Hal Seeger (1917-2005)

[Martin Juneau]

We've just learned that animator Hal Seeger passed away on March 13th at age 87.

Seeger got his start as an assistant animator at the Fleischer Studios and was a ghostwriter of Bud Counihan's Betty Boop comic strip. In the late 1950s, Hal Seeger Productions opened in New York City, specialising in television commercials. In the early 1960s, they produced cartoons for syndication and Saturday morning television, including a KoKo The Clown revival "Out Of The Inkwell," ABC's "The Milton The Monster Show," and "Batfink." Seeger's studio also produced the main and end titles for "The Porky Pig Show" for Warner Bros. Television.

Hal Seeger Productions hosted a virtual Who's Who of classic New York animators, designers and voice talent. Those who were prominent at the studio included Myron Waldman, Jim Tyer, Johnny Gentilella, Shamus Culhane, Morey Reden, Izzy Klein, Robert Owen, Jack Mercer, and Dayton Allen.
Source: http://www.cartoonbrew.com (http://www.cartoonbrew.com/)

[JIM ENGEL]

I'm just here to say that I liked his 3 main shows:

OUT OF THE INKWELL
MILTON THE MONSTER
BATFINK

Were they GREAT? No...Were they HILARIOUS? No... but they held a strange appeal for me, that is undeniable.

The humor was really odd, but I dunno, I just liked those shows. Two of 'em had GREAT theme songs.

One of my all-time favorite gags in a TV cartoon involved Fearless Fly's nemisis, Doctor Gu-Fee, and his henchman, Gung Ho:

The doc has secretly filmed the transforming of shy fly Hiram into Fearless Fly, in an attempt to find a weakness he can use to destroy him.

He shows Gung Ho his film, and narrates what the footage is showing.
GU-FEE: "LOOK! There is Hiram, entering the matchbox! LOOK! Now Fearless Fly is EMERGING!"
The film now shows an old oriental woman...
GU-FEE:"Now look! Here is my honorable GRANDMOTHER, in a rocking chair on her porch!"
GUNG HO:"Why do you havea movie of your grandmother?"
GU-FEE: " There was film left in the camera..."

My love of Milton The Monster led to a weird art assignment...

Several years back, I, very new to the internet, was searching for ASTRO BOY videos on the web. My searching led me to a site for "Siren Entertainment", who had the rights to sell 'em, and their site ALSO said they'd soon be putting out Milton videos.

I emailed 'em, asking if they had the box art lined up, cuz if NOT, I was a cartoonist of some note who also was a Milton fan, & I'd be interested in doing it.

A bit later I heard back----They'd LOVE for me to do 'em, as the licensor (Seeger) couldn't provide any color Milton pieces for them to use. What I didn't realise 'til this point was that they were in NEW ZEALAND! They had little (almost no) budget, but I did a buncha roughs, and they chose seven (for the 7 Vol. set) which I did in color for practically free, out of my love of Milton & my desire to see 'em done right.

THEY agreed to send me samples of the final product (which, even tho' I wouldn't be able to PLAY 'em, would be nice art samples). Of course, i only ever got a sample of Vol. One...

HOWEVER, they've been BOOTLEGGED up the wazoo, and I've seen my box art pirated (w/varying quality) on the tables of a zillion comicon dealers & Ebay seller ads... Here's one of 'em now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ssPageName=WDVW (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=309&item=6378294764&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW)

THIS guy's not using one of my covers, but he's got a lotta cool stills:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ssPageName=WDVW (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1534&item=6164760518&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW)

So long, Hal!
__________________

[Geezil]

IIRC, those New Zealand "Milton the Monster" video volumes are still available legally somewhere on the Internet, though I couldn't tell you where that might be just now. (I'm not trying to be sly and keep it to myself, whatever that would accomplish; I just never copied down the URL.)

Another Hal Seeger-on-TV memory: Again, IIRC, the "Milton" half-hours also featured, besides "Fearless Fly," a third rotating slot in mid-episode for various other Seeger studio creations. The one that seemed to pop up most often, and the only one I clearly recall as enjoyable, was called "Stuffy Derma" (a hobo-turned-millionaire and his hired upper-crust valet/mentor/behavioral policeman enduring various misadventures in the name of Soaking Up Some Culture).

Well, anyway, it was no less amusing than the rest of those Seeger TV characters...! :D

Another page turned in animation history, and a brief respectful pause.