Raggedy Ann

Raggedy Ann is a fictional character created by writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair. The character was created in 1915 as a doll, and was introduced to the public in the 1918 book "Raggedy Ann Stories." A doll was also marketed along with the book to great success. A sequel, "Raggedy Andy Stories" (1920) introduced the character of her brother, Raggedy Andy, dressed in sailor suit and hat.

History

Origins

Gruelle created Raggedy Ann for his daughter, Marcella, when she brought him an old hand-made rag doll and he drew a face on it. From his bookshelf, he pulled a book of poems by James Whitcomb Riley, and combined the names of two poems, "The Raggedy Man" and "Little Orphan Annie." He said, "Why don’t we call her Raggedy Ann?" [ [http://raggedyann-museum.org/ra_history.html The Raggedy Ann & Andy Museum] ]

Marcella died at age 13 after being vaccinated at school for smallpox without her parents' consent. Authorities blamed a heart defect, but her parents blamed the vaccination. Gruelle became an opponent of vaccination, and the Raggedy Ann doll was used as a symbol by the anti-vaccination movement. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/books/review/Oshinsky.t.html Preventive Medicine, New York Times Book Review, Feb. 4, 2006] ]

Toys and adaptations into other media

Many subsequent books were published and the characters made their way into other media, including:
*A series of animated Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios shorts:
**"Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy" (1941)
**"Suddenly It's Spring" (1944)
**"The Enchanted Square" (1947)
*A comic book published by Dell Comics.
*A 1977 animated feature, "", directed by Richard Williams
*"Raggedy Ann and Andy in: the Great Santa Claus Caper" (1978) a Christmas television special directed by Chuck Jones
*"Raggedy Ann and Andy in: The Pumpkin Who Couldn’t Smile" (1979) a Halloween television special also directed by Chuck Jones
*A 1988–1992 animated television series, "The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy"

While Simon & Schuster and Hasbro claim to own trademarks to the Raggedy Ann and/or Raggedy Ann and Andy names, the original 1915 doll design and 1918 and 1920 books are in the public domain, their copyright having expired. Books and films published after 1950 are protected by copyright.

Raggedy Ann was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2002. Raggedy Andy joined her in 2007.

Books

It appears that many books were released and credited to Johnny Gruelle after his death, regardless of who actually wrote and illustrated them.

*" [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/18190 Raggedy Ann Stories] " (1918) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
*" [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17371 Raggedy Andy Stories] " (1920) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees" (1924) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Andy's Number Book" (1924) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann's Wishing Pebble" (1925) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann's Alphabet Book" (1925) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Beloved Belindy" (1926) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
*"The Paper Dragon: A Raggedy Ann Adventure" (1926) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Wooden Willie" (1927) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann's Fairy Stories" (1928) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann's Magical Wishes" (1928) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
*"Marcella: A Raggedy Ann Story" (1929) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann in the Deep Deep Woods" (1930) written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann's Sunny Songs" (1930) words and illustrations by Johnny Gruelle, music by Will Woodin
*"Raggedy Ann in Cookie Land" (1931) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann's Lucky Pennies" (1932) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann in the Golden Meadow" (1935) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann and the Left-Handed Safety Pin" (1935)
*"Raggedy Ann's Joyful Songs" (1937) words and illustrations by Johnny Gruelle, music by Chas. Miller
*"Raggedy Ann in the Magic Book" (1939) written by Johnny Gruelle, illustrated by Worth Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann and the Laughing Brook" (1940) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann and the Golden Butterfly" (1940) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann and the Hoppy Toad" (1940)
*"Raggedy Ann Helps Grandpa Hoppergrass" (1940) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann Goes Sailing" (1941)
*"Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Nice Fat Policeman" (1942) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann and Betsy Bonnet String" (1943) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann and Andy" (1944)
*"Raggedy Ann in the Snow White Castle" (1946)
*"Raggedy Ann's Adventures" (1947)
*"Raggedy Ann and the Slippery Slide" (1947)
*"Ragged Ann's Mystery" (1947)
*"Raggedy Ann and Marcella's First Day At School" (1952)
*"Raggedy Ann's Merriest Christmas" (1952) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Andy's Surprise" (1953)
*"Raggedy Ann's Tea Party" (1954)
*"Raggedy Ann's Secret" (1959)
*"Raggedy Ann and the Golden Ring" (1961)
*"Raggedy Ann and the Hobby Horse" (1961) by Johnny Gruelle
*"Raggedy Ann and the Happy Meadow" (1961)
*"Raggedy Ann and the Wonderful Witch" (1961)
*"Raggedy Ann and the Tagalong Present" (1971)
*"Raggedy Andy's Treasure Hunt" (1973)
*"Raggedy Ann's Cooking School" (1974)
*"Raggedy Granny Stories" (1977) by Doris Thorner Salzberg

Raggedy Ann and Andy in popular culture

Raggedy Ann is sometimes used by national sororities as a mascot: the current incarnation of Delta Gamma's official mascot, the Hannah Doll, is a Raggedy Ann doll, and Ann also is one of the unofficial mascots of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority.fact|date=January 2008

Gruelle's home town, Arcola, Illinois, is home to the annual Raggedy Ann & Andy Festival, as well as the Raggedy Ann and Andy Museum. [http://www.raggedyann-museum.org Raggedy Ann & Andy Museum] , Arcola, Illinois.]

Different media around the world also have paid tribute to the doll characters. The Japanese video game company Hudson Entertainment created a character based on Raggedy Ann in their Xbox Live Bomberman game called "Raggedy Bomb". In an episode of "South Park", Stan dressed up as Raggedy Andy for Halloween. His girlfriend was supposed to dress up as Ann, but came as Chewbacca instead. Stan angrily refuses to trick-or-treat with her for making him look so stupid, as he was stuck wearing a Raggedy Andy costume all day as an act of revenge ("Pinkeye"). In another episode of "South Park", Raggedy Ann is seen trying to a revive a dead Andy who has been killed by a terrorist explosion ("Imaginationland").fact|date=January 2008

Raggedy Andy appears in the Roger Rabbit short "Tummy Trouble" as a doll in Baby Herman's room.

In an episode of "My Life as a Teenage Robot", titled "The Raggedy Android", a poorly done human suit for Jenny is made that looks very similar in ways to Raggedy Ann; as well as being an obvious reference to her. There was also a sequel to this episode titled "The Return of the Raggedy Android", though the suit has been improved visually in ways, that looks a bit like a human sized and proportioned Raggedy Ann doll when worn.

References

External links

* [http://www.theofficialraggedyann.com The Official Raggedy Ann Website (Simon and Schuster books)]
*" [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/18190 Raggedy Ann Stories] " from Project Gutenberg
*" [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17371 Raggedy Andy Stories] " from Project Gutenberg
* [http://www.raggedy-ann.com/patty.html Raggedy Ann and Andy: History and Legend by Patricia Hall]
* [http://www.raggedyann-museum.org/ The Johnny Gruelle Raggedy Ann & Andy Museum in Arcola, Illinois]
* [http://www.ragsmagazine.com/ RAGS Magazine - A publication for Raggedy collectors and enthusiasts]
* [http://www.ragdollroom.com/vintanns.htm Large Collection of Raggedy Ann Photos]
*bcdb title|id=63468|title=Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper

IMDb

*imdb title|id=0034079|title=Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy (1941)
*imdb title|id=0152630|title=Suddenly It's Spring (1944)
*imdb title|id=0150465|title=The Enchanted Square (1947)
*imdb title|id=0076593|title=Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977)
*imdb title|id=0770798|title=Raggedy Ann & Andy: The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile (1979)
*imdb title|id=0206469|title=The Adventures of Raggedy Ann and Andy (1988)