- Little Annie Fanny
Infobox comic strip
title= Little Annie Fanny
caption= "Little Annie Fanny" Volume 2
author=Harvey Kurtzman &Will Elder
url=
rss=
atom=
status= Concluded
syndicate=
publisher=Playboy
first=October 1962
last=September 1988
genre= Comedy
rating=
preceded by=
followed by="Little Annie Fanny" was a
comic strip created byHarvey Kurtzman andWill Elder for "Playboy " inOctober 1962 . The inspiration for the comic strip wasHarold Gray 's "Little Orphan Annie ". The comic follows the escapades of Annie Fanny, a tall,blonde , amply breasted, round buttocked, curly-haired youngfemale who seems to find herself in trouble andnaked in each episode. The comic ran sporadically from 1962 to 1988. It had a short-lived rebirth in1998 .Creation
After leaving
Mad Magazine , Mr. Kurtzman and Mr. Elder with other colleagues created Trump and later Humbug. Both failed. A third attempt at a satirical comic magazine, Help! featured an episode where the main character, Goodman Beaver, attended a night of debauchery at thePlayboy Mansion with the characters ofArchie Comics . Archie Comics sued and won, but the cartoon caught the eye ofHugh Hefner . The comic was retooled where the maleCandide type character of Goodman Beaver was transformed into the ultra-busomy and leggy female, Annie Fanny.Synopsis
The concept is that the title character is a busty and naïve
waif who continually finds herself in various and bizarre situations where lusty men continually attempt to sexually molest or exploit her.Most storylines would revolve around topical events and popular culture. Thus, a mid-1960s "Annie" episode would satirize
Beatlemania , whereas a late-1970s installment might place the heroine inside a glitteringdisco . Sexual angles in the news, such asstreaking ,nudist resorts , orgay liberation were invariably pounced upon by Kurtzman & Co.Publication history
"Little Annie Fanny" made its publication debut in "Playboy" issue of October, 1962.Cite web|last=Don Markstein's Toonopedia|title=Little Annie Fanny|url=http://www.toonopedia.com/anniefan.htm] The strip boasted lavish production values and fully painted panels of great detail, and as such the first fully painted feature in American comics. It was a great success, but very time-consuming for Kurtzman. The amount of work required a steady rotation of assistants. Kurtzman's primary collaborator was fellow "
Mad Magazine " alumnus Elder, but over the years, artwork was also provided byJack Davis ,Russ Heath , andAl Jaffee (all of whom also worked at "Mad"), as well asLarry Siegel ,Robert Crumb andGilbert Shelton . Most consisted of the group of artists that had worked together on "Trump," a lavish, short-lived humor publication that had been fleetingly bankrolled by Playboy publisherHugh Hefner ."Little Annie Fanny" initially started as a monthly feature in 1962 and 1963, but quickly fell off, publishing six to seven episodes per in year in the late sixties. By the 1970s, only four to five episodes were published annually in the monthly magazine and only one to two per year in the eighties. Kurtzman ended the strip in 1988 when he felt he had run out of story material.. However, "Little Annie Fanny" stories were based upon current pop-culture, topical political issues and topics of the time. Therefore, it is hard to argue he ran out of story material when plenty was happening in the American political arean, cultural stage and daily events. The comic attempted a revival in
1998 with art byRay Lago andBill Schorr , but was not popular and was not continued.Episodes
1962
* October - Madison Avenue
* November - Playing Doctor
* December - Christmas Office Party1963
* January - Sugardaddy Bigbucks
* March - Flims, Italian Style
* April - The Unhappy Comic
* May - Kennedy Jokes
* July - Fifty Mile Hike
* September - The Artist
* November - The Talent Contest
* December - Yuletide One-Upmanship1964
* January - The Set Jets to South America
* April - Annie Joins the Peace Corps
* July - Alone on a Desert Isle
* September - Lost at Sea
* October - Gun Fun
* December - Astronaut Annie1965
* January - From Annie with Love
* February - Thunderballing
* May - The Topless Suit Case
* July - The Surfers
* October - Seven Days with Mae
* December - Annie Meets the Bleatles1966
* January - Battbarton's Holiday Spirit
* March - On the Brooklyn B.M.T
* May - Annie in TV Wasteland
* July - Annie Under the Sheets
* September - Euphoria-in-the-Pines Resort
* October - Hoopadedoo Show
* December - Greenback Busters1967
* January - High Camp
* May - Las Vegas Kidnapping
* August - Americans in Paris
* September - The Ultimate Kick
* December - Booby Doll1968
* January - The Master-tester Institute
* March - Unionized Cruise Ship
* June - Annie at the Olympics
* December - The Real Howard Hews1969
* February - Discotheques
* April - Annie the Actress
* July - See-Through Dress
* October - Living Theatre
* December - Astrology1970
* January - Marijuana
* May - Nude Therapy
* July - Underground Press
* September - Women's Lib
* October - Unisex
* December - Aphrodisiacs1971
* January - Hippie Commune
* April - This Exploits Women
* June - Burglar Alarm
* September - Health Spa
* December - Body Language1972
* June - Swingers
* September - Violence in America
* November - Ralph Raider1973
* January - Bachelor Pad
* June - Watchdog
* August - Bobby Fishey
* November - Henry Kissingbug1974
* January - Mafia
* June - Freak Rock
* December - Singles Apartments1975
* March - Acupunture
* May - St. Tropez
* August - Ecology1976
* January - The Gay Scene
* August - Tennis
* December - Headstone, Part I1977
* January - Headstone, Part II
* April - Disco Music
* August - Sex Shop
* December - Muscle Builders, Part I1978
* January - Muscle Builders, Part II
* March - C.B. Radio
* May - Van-In
* August - Jogging
* October - Special Effects1979
* January - The Ski Lodge
* April - Topless Bar
* August - Frisbee Golf
* November - Pluto's Retreat
* December - Studio Fifty-Fourplay1980
* January - Dallas Cowgals Cheerleaders
* May - Skydiving
* August - 1980 Democratic National Convention1981
* January - Male Strippers
* April - Gilley's Club
* December - Computers1982
* January - Isolation Tanks
* March - Jamaica
* June - Mud Wrestling
* October - Annie's Twentieth Anniversary
* December - Love Boat1983
* January - Hot Tubbing
* August - Loveland1984
* January - Raiders of the Temple of Voom
1985
* January - Opera Diva
* September - Cohan the Barbarian1986
* May - Pro Wrestling
1987
* January - Massage School
* June - Aliens1988
* January - Jimmy and Tammy
* September - Woodsy Alvin1998
* August - The Unnatural Enquirer
Attempted adaptations
The December,
1978 issue of "Playboy" mentioned a "world-wide search for the actress who will portray Little Annie Fanny in a live-action movie..." but no film was ultimately made.In
2000 Mainframe Entertainment was approached by "Playboy" to create a CGI animated series based on "Little Annie Fanny", but no actual series was produced. [Cite web|last=Playback|title=Film and Television Production|url=http://www.playbackmag.com/articles/magazine/20000417/28751.html?page=2|April 17, 2000] As of 2008 its unknown the CGI animated series would be made.Links to other comics
* The feature's logo was an imitation of the one used in Sunday installments of "Little Orphan Annie". Two of the supporting characters —
Sugardaddy Bigbucks and the Wasp — were direct parodies ofDaddy Warbucks and his longtime henchman, the Asp.* In 1969, the British edition of "Penthouse" magazine launched the strip "
Oh, Wicked Wanda " which was similar in vein, featuring storylines of a sexual and satirical nature. A character resembling Annie Fanny often appeared: in the opening episode she can be seen chained to a wall, one of her breasts blowing out like a balloon after being pierced by Wanda's lesbian lover Candyfloss.* In an article in "
Mad Magazine " presenting hypothetical magazines from otherplanets , a spoof of "Playboy" includes a cartoon feature: "Little Annie's Seven Fannies"Book collections
* "Playboy's Little Annie Fanny: Volume 1, 1962-1970".
Milwaukie, Oregon :Dark Horse Comics , 2001, ISBN 1-56971-519-X
* "Playboy's Little Annie Fanny: Volume 2, 1970-1988", Milwaukie, Oregon: Dark Horse Comics, 2001, ISBN 1-56971-520-3References
External links
* [http://www.animationarchive.org/2007/03/pinups-kurtzman-and-elders-little-annie.html ASIFA - Hollywood Animation Archive: Pinups: Kurtzman and Elder's Little Annie Fanny ]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.