Saturday, August 23, 2008

Freaky Cartoon Frogs - Flip and Flopper Comics by Don Arr - Don R. Christensen

This is some of the trippiest old-time funny animal comic book art that I have ever seen! Here's the splash panel to Flip and Flopper by Don Arr from Coo Coo comics #27.

Flip and Flopper cartoon frog comic book scan drawn by Don Arr

The whole six-page Flip and Flopper comic book scan is on display HERE (Make sure you click on the thumbnails when you get there because each image is linked to a nice BIG high-resolution comic scan).
Cartoon Frog getting stomped on by heavy shoes

The entire story is filled with some of the wackiest and most amazingly cartoony art I've seen in a long time. Definitely NOT your standard generic funny-animal comics. I wonder if some of R. Crumb's 1960's psychedelic comic-book fever dreams were inspired by this loopy tale!

Cartoon Frog thinks he's a genius
The cartoonist is Don Arr (a pseudonym for Don R. Christensen, 1916-2006) who was an animator, writer and cartoonist whose career stretches back to pre-WWII Disney Studios.
 
silhouettes of cartoon frogs walking dow the sidewalk in a cartoon cityscape
 
He was later a storyboard artist for the Robert Clampett unit at Warner Brothers Animation, and then a comic book writer and artist for various comic book companies, including Western Publishing's Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics. He continued to work on TV animation projects up through the late 1980's. A real lifer!

Cartoon Frog on his knees in Flip and Flopper Comics by Don R. Christensen aka Don Arr
There are lots more vintage funny-animal comic book scans from the 40's and 50's from Nedor and Standard Publishing over at the Nedor-a-Day Comic Book Blog.
Go have fun!

Cartoon Frog in a straw hat bowtie and white gloves