Wee Pals
Encyclopedia
Wee Pals is a syndicated
comic strip
about a diverse group of children, created and produced by Morrie Turner
.
, the strip originally appeared in only 5 daily newspapers, as many papers refused to run a strip featuring black characters. After the assassination of Martin Luther King, the number of papers carrying the strip grew to 60; today it appears in over 100 dailies.
The strip is centered on the activities of a group of children from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. The regular characters include:
The strip is currently distributed by Creators Syndicate
. Turner still writes and draws the strips.
Saturday mornings. A total of 17 episodes were made, most of which aired from September 16, 1972 to January 6, 1973, followed by reruns. In the following year, a few new episodes which were unfinished during the first sesaon aired on Sunday mornings (combined with reruns) until September 1, 1974. Animation was done in Japan
at Topcraft Studio
.
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
about a diverse group of children, created and produced by Morrie Turner
Morrie Turner
Morris "Morrie" Turner is the first nationally syndicated African-American cartoonist. Raised in Oakland, California, where he still resides, Turner is the creator of comic strip Wee Pals. He grew up in West Oakland and attended McClymonds High School; in his senior year, he moved to Berkeley to...
.
Background
Wee Pals first appeared on February 15, 1965. Syndicated by the Des Moines Register and Tribune SyndicateTribune Media Services
Tribune Media Services is a syndication company owned by the Tribune Company.The company has two divisions, "News and Features" and "Entertainment Products"...
, the strip originally appeared in only 5 daily newspapers, as many papers refused to run a strip featuring black characters. After the assassination of Martin Luther King, the number of papers carrying the strip grew to 60; today it appears in over 100 dailies.
The strip is centered on the activities of a group of children from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. The regular characters include:
- Randy (African-American)
- Pablo (ChicanoChicanoThe terms "Chicano" and "Chicana" are used in reference to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent. However, those terms have a wide range of meanings in various parts of the world. The term began to be widely used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans, especially in the movement's...
/Mexican-American) - Diz (African-American, wearing sunglasses constantly)
- Ralph (Caucasian) He is the neighborhood bigot & ruffian who has a heart of gold inside his tough exterior.
- Nipper (African-American)
- Mikki (African-American; about four years old)
- Oliver (Caucasian, and somewhat chubby but brainy)
- Connie (Caucasian, and a feminist) She is very abusive to some of the boys (including Oliver & Ralph), and is very Chauvinistic.
- Sybil (African-American) She is kinder than Connie
- Rocky (Native AmericanNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
) - George (Asian-American of Chinese originChinese AmericanChinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
) - Jerry (Jewish)
- Trinh (VietnameseVietnamese peopleThe Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
) - Sally (nationality unstated, but deaf-muteDeaf-muteFor "deafness", see hearing impairment. For "Deaf" as a cultural term, see Deaf culture. For "inability to speak", see muteness.Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was both deaf and could not speak...
) - Wellington (nationality unstated, dark hair covering eyes)
- General Lee (their puppy)
The strip is currently distributed by Creators Syndicate
Creators Syndicate
Creators Syndicate is an independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns for daily newspapers. It was founded in 1987 by Richard S. Newcombe, and is based in Los Angeles. Creators was one of the first syndicates to allow its clients to maintain creative control of their material...
. Turner still writes and draws the strips.
Animated series
Wee Pals was later animated as Kid Power, which was produced by Rankin-Bass and Videocraft Productions. It aired in the USA on ABC televisionAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Saturday mornings. A total of 17 episodes were made, most of which aired from September 16, 1972 to January 6, 1973, followed by reruns. In the following year, a few new episodes which were unfinished during the first sesaon aired on Sunday mornings (combined with reruns) until September 1, 1974. Animation was done in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
at Topcraft Studio
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...
.
Staff
- Produced and Directed by Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules BassJules BassJules Bass is an American director, producer, composer, and author.- Biography :Educated at New York University, he first worked at an advertising agency in New York until the early 1960s, when he founded the film production company Videocraft International with Arthur Rankin, Jr...
- Teleplay by William J. Keenan
- Associate Producer: Basil Cox
- Animation Supervision: Toru Hara, Tsuguyuki Kubo
- Music: Perry Botkin Jr.
- Songs by Jules Bass, Perry Botkin Jr.
- Editorial Supervision: Irwin Goldress
- Sound Engineers: Jim Harris, John Boyd
Voices
- Donald Fullilove (Diz and Randy)
- Michelle Johnson (Sybil)
- Charles Kennedy (Nipper)
- Gary Shapiro (Jerry and Wellington)
- Jay Silverheels Jr. (Rocky)
- Greg Thomas (Oliver)
- Jeff Thomas (Ralph)
- April WinchellApril WinchellApril Terri Winchell is an American actress, writer, voice actor, talk radio host, and commentator. She is the daughter of the late Paul Winchell.-Acting:...
(Connie) - Carey Wong (George)
External links
- Wee Pals at Creators SyndicateCreators SyndicateCreators Syndicate is an independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns for daily newspapers. It was founded in 1987 by Richard S. Newcombe, and is based in Los Angeles. Creators was one of the first syndicates to allow its clients to maintain creative control of their material...
- Wee Pals at Don Markstein's ToonopediaDon Markstein's ToonopediaDon Markstein's Toonopedia was a web encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation. Don D...
- An appreciation of the strip