Although the 1980s is regarded as the point at which “licensed” comics and books began to make their presence felt on the British newsstand and in bookshops, there were plenty of attempts by publishers to exploit popular interest animation, film and TV properties before that. Even properties, occasionally, that had little or no long lasting success.
One of them was Bubble and Squeek, a short lived-animation centred on a London taxi driver and his talking taxi, the creation of American artist George Moreno, as a project for his British Animated Productions studio. Just four shorts and one spin-off were made, produced between 1947 and 1948, but the cartoons seem to have been popular enough to persuade London-based Birn Brothers, long time publishers of Enid Blyton‘s books, to commission at least five annuals, published, it appears, between 1950 and 1955.
(The dating of the books and the order they were published in is in some doubt, as the publisher did not include much information in the books indicia).
The annuals feature stories written by Arthur Groom, whose credits also include work for Mickey Mouse Weekly and various annuals, such as Buffalo Bill and Champion the Wonder Horse.
George Moreno Jr. was an American animator, the younger brother of Mexican American animator Manuel Moreno, who worked for Universal/Lantz before joining the Fleischer Studio in Miami, Florida, in 1938-40 as one of the animators on the feature-length Gulliver’s Travels (1939) and on shorter cartoons such as Way Back When a Nag was only a Horse (1940), Way Back when a Nightclub was a Stick (1940) and Ants in the Plants (1940).
Serving in France during World War Two, he settled in Britain, marrying Dorothy Maude Jarratt in London in 1947, and had two children. He set up his studio in the UK on the suggestion of fellow combatant Richard A. Smith, who had worked as a solicitor, and company secretary in civilian life, for Hawker Manufacturing, Hawker Exports and Rudway Products. The first two Bubble and Squeek cartoons were made in two rooms in Smith’s Walthamstow office, but in 1947 the company then moved into Hawker House, an old button factory in Haringey, London (also known as Haringay), now the location of the Kurdish Community Centre.
Bubble and Squeek, the names of the animated characters, were surely inspired by the then popular British dish, comprising fried ‘cake’ of cabbage and potato, usually made from the left-overs of Sunday lunch. “In severely rationed wartime Britain it was a very common dish,” author Peter Hale notes in his feature about British Animated Productions on his History of British Animation site, “and it is likely that George came across it and found the name both amusing and suggestive of a cartoon double-act.”
Peter, who worked for Moreno for six months in the 1960s, has also noted BAP employed 20 people at its height: some were ex-servicemen, some were local and some hired because of previous experience.
Sadly, tax changes after World War Two lifting restrictions on the import of foreign goods resulted in an influx of American cartoons from Warners, Disney and MGM into Britain, which swiftly put paid to the ambitions of British Animation Studios and other nascent companies. The company closed in 1953, but led to George Moreno setting up Moreno Cartoons, formed to make commercials for Pearl and Dean, who older downthetubes readers may remember provided advertising reels shown in cinemas before a film presentation. (Kiaora, anyone?)
Perhaps we will never know the full connection between the Bubble and Squeek animations and the spin-off books, but both survive, a post war legacy reflecting aspirations of the time, curtailed by cheap American imports. Which, of course, would never be permitted to happen today…
George Moreno and TV Comic
Archivist Steve Holland outlined some of George Moreno’s post-war career on the Bear Alley blog back in 2011, noting that around 1952-56 he was also drawing a weekly strip for TV Comic, “Polly Coptor’s Adventures” and illustrating text stories featuring “Larry the Lamb” and “Smokey, Puff-Puff and Choo-Choo“.
He also illustrated some Larry the Lamb books published by the TV Comic‘s then publisher, the News of the World.
Steve also notes he was also involved a Panoramic Films’ documentary called Cartoons and Cartoonists (1956), directed by Harold Baim, who produced over 100 short documentaries between 1943-83. Moreno Cartoons also created the “Merry Music Shop” series, directed by former British Animated Productions animator Fred Thompson – singalong cartoons for children, distributed by Saxon in the early 1960s, with titles including Bunty the Bouncing Bassoon, The Little Swiss Whistling Clock, and Bumble Bee Fair.
Comments on the Bear Alley post, noting Moreno’s success at Pearl and Dean, suggest the variety in the style of the illustrations attributed to George Moreno may in fact have been the work of other members of his staff, “the regular illustration work being a way of keeping his artists on the payroll while he looked for other animation work.
“The deal with Pearl & Dean was very good for Moreno,” Peter Hale, who worked for Moreno Cartoons from September 1968 to March 1969, before leaving to join Fredric Films, notes on Steve’s post. “Not only did he rent studio space from them (on the top floor of 33 Dover Street, near Berkley Square) with film editors in the attic and one of Pearl & Dean’s rostrum cameras in the basement, but he also acquired the staff of P&D’s previous animation department. This included such talents as Tony Cattaneo and Errol Le Cain, who formed the nucleus of the new design department and added greatly to the look of the commercials Moreno produced.
“Moreno was still on the look-out for entertainment series and his attention turned to the new outlet: television. A series of five minute episodes featured ‘Bom The Little Drummer Boy‘, an Enid Blyton creation.”
(The stories of Bom the Little Toy Drummer were published across two series by Brockhampton Press between 1956 and 1963, and his adventures also featured in at least one annual, published by Purnell And Sons, and stories also appeared in three TV Comic annuals).
TV Times “Tivvy”
Our research of Bubble and Squeek not only led us to TV Comic, but TV Times, too. One commission for Moreno Cartoons was animating the adventures of Tivvy, voiced by John Ebdon (1923-2005), one of a line of Finnish trolls from the Paul Usher founded company, Fauni, used to promote the TV Times.
Tivvy first appeared in terrifying puppet form in the issue of ITV’s listings magazine in the issue dated 20th September 1964, ahead of his first TV appearance, announcing him as the new mascot for TV Times. George Moreno features in the article, talking about the issues bringing him to animated life.
“I think it’s something of a breakthrough in puppet animation in this country,” he said. “The idea was conceived here and all work has all been done in Britain. Previously, if you wanted a job of this nature done you had to go to the Continent.
“First of all, we had to design new materials and new processes so his arms and legs could move, bis mouth could open, bis eyes could roll,” Moreno revealed of the project’s challenges. “Every part of his body bad to be made mobile. On the original doll, nothing was.
“Personally, I’m quite pleased with the result. 1 think the folks are going to love Tivvy.”
Tivvy then appeared sporadically after that, always appearing in the margins of the contents page from the issue dated 6th February, until the launch of The Tivvy Club, fronted by actor Jimmy Hanley, which debuted in magazine in issue dated 25th September 1965, which marked the 10th anniversary of the magazine and of ITV.
The strip credits acknowledge Tivvy’s Scandinavian origins, but Bill Hopper, who drew it, based on ideas by George, went uncredited.
The Tivvy Club ran in TV Times for three years, although the strip ceased to be part of the feature before that. His last appearance was in the last regional TV Times issue dated 14th September 1968, before it went national the following week.
Tivvy also featured in a TV Comic comic strip, drawn by both , and had an encounter with Doctor Who, as a character in TV Comic’s Counter Game, a board game printed in the TV Comic Holiday Special 1967.
He also appeared in the TV Comic annuals for 1967, published in 1966, and 1968, published in 1967, drawn by Neville Main (noted by Steve Holland) and Bill Mevin (noted by Lew Stringer), but disappeared after that. The Tivvy annuals lasted from 1966 to 1968 (again, published 1965 to 1967) and those appearances were always drawn by Hilda Offen, with stories by Shirley Dean. A great way to usher you in to a New Year in a Tivvy-tastic way!
Glenn Reuben, who is diligently researching the history of TV Times cartoons ahead of the title’s 70th anniversary later this year, tells us Moreno does not appear to be involved in any of those projects.
Sadly, (or luckily, depending on your opinion of the character), none of Tivvy’s TV spots promoting TV Times appear to have survived – but if you know differently, please get in touch!
Tim Worthington has previously charted the “life” of Tivvy on his Newsround blog, noting the character even shared the stage in one photo opportunity with The Beatles and spawning an excruciating gimmick single, “Tivvy’s Tune“, released in 1965 by “Tivvy And The Clubmates”.
In an archived post, the late Darryl Bullock, author of two volumes of The Worlds Worst Records, notes that at the height of Tivvy’s fame, Moreno filmed a pilot starring Fauni trolls, but it failed to find a buyer.
• Copies of the Bubble and Squeek annuals surface on eBay and charity bookshop websites
• Were you a member of The Tivvy Club? Was there a separate newsletter, posted to members, or was activity purely focused on the TV Times column? Let us know by commenting below, thank you (comments are moderated – approved comments will not appear immediately)
• CAN YOU HELP? TV Times magazine enjoys its 70th anniversary later this year, and writer Glenn Reuben is exploring the long-running weekly TV listing magazine’s history… and, as we previously reported, is trying to identify the real identity of one of its cartoonists, the elusive “Scherzo“. If you can help, contact us and we will pass the information on to Glenn
• Bear Alley: George Moreno Profile – read the comments to find out more about the end of Moreno Cartoons, a failed restaurant, and Moreno’s connection with Roy Castle
• British Pathe: Making “Bubble and Squeek”
George Moreno and Harold Mack filmed making the cartoon in 1948 (do note the clip on the page does not show this part of the news reel)
• Haringay Online: Pioneering Cartoons Made in 1940s Harringay
Peter Hale has listed known staff members, in an effort to track down further information about the company from locals. Read all about the history of the building where this business was based here
• British Animated Productions (1945 – 1953): A History by Peter Hale
• There’s So Much More In TV Times Part 7: A Fifth Beatle? No, It’s Tivvy – by Tim Worthington
• Gonked, Gloped and Slurped: TV Tube Heart: Tivvy Becomes a Bank Icon in the United States
• The Enid Blyton Society: Enid Blyton book published by Birn Brothers
• The Letterpress Project: Birn Brothers “Potted History”
Birn Brothers also produced postcards from 1903, at first without a trademark. Many early cards were printed in Germany. They became a limited company from 1915 and gradually concentrated more on book publishing
• Bubble and Squeek: The Animated Shorts – A Playlist
With thanks to Glenn Reuben for additional TV Times scans and information, and previous researchers for their work unearthing more about George Moreno
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Animation, Art and Illustration, Books, British Comics, British Comics - Books, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes News, Other Worlds, Television