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| Dan Gordon | |
|---|---|
| Born | Daniel Campbell Gordon (1902-07-13)July 13, 1902[1] |
| Died | August 13, 1970(1970-08-13) (aged 68)[1] |
| Area(s) | Animator,comic book artist |
| Pseudonym | Dang |
Notable works | Popeye the Sailorcartoons Superman (1940s cartoons) Superkatt Cookie O'Toole |
| Spouse | Margaret Hannon |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | George Gordon (brother) |
Daniel Campbell Gordon (July 13, 1902 – August 13, 1970) was an Americanstoryboard artist andfilm director who was best known for his work atFamous Studios (where he was one of the first directors) and later atHanna-Barbera Productions. He wrote and directed severalPopeye the Sailor andSupermancartoons. Later in his career, he worked on several cartoons featuringYogi Bear,Huckleberry Hound, and many others. His younger brother,George Gordon, also worked for Hanna-Barbera.[2]
Gordon also wrote and illustratedcomic books under hispen name: "Dang".[3]
Dan Gordon started his animation career as a story man at New York'sVan Beuren Studios,[4] and by 1936, he received a director's credit there. After Van Beuren closed its animation department in 1936, Gordon and many of his colleagues went to work forPaul Terry’sTerrytoons.[5] It was here that Gordon worked withJoe Barbera (another Van Beuren alumni) onPink Elephants, a cartoon that Barbera described as "one of the first cartoons I had a hand in actually creating from the beginning.”[6]
Gordon and Barbera headed out West toMGM in 1937,[7] but, Gordon returned to the East shortly thereafter to help re-write the troubled animated feature film,Gulliver’s Travels atFleischer Studios.[8] Gordon's rewrites could not save much ofGulliver, but Gordon was instrumental in the success of theFleischer Studio's next hit: the 1941Superman theatrical animated shorts.
Gordon was one of four directors put in charge of production whenParamount seized control of the Fleischer studio in Miami.[9] While he only stayed at the newly dubbedFamous Studios for a couple of years, thePopeye shorts he directed are notable for their intense comic energy and extendedfourth-wall-breaking gags.The Hungry Goat, released in 1943, stands out as an attempt to popularize his own creation Billy the Kid, a screwball anthropomorphic goat. This work was heavily influenced by contemporaryWarner Bros. shorts. The fast-pace of those Popeye cartoons led to the comic book stories he crafted for TheAmerican Comics Group (ACG). Gordon was fired from Famous Studios in late 1943 or early 1944, presumably due to alcohol-related problems.[10]
Gordon was part of a group of animation pros led by Jim Davis of (Fox and the Crow) fame that supplied original talking-animal comic book stories to ACG andDC Comics. Gordon's work began appearing inGiggle Comics in 1944, and byGiggle #9, he introduced the long-running characterSuperkatt who was a jab at the “long-underwear” genre of superhero comics. The title's character does not have any superpowers at all but is a normal (talking) house cat that dresses in a diaper, a baby's bonnet, and a big blue bow to fight minor neighborhood injustices.
In 1949 cameFunny Films, a talking-animal anthology title that tried to convince the reader that its stories were the filmed exploits of famous Hollywood cartoon characters.[citation needed]
Gordon'sPuss and Boots was a dog-and-cat version ofTom and Jerry to the extreme, with its only theme being unbridled cartoon violence. Gordon's otherFunny Films character was the comical rabbit inventor Blunder Bunny. InLa Salle Comics'Hi-Jinx, he experimented with the hybrid idea of “teenage animal characters”.[citation needed]
Gordon's major character from this era is Cookie O’Toole, the teenage star ofCookie comics. Cookie's first appearance was in 1945, debuting alongside other major characters, such as Jotterbook, Angelus, Zoot, and “The Brain” in a one-shot issue ofTopsy-Turvy Comics. By the next year, Cookie had his own title, and began a run that lasted nine years and 55 issues.[citation needed]
Gordon continued to make comics for ACG (and ACG imprints like La Salle) before returning atJoseph Barbera's behest.[citation needed]
Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera had been creating the classic Tom and Jerry cartoons at MGM since 1940, but by 1957 the studio's animation division was shut down.[11] In a bid to stay alive in the new TV era, Hanna and Barbera struck out on a mission to make a weekly animated television series for a fraction of their old Tom and Jerry budgets.[12]
Gordon immediately jumped on board to help out atHanna-Barbera, and (with partner Charles Shows) was soon writing and drawing storyboards for most of the episodes of those earliest, foundational H-B cartoon classics:[13]Huckleberry Hound,Yogi Bear,Pixie & Dixie,Quick Draw McGraw, andAugie Doggie. Huckleberry Hound became the first animated program to be honored with anEmmy Award in 1960.[14] Emboldened by their early success on a Saturday morning, Hanna and Barbera set their sights on producing a prime-time domestic comedy with a prehistoric twist. Gordon had some experience with cartoon cavemen, having worked on the “Stone Age” series of animated shorts for Fleischer Studios back in 1940.[15] Although many talented people had a part in creating what would becomeThe Flintstones, Bill Hanna points to Gordon. “Now you may not get the same response from anybody else" Bill Hanna recalls, "but to me, Dan Gordon is responsible forThe Flintstones, he came up with the basic concept of doing it with cavemen in skins.”[16] And Joe Barbera recounts in his autobiography that, ”the first twoFlintstones were the work of Dan Gordon and myself; I controlled the content, and Dan did the storyboards.”[17]
Dan Gordon ultimately continued to work for Hanna-Barbera until his death[18] in 1970.
Gordon died on August 13, 1970, just one month after his 68th birthday inFulton County, Georgia.[1][19] He is buried in Arlington Memorial Park, in Sandy Springs, Georgia.[20][21]
His wife, Margaret Hannon, died at the age of 39 in 1946 from brain cancer. Dan and Margaret had three sons. The first son, Kevin, who also worked at Hanna-Barbera,[22] died in a house fire inMalibu, in 1965. His second son, Michael, died in 1965 in car accident inLos Angeles. His third son, Donal, died in 1994 fromcancer inSeattle. Dan Gordon died of liver disease while in a nursing home inAtlanta, GA in 1970. Dan had five grandchildren from his second son Donal and wife, Frances. This information is cited by his granddaughter.
Gordon's cartoons live on through sales of DVD reissues featuring many of hisSuperman andPopeye cartoons, and deluxe DVD sets ofHuckleberry Hound andThe Flintstones. Some of his work from the early Van Beuren Studios and Terrytoons days can be found onvideo streaming sites on the Internet. With the advent ofeBay, online comic shops, and cartoon/comics blogs, today, well-worn back issues of Gordon's comics such asGiggle,Ha-Ha, andCookie are easier to find and can be bought at reasonable costs. Many fans of Gordon's work have been scanning and sharing these public-domain stories online.[citation needed]
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