- Wee Pals
"Wee Pals" is a syndicated
comic strip about a diverse group of children, created and produced byMorrie Turner .Background
"Wee Pals" first appeared on
February 15 ,1965 . Syndicated by the Des Moines Register and Tribune Syndicate, the strip originally appeared in only 5 daily newspapers, as many papers refused to run a strip featuring black characters. After the assassination ofMartin 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 )
*Paul (Chicano )
*Diz (African-American , and blind)
*Ralph (Caucasian), the neighborhoodbully
*Nipper (African-American)
*Mikki (African-American; about four years old)
*Oliver (Caucasian, and somewhat nerdy)
*Connie (Caucasian, and afeminist )
*Sybil (African-American)
*Rocky (Native American)
*George (Asian-American )
*Jerry (Jewish )
*Trinh (Vietnamese)
*Sally (nationality unstated, butdeaf-mute )
*Wellington (nationality unstated; dark hair covering eyes)
*General Lee (their puppy)The strip is currently distributed by
Creators Syndicate . 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 television Saturday mornings17 episodes were made, which aired from
September 16 ,1972 toJanuary 6 ,1973 . Reruns continued to air on ABC untilSeptember 1 ,1974 .Animation was done in
Japan at Topcraft Studio.taff
* Produced and Directed by
Arthur Rankin Jr. ,Jules Bass
* 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 BoydVoices
* Donald Fullilove (Diz and Randy)
* Michelle Johnson (Sybil)
* Charles Kennedy (Nipper)
*Allan Melvin (Jerry)
* Gary Shapiro (Jerry, Polly, and Wellington)
* Jay Silverheels Jr. (Rocky)
* Greg Thomas (Oliver)
* Jeff Thomas (Ralph)
*April Winchell (Connie)
* Carey Wong (George)References
*Strickler, Dave. "Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index." Cambria, CA: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1.
External links
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/weepals.htm Wee Pals] at
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
* [http://www.clstoons.com/paoc/morrie.htm An appreciation of the strip]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356272/ Internet Movie Database: Kid Power]
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