Pinups: Al Moore Girls From Esquire

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 9 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great pinup art.


Esquire magazine was one of the top publications of its time. It was to the first half of the 20th century what Playboy was to the last half. The pinups of George Petty and Alberto Vargas made the magazine famous. Al Moore painted the Esquire girls and the annual calendar in the late 40s and early 50s. I'm sorry to say, I don't know much about him. His fame has been eclipsed by his predecessors. But his wide eyed blondes have a lot of charm. Here are a couple of fold-outs from the pages of Esquire and the 1950 Esquire calendar...














And here as an added bonus is the 1946 Esquire Pocket Calendar by Alberto Varga (Before he got the "s" at the end of his name...)



If you enjoyed this post, see... Alberto Vargas in Playboy, George Petty's Ridgid Tools Calendars, Petty Girls 1947, Jack O'Brien and Milo Kinn Girlie Cartoons, Eldon Dedini Part One, Part Two (video interview!) and Part Three, Jack Cole And Other Great 50s Playboy Cartoonists, Jack Cole Valentine, Little Annie Fanny Takes A Trip, Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny, More Little Annie Fannie, Biography: Jack Davis, Early Erich Sokol Cartoons, A Passel Of Sokol, and More Sokol, Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi, Early Interlandi Playboy Cartoons and Meet Doug Sneyd.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

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Pinups: Jack O'Brien and Milo Kinn's Girlie Cartoons

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 9 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great pinup art.


Sometimes I think I must have the best job in the world...

Today some nice folks who had Googled up this website stopped by to offer us some material to digitize that they had rescued from a relative's garage. They had a laundry basket full of 1940s magazines and a big stack of original inks from a 1947 girlie cartoon magazine, colorfully titled Booby Traps and Nuggets. My jaw hit the floor when I started going through the artwork. Here is a part of cartooning history that has been largely overlooked- especially by me. But not any more!

The artwork is quickly executed and sometimes a bit funky... and for good reason. On the back of each ink is the amount the cartoonist was paid for his work. The prices range from $3 to $5. You would have to work pretty doggone fast to make a living at that rate! I have to admit, I don't know much about these artists. So I'm going to present them a couple at a time with the little I do know and see if any of you readers out there can help fill in the blanks about their careers.

JACK O'BRIEN

Jack O'Brien lived in Los Angeles, and if this photograph is any indication, he was an alumni of UCLA and had a cute little daughter. In the 1960s, O'Brien drew the Sad Sack comic books, he came up with a beatnik character named "Cool Cat", and he created the G.I. Juniors line of comics for Harvey. If you know anything else about O'Brien, please post to the comments below.











MILO KINN

All I know about Milo Kinn is that he lived in Seattle, Washington. I'm guessing he was married, (based on the pretty dingle ball curtains!) and it's clear that he didn't mind drawing the exact same pretty girl profile over and over. In fact, he seems to have a lot more fun with the "broads" than he does with the "babes". Anyone have any more details on him?





Let me know in the comments if you would like to see more of these.

If you enjoyed this post, see... Eldon Dedini Part One, Part Two (video interview!) and Part Three, Jack Cole And Other Great 50s Playboy Cartoonists, Jack Cole Valentine, Little Annie Fanny Takes A Trip, Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny, More Little Annie Fannie, Biography: Jack Davis, Early Erich Sokol Cartoons, A Passel Of Sokol, and More Sokol, Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi, Early Interlandi Playboy Cartoons and Meet Doug Sneyd.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

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Pinups: Eldon Dedini in the 1960s

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 9 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great pinup art.


Here's another look at the artistry of Eldon Dedini from the pages of Playboy magazine. In case you missed it, check out the video interview with Dedini contributed by Archive Supporter Ken Kearney.

Dedini often did spot advertisements in Playboy. Here are a couple of great examples...



These ads redefine the term, "soft sell"! Today's batch of cartoons feature hippies, go-go dancers and gurus from the "swingin' 60s"... and of course, plenty of pretty girls.














If you enjoyed this post, see... Eldon Dedini Part One and Part Two (video interview!)

Check out these articles too... Jack Cole And Other Great 50s Playboy Cartoonists, Jack Cole Valentine, Little Annie Fanny Takes A Trip, Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny, More Little Annie Fannie, Biography: Jack Davis, Early Erich Sokol Cartoons, A Passel Of Sokol, and More Sokol, Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi, Early Interlandi Playboy Cartoons and Meet Doug Sneyd.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

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Pinups: Happy Valentines Day- Jack Cole Style

Just a quick Valentine's Day gift from the great Jack Cole...



If you enjoyed this post, check out these articles... Jack Cole And Other Great 50s Playboy Cartoonists, Little Annie Fanny Takes A Trip, Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny, More Little Annie Fannie, Kurtzman Comic Books, Biography: Jack Davis, Early Erich Sokol Cartoons, A Passel Of Sokol, and More Sokol, Eldon Dedini Part One and Part Two (video interview!), Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi, Early Interlandi Playboy Cartoons and Meet Doug Sneyd.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

Stumble It!

Pinups: Little Annie Fanny Takes A Trip

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 9 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great pinup art.


Today, we continued to work our way through the collection of Playboy magazines that we have been digitizing for the past year or so. Here are two more "Little Annie Fanny" episodes from late 1960s Playboys. If you missed our previous posts on this classic series by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder, see the links at the bottom of this post.


The first story up features some great work by a cartoonist we recently profiled, the master caricaturist, Jack Davis. Check out his great crowd scenes on the third and fourth page. Also remarkable are Kurtzman's brilliant layouts for the first two pages (you can feel the pitch and roll of the ship!) and the Mad magazine style final bird's eye view.






The second story up is a different type of trip, with a psychedelic "op art" touch and a full page downshot crowd scene for the climax. The "Little Annie Fanny" series was probably the most elaborately drawn comic strip ever!





Check out these great "Little Annie Fanny" collections at Amazon.com!

As always, let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more about the great cartoonists of Playboy.

If you enjoyed this post, check out our articles on Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny, More Little Annie Fannie, Kurtzman Comic Books, Biography: Jack Davis, Early Erich Sokol Cartoons, A Passel Of Sokol, and More Sokol, Jack Cole And Other Great 50s Playboy Cartoonists, Eldon Dedini Part One and Part Two (video interview!), Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi, Early Interlandi Playboy Cartoons and Meet Doug Sneyd.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

Stumble It!

Pinups: A Passel of Sokol

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 9 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great pinup art.


Today, we continued to work our way through the collection of Playboy magazines that we have been digitizing for the past year or so. Here is a batch of cartoons by Erich Sokol. We start out with a biographical feature on the cartoonists who worked for Playboy in the mid-1960s.



Next up is a Sokol feature that highlights his remarkable ability to caricature...




And a pile of Sokol cartoons from the late 1950s through the early 70s. Check out the wide variety of colors, the attention to light and the skillful composition in these cartoons...










As always, let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more about the great cartoonists of Playboy.

If you enjoyed this post, check out our articles on Early Erich Sokol Cartoons and More Sokol, Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny, Jack Cole And Other Great 50s Playboy Cartoonists, Eldon Dedini Part One and Part Two (video interview!), Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi, Early Interlandi Playboy Cartoons and Meet Doug Sneyd.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

Stumble It!

Pinups: Meet Doug Sneyd

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 9 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great pinup art.

Here's a gift that I've taken much too long to acknowledge... Last Summer, Archive supporter, Sean Worsham donated a great book of unpublished cartoons by Playboy cartoonist, Doug Sneyd. (Mr. Sneyd even autographed it for us!) It gives a fascinating glimpse at the thought process behind Sneyd's wonderful cartoons. Here are a few choice pages from the book...







I highly recommend this book. You can order an autographed copy for yourself at... www.DougSneyd.com.

I've spent the better part of this week scanning more mid 60s Playboys. Here's a gallery of Sneyd's work from that period...










As always, let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more about the great cartoonists of Playboy.

If you enjoyed this post, check out our articles on Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny, Early Erich Sokol Cartoons and More Sokol, Jack Cole And Other Great 50s Playboy Cartoonists, Eldon Dedini Part One and Part Two (video interview!), Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi and Early Interlandi Playboy Cartoons.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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Biography: Ward Kimball- Escapader Cum Laude

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 4 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great biographies of important artists.


OK. With that picture above, you probably think I've gone off the deep end! But look a little further... This "girlie" magazine from the late fifties has incredible cartoons and illustrations... and an article on the incomparable Ward Kimball!


How the wildest "Old Man" ended up in a men's magazine is anybody's guess. But the article captures Kimball at his peak. And the great illustrations and cartoons in the magazine itself (including a Searle influenced trip to Europe by Schoolhouse Rock designer, Bob Eggers) express the joyful exhuberance of the era. As an added bonus, there's an ad for the Famous Artists Course featuring the inspiring life story of illustrator, Albert Dorne. Enjoy!















Thanks to archive supporter Gary Francis for sharing this gem with us.

If you enjoyed this article, you'll also want to check out... An Interview With Playboy's Eldon Dedini, John Canemaker on Bill Tytla, Tytla At Terry: Mighty Mouse Meets Jekyll &' Hyde Cat 1940, The Pencil Test of Art Babbitt's Best Scene, our Profile of Carlo Vinci, and Remembering Berny Wolf

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

Stumble It!

Pinups: More Of Kurtzman and Elder's Little Annie Fanny

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 9 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great pinup art.



Little Annie Fanny by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder was a mainstay of Playboy magazine for decades. From 1962 to 1988, they produced 100 episodes, assisted by guest artists like Jack Davis, Russ Heath, and Al Jaffee. This crack team also worked for Mad magazine and Hugh Hefner's short-lived humor magazine, Trump.



Here are three great stories from the late 60s. In particular, pay attention to Elder's hilarious "micro gags" in the backgrounds of the third story. They're even funnier than the Bond parody playing out in the foreground!















As always, let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more about the great cartoonists of Playboy.

If you enjoyed this post, check out our first article on Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny. For more info on the great Playboy cartoonists, see these posts... Early Erich Sokol Cartoons and More Sokol, Jack Cole And Other Great 50s Playboy Cartoonists, Eldon Dedini Part One and Part Two (video interview!), Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi and Early Interlandi Playboy Cartoons.

Check out these great "Little Annie Fanny" collections at Amazon.com!

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

Stumble It!

Pinups: Early Sokol Playboy Cartoons

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 9 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great pinup art.



Over a year ago, we began our series of posts on Playboy cartoonists with a feature highlighting Erich Sokol. Sokol was arguably the most gifted artist who ever worked for the magazine, with a keen eye for all of the elements of good drawing- composition, clear silhouettes, original color harmonies, interesting staging and a keen sense of light and shade. There's a lot to be learned from these masterful cartoons. His style evolved as time went by, and his images became more and more beautiful. This group of cartoons is arranged in a more or less chronological manner. Compare the first one from the mid-1950s to the last one from a decade later, and you'll see how much he progressed...













Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more about the great cartoonists of Playboy.

For more Playboy cartoons, see these posts... Erich Sokol, Jack Cole And Other Great 50s Playboy Cartoonists, Eldon Dedini Part One and Part Two (video interview!), Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny, Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi and Early Interlandi Playboy Cartoons.

If you're a fan of Playboy artists like Cole, Dedini, Wilson and Sokol, you will want to get this great collection of cartoons, Playboy: 50 Years- The Cartoons. Check it out!

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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Pinups: Eldon Dedini's Satyrs and Nymphs

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 9 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great pinup art.


You can't beat Christmas in the country.
A while back, we posted a group of Playboy cartoons by Eldon Dedini. Today, we present more of this artist's amazing work, along with a video interview of Dedini in his studio discussing how he got his start.

Eldon Dedini is best known for his magazine cartoons from Esquire and Playboy. But early in his career, he was an editorial cartoonist for local newspapers, and a story man for Walt Disney.

Archive supporter, Ken Kearney lives close to the Monterey area, where Dedini lived and worked for many years. In 2005, he produced an interview video, which he generously donated to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive for our biographical database. Here is a clip from Ken's video where Dedini tells how he got started as a cartoonist and his experiences as a story man with Disney on Fun & Fancy Free and Donald Duck cartoons like Dumbell of the Yukon.



Eldon Dedini Interview (Ken Kearney/2005)
(Quicktime 7 / 14.2 megs)

PLEASE NOTE The text and media files on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog are not to be duplicated, redistributed or hosted on other websites without the prior written permission of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood.

DEDINI IN PLAYBOY
Here is a feature on Dedini's famous "Satyr & Nymph" comics from Playboy, followed by some higher resolution images of individual cartoons...







We forgot the picnic basket!


I'd like you to meet my father,
but I don't dare. You know how
even old satyrs are!


It's not that I didn't believe in Santa Claus-
It's just that you've shattered my image
somehow...
For more info on the great cartoonists who worked for Playboy in the 1960s, see these posts... Eldon Dedini Part One, Erich Sokol, Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny, Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi.

If you're a fan of Dedini, you will want to get Fantagraphic's great book, An Orgy Of Eldon Dedini. It comes with a DVD documentary called "Dedini: A Life In Cartoons" Check it out!

I'm not sure if Ken is offering these for sale, but if you would like to inquire about ordering a DVD of Ken Kearney's Dedini interview, email, kenkearneystudios@hotmail.com.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

Stumble It!

Pinups: Kurtzman and Elder's Little Annie Fanny

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 9 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great pinup art.



Over the weekend, an Archive Supporter stopped by to donate his collection of vintage Playboy magazines to the Archive. He mentioned that there was no need to thank him by name on the blog, his wife would be pleased that they were given away. He plans to proudly tell her that he donated his collection to a museum!

Some people have asked why we've featured Playboy cartoons by artists like Erich Sokol and Eldon Dedini. The answer is simple... Playboy employed some of the top cartoonists of the 50s and 60s. Their work exemplifies all of the attributes of good design.

Today, we are featuring the work of two giants of cartooning...