger's nephew's horse? Why Victor! Everybody knows that!" - A Christmas Story (1983)

Over the course of 6 episodes of the classic radio series, The Lone Ranger discovers that the son of his slain brother Capt. Dan Reid is still living! The younger Dan Reid would ride with The Lone Ranger and Tonto in many episodes of the popular radio series (and for a while in the television version). Another interesting crossword clue for "A Christmas Story" would have been "What is the dual identity of the Lone Ranger's nephew's son?" (Answer: "The Green Hornet")

80 Years Ago

November 26, 1937 - The Christmas radio serial "The Cinnamon Bear" is first heard. Still broadcast on radio to this day between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is the longest on-going Christmas special in American broadcast history. "Rudolph" is catching up after 53 years.

125 Years Ago

December 18, 1892 - The two act ballet "The Nutcracker" premieres at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. It was adapted from E. T. A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King", modified by Alexandre Dumas' in his story "The Nutcracker". It originally featured choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with the still famous score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It would take a while before the music would catch on in the United States. Today Nutcrackers are widely used and displayed with the Christmas holiday.

130 Years Ago

Cover to 1959 children's edition of Sherlock Holmes stories.

December 1, 1887 - A Study In Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story appears in Beeton's Christmas Annual

Lost TV Shows - The Pet Shop (1951 - 1953)

TV Forecast, April 5, 1952. "The Pet Shop" co-host Gay Compton made the cover.

The Pet Shop. December 1, 1951 – March 14, 1953. WGN TV for Chicago, DuMont Network

"The Pet Shop" was a Chicago based children's series host by Gail Compton with his young daughter Gay.
In his review for Billboard, Cy Wagner described the overall production as effective and Gail Compton as having an "easy going style" in his role as host. The program took place in a fictional pet shop where children could learn about animals and pet care. Gail Compton (c. 1915 - ????) was the agricultural editor for the Chicago Tribune, and this program may have began with his experiences reporting animals & livestock.

This edition of TV Forecast features a two page article written by young Gay Comptom. She described the program in pretty good detail. It is a shame that perhaps no recordings of this series are known to exist. The show regularly featured guests and their pets, and one notable episode featured cartoonist Chester Gould (Dick Tracy).

If anyone knows what became of young Gay Compton or her father, this blogger would like to know.

Survival Status: Presumed Lost. Probably was dumped in the bay like the majority of DuMont TV programs.

Correction made January 9, 2018

Juvenile Mystery Collection - 001

Detective novels, comics, radio shows, TV programs and games geared towards young listeners and readers have existed for quite a while. Here is a look into a sub-collection of juvenile mystery materials.

Doyle, Arthur Conan, and Felix Sutton. 1957. Sherlock Holmes: a study in scarlet and the red-headed league. New York: Wonder Books.

Sobol, Donald J. 1963. Encyclopedia Brown, boy detective. New York: Scholastic Book Services.

Encyclopedia was a favorite growing up. He was easily the smartest of all kid detectives.

Herz, Peggy. 1977. Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. New York. Scholastic Book Services.

Dann, David. 1977. Scooby-Doo and the Mystery of the Rider Without a Head. Newark, N.J.: Peter Pan Industries.

I do not have the record that came with this book, but it was digitized and put on YouTube. 

Rathbone, Basil, Nigel Bruce, Patricia Morison, Arthur Conan Doyle, Leonard Lee, Frank Gruber, and Roy William Neill. 1985. Dressed to kill. Charlotte, NC: United American Video Corp.

Not a "juvenile" version of the Holmes character, but Basil Rathbone may be the most recognizable of all Sherlock Holmes actors, and these films were very accessible to young audiences on television and home video

Dubowski, Cathy East. 1996. The case of the Sea World adventure: a novelization. New York: Scholastic.

The Olsen Twins' Sea World outing aired on TV as I recall and it was enjoyable family special on ABC TV. It doesn't seem that any of the Mary-Kate & Ashley detective films be on DVD for a new generation anytime soon.  

Children's Comics 003 : "The Story of Louis Braille"

It has been a while, but it is time for another classic "edutainment" comic story. From February 1948 here is "The Story of Louis Braille: Let There Be Light", originally published in Real Life Comics a long running series from The Nedor/Standard publishers. The author and pencils are un-credited.

This Month In Children's Media : September 2017 Part II

September 19, 1952 - 65 Years Ago

The Adventures of Superman starring George Reeves enters syndication. The TV series followed the very popular radio version (1940 - 1951) which starred Clayton "Bud" Collyer in the title role. After The Lone Ranger (1949 - 1957, which currently airs on the Cowboy Channel) and The Cisco Kid, Superman is still the third longest ongoing children's/juvenile adventure series in rerun history (currently airing on H&I).

If only someone would air reruns of Howdy Doody, Space Patrol, and Fury. 

Young Ventriloquists : Is Darci Lynne The Next Shari Lewis?...Paul Winchell?

I am only blogging about a recent TV personality because of how much their talent is a reminder great children's entertainers of the past. One need not to have watched the entire summer 2017 season of America's Got Talent to have seen the extremely versatile Darci Lynne Farmer. The young singer/comedienne/ventriloquist already has millions of hits on her YouTube videos. In one of her acts which she performed lived on Tuesday, September 19, 2017, (and it was clear she was going to win) Darci Lynne did a funny comedy routine which led to a song, all the while giving each of her characters full personalities.

Darci Lynne is only 12 years old and has already made her national TV debut with a bang. This reminds me of four notable legends of puppetry & ventriloquism in children's media history who began their long careers as children or teenagers.

Shari Lewis (1933 - 1998) studied acrobatics, baton twirling and ventriloquism at a young age. She was 19 when she won first prize on the CBS television series Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. A year later she was hosting her first television series. She is still fondly remembered for her puppets Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy.

Paul Winchell (1922 - 2005) was a 13 year old boy stricken with polio when he sent off for a ventriloquism kit. He made his first and most famous dummy, Jerry Mahoney for a school project. Winchell was also the original and long time voice of Tigger from the Disney Winnie The Pooh classics.

Jimmy Nelson (1928 -    ) was 10 when his aunt gave him a ventriloquist dummy she had won in a Bingo game. By the time he was a teenager, Nelson began performing for church groups and amateur contest. Today he is best remembered for his puppets Danny O'Day and Farfel the dog with the snapping mouth for Nestle ads.

Shirley Dinsdale (1926 - 1999) was the very first performer to earn an Emmy award. She was an Los Angeles area ventriloquist who starred on radio and television with her puppet Judy Splinters. Dinsdale got her first dummy at the age of 5 from her father as a gift to help her recover from injuries sustained during a fire. She began performing on radio around the age of 15.