Showing posts with label Animation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animation. Show all posts

Monday, January 5, 2026

Comics: Mel Millar, Animation Artist and Writer, Cartoonist and Letterer

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. 


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.
Van Nuys News, May 9, 1949

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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Monday, May 31, 2021

Comics: Searching for Pauline Loth



Pauline Loth was born around 1916 in either New York or Connecticut. There is no record of her in the New York, New York Birth Index at Ancestry.com. She was the youngest of two daughters born to Ernest Erich Loth, a German emigrant, and Fredrica Rasch, a Connecticut native. They married on October 25, 1913 in New Haven, Connecticut. Pauline’s sister, Dorothea Ernestine Loth, was born on June 26, 1914 in Manhattan, New York City. 

The 1915 New York state census listed Dorothea and her mother in Manhattan at 301 West 150th Street. 

On June 5, 1917, Pauline’s father signed his World War I draft card. He resided at 248 West 154th Street and worked at L.J. Higham Company, 4 West 48th Street in Manhattan.

Pauline was three-years-old in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census which said she was born in New York. The family lived in Manhattan at 248 West 154th Street. Pauline’s father was an engraver. 

The 1925 New York state census recorded the Loth family in the Bronx at 1130 Woodycrest Avenue. The same address was in the 1930 census which had Pauline born in Connecticut. 

On June 9, 1934, Dorothea and Alfonso A. Scibelli obtained a marriage license in Manhattan. 

Pauline was known to have worked in animation at Fleischer Studios but it’s not clear when she started. Dorothea also worked there. Many Fleischer employees produced Christmas cards which can be viewed at Fleischer Studios Christmas Card Gallery. Of particular interest is card number 90, signed Dot Loth, in Gallery #5. 

Detail

Dot was Dorothea’s nickname. Dot Loth was mentioned in the Screen Cartoonists Local 1461 newsletter, Top Cel #8, April 21, 1944, in a paragraph about Terrytoons, “Dot Loth seen edging out of dinner sideways”. 

Detail

Apparently Dorothea started in the mid-1930s at Fleischer Studios. (The Social Security Act became law on August 14, 1935. The first batch of applications were mailed in late November 1936. Dorothea’s application, transcribed at Ancestry.com, was dated November 1936.) In late 1938 Fleischer Studios moved to Florida. It’s not clear if Dorothea moved to Florida. According to the 1940 census (below) she was an art painter at Terrytoons in New Rochelle. The census said Dorothea was single and living with her parents in the Bronx at 1523 Undercliff Avenue. (She should not be confused with Dorothea Paula Loth, a Brooklyn artist.) It’s not known how long Dorothea was at Terrytoons. 


Pauline has not yet been found in the 1940 census but she was in Florida in 1939. On December 15, 1939 the Fleischer Studios held its first annual Flipper Club Dinner Dance. A booklet called Flipper was produced for the event. In the centerspread was the program which said “That Prim Little Prima Doughnut, Pauline Loth … Dynamite in Diapers”. On pages 28 and 29 was a sports article by Jack O’Sullivan; more about him in a few paragraphs.

Also working at Fleischer was Vince Fago who was interviewed by Jim Amash, in Alter Ego #11, November 2001, and said
... I worked in Detroit for about four years, and there were several Disney people there. Then Fleischer Studios hired us to come to New York. But then Fleischer Studios had a strike, so I didn’t start working for them until it was settled. After the strike they moved the entire operation to Florida. They moved everyone’s furniture and paid the train fare and hotel bills for a while. I ended up working for Fleischer for four years. ...
Vince met Pauline and said she was an assistant animator. It’s not clear if they met in New York or Florida. In the interview he did not mention Dorothea or Pauline’s husband.

The Florida County Marriage Record, at Ancestry.com, said Pauline and John D. O’Sullivan were married on May 29, 1940. The 1940 census, enumerated on April 3, recorded John as a lodger at 1976 N.W. 24th Court in Miami. He was an artist in the moving picture industry. In 1939 he earned $1,560. 


On October 16, 1940 John signed his World War II draft card. He and Pauline lived at 126 Mendoza Avenue in Coral Gables, Florida. John was employed at Fleischer Studios.


Pauline was the voice of Honey in the Fleischer feature, “Mr. Bug Goes to Town”. Her selection was reported in the Baltimore Sun, March 30, 1941. 
Search For “Honey” Voice Ends Right In Studio

Like the fabled quest for the Bluebird, the search for a girl with a voice like honey to play the feminine lead in Fleischer Studio’s new $1,000,000 feature length technicolor cartoon, “Mr. Bug Goes to Town,” ended successfully at the studio in Miami, Fla. 

The girl with the perfect honey voice is Polly Loth, 24, who stands only 4 feet 10 inches high, and she is an artist at the film plant. 

Miss Loth won the title of the girl with the perfect honey voice after competing with a score of would-be honey voices tested by the studio scouts both in New York and Miami. Only when studio executives admitted they were not satisfied with any of the voices tested and among those tested were several big-name players of stage, radio and screen did Miss Loth ask for an opportunity to contest for the role. 

In “Mr. Bug Goes to Town,” Miss Loth will be the voice of Honey, the bee heroine of the technicolor production, who loves Hoppity, the grasshopper hero. 
Variety, December 10, 1941, said “Pauline Loth is wishy-washy as Honey, the heroine.” 

The 1941 Flipper was the last one. The program included “Three Quarts and a Half Pint — Arnold Gillespie, Graham Place, Lloyd von Hayden and Pauline Loth”, and “The Flipper Glee Club” had the aforementioned plus Robert Schwartz, Dolly Selby, Edward Fortner and Woody Gelman. 

In early 1942 Vince moved back to New York and found employment at Timely Comics. When Pauline returned to New York Vince hired her to work on Timely Comics material. He said “She did ‘Miss America’ for us and created her costume.” Pauline was also the fashion editor on the Miss America Magazine which used her married name, Pauline O’Sullivan, on the staff page. She made a number of public appearances. An advertisement in the Brooklyn Eagle, March 2, 1945, featured her at the Abraham & Straus “Fashion Show and Coke Party”. 


The Brooklyn Eagle, April 25, 1945, noted Pauline’s upcoming talks on “Poise, Posture and Personality”, “Fashions for You,” “Building Today for Tomorrow,” and “Beauty.” According to the Nassau Daily Review-Star (Freeport, New York), April 16, 1946, Pauline was a judge in the second annual Teentimer “Design and Name It” contest.


In an interview with Michael J. Vassallo, Allen Bellman recalled Pauline. (Scroll down about two-thirds to the Miss America splash page) Timely-Atlas-Comics talked about Vince and identified many of the artists, including Pauline, who worked on Timely’s humor comics. Pauline’s name appeared on the inside front cover indicia of Terry-Toons #11, August 1943 and #12, September 1943. 

“S’no Use and the Seven Dopes” has been attributed to Pauline. The story appeared in Coo Coo Comics #1, October 1942. In the last panel, lower left corner, there appeared to be the letters P and L. It’s difficult to read because of the coloring. When I drained the color the letter P is quite legible. Next to it looks like the letter L. 



It’s not clear exactly where Pauline and her husband were living when they returned to New York. In the second half of the 1940s Pauline gave birth to Patricia Ann. The New York, New York Birth Index, at Ancestry.com, has four babies named Patricia O’Sullivan who were born in Manhattan; the dates are June 24, 1947, July 23, 1947, January 1, 1948 and January 21, 1948. Pauline stopped working to care for her daughter.

A death notice in the New York Post, May 5, 1948, noted the passing of Pauline’s mother.
Loth—Freda H. of 1501 Undercliff Av., on May 4, 1948. Beloved wife of Ernest. Devoted mother of Pauline O’Sullivan, Doretha Scibelli. Grandmother of Patricia O’Sullivan. Funeral from Walter B. Cooke. Inc., Funeral Home. 1 West 190th St., Friday, 1p.m. New Haven Register please copy.
Most of Pauline’s comics work was published in the 1940s. Her work surfaced in two stories in Zoo Funnies #7, July 1954, which was produced by Vince’s brother, Al Fago, and published by Charlton. “Shadow in ‘The Carpet Bagger’” was signed PO’S on page one, and “Shorty in ‘Sun Fun’” was signed P. O’Sullivan on the first panel. Pauline used her married name and initials on both stories. It’s not clear how many stories she produced in the 1950s.

The 1953 Manhattan, New York City Telephone Directory had a listing for a John D. O’Sullivan who might have been Pauline’s husband. Also listed was a Pauline O’Sullivan, at 228 East 40th Street, but it’s a different person. She was found in the 1940 census at the same address and O’Sullivan was her maiden name. 


In the mid-1950s Pauline and her family moved to Stamford, Connecticut. The 1955 city directory said they resided at 970 Main Street. John was an editor at 1658 Summer Street which was the address of Fiction House magazine which also ceased publishing that same year. The 1956 and 1957 directories had the same home address and John was still an editor. 

Pauline’s husband passed away on June 9, 1957. The New York Times published an obituary on June 15.
John D. O’Sullivan of Stamford, Conn., a magazine editor and former newspaper reporter, died Tuesday of a heart attack in the 125th Street station of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. His age was 45. 

At his death, Mr. O’Sullivan was an associate editor of Confidential magazine. He was a story and gag man with Fleischer’s Studios from 1938 to 1942 and edited and wrote for Fiction House, Inc., magazine publishers, from 1942 to 1955. 

Surviving, are his widow, Pauline A.; his father, D. J. O’Sullivan; a daughter, Patricia Ann, and four sisters.
The 1958 Stamford directory listed Pauline as a widow at 970 Main Street. The 1959 directory is not available. She was a commercial artist at the same address in the 1960 directory. 


The 1961 directory had the following entry: “O’Sullivan Pauline A wid John D died Jan 24 1960 age 43”.


An obituary for Pauline has not yet been found. The Connecticut Death Index, at Ancestry.com, said she passed away in Stamford. 



A death notice for Pauline’s father appeared in the Knickerbocker News, (Albany, New York), on July 21, 1961.

Loth—Ernest E., July 20, 1961, at his home. Onesquethaw Creek Road, Feura Bush, beloved husband of Margaret Preston; father of Mrs. Dorothy Schebelli [sic] of New York City and James R. Reilly; brother of Harriet Loth, and the late Herman Loth; grandfather of Patricia O’Sullivan. 

Funeral private at the Tebbutt Chapel, 420 Kenwood Ave., Delmar. Friends may call at the Chapel, Sunday afternoon and evening.
In the 1960s and 1970s Dorothea was a registered voter in Manhattan. According to the Social Security Death Index her last residence was Peekskill, New York. Dorothea passed away in June 1990. She and her mother were laid to rest at Ferncliff Cemetery.


Recommended Reading
Pretty In Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 1896–2013
Trina Robbins
Fantagraphics, 2013

The Great Women Superheroes
Trina Robbins
Kitchen Sink Press, 1996

Women and the Comics
Trina Robbins, Catherine Yronwode
Eclipse Books, 1985


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(Next post on Monday: The 1929 Gopher Yearbook) 
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