OPINION - EDITORIAL

The animated man

Cartoon history visits Arkansas

It was a balmy fall Sunday when a living piece of history came to visit Arkansas--cartoon history. This particular man had his hand in many cartoons through the years including Scooby-Doo, The Smurfs, The Jetsons, The Flintstones, Rugrats and more. His work history spans more than 50 years, and it's a colorful one at that.

The cartoonist hails from the Land Down Under, though in his retirement Phoenix has become home. He told us he likes it hot. Well, more power to him. His name is Ron Campbell, and one of his biggest claims to fame is his work on a trippy little movie that came out in 1968 called Yellow Submarine, which followed animated versions of the Beatles traveling through space in a yellow submarine.

Ah, those were the days, our friends, those were the days. When cartoons were drawn. Not generated by a computer.

We got to meet Mr. Campbell when he showed up at the Fellow Human art gallery in Bentonville. He sat with a bag of peanut brittle, some papers and a paint set as he autographed large posters that contained many of the cartoon characters that he'd animated over the last half-century. He spoke with a soft Australian accent as he recounted various tales from his storybook of life.

For those familiar with cartoon history, you might have heard of a legendary company called Hanna-Barbera (responsible for classics like Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound). The company asked Mr. Campbell to leave Australia and come over to Hollywood and make cartoons. He obliged and became a California resident.

In Australia, Mr. Campbell said several animators were self-taught after analyzing American films. This included himself. But what Mr. Campbell could do, he said, was put together cartoon movies, something not many others could. Some cartoonists might be good at animating water, others could storyboard like no tomorrow, but Mr. Campbell? He was an animator jack-of-all-trades.

The animator told us his favorite project throughout his career was Big Blue Marble, a cartoon he produced that went on to be viewed in more than 100 countries. And, despite popular culture trends today, the Australian did not enjoy working on superhero shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He said those storylines just weren't his favorite. Yes, the story does matter even in cartoons.

In 2008, Mr. Campbell laid down his pencil. The last project he said he worked on was a cartoon movie called Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show. It aired on Cartoon Network in 2009 and wrapped up a popular animated series by the same name.

Mr. Campbell told us some aspiring animators came to visit him on Sunday, announcing their intent to walk a path he once traveled. The cartoonist said most of the aspiring animators came to him wanting to draw with pen and paper as he once did. But he informed them pretty much all animation is now done digitally, with drawing tablets and computers.

The Australian lamented current digital animation techniques, remarking if he was to come of age in today's world of computer animation he probably wouldn't have entered the field at all. Cartoons today are too mechanical in their movement, he said. Mr. Campbell said he was drawn to cartoons as a child thinking they were made with real animals but later learning he could draw them himself. And that was the magic to push him into the animation career.

Now out of the game, Mr. Campbell spends his time drawing and painting cartoon characters he once made move on your television screen. He also travels around the country and does pop-up art shows, selling his work. We've been fans of Mr. Campbell's work for a long time and didn't even know it. And it turns out, the man likes his newspapers. Which makes sense. Newspapers have cornered the market on Dilbert, Diamond Lil, Garfield and Blondie.

Throughout his cartoonist days, Mr. Campbell filled various roles in storyboarding, animation director and more. With a long career to look back on, he certainly has a library of work to be proud of. If you somehow haven't seen his work, we'd suggest starting with a 1969 classic called Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! You just can't go wrong with Fred, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby, traveling around in the Mystery Machine solving . . . well, mysteries.

Mr. Campbell, thanks for visiting our neck of the woods, and thanks for helping to make so many great cartoons we've laughed at through the years and continue to enjoy. Didn't Scooby make a Christmas special?

Editorial on 12/18/2018

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