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A MR. POTATO HEAD HISTORY

What’s a Spider-Man to do…

…without his Amazing Friends? me l l e t zz, ing? u b the appen s ’ t a Wh t’s-a-h wha

HannaBarbera’s classic cartoonists! Actress Beverly Washburn remembers ‘Old Yeller’ • Nick Carter paperbacks & more! Featuring Andy Mangels • Will Murray • Scott Saavedra • Scott Shaw! • Mark Voger • Ed Catto Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar © Marvel. The Mod Squad © Paramount Television. The Flintstones © Hanna-Barbera Productions. Jesus Christ Superstar © Really Useful Group Ltd. Mr. Potato Head © Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.

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ISSUE #38 ✽ June 2025

Columns and Special Features 3

Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

71 63

Retro Television My Living Doll

Scott Saavedra’s Secret Sanctum Mr. Potato Head

Retro Books Nick Carter Paperbacks

Retro Interview Will Meugniot Will Murray's 20th Century Panopticon The Mod Squad

Voger’s Vault of Vintage Varieties Jesus Christ, Superstar

Departments 2

Retro Hollywood Old Yeller

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Oddball World of Scott Shaw! The Talents Who Created Hanna-Barbera

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RetroFan™ issue 38, June 2025 (ISSN 2576-7224) is published bi-monthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA.Phone: (919) 4490344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to RetroFan, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Ed Catto, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: RetroFan, c/o Ed Catto, Editor, 304 N. Hoopes Ave., Auburn, NY 13021. Email: retroed@twomorrows. com. Six-issue subscriptions: $76 Economy US, $95.70 International, $29 Digital Only. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and related characters © Marvel. The Mod Squad © Paramount Home Entertainment. Jesus Christ, Superstar © Universal Studios. Old Yeller © Disney. Yogi Bear, the Flintstones, and related H-B characters © Warner Bros. My Living Doll © CBS Studios/© Jack and Florence Chertok. Nick Carter Killmaster © Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2025 Ed Catto and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

BY ED CATTO

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ed Catto PUBLISHER

We all need a few amazing friends, don’t we? The good news is I’ve got quite a few. And since you’ve bought this magazine, you do too. This issue of RetroFan, as usual, is full of brilliant writers and creatives who are anxious to share their knowledge and thoughts

John Morrow CONTRIBUTORS

about all the stuff we used to love… and still do. And some of the stuff that we didn’t even

John C. Bruening

know we could love.

Andy Mangels

Peter Parker may seem like the Charlie Brown of the Marvel Universe. He’s always

Will Murray

winning his battle with some bad guy, only to get home to find out the rent is past due.

Scott Saavedra

Or that Aunt May is sick. Or that his girlfriend is mad at him. But let’s face it, he does have

Scott Shaw!

a lot of friends. The Human Torch is his best super-hero buddy. He also pals around with

Don Vaughn

Daredevil, the X-Men, and the Avengers. For a loveable loser, he always seemed to end up

Mark Voger

with the most gorgeous girlfriends.

Lee Weinstein

Join us for our feature article this month—written by our friend Andy Mangels—Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. It’s a look back at Spidey’s time with his great friends,

DESIGNER

Bobby Drake and Angelica Jones. And a bunch of cool guest stars. Nobody ever liked the

Scott Saavedra

dog, Ms. Lion, but no show is perfect, right? We’ve also caught Will Meugniot in our web of amazing friends with a fascinating interview. He was one of the storyboard artists for Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, but Will’s impressive career stretches far beyond that. Anyone who’s even a social media friend with him can see the passion he still exudes for pop culture. The Mod Squad was a show about three friends who fought the Establishment in order to preserve the Establishment. As a kid, I thought the show was a primer on “how to be cool”, but what did I know? Our mutual friend, Will Murray, explores the impact and backstory of this unlikely classic. And there’s a lot more—from rock opera (Jesus Christ, Superstar), to classic toys (Mr. Potato Head) to Saturday morning animation (Hanna-Barbera artists). Every dog has his day, and man’s best friend, specifically Old Yeller, has his in an article by Don Vaughan. RetroFan typically looks to the past. But looking, for a moment, to the future, there’s

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quite a bit of anxiety about A.I. Is it our friend or our worst nightmare? The jury is still

Will Meugniot

out on that one. But one thing we can all agree on: if A.I. was personified by Julie New-

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ANDY MANGELS’ RETRO SATURDAY MORNING

HOTTER, COLDER, AND SPIDER The History of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends BY ANDY MANGELS Welcome back to Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning, your constant guide to the shows that thrilled us from yesteryear, exciting our imaginations and capturing our memories. Grab some milk and cereal, sit cross-legged leaning against the couch and dig in to Saturday Morning! This issue, we’ll take the first of a three-part dive into Marvel Productions’ heroic animation of 1981-1983, beginning with Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. DOES WHATEVER A SPIDER CAN Marvel’s most recognizable super-hero would premiere on ABC television in 1967 with a jazzy theme song intro that began with: “Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can. Spins a web any size, catches thieves just like flies. Look out, here’s comes the Spider-Man.” The half-hour animated series by Grantray-Lawrence was an answer to Filmation’s popular The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure, based on National Periodical Publications’ (now known as DC Comics) heroes of the air and seas [For more, be sure to check out RetroFan #3 & 25 –RetroEd]. It was also a companion piece to Hanna-Barbera’s other Marvel (ABOVE) Spider-Man swings in this animation cel from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981). © Marvel.

series, The Fantastic Four, also on ABC [covered in RetroFan #33 –RetroEd] and Grantray-Lawrence’s syndicated Marvel Super-Heroes weekday show. The new Spiderman series (without the official hyphen) was based on the creation of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, debuting in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962). In the lore, when high school student and science nerd Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider, he developed superstrength, enhanced senses, and the ability to stick to any substance like a spider. Using his science knowledge, Parker developed a synthetic web that he could shoot from wrist launchers, which enabled him to swing around New York City. Initially a reluctant hero, he eventually learned that “with great power comes great responsibility,” and began to use his new abilities to fight crime, now garbed in a red-and-blue skintight suit and calling himself Spider-Man. The Marvel hero—nicknamed “Spidey,” “wall-crawler,” or “web-slinger”—next appeared on television as a guest-star during the 1974–1977 seasons of the Children’s Television Workshop public television series called The Electric Company. Unlike his comic counterpart, this Spidey was silent, with no quips or snappy comebacks. Stan Lee sold CBS on a new primetime live-action Amazing Spider-Man show in 1977. Produced by Charles Fries, it starred Nicholas Hammond as Peter Parker and the wallcrawler. Although the pilot did well in the ratings, the RETROFAN

June 2025

andy mangels’ retro saturday morning

(LEFT) David DePatie. (CENTER) Friz Freleng in a signed promotional photo for Animation: The Art of Friz Freleng. Courtesy of Donovan Publishing. (RIGHT) Logo of the DePatie-Freleng Films Marvel period.

network failed to green-light a regular series, instead airing 12 further episodes over the next two years. Overseas, Japanese audiences got a far better deal. The famous Toei Company produced 41 live-action episodes of Spider-Man (pronounced “Soupaidaman”) which aired on TV Tokyo from May 7, 1978 through March 14, 1979. With alien foes, giant robots, kaiju fights, and a flying Spider-car, this Spider-Man remained a mystery in the US until the late 1980s when bootleg videos began to show up in collectors’ circles. But it was animation that held Spidey in its web for the future. The hero guest-starred in episodes of ABC’s SpiderWoman series during the 1979–1980 season. The series was itself based on a female spinoff of Spidey that Marvel Comics had created for trademark purposes. The show was animated by DePatie-Freleng, who would soon have a closer working relationship with both Marvel and Spider-Man… THE DEATH OF DFE AND BIRTH OF MARVEL PRODUCTIONS The full name of Spider-Woman’s production company was DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (also known as DFE). The studio had been founded in 1963 following the shut-down of Warner Bros.’ Burbank-based animation department. The studio’s two principals were David DePatie and Friz Freleng. DePatie, a production executive, had worked at Warner his whole career to that point. Freleng was a popular director who had introduced or developed most of Warner’s biggest animated stars. DePatie-Freleng had a long resumé, but its biggest project ever was creating the animated adventures of the Pink Panther. This character had debuted in 1963 in the opening credits of a film—also titled The Pink Panther—about a bumbling detective. The company developed Stan Lee and Spider-Man celebrate the opening of Marvel Productions. © Marvel. 4

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June 2025

animated shorts to play prior to feature films in theatres, television cartoons on NBC, and advertising. They also developed the animated title sequence for I Dream of Jeannie and the lightsaber animation for the first Star Wars film! By 1980, however, Freleng was ready to move on. The pair sold their company and its assets to Marvel Comics on June 19, 1980. Freleng returned to Warner Bros., and DePatie became the new CEO and President of Marvel Productions. He retained some of his DFE staff, including, significantly, Lee Gunther, who became Vice President in Charge of Production. Other initial hires were producer/ writer Al Brodax (the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine) as Director of Program Development/Special Projects, and Jerry Eisenberg as Senior Producer. When Marvel announced the studio’s formation, it already had some work lined up, including commercials for Oscar Mayer and Owens-Corning, and Pink Panther and Dr. Seuss prime-time specials to deliver for ABC. In their company announcement of Marvel productions in Hollywood Reporter, Marvel promised, “twenty developmental presentations for Saturday morning, cartoons, primetime specials,

andy mangels’ retro saturday morning

and pilots.” Their budget from until the end of 1980 was only $100,000. Marvel Productions was a subsidiary of the New Yorkbased Marvel Entertainment Group—itself a subsidiary of Cadence Industries—which was the publisher and licensor of Marvel Comics and its characters. By owning their own animation studio, Marvel hoped to be able to successfully break into Hollywood in a big way; until that time, nothing they had done had lasted more than one season except for CBS’s live-action The Incredible Hulk. While Marvel president James Galton and editor-inchief Jim Shooter remained in New York to run the comics division, company figurehead and past publisher Stan Lee, who had the ebullient personality and skills of a carnival huckster, moved to Los Angeles specifically to pitch Marvel shows. Lee and his family moved into a high-rise condo in Westwood, near Beverly Hills. By day, Lee went to Marvel Productions’ new office in Van Nuys, where as “Vice President, Creative Affairs,” his main responsibilities were to get films and TV series going based on both existing Marvel characters and any new characters Marvel Productions created. He generally didn’t write or offer stories to any of the projects. His office was full of mementos of his career. On display there was a sculpted bust of his wife, Joanie, by an old friend, Stanley Sawyer. A nearby storeroom had videocassettes and recordings of lectures, speeches, conventions, and TV appearances Lee had made over the years. Marvel Productions’ office was a one-story building at 4610 Van Nuys Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. It was a rather modest building with a sunny atrium in its center; all the offices had windows

(ABOVE AND BELOW) Development art for Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Iceman and Firestar (here still called Heatwave) by John Romita. (INSET) Stan Lee stands in front of the new Marvel Productions office. © Marvel.

or glass walls looking into the outdoor area. “I enjoyed sitting outdoors and reading scripts in that great area and then discussing all our projects with David DePatie,” Lee would write in his 2002 semi-autobiography Excelsior: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee. The initial employee count at Marvel Productions was around 18, including Lee, DePatie, Gunther, Brodax, and Eisenberg. It was a small shop. James Galton talked about the role of Marvel Productions in Comics Scene #1, (January 1981) saying, “The intent of the animation house is to make money. The intent of the animation house is to make films and television programs using the popularity of our established characters. Despite the fact that television has taken away our readership, I think the

two things can be mutually beneficial. It’s something I always thought was right for the company—we should have our feet in both camps and whether or not people stop reading, there’s a big market out there for programming and we should be a part of it.” In Excelsior!, Lee described his first meeting with a network executive to pitch animation. “Since it was our first meeting, she acted as though she really wanted to get to know me, to learn how I felt about Saturday morning cartoons. I was generally pleased when she asked for my opinion of the cartoons appearing on network TV at the time.” He suggested to her that most animation dialogue didn’t sound very intelligent, and that better writing could RETROFAN

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WILL MURRAY’S 20TH CENTURY PANOPTICON

COPS WITH A SOUL BY WILL MURRAY The counterculture of the 1960s was slow to creep into dramatic primetime network programming. Pop music, of course, faced no such barriers. Musical variety shows like Hootenanny and Shindig were among the first to bring the new sound to prime time. The Monkees was a rare Rock ’n’ Roll sitcom. On traditional shows, the odd hippie might pop up as comic relief or a bad guy. The people who programmed the networks, and those who wrote the scripts, belonged to an earlier generation, and didn’t know what to make of the rebellious youth wave sweeping the world. Attempts to cash in on the counterculture like Coronet Blue came and went. The Mod Squad, which premiered on September 24, 1968, in a 90-minute episode called “The Teeth of the Barracuda,” was the first dramatic program to embrace the counterculture on its own terms. It starred Michael Cole as Pete Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, and Clarence Williams III as Lincoln Hayes. Kicked out of his parent’s Beverly Hills home for being an anti-establishment dropout, Pete was arrested for stealing a car. Linc was picked up during the Watts riots. Julie had run away from home. Her mother was a streetwalker, and Julie was arrested for vagrancy. All three were branded as juvenile delinquents, but Police Captain Adam Greer saw in them a different potential. He also had a problem. 18

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(ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT) As Executive Producer Clarence Williams III, Aaron Spelling explained Peggy Lipton, and Michael it, “This is the story of three Cole are The Mod Squad. lonely young kids who have © Paramount Home Enterbeen in trouble with the tainment. police. They are on probation, and the police say to them: ‘We don’t understand you and we know you don’t understand us, but [we] want you to help us bridge the generation gap.’ After Vietnam and civil rights, that’s our biggest problem today, in my opinion.” Reluctantly, the trio agree to go undercover for one case. But only one. The tagline was “Cops. One White. One Blonde. One Black.” The Mod Squad had its origins in a law-enforcement program that dated back to the 1950s. The Los Angeles Police Department had recruited some young kids to go undercover into the drug scene as it existed then. But the show’s originator, Buddy Ruskin, couldn’t sell the concept for nearly a decade. Spelling became intrigued with Ruskin, who had lost his undercover police job because he got too old to pass as a youth. “He had been a member of the young narcotics squad in Los Angeles, roaming Sunset Strip and working in high schools to find out who was selling drugs to kids, and who was getting them involved in drug-related crimes,” related Spelling.

By the late 1960s, the drug scene was a very different reality. Teenagers were also quite different. In New York City, Mayor Lindsay had formed a “Hippie Squad” to tackle the problem there. Producer Aaron Spelling took the idea and updated it for 1968. Originally, it was going to be called The Young Detectives. Spelling renamed it The Mod Squad. At that time, Mod meant Carnaby Street fashions, but in this case, it was short for modern.

Contentedly living a bohemian lifestyle, Lipton also initially wasn’t interested until she read the script. Told to report for a Friday audition, she begged off, saying that she was off to Haight-Asbury for the weekend. Obligingly, the producers agreed to wait until Monday. “There I was,” she later reminisced, “in my blue jeans, T-shirt and beads, reading away. They knew and I knew that this would be my trip.” Lipton’s brother, Robert, had unsuccessfully auditioned for the part of Pete Cochran. ONE WHITE. ONE BLONDE. ONE BLACK. Veteran actor Tige Andrews was cast as Captain Greer, The first Mod Squad cast member was Michael Cole. Spelling the show’s resident father figure. After playing a cop on had seen him in an episode of Gunsmoke. When Cole read the Robert Taylor’s The Detectives, the last thing he wanted was to pilot script, he told the producer he hoped the show would play another. “When the casting office called me about the never air. series, they didn’t mention anything about the police,” he “Michael came to my office and hated the whole idea of related. “I got the impression I was to be the father of three the show because he thought it was a story of three hippie kids, and I thought the title meant something like ‘The Jones kids playing cops,” Spelling recounted. “He thought it was Crowd.’” The Monkees, without music. But when he read the script and Meeting Clarence Williams in the production office saw what we were trying to do, he wanted to do it.” instantly dispelled that misconception. “This show is like no “It sounded to me as if kids were being sent out to other,” Spelling assured him. squeal on other kids,” Cole recalled. As the oldest actor cast, Williams provided the gravitas for the group. His big break came when Bill Cosby saw him in the New York play, Slow Dance on the Killing Ground. Three months later, Spelling called him to the coast to do a guest shot on The Danny Thomas Hour, playing a getaway driver. After crashing the car, Williams admitted he never learned to drive. “And what it was, unbeknownst to me, until after I got out to Hollywood,” revealed Williams, “they said, this is a screen test for a series we’re going to do called The Mod Squad. And you were recommended to us by Bill Cosby, and that’s how that happened.” Peggy Lipton (Julie), Michael Cole (Pete), and Clarence Williams III (Linc). Tige Andrews The producer struggled (Captain Adam Greer) sure looks out of place in a suit. © Paramount Home Entertainment. to find a young actress to fit his vision of Julie Barnes. “Peggy Lipton was a little different,” Spelling explained. “We had tested 16 girls and “I must admit,” Andrews confessed, “I balked. I figured none was quite right. I’d remembered seeing Peggy at the the role would be the usual cliché of the tough guy in Daisy a number of times and I was always impressed by a short sleeves, married to the job. I had done that already. sort of lonely look. She always looked to me like a canary I discussed it at length with Aaron Spelling, the executive with a broken wing, and that’s exactly the character we had producer, and a kind of biography of Captain Adam Greer in mind.” emerged. Adam Greer doesn’t run around complaining RETROFAN

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Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

To the soundtrack of Simon & Garfunkel’s Old Friends, they rendezvous at the same Malibu pier where their first exploit concluded, and where they originally agreed to work for Greer on a regular basis. They drive off in a new “Woody” station wagon that Pete purchased just for the reunion. While they solve the mystery in true Mod Squad style, they decline Greer‘s offer to reconstitute the team. In real life, there were no plans for a revival. To be realistic, the cast was a lot older. Williams was 39. The raison d’etre that they were young, hip, and could fit into undercover roles that adult police could not manage was gone. It was the Buddy Ruskin syndrome all over again. “It’s been great seeing Michael and Clarence again,” Lipton advised. “I’ve only seen them a few times since the show went off. But when we got together again for this show, it was if we’d never been away. It’s fun working with them, but I would have never actively pursued getting a job like this.” Only Tige Andrews seemed to think a revival was possible. “I think audiences would go for a show like this again. Maybe not this one but something similar. People like to see close relationships in movies and television, so the basic appeal of The Mod Squad is still there. I’d love to do the show again. We’ll just have to wait and see.” Ratings for the reunion TV-movie were disappointing, so any thought of keeping the team in business simply faded away.

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June 2025

A theatrical film was released in 1999, starring Clair Danes, Omar Epps, and Giovanni Ribisi as the original characters, with Dennis Farina as Captain Greer. But it, too, failed to attract an audience. The Mod Squad finally faded from the public consciousness. FOREVER MOD One gets a strange, sad feeling watching Mod Squad reruns. With the recent passing of Michael Cole, all cast members are now deceased. The times it reflected are now more than fifty years gone by, yet still live in the memories of those who watched the first broadcasts. Some of The Mod Squad’s topical and social concerns are now passé. Others remain unaddressed and unrectified. It was once all so hip and “now.” But in the 21st century, it’s a combination of ancient history and nostalgia—a unique time capsule of one generation’s difficult coming of age. Does anyone other than aging Baby Boomers watch it today? WILL MURRAY is the writer of the Wild Adventures (www.adventuresinbronze. com) series of novels, which stars Doc Savage, The Shadow, King Kong, The Spider, and Tarzan of the Apes. He also created the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl with legendary artist Steve Ditko.

VOGER’S VAULT OF VINTAGE VARIETIES

BY MARK VOGER “Truly, this man was the son of God.” That’s the one line of dialogue uttered by John Wayne as “the Roman” in George Stevens’ biopic of Jesus Christ, The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). Wayne overdubbed the line in post-production, sounding hungover—a not altogether unfamiliar state for Ol’ Duke. For a long stretch of cinematic history, movies about Jesus were deferentially reverent. There was no, to borrow a phrase, separation of church and state here. From two epics of the silent era, D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance (1916) and Cecil B. DeMille’s King of Kings (1927), through films like The Robe (1953), Day of Triumph (1954), Ben Hur (1959), Nicholas Ray’s remake King of Kings (1961) and the aforementioned Greatest Story Ever Told, you’d swear the Vatican itself signed off on these releases. Which is why, when the double-album Jesus Christ Superstar hit record shops on October 27, 1970, it was an instant magnet for controversy. At first, the brou-ha-ha was triggered by the title alone, which to many (but not all) religious folks sounded like a violation of the Third Commandment: “Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain.” If you weren’t alive at the time—as many of us older RetroFans were—you can’t imagine the ruckus this album kicked up. Christian religious leaders called it sacrilege. Jewish religious leaders called it anti-Semitic. It was banned by the BBC. But money talked. Within a month, Superstar was certified gold,

and it topped the Billboard charts as the #1 album of 1971. (Ironically, that initial blast of controversy helped nudge the album to success.) Superstar grew into an entertainment behemoth. There was a Broadway adaptation (1971–73) that was nominated for five Tonys, a Broadway cast album, Norman Jewison’s 1973 theatrical film, a touring production, three Broadway revivals (including one in 2012 with two Tony wins), and many performances in the realm of local theater. NBC’s live simulcast of JCS on Easter 2018, which starred John Legend as Jesus and Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene, provided further proof that a work once deemed profane was now a bona fide institution. Meanwhile, back in 1970, the old guard was irked by another unexpected development in Christ culture. Whether (ABOVE) Ted Neeley played the title role in Norman Jewison’s movie adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar (1971). © Universal Studios. (LEFT) John Wayne appeared as “the Roman” in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), at a time when Hollywood movies about Jesus were deferentially reverent. © United Artists. RETROFAN

June 2025

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Meet Mission: Impossible’s LYNDA DAY GEORGE in an exclusive interview! Celebrate Rambo’s 50th birthday with his creator, novelist DAVID MORRELL! Plus: TV faves WKRP IN CINCINNATI and SPACE: 1999, Fleisher’s and Filmation’s SUPERMAN cartoons, commercial jingles, JERRY LEWIS and BOB HOPE comic books, and more fun, fab features! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The saga of Saturday morning’s Super Friends, Part One! Plus: A history of MR. T, TV’s AVENGERS (Steed and Mrs. Peel), Daktari’s CHERYL MILLER, Mexican movie monsters, John and Yoko’s nation of Nutopia, ELIZABETH SHEPHERD (the actress who almost played Emma Peel), and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER, & MICHAEL EURY.

Interview with Captain Kangaroo BOB KEESHAN, The ROCKFORD FILES, teen monster movies, the Kung Fu and BRUCE LEE crazes, JACK KIRBY’s comedy comics, DON DRYSDALE’s TV drop-ins, outrageous toys, Challenge of the Super Friends, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The BRITISH INVASION of the Sixties, interview with Bond Girl TRINA PARKS, The Mighty Hercules, Horror Hostess MOONA LISA, World’s Greatest Super Friends, TV Guide Fall Previews, the Frito Bandito, a Popeye Super Collector, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

RETROFAN #30

RETROFAN #31

RETROFAN #32

RETROFAN #33

The story behind BOB CLAMPETT’s Beany & Cecil, western queen DALE EVANS, an interview with Mr. Ed’s ALAN YOUNG, Miami Vice, The Sixties’ Wackiest Robots, Muscle-Maker CHARLES ATLAS, Super Powers Team—Galactic Guardians, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

The Brady Bunch’s FLORENCE HENDERSON, the UNKNOWN COMIC revealed, Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat, a Barbie history, RANKIN/BASS’ Frosty the Snowman, Dell Comics’ Monster Super-Heroes, Slushy Drinks, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Magic memories of ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY for the 60th Anniversary of TV’s Bewitched! Plus: The ’70s thriller Time After Time (with NICHOLAS MEYER, MALCOLM McDOWELL, and DAVID WARNER), The Alvin Show, BUFFALO BOB SMITH and Howdy Doody, Peter Gunn, Saturday morning’s Run Joe Run and Big John Little John, a trip to Camp Crystal Lake, and more fun, fab features!

Featuring a profile of The Partridge Family’s heartthrob DAVID CASSIDY, THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN, LEGO blocks, Who Created Mighty Mouse?, BUCKAROO BANZAI turns forty, Planet Patrol, an encounter with SONNY AND CHER, Disco Fever, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet the Bionic Duo, LEE MAJORS and LINDSAY WAGNER! Plus: Hot Wheels: The Early Years, Fantastic Four cartoons, Modesty Blaise, Hostess snacks, TV Westerns, Movie Icons vs. the Axis Powers, the San Diego Chicken, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

RETROFAN #34

RETROFAN #35

RETROFAN #36

RETROFAN #37

Take a ride with CHiPs’ ERIK ESTRADA and LARRY WILCOX! Plus: an interview with movie Hercules STEVE REEVES, WeirdOhs cartoonist BILL CAMPBELL, Plastic Man on Saturday mornings, TINY TIM, Remo Williams, the search for a Disney artist, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Saturday morning super-hero Space Ghost, plus The Beatles, The Jackson 5ive, and other real rockers in animation! Also: The Addams Family’s JOHN ASTIN, Mighty Isis co-stars JOANNA PANG and BRIAN CUTLER, TV’s The Name of the Game, on the set of Evil Dead II, classic coffee ads, and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER & MICHAEL EURY.

Feel the G-Force of Eighties sci-fi toon BATTLE OF THE PLANETS! Plus: The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.’s STEFANIE POWERS, CHUCK CONNORS, The Oddball World of SCTV, Rankin/Bass’ stop-motion Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, TV’s Greatest Catchphrases, one-season TV shows, and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER & MICHAEL EURY.

The Jetsons, Freaky Frankensteins, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling’s HOLLYWOOD, the Archies and other Saturday morning rockers, Star Wars copycats, Build Your Own Adventure books, crazy kitchen gadgets, toymaker MARVIN GLASS, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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RETRO HOLLYWOOD

THE DAY THEY SHOT OLD YELLER A Chat with Beverly Washburn

BY DON VAUGHAN

Werewolf, Attack of the Puppet People, and A Touch of Evil, directed by Orson Welles. I had collaborated with Kenny Beverly Washburn was 12 years old when she landed the role on his memoir, Kenny Miller: Surviving Teenage Werewolves, of Lisbeth Searcy in the Walt Disney production of Old Yeller. Puppet People and Hollywood (McFarland), and he directed She was a Hollywood veteran by that point, having appeared Beverly to me when she expressed interest in writing her life story. in her first film, The Killer That Stalked New York, when she The experience was revelatory. Beverly’s filmography was 6 years old. Old Yeller was a seminal film for Beverly, and among the includes numerous motion pictures of note (Shane, The handful of films that her fans most often ask about when Greatest Show on Earth, Spider Baby) and dozens of classic they meet her at autograph shows. But her memories are a television shows (Leave It to Beaver, Thriller, Star Trek). bit more melancholic these days because Beverly holds the Hearing Beverly talk about her film and television career was tremendous fun, and I quickly sad distinction of being the last living learned how she had gained the cast member of Old Yeller, following the reputation as one of the sweetest passing of Tommy Kirk on September people in show business. Our 28, 2021 at age 79. friendship was set from our very I was introduced to Beverly through my good friend Kenny Miller, an actor first conversation. whose credits include I Was a Teenage (ABOVE) The young stars of Old Yeller, Tommy Kirk and Beverly Washburn. © Disney. (LEFT) Beverly Washburn appears as Arlene Galway in a 1967 Star Trek episode “The Deadly Years.” She’s had this far off stare (FAR LEFT) since she was a kid! © Paramount Global. Photos courtesy of IMDb. RETROFAN

June 2025

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AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES: 1945-49

WORKING WITH DITKO

BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY’S

MAINLINE COMICS

Traces the history of the superhero genre from early films, through the 1960s ADAM WEST Batman TV superhero craze, and its pop culture influence ever since, through collectibles, and interviews with TV stars! (192-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-125-7

Covers the aftermath of WWII, when comics shifted from super-heroes to crime, romance, horror, and western comics, including BILL GAINES’ EC Comics!

JACK C. HARRIS recalls collaborating with STEVE DITKO on The Creeper, Shade, Demon, Wonder Woman, The Fly, & more, plus Ditko’s unused Batman design!

The final complete, unpublished Jack Kirby stories in existence: Two unused 1970s DC DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET tales, plus TRUE-LIFE DIVORCE & SOUL LOVE mags!

Collects JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY’s 1954-56 series BULLSEYE (the complete run), plus all the Kirby FOXHOLE, POLICE TRAP, and IN LOVE stories, fully restored!

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BRITMANIA

TEAM-UP COMPANION

Relives the 1960s British Invasion of American pop culture: movies, TV, toys, games, trading cards, lunch boxes, comics, and, of course, the music! (192-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-115-8

MARVEL COMICS IN THE EARLY 1960s

ZOWIE!

JACK KIRBY’S DINGBAT LOVE

MICHAEL EURY examines team-up comic books of the Silver and Bronze Ages of Comics in a lushly illustrated selection of informative essays, special features, and trivia-loaded issue-by-issue indexes!

COMIC BOOK IMPLOSION

AMERICAN TV COMICS

Expanded Edition examining the notorious 1978 “DC Implosion” with an exhaustive oral history from JENETTE KAHN, PAUL LEVITZ, LEN WEIN, and others!

History of over 300 TV shows and 2000+ comic book adaptations, from well-known series (STAR TREK, PARTRIDGE FAMILY, THE MUNSTERS) to lesser-known shows.

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(144-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $10.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-124-0

(192-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-107-3

JOHN SEVERIN

ALTER EGO COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS

HERO-A-GO-GO!

TWO-FISTED COMIC ARTIST

(1940s-1980s)

GROOVY

A psychedelic look at when Flower Power bloomed in Pop Culture. Revisits ’60s era’s ROCK FESTIVALS, TV, MOVIES, ART, COMICS & CARTOONS! (192-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $15.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-080-9

MAC RABOY

Master of the Comics

Issue-by-issue entries on Marvel’s 1961– 1965 output, when gunfighters traveled the West and monsters roamed the Earth!

Looks at comics' 1960s CAMP AGE, when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, and TV's Batman shook a mean cape!

Biography of the EC, MARVEL and MAD mainstay, co-creator of American Eagle, and 40+ year CRACKED magazine contributor.

Compiles the sold-out DITKO, KIRBY, and LEE issues, plus new material on each!

Documents the life and career of the master Golden Age artist of Captain Marvel Jr. and other classic characters!

(224-page TRADE PAPERBACK) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-126-4

(272-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $36.95 (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-073-1

(160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-106-6

(256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $35.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-116-5

(160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES

FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER SERIES

documents each decade of comics history!

Full 8-volume Set of the 1940s-1990s: $275

TwoMorrows. The Future of Comics History. Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com

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THE ODDBALL WORLD OF SCOTT SHAW!

THEY A B B A D YABBA T DID I The Talents Who Created bera r a B a n n a H

BY SCOTT SHAW!

(ABOVE) Original art to The Flintstones #29 (Gold Key, 1965) by Harvey Eisenberg and Larry Meyer, two of the many talents who created Hanna-Barbera. © Warner Bros.

still occasionally needed to sub-hire a few other small studios in Los Angeles to In the second half of the 1950s, when I was a kid yearning to become a professional cartoonist, I spent a lot of my time help him out. The results were much better than studying the various animated cartoons shows on TV. They were mainly old cartoons but with a sprinkling of new ones. before... and funnier, too. On the other hand, a The Fleischer Studio’s animated shorts featuring Popeye the few years before Rocky and His Friends, William Hanna and Sailor and MGM’s Tom & Jerry shorts were my favorites, but Joseph Barbera—who had been making Oscar-winning Tom I’d already memorized most of them. Things were getting a & Jerry shorts for nearly two decades at MGM, with the most bit boring for my cartoon-lovin’ generation, until Hannagenerous budgets for seven-minute cartoons during the Barbera’s The Ruff and Reddy Show and Jay Ward’s Rocky and Golden Age of Hollywood—were now trying to survive. His Friends began to appear on our parents’ TV sets. In 1940, Hanna and Barbera jointly directed Puss Gets Over the years, aside from Rocky and His Friends, Jay Ward the Boot, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Productions made three more animated series: Hoppity Best Cartoon Short Subject. Their boss, MGM producer Hooper (1964–1967), The Dudley Do-Right Show (1964–1966), Fred Quimby, who had wanted to start a new animation and George of the Jungle (1967). It was also responsible for creating hundreds of memorable animated cereal commer- unit, gave Hanna and Barbera permission to pursue their cials for General Mills and the Quaker Oats Company. And it cat-and-mouse idea. The result was their most famous all came from a small studio on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. creation, Tom and Jerry. Over the next seventeen years, Although it had a team of top writers and cartoonists, Jay Hanna and Barbera worked almost exclusively on Tom and wasn’t interested in quantity over quality. A proud eccentric Jerry, directing more than 114 highly popular cartoon shorts. who also owned a successful real estate company in Berkeley, Tom and Jerry also made guest appearances in several of MGM’s live-action films, including Anchors Aweigh (1945) and California, Jay Ward’s main goal was to make certain that Invitation to the Dance (1956) with Gene Kelly, and Dangerous everything that came out of his studio was funny. Unfortunately, many episodes of Rocky and His Friends were animated When Wet (1953) with Esther Williams. Over the years, thirteen Tom and Jerry shorts were nominated for the Academy in Mexico and lacked quality, but the well-executed animaAwards for Best Animated Short Film and won seven of tion from Jay Ward Productions made a huge difference. After the production of Rocky and His Friends was done, Ward those nominations. RETROFAN

June 2025

the oddball world of scott shaw!

Fred Quimby accepted each Academy Award for Tom and Jerry without inviting Barbera and Hanna onstage. The cartoons were also released with Quimby listed as the sole producer, following the same practice for which he had condemned Ising. Quimby once delayed a promised raise to Barbera by six months. When Quimby retired in late 1955, Hanna and Barbera were placed in charge of MGM’s animation division. As MGM (TOP LEFT) Bill began to lose more revenue Hanna and Joe on animated cartoons due to Barbera during television, the studio soon the early days realized that re-releasing of their compaold cartoons was far more ny, Hanna-Barprofitable than producing bera. (TOP new ones. In 1957, MGM created the series Crusader Rabbit. Their RIGHT) Poster ordered Barbera and Hanna’s partnership soon ended, and in 1957, for “Cue Ball business manager to close Hanna re-teamed with Joseph Barbera, Cat,” a Tom and the cartoon division and lay explaining the process of production on Jerry animated off everyone. a low budget, quickly made “planned short. Though directed by Hanna and Barbera, animation” TV series like...uh... Fortunately, Bill and Joe Fred Quimby (RIGHT) took the lion’s share Crusader Rabbit? had been adjusting the of credit. Tom and Jerry © Warner Bros. Poster Every “crusade” of Crusader Rabbit production values of their courtesy of Heritage. Fred Quimby photo courte- consisted of a 19- or 24-minute cliffTom & Jerry shorts as MGM’s sy of Wikipedia. hanger episode that could be edited animation budgets had into a single story. The early episodes begun to dwindle. UPA’s were barely animated, using cut-out more modern, strippedflat figures that were filmed moving, thanks to an attached down style was already an influence on the look of all the other studios, even Disney. Once they realized that they still (but rarely seen) wooden stick, The show’s heroes, Crusader had a year left on their contracts, they brazenly took advan- Rabbit (a smart and brave bunny) and Ragland T. Tiger a.k.a. “Rags” (a goofy, cowardly striped predator), were simply tage of it. designed, with often repeating poses. An off-screen narrator During that last year at MGM, Bill Hanna branched out was useful because no lips needed to be animated. into television, forming the short-lived company Shield In 1957, Barbera re-teamed with his former partner Productions with fellow animator Jay Ward, who had Hanna to produce cartoon films for television and theatrical release. The two brought their different skills to the company as they had at MGM. Barbera was a skilled gag writer and sketch artist, while Hanna had a gift for timing, story construction, and recruiting top artists. Major business decisions would be made together, though each year, the title of president alternated between them. A coin toss determined that Hanna would have precedence in the naming of the new company, first called H-B Enterprises but soon changed to Hanna-Barbera Productions. (Speaking Model drawing of Crusadof coins, Bill and Joe invested er Rabbit and Rags circa $30,000 out-of-pocket to 1950s. Artist uncredited. spark the venture.) Barbera © 20th Century Fox. Courte- and Hanna’s MGM colleague sy of Heritage. George Sidney, the director 44

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the oddball world of scott shaw!

The Ruff and Reddy cast from a 1966 Hanna-Barbera press kit. © Warner Bros. soon established themselves with two successful television series: 1958’s The Huckleberry Hound Show and 1959’s Quick Draw McGraw Show. A 1960 survey showed that half of the viewers of Huckleberry Hound were college students and adults. This prompted the company to create a new animated series, The Flintstones. A parody of The Honeymooners, the new show followed a typical Stone Age family with home appliances, talking animals, and celebrity guests. With an audience of both children and adults, The Flintstones became the first animated prime time show to be a hit. Fred Flintstone’s signature exclamation, “yabba dabba doo,” soon entered everyday usage, and the show boosted the studio to the top of the TV cartoon field. Soon, Hanna-Barbera was a studio that their TV animation competition mimicked. So how did they do it? Bill and Joe had loyalty, bringing back many of the top cartoonists who made Tom and Jerry so loved, as well as a lot of new talent. Here’s some of the most important-but-obscure people who made H-B a standout.

of Anchors Aweigh, became the third partner and business manager in the company, and arranged a deal for distribution and working capital with Screen Gems, the television division of Columbia Pictures, who took part ownership of the new studio. The first offering from the new company was The Ruff and Reddy Show. It was much like Crusader Rabbit in many ways. Best friends, Ruff is a small cat with brains and loyalty (voiced by Don Messick, who was also the Narrator), while Reddy is a big dog with more courage than judgement (voiced by Daws Butler.) Every full-length Ruff and Reddy DESIGNERS story consisted of 13 four-minute cliffhanger episodes that Ed Benedict (August 23, 1912–August 28, 2006) began his could be edited together. In each episode, the off-screen animation career at Walt Disney Studios in 1930, and ultinarrator described what had happened in the last episode mately left three years later to work at Universal Studios as (re-using footage), as well as double-names for the next an animator on Walter Lantz Productions’ Oswald the Lucky episode (no animation necessary). The character Rabbit shorts. (Coincidentally, it was Walt Disney Studios designs, the limited animation, and the backgrounds were appealing and good enough for viewers to not notice the low-budget production. The stories were interesting, too. They were world-spanning adventure tales with “funny animals” adding their humor while dealing with fiendish villains. (Sound kinda familiar, Crusader?) But what’s really impressive is that Bill and Joe produced the first 13 episodes of Ruff and Reddy while still at MGM. That sounds incredible, but both Bill and Joe assured me that MGM wasn’t interested in what they were up to, as long as they exited the studio on December 31, 1957. By that time, Ruff and Reddy was already airing on television! By 1960, HBP had finished 156 episodes of their first televised series. Ed Benedict. Despite a lukewarm response for their first theatrical venture, Loopy De Loop, Hanna-Barbera RETROFAN

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the oddball world of scott shaw!

by the H-B shows I was working on. I often wished that I possessed a time machine to work at Hanna-Barbera in its early days... although then and now, I realize that I probably wouldn’t have made the grade. As you’ve just read, the cartoons may have been made with “planned animation,” but the people behind them were some of the best in the business of making memorable cartoons.

(LEFT TO RIGHT) Gene Hazelton, Scott Shaw! and Kirby Shaw circa 2000. Courtesy of Scott Shaw! I owe thanks to Mark Evanier, who suggested me to Chase Craig, the editor for the line of Hanna-Barbera comics for Marvel in 1977, who hired me to ink my first professional connection to the studio. I wasn’t working directly with anyone who worked on their cartoons, but at least H-B was signing my checks. However, a few years later, some of the big shots at the studio noticed my work on their funnybooks and hired me to design layouts, characters, and props. Eventually, I was made a producer, getting to know William Hanna and Joseph Barbera quite well. But as much as I loved their cartoons that I grew up with, I wasn’t nearly as impressed

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June 2025

For 53 years (and counting), SCOTT SHAW! has written and drawn underground comix, mainstream comic books, comic strips, graphic novels, TV cartoons, toys, advertising, and video games. He has worked on such characters as Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew (which he co-created with Roy Thomas), Sonic the Hedgehog, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, the Simpsons, the Futurama gang, the Muppet Babies, Garfield, the Garbage Pail Kids, and yes, even Annoying Orange. His career has garnered him four Emmy Awards, an Eisner Award, and a Humanities Award. Scott is also known for his “Oddball Comics Live!” visual presentation of “the craziest comic books ever published” and for his regular participation in “Quick Draw!” with Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés. He was also one of the teenagers who co-created what is currently known as Comic-Con International: San Diego, America’s biggest annual fan event. He can be reached at shawcartoons.com.

RETRO TELEVISION

My Living Doll The Perfect Woman Was Created and She’s Julie Newmar BY LEE WEINSTEIN

that Miss Newmar’s character, the titular “doll,” although apparently a beautiful woman, was actually a robot. It was Fall of 1964 saw the beginning of a television season for the originally to be titled The Living Doll, but was re-titled at Cummings’ request. Newmar still refers to it by the original bizarre. Four outré new sitcoms premiered, in addition to two science fiction shows starting their second season: My title. It premiered to good reviews. The New York Times said it Favorite Martian and The Outer Limits. The four new sitcoms “...has the makings of a popular novelty hit...”. Philadelwere The Addams, Family, The Munsters, Bewitched, and finally, phia’s Evening Bulletin headlined the reviews of the day with My Living Doll. The most successful of these was Bewitched “Living Doll Unveiled as Excellent Comedy.” The Philadelphia which went on to run for eight seasons. The Addams Family Inquirer described it as “an engrossing sci-fi serial.” and The Munsters lasted only two seasons each, but went on Produced by Jack Chertok, it followed in the footsteps to eternal syndication, and each spawned several movies of his successful sitcom, My Favorite Martian. But it didn’t and reboots. [See TwoMorrow’s new hit magazine Crypfare well in the ratings and lasted only one season. Because tology #1 for more on these two classics –RetroEd.] Pundits there were too few episodes for a syndication package, the wondered in print about the sudden explosion on TV of show sadly dropped into obscurity. To make matters worse, science fiction, fantasy, and general weirdness. My Living Doll was the last of the four to premiere. Viewers the archived episodes of the show were destroyed in the who tuned in to CBS on Sunday, September 27 at 9:00 p.m. 1994 Northridge earthquake. A diligent search led by the saw a smiling Bob Cummings with an animated cartoon of late Peter J. Greenwood, worldwide licensing manager for a mechanical robot that transformed, piece by piece, into a Chertok Television, turned up eleven episodes from collecwinking, nightgown-clad Julie Newmar. The premise was tors. They were transferred from 16 mm film to a two DVD set, which he co-produced in 2012. The series had a good pedigree. Chertok, in addition to (ABOVE) Robert Cummings (LEFT) as Dr. Robert McDonald My Favorite Martian, had produced such successful series and Julie Newmar (RIGHT) as Rhoda Miller (a.k.a. AF-709) as Sky King, The Lone Ranger, and Private Secretary. Bob were the stars of My Living Doll (CBS, 1964–1965). © CBS Cummings, a one-time movie leading man, had starred in Studios. © Jack and Florence Chertok. three previous popular sitcoms. All of the episodes, except RETROFAN

June 2025

SCOTT SAAVEDRA’S SECRET SANCTUM

The Many

Faces of Mr. Potato Head BY SCOTT SAAVEDRA Mr. Potato Head was the first toy I can recall lusting after. I would see his face (one of supposedly 1,001) staring at me from a reasonably colorful box perched atop a low shelving unit at the local Gilbert “five-and-dime”, and I really

wanted the guy. I suspect that I was about six or seven years old. Eventually, I was added to the ranks of millions of other little boys and girls who owned this weirdly fascinating plaything. Circa 1967, Mr. Potato Head came with a plastic potato head on which you took plastic pieces resembling eyes, noses, mouths, body, shoes, hands, and, of course, a pipe; most with sharp points to better plunge them into the potato face. I have the vaguest memory of sticking the plastic pieces into an actual potato as was the original intention back when the toy was introduced in 1952. This may have happened at a friend’s house since I doubt my mom would have ever let me waste food that way. She grew up during the war years and lived with the rationing that was a way of life then. It was immoral to waste food… a sin, even. Anything really good you wanted to eat—be it sugar, coffee, wheat, or meat—was limited during World War II (and the first World War too). People were encouraged to grow their own vegetables and clean their plates. It was serious business. There was one item, however, that citizens were encouraged to eat plenty of: potatoes. Potatoes were easy to grow and weren’t seasonal. They could be enjoyed all year long as food or, as it turned out, with a face attached. (ABOVE LEFT) Cooky the Cucumber with Her Friend Mr. Potato Head box front minus digitally removed text. Courtesy of the Secret Sanctum Archives. © Hasbro. (ABOVE RIGHT) Due to rationing, citizens were encouraged to not waste food during World War II. Courtesy of the University of North Texas Digital Library. (LEFT) Detail of a World War I potato promotion. Courtesy of USDA. RETROFAN

June 2025

Scott saavedra’s secret sanctum

A HARD PASS ON THAT POTATO Mr. Potato Head was originally a concept that was basically a collection of face parts. The idea, not new to the toy world, was to have a child create different faces. They would do so by plunging little noses, eyes, and other bits into a vegetable or a piece of fruit. This was definitely new to the toy world, and they weren’t interested. In the post-war years the main concern was that parents would be appalled by the use of food as a plaything. After all, the U.S. was able to drop food rationing after World War II, but countries in Europe were still suffering shortages. Who would buy such a thing? Who would even think of such a thing? MEET THE MISTER BEHIND MR. POTATO HEAD The creator of the face-making concept that became Mr. Potato Head was George Lerner. You may not have ever heard of him. He’s not as famous a toy inventor and designer as, say, Marvin Glass (see RetroFan #37 –RetroEd). There is, however, a young reader biography written about his life and creation, Mr. Potato Head Inventor, George Lerner by Paige V. Polinsky (Checkerboard Library, 2018). The book reveals that he had two sisters, lists his birth year as 1910, and then, hilariously I think, points out that “little else is known about George’s childhood or family.” Most other sources peg George Lerner‘s birth year as 1922, month and day unknown. And what else is “known” in leading to the creation of Mr. Potato Head is apocryphal. So, that’s what we’re dealing with for Mr. George Lerner (even FindAGrave.com can’t find his grave, though it acknowledges he has one). Thankfully, as I began writing this, my daughter had a few days left on her ancestry.com account with its access to census and other records. Government records can be incomplete and incorrect. But added to bits and pieces of information gleaned from other sources, we can put together a slightly fuller picture of a man who created one of the all-time classic toys.

SCOTT’S GRADE SCHOOL GILBERT 5•10•25 STORE SOLD MR. POTATO HEAD TOYS SCOTT’S HOUSE

PATH OF 101 FREEWAY (1959)

RETROFAN

June 2025

George Lerner was the subject of this biography for kids, Mr. Potato Head Inventor George Lerner by Paige V. Polinsky (Abdo Group, 2017). George Lerner was born June 7, 1909 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York to Charles and Martha Lerner, both immigrants from Russia. Charles worked in the jewelry trade while Martha raised their seven children (five boys and two girls). George was the second oldest child. By the 1930 federal census, Charles Lerner was out of the picture for reasons unknown. He may have stepped out for cigarettes (if you take my meaning) or died at a relatively young age. Lerner completed three years of high school as did, coincidentally, his future wife, Fannie “Fay” Sargoy. George Lerner and Fannie were married August 18, 1935. It was around this time that Lerner was employed by the Buddy L manufacturing company. Buddy L began life as an auto part manufacturer under a different name but eventually became a maker of steel toy vehicles. The 1940 census lists George as a commercial artist with Fannie, a son, and a mother-in-law under one roof. Another son and a daughter would be added to the family that decade. Various sources indicate that George was also a model-maker and toy inventor. It was in 1949 that Lerner came up with his most noted creation, little toy facial pieces to stick into fruit and vegetables. Research turns up the darndest things: a map of Encino before the mighty 101 Freeway was completed and ran across the length of the San Fernando Valley just outside of Los Angeles. The interests fueled by television and the variety of goods at the Gilbert 5•10•25 store in Encino, California have led to numerous Secret Sanctum wordy excursions. Courtesy of UCSB Library Geospatial Collection.

Scott saavedra’s secret sanctum

In creating the toy that would become Mr. Potato Head, there are two oft-told moments of inspiration. One version of the story is that Lerner, as a boy, would create little dolls for his sisters made of vegetables from his mother’s garden. Another version of the story took place later in life when he was married to Fannie and had two young boys… boys, who played with their food at mealtime. Clearly, there were some discipline issues here, but the key takeaway is that Lerner, hit with the notion that kids like to play with food, got to some serious inventing. He is said to have used various household items to “dress up” a potato (using bottle caps and push pins) to entertain his kids. They apparently loved it. These two tales are not mutually exclusive but could easily be promotional yarns. Or they’re the truth. We don’t know for sure. Lerner refined the idea with dimensional model parts representing eyes, ears, etc. He called his creation the Funny Faces for Food kit. According to the deeply researched Funny Face! An Amusing History of Potato Heads, Block Heads, and Magic Whiskers by Mark Rich and Jeff Potocsnak (Krause Publications, 2002) the toy concept appears to have also been called an Identikit. MR. POTATO FAIL George Lerner took his concept and model pieces and attempted to interest toy companies in his idea. There were no takers. Even his old employer Buddy L turned him down. Mostly, the toy makers were worried about kids playing with actual food. It seemed like a bad idea. The food part. Not the making faces part. Numerous toy makers have had toys that created different faces over the years. Some came before Mr. Potato Head like ‘Ole’ Million Face, (better

known as Changeable Charlie) made up of various toy blocks illustrated with face parts that when put together made crazy (even nightmarish) faces. And others following Mr. Potato Head’s success like Remco’s Fist Face, which was your own actual fist wearing a wig and eyeballs. Play lipstick was included to paint your fist’s “mouth” in the manner of Señor Wences (who was very compelling when I was a tot, I have to admit). Eventually, Post Cereals bought the rights to Lerner’s creation to use as a free inside-the-box give-away (I sure do miss those). The Funny Faces cereal toy got noticed by the owners of the Hassenfeld Brothers company, a maker of school supplies and a modest selection of toys (doctor kits and the like), who thought it could make a good stand-alone toy. Were they too late? Nah. BROS AND POTATOES Post Cereals was very chill about Lerner wanting his creation back. They asked for his fee of $5,000 returned and a little extra ($2,000 paid by the Hassenfeld Brothers who would sell toys as Hasbro before too long). Lerner was given a mere $500 advance against future royalties. Hasbro gave Funny Face a new name, Mr. Potato Head, and packaged his pieces in an attractive colorful box, the earliest of which had some of his features pushed into a cardboard image of a potato. He made his debut in 1952. After a few months, the cardboard potato was replaced with a slightly face-shaped piece of thick Styrofoam which, frankly, did not hold up to repeated uses. Mr. Potato Head needed potatoes for full effect.

(LEFT) Changeable Charlie was a pre-Mr. Potato Head face-making toy. (RIGHT) Remco’s Fist Face (1966), wherein your own fist becomes a “real face” that talks and “twitches.” Courtesy of Worthpoint. RETROFAN

June 2025