Born in 1920 in California, Alex Anderson is credited with
having created the very first animated production produced solely for
transmission on television – Crusader Rabbit.
From 1938 onwards, Anderson served as an apprentice every summer at Paul Terry’s
studio, responsible for the Terrytoons
theatrical shorts, including Mighty Mouse. Anderson’s interest in the field of
animation is unsurprising as he was in fact Terry’s nephew.
The pursuance of his interest was stunted, however, by his
being drafted in the navy. Shortly after his discharge, he wanted to present
the concept of a moving comic strip to TV companies, but understood he needed
to collaborate with somebody, and wound up teaming up with his childhood friend
Jay Ward. Together they established TAP (Television Arts Productions), and they
began working on an idea titled “The Comic Strips of Television”.
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| Television Arts Productions |
The idea was presented to Russ Johnston, programming
executive of NBC. The programme contained the cartoons “Dudley Doright”, “Hamhock
Jones” and “Crusader Rabbit”, utilising very basic, limited animation – similar
to a moving storyboard or animatic. In this respect, Anderson could be
perceived as a pioneer of limited animation, later popularised by the likes of
Hanna Barbera. Johnston expressed interest in the “Crusader Rabbit” segment,
and once this cartoon was given the greenlight, TAP staff set to work on the
animation in a makeshift studio above Anderson’s aunt’s garage – which itself
became the editing room.
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| Television Arts Productions |
The series itself was visually appealing, with the line
segments drawn in bold in order to make them stand out on small TV sets of
the era. The series focussed on Crusader Rabbit (voiced by Lucille Bliss), who
bore an ironically courageous and aggressive persona despite being a bunny
rabbit, and his friends, who included Seymour the dinosaur and Rags, a tiger.
Eventually, Anderson was assisted in the writing of the cartoons by Lloyd
Turner, who had previously worked on Warner Bros cartoons. Once completed, the
cartoons were sent to Los Angeles, where sounds effects were added prior to
their distribution.
The show began airing in the summer of 1950, and appealed
mostly to a juvenile audience. Crusader
Rabbit eventually wound up on over 200 TV stations, although neither Anderson
nor Ward make much of a profit. A five year legal case later saw the rights to
the characters change hands, during which time Anderson turned his attention to
advertising. There was an attempt to revive the rabbit in 1956, in conjunction
with William Hanna, but this was abandoned due to the court case. While
Anderson regarded Crusader Rabbit as ‘primitive’,
he is nonetheless influential in the establishment of limited television
animation whose popularity was realised by the early 1960s. He was also,
perhaps most famously, responsible for establishing the characters of Rocky and
Bullwinkle, although he is often erroneously reported to have worked directly
on the show. Anderson passed away in 2010, aged 90.
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| Television Arts Productions |
Sources:
Beck, J. (ed) (2004) Animation
Art – From Pencil to Pixel, the Illustrated History of Cartoon, Anime and Cel.
London: Flame Tree Publishing.
Hevesi, D. (2010) Alex
Anderson, Creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dies at 90. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/26/arts/television/26anderson.html) Date accessed: 25/01/2017 New York: The
New York Times Company.
Images:
“Crusader Rabbit Crusade 1 Episode 08” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCyNmM8oGXY)
Date Accessed: 25/01/2017.
“crusader rabbit” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brIA3Va-x-o)
Date Accessed: 25/01/2017.
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