Happy Hooligan
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| Happy Hooligan | |
|---|---|
 Hooligan as he appeared in a 1902 strip |
|
| Author(s) | Frederick Burr Opper |
| Current status | Ended |
| Syndicate(s) | New York American/King Features Syndicate |
| Launch date | March 11, 1900 |
| End Date | August 14, 1932 |
| Genre(s) | Humor |
Happy Hooligan was a popular and influential early American comic strip by Frederick Burr Opper.
[edit] History
Happy Hooligan, the first major comic strip by already celebrated cartoonist Opper,[1] debuted with a Sunday strip on March 11, 1900 in the William Randolph Hearst newspapers, and was one of the first popular comics with King Features Syndicate. It told the adventures of a well-meaning hobo who encountered a lot of misfortune and bad luck, partly because of his looks and his low position in society, but who did not lose his smile over it.[2] He was contrasted by his two brothers, the sour Gloomy Gus and the snobbish Montmorency, both just as poor as Happy.
Like the other major comics by Opper, And Her Name Was Maud and Alphonse & Gaston, Happy Hooligan initially did not run on a regular schedule, skipping Sundays from time to time, while some other weeks two pages appeared at once; the character also played a role in some of Opper's daily strips. After a few years though, Happy Hooligan became a regular appearing comic with both daily strips and Sunday pages.
Opper was one of the most popular comic creators of his time,[3] and Happy Hooligan and his other series got collected in book form, turned into merchandise products, and became immensely popular.[4][5] The comic got translated as well and was, together with the Katzenjammer Kids and And Her Name Was Maud, one of the first North American comics to be published in Argentina, as Cocoliche.[6] The comic was also probably the very first American comic to be adapted to a movie, when J. Stuart Blackton directed 6 live action shorts of it between 1900 and 1902.[7] Some 15 years later, more than 50 animated movies were made of the series as well.
As Opper did not use an assistant, the series ended on August 14, 1932 when Opper abandoned it due to failing eyesight.[2] While lacking lasting popularity, the series remained influential and has inspired e.g. Jules Feiffer and Rube Goldberg and was arguably a major inspiration for Charlie Chaplin's The Tramp character.[8] It was called "Opper's greatest comic character" by comics artist Coulton Waugh.[9]Happy Hooligan is also cited as the first comic to use speech balloons on a regular basis as an integral part of the comic (The Yellow Kid used speech balloons as early as 1896, but did not use them as the main means of communication).[10]
[edit] Notes
Everything not directly referenced in the text can be sourced to the Toonopedia entry for Happy Hooligan.
- ^ Ohio History Central (2005). Frederick Burr Opper. Ohio Historical Society. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.
- ^ a b Cartoon America: a Library of Congress Exhibition. Happy Hooligan Makes a Grand Hit!. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.
- ^ King Features Syndicate. Hearst's Comics Increase Sales. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.
- ^ Time (1946-05-27). Happy Khuligan. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.
- ^ Joseph F. D'Angelo, President, King Features Syndicate. William Randolph Hearst and the Comics. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.
- ^ Frankfurter Buchmesse. La Historieta Argentina. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.
- ^ Don Markstein. Happy Hooligan. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.
- ^ Time (1971-12-13). The Comics on the Couch. Retrieved on February 24, 2007. “"There was a connection between Happy Hooligan and Chaplin," says Italian Director Federico Fellini[...]”
- ^ Ohio State University. Frederick Burr Opper. Ohio Cartoonists: Exhibition. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.
- ^ Pascal Lefèvre (July 2006). The Battle over the Balloon. Image & Narrative: Online Magazine of the Visual Narrative. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.
