WRITTEN AND EDITED BY
BRIAN WALKER
The image above was reproduced on a 4˝ × 8˝ card, with a stand on the back, so it could be displayed upright on a desk or a shelf. King Features Syndicate sent it to newspaper clients on January 16, 1956.
In the 1960s, the circulation of Beetle Bailey continued to climb and many new characters were added to the cast. A series of fifty animated television cartoons, produced by Paramount Studios, debuted in 1963 and led to a wave of licensed products, including books, toys and dolls.
Mort hired Jerry Dumas as his assitant in 1956. They co-created a new feature, Sam’s Strip, in 1961 which had a unique set up. Sam ran a comic strip in which other cartoon characters made guest appearances. Sam and his assistant explored the inner workings of how comic strips functioned. They played with the symbols and conventions of the art form. Unfortunately, Sam’s Strip was ahead of its time and only lasted until 1963.
Beetle Bailey passed an important milestone in 1965 the strip now appeared in 1000 newspapers. “It was the heyday of Beetle,” Jerry Dumas remembered. “Everything looked good the gags were solid and funny, the strip was growing and was extremely popular all over the world.”
At that time, Beetle was produced solely by Mort and Jerry. It was a regular routine. They would each bring in
ten ideas on Monday mornings for both Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois and the fourteen best gags were selected to draw up. The Hi and Lois gags were mailed to Dik Browne, who did the illustrations. Mort would pencil six Beetle dailies and one Sunday in a single day and then ink the characters. Jerry would ink the backgrounds and do the lettering. They would finish on Thursday and send the completed strips to King Features, fifteen weeks ahead of publication.
“Mort was always very easy to be with,” Jerry claimed. “It didn’t make any difference if I showed up at 9:30 or 10 or 10:15. He would always be there at 8:30 in the morning, quit promptly at 5 o’clock business hours and I was free to come and go more or less as I pleased, as long as the work got done and the work always got done.”
LEFT: Mort wore a coonskin hat so he wouldn’t hurt his head bumping into the ceiling of his third floor studio in Greenwich, Connecticut.
In the early 1960s King Features Syndicate signed a contract with Paramount Studios (formerly Famous Studios) to produce 150 animated cartoons for television. The “Comic Kings” series starred characters from three of King’s well-known comic strip properties, Beetle Bailey, Krazy Kat and Snuffy Smith. Al Brodax was the Executive Producer.
A 1960 Beetle Bailey pilot, “Labor Shortage,” was produced by Joe Oriolo and Pat Sullivan and directed by Steve Muffatti. “Home Sweet Swampy,” the first Beetle Bailey cartoon in the “Comic Kings” series was shown in theaters in 1962. The “King Features Trilogy” series debuted on television in 1963.
Seymour Kneitel is credited as the director of many of the Beetle Bailey cartoons, while some of the music scores were by industry veteran George Bruns. Howard Morris provided voices for Beetle and General Halftrack, Allan Melvin was Sarge, Paul Frees did Zero and Cosmo and June Foray made a guest performance as Beetle’s girlfriend Bunny. The theme song was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, who also did the music for Bonanza and Mister Ed. Mort Walker, who had very limited involvement with these cartoons, was never happy with the final results.
This set of bobbleheads from the early 1960s is one of the most sought-after Beetle Bailey collectibles. It was produced by a marketing company owned by New York Giants football player Andy Robustelli. The King
Features licensing program picked up considerably after the animated cartoons started to be broadcast on television in the early 1960s. Some of the products featured all three stars of the “Comic Kings” series Beetle
Bailey, Krazy Kat and Snuffy Smith. There were Beetle Bailey hand puppets made by Gund, as well as coloring books, board games, records and puzzles.
Mort worked on many public service campaigns, including this special Sunday page encouraging kids to sign up as newspaper delivery boys. 1957.
Mort drew this anti-smoking story for the American Cancer Society in 1965. He also contributed to advertising promotions for U-Haul,
In 1964, Mort and Jerry came up with a new character dimension for Sarge. Readers were now able to share his vivid dreams and fantasies. February 9, 1964. Courtesy of Mort Walker Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries.
The third in the series of Beetle Bailey Sunday pages that featured dream sequences was inspired by the Batman live-action-television series that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1968. March 27, 1966.