Bill Peckmann &Comic Art 19 Nov 2010 08:29 am
Hazel
- Ted Key was a prolific cartoonist whose principal cartoon character Hazel lived in the weekly issues of the Saturday Evening Post from 1943-1969 before going wide with syndication at King Features once the Post went out of business.
Hazel, in my childhood, was also a weekly TV series starring the inexorable Shirley Booth. I’m not sure this is who, at first, I imagined Hazel to look and sound like, but once you saw the series you bought it.
The strip ran in papers until 1993 when Mr. Key retired. He died in 2008 at the age of 95.
He was also responsible for a couple of cartoons that led to three Disney live-action films: “The Million Dollar Duck†(1971), a pet duck that laid golden eggs, and “Gus†(1976), a mule that kicked field goals and “The Cat from Outer Space” (1978) starring Roddy McDowall. He also created “Peabody and Sherman” for Rocky the Flying Squirrel. Apparently, Jay Ward was a good friend of Leonard Key, Ted’s brother.
However, I’m interested in Hazel, here. The cartoons Mr. Key did with this character seem so effortless. The line work looks very natural and relaxed, as if the cartoons just flowed from the pen.
Here, thanks to Bill Peckmann and his contribution from his library, are some cartoons from the book of Hazel spots: If You Like Hazel. Enjoy.
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