Mel Millar, also known as Tubby Millar, was born Melvin Eugene Miller on May 6, 1900, in Portis, Kansas. The birth information is from his World War II draft card. (His World War I draft card is not available.) The surname spelling changed in the second half of the 1920s.
The 1900 United States Census, enumerated on June 1, said Millar was the only child of Dan and Nora, both Kansan natives. They lived in Bethany, Kansas. Millar’s father was a section hand on the railroad.
The 1905 Kansas state census and 1910 census counted Millar, his mother and sister, Irene, in the household of his maternal grandparents Robert and Clara Bell. They were Bethany residents. The status of Millar’s father is unknown.
The Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, at Ancestry.com, said Millar served in the Navy from June 1, 1918 to May 31, 1922.
According to the 1920 census, unemployed Millar and his sister were counted in the household of their maternal grandmother in Portis, Kansas. Due to his naval service, Millar may not have been home during the enumeration. Their mother had remarried to James A. St. Clair, a carpenter, and lived close by.
The 1925 Kansas state census said Millar was a laborer who stayed with his grandmother in Portis. His mother lived nearby.
There are differing accounts of Millar’s art training. The Van Nuys News (California), May 5, 1949 said
... Finishing high school, he served a short hitch in the Navy, then came out determined to pursue art as a career and specialized in cartooning at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. ...
The Valley News (Van Nuys, California), December 28, 1967 said
... In 1920 Millar graduated from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. ...
The Wichita Eagle (Kansas), November 23, 2009 said
... After high school, Millar went on to the Kansas City Art Institute and then off to Hollywood to draw pictures for a living. ...
... Melvin graduated from Portis High School in 1918 and attended the Kansas City Art School in Missouri. ...
In the 1930 census, Millar lived in Kansas City, Missouri at 72 East 31st Street. He was a cartoonist working at a film advertising company. The Valley News said his employer was “the United Film Ad Service in Kansas City, Mo., from 1927 until he came to California in 1931”. The 2005 book, Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation, said the company name was Kansas City Film Ad Service. The census also revealed the new spelling of his surname. Millar’s mother and step-brother were Topeka, Kansas residents.
The Van Nuys News said Millar worked at Warner Bros. from 1931 to 1944. He is mentioned several times in That’s All Folks!: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation (1988).
At Ancestry.com, the 1938 California Voter Registration record said Millar was a cartoonist and Democrat whose address was 2709 South Alameda Street in Los Angeles.
Millar was at the same address in the 1940 census. He was married to Myrtle who passed away later that year on October 9. His home was valued at $3,500. Millar completed four years of high school and earned $2,800 in 1939. Millar’s mother and step-brother lived in Riverside, California.
On February 14, 1942, Millar signed his World War II draft card. His address was 2709 Alameda in Burbank. His employer was Leon Schlesinger. Millar’s description was five feet six inches, 195 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. He named his mother, who had remarried, as next of kin.
Millar was the cartooning and animation instructor at the Hollywood Art Center School as seen in an advertisement from the Hollywood Citizen News, May 25, 1946.
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Miller was a comic book letterer. In Walt’s People, Volume 11 (2011), Alberto Becattini interviewed Don Christiansen who said, “... ‘Tubby’ Millar, whom I had worked with at Schlesinger/Warner Bros., did all the lettering for Sangor.”
At Dogpatch Press, the introduction to “Funny-animal comics retrospective: The History of Hi-Jinx and the Hepcats by Fred Patten”, said
... Much of the remaining information is from The Comic Art of Jack Bradbury, a website created by his son, Joel (http://jbrad.org/index.html); and from Dave Bennett, a Hollywood animator and funny-animal fan for decades who knew Hi-Jinx’s artist Jack Bradbury personally. Bennett says, “Jack told me himself that all the Hepcats stories he drew were written by Cal Howard—he raved about how good he thought they were! Other than those stories and the Disney work he did, Jack wrote all of his ACG/Nedor/Pines/Standard stories himself. They were lettered by Tubby Millar.” ...
A comment from Steven Rowe, on Todd’s Blog, said
Davis packaged comics for Richard Hughes to send to ACG, DC, and Standard-Pines from 1945 to c1948. I’ve seen a Hughes record of what he (Hughes) sent one month to the various companies. Davis was getting stories from other folks in the LA area animation studio. “Tubby” Mel Millar was the main letterer. DC would use NYC artists for covers and text stories. Millar also drew the “Talking Komics”, which may include his lettering. ...
Many of the comic books with Millar’s lettering are listed at the end of this post. Below are splash pages from Ha Ha Comics #20, June 1945.
The Daily News (Los Angeles, California), November 30, 1948, covered the creation of Talking Komics.
The Educational Screen, September 1949, said
Talking Komics will give second and third graders who can read pleasure and satisfaction, although little challenge. Produced by Belda, these include Grumpy Shark, Lonesome Octopus, Happy Grasshopper, Chirpy Cricket and Sleepy Santa. Each is a simple story well told in both audio and visual form. In each case a record telling the story is accompanied by a “comic” book telling the same story, using precisely the same words and illustrating the story through conventional cartoon techniques. This form of presentation does not allow sufficient leeway for imaginative interpretation by the child. The records are best suited to individual pursuit rather than general class presentation hey are well done, of fair general educational value, and may assist in reading.
Millar drew Grumpy Shark, Lonesome Octopus and possibly others.
The Van Nuys News, May 5, 1949, introduced Millar’s advertising character, Little Slocum.
… He is a pen-child created by Mel Millar, nationally known cartoonist and illustrator, and has been devised by Millar to tell the thousands of Valley residents about Slocum Furniture Co. at 6187 Van Nuys Blvd., and of the wide selection of home furnishings to be found there at attractive prices.… Now readers of The News will see Millar’s famous drawings in each issue of this newspaper, and will enjoy them thoroughly, as they will enjoy Little Slocum’s periodic appearances in these pages to act as an alter ego to the cartoons, and to carry the Slocum Furniture message to the public.“I have a theory that cartoons are the best attention getters, and I sincerely hope everyone will enjoy meeting up with Little Slocum as he greets you in these columns, and also will enjoy the creations I shall draw for publication in The News,” was Millar’s statement today in discussing this new series.
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Van Nuys News, May 9, 1949
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Van Nuys News, May 26, 1949
The 1950 census said freelance cartoonist Millar was a widower. He and his step-daughter resided in Burbank at 120 Beachwood.
Millar was one of several cartoonists listed in the Cartoonists’ Market Letter advertisement, “How to Draw Magazine Cartoons”, that was printed in Writer’s Digest, May 1953 and June 1953.
Millar was one of many cartoonists represented by agent Lew Card who advertised in Writer’s Digest, January 1957.
Some of Millar’s cartoons, selected by comedian Ed Wynn, were published in Parade Magazine, April 27, 1958.
Millar ran a classified advertisement for his cartooning brochures in Writer’s Digest, January 1959.
In late 1967, Door Doodles was copyrighted by Millar.
The Valley News, December 28, 1967, said
… Mel Millar who resides at 120 S. Beachwood Drive with his wife Helen and their two cats. …“No art school can make a cartoonist. They only teach one to draw,” Millar stated. He said cartoonists interpret differently than other artists and views cartooning as an art within an art.“A cartoonist is an artist, but an artist is not necessarily a cartoonist,” Millar said“Artists reflect themselves, whereas cartoonists reflect the situation in a gentle satire,” he added.As far as “what” makes the cartoonist, Millar said: “It is the humor or satire of the idea that makes the cartoonist. And the originating of the ideas comes from observation and accumulated experiences of the various things one has seen or done.”He said that cartoonists have an art of visualizing the humor in situations which many people miss until they actually see it in the cartoon.The professional cartoonist must be versatile, refreshing understanding, and have a wide range of interests, according to Millar.
From 1972 to 1975, Editor and Publisher listed Millar’s Betty Botch and Bob Botch cartoon panels that were distributed by Pat Anderson Features.
Millar’s mother passed away on October 1, 1975 in Los Angeles.
Millar passed away on December 30, 1980, in Burbank, California. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Further Reading and Viewing
Historical Marker Database, In Memory of Melvin “Tubby” Millar
The Osborne County Hall of Fame, Melvin “Tubby” Miller – 1996 Inductee
Grand Comics Database, Melvin Millar and Tubby Millar
Digital Comic Museum, comics with Millar lettering
Barnyard Comics #9, December 1946
Barnyard Comics #14, October 1947
Coo Coo Comics #23, March 1946
Coo Coo Comics #26, June 1946
Coo Coo Comics #27, July 1946
Coo Coo Comics #28, August 1946
Coo Coo Comics #32, March 1947
Coo Coo Comics #35, September 1947
Coo Coo Comics #36, November 1947
Coo Coo Comics #39, May 1948
Coo Coo Comics #40, July 1948
Coo Coo Comics #43, January 1949
Coo Coo Comics #44, March 1949
Goofy Comics #15, August 1946
Goofy Comics #16, October 1946
Goofy Comics #29, December 1948
Ha Ha Comics #20, June 1945
Ha Ha Comics #24, December 1945
Ha Ha Comics #26, February 1946
Ha Ha Comics #29, May 1946
Ha Ha Comics #33, September 1946
Ha Ha Comics #34, October 1946
Ha Ha Comics #38, February 1947
Ha Ha Comics #44, August 1947
Ha Ha Comics #46, October 1947
Internet Archive, gag cartoons in various trade magazines
Cartoon Research, Animation Anecdotes #221
Looney Tunes Wiki, Melvin Millar photograph
Michael Barrier, Melvin “Tubby” Millar in group photograph
Tralfaz, Another Inside Joke
Tripod, Melvin “Tubby” Millar
East of Borneo, Henry Lovins and the Lost Hollywood Art Center School
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