The real origin of Dudley Do-right

Model sheet by director Pete Burness

If you've read either Keith Scott's The Moose That Roared or my book, The Art of Jay Ward Productions, you know that the Dudley Do-right we're all familiar with didn't spring fully formed on The Bullwinkle Show but had his origins in 1948 when Jay Ward and Alex Anderson teamed up to produce the first nationally broadcast animated television series, Crusader Rabbit.  Crusader was only one of three proposed series, the other two being Hamhock Jones, a Sherlock Holmes parody, and Dudley Doright of the Mounties, a parody of  the Nelson Eddy/Jeanette McDonald filmed operetta, Rose-Marie, and classic melodramas.  Hamhock was destined to be a footnote in animation history but Jay Ward revived Dudley 13 years later with a tremendous assist from designer Al Shean and writers Chris Hayward and Lloyd Turner.

Ward and Anderson produced pilots for all three series, which consisted of Alex Anderson's drawings "animated" with camera movement on the still artwork and using a much slower narrator (Crusader Rabbit's Roy Whaley) than the later series.  The basic formula was established with the stereotypical melodramatic villain, here known as Sydney "The Snake" Snodgrass, the sweet heroine, Bess Blushmore, and the hero, Dudley Doright, a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  Only Dudley retained his name, the other two became Snidely Whiplash and Nell Fenwick.  The pilot was set in Deepfreeze Landing and the story unfolded in rhyme, as if from Robert W. Service's classic poem, "The Shooting of Dan McGrew."  Here, a very rare peak at some images from the lost Dudley Doright pilot:

That beer drinking, pistol shooting bad guy, Sydney "The Snake" Snodgrass.

The demure Bess Blushmore, patterned after Preston Blair's Red Hot Riding Hood.

No good can come of this; Sydney introduces himself to Bess.

Dudley Doright on the lookout for bad guys.

Somehow, a slide whistle figures into the plot.

Dudley Doright of the Mounties to the rescue.

Inspector Fenwick was never part of the original concept.

The pilot was produced as a cliffhanger, leaving the ending up to potential sponsors of the show.  The real outcome wouldn't be revealed for 13 years, when Dudley ended up with his own series on 1961's The Bullwinkle Show, replacing Peabody's Improbable History. 

Neither was Dudley's horse, Horse.

Chris Hayward and Lloyd Turner took Anderson's concept over the top, turning it from an adventure series into a parody of an adventure series while Jay Ward's ace designer, Al Shean, re-imagined the characters in his own inimitable style.

These last three model sheets by Al Shean.

To read more about Dudley's origin and how it came to be one of the best of all of Ward's shows, check out The Moose That Roared and/or The Art of Jay Ward Productions.  The latter can be purchased for half off Amazon's list price at artofjayward.com.

Memorial Day and the animation artists who served

For most Americans, Memorial Day is a day off and the official kickoff of summer.  In a local Los Angeles suburb, it's not even referred to as Memorial Day but "Fiesta Days," whatever that means.  However, in spite of local governments and the media, the day was set aside to remember all those who served their country, often making the ultimate sacrifice.

Official logo of the First Motion Picture Unit

Many of the artists from animation's so-called Golden Age were not actually in combat during WWII but served in one form or another, usually working for the US Army Signal Corps in the First Motion Picture Unit turning out training films for the various service branches.  There were both East Coast and West Coast units, most of the veterans who worked for Jay Ward served on the West Coast at Fort Roach, Hal Roach's studio facility in Culver City.

Ward director Bill Hurtz is seated second from the right in the bottom corner.

The above image features many of the era's brightest stars from many of the different animation studios and full identification of the personnel can be found at here at Mike Barrier's essential animation history website.  More photos and even a short clip of the animation department from the FMPU can be seen at Mark Mayerson's blog here.  Other artists might have worked at the studios on training films for the military while not actually being a member of the service.  Not all of Ward's artists were old enough to have served in the FMPU during WWII and many served after that conflict. 

Roll call for Jay Ward's artists (staff, freelancers or subcontractors) who served their country in the US military:

Norm Gottfredson
Jim Hiltz
Bill Hurtz
Roy Morita
Sam Nicholson
Dun Roman
Jack Schnerk
Bill Scott
Al Shean
Al Wilson

Veterans still with us:

Gerard Baldwin
Sam Clayberger
Bob Inman
Alan Zaslove

May we always remember those who served.

This list is by no means exhaustive and if anyone knows someone who should be on it, please let me know.