I just got back from a trip to Florida and discovered something fascinating. Universal Studios, in their "Island of Adventure" park, has a stretch of terrain called Toon Lagoon, made up mostly of comic strip-themed attractions. These include Popeye, Blondie, and Hagar the Horrible, but - more interestingly - there is a Pogo display! It's nothing too impressive - first of all, there's a HUGE drawing of Pogo & Albert above a store (the store unfortunately seems to sell mostly Betty Boop merchandise, with no Pogo goodies in sight). Secondly, there's a (cracked-in-half and "sinking") Okefenokee-style skiff in front of the same store that you can sit in, with two-dimensional plastic cutouts of Howland and Churchy. All the artwork is based off the early '50s models of the characters. Pogo & Albert in particular are not all that well-drawn, and are either blown up from comic art that Kelly never intended to be seen that large, or were produced specifically for the park by a less skilled artist imitating Kelly drawings. The Pogo & Albert pose resembles the cover of Animal Comics #17, but with the characters updated to their 1950-era models. Down below in the skiff, Howland is playing the bagpipes, and Churchy is thoughtfully strumming a banjo.
While I was disappointed that Pogo didn't have a larger presence in the park, it was fun to get my photo taken with Churchy and Howland. If any of you happen to be in that area, it's definitely a cool photo op for a Kelly fan! (After Universal I spent some time in the Everglades, which had a nice Pogo-ish feel to them - complete with some very close encounters with some of Albert's cousins!).
My name is Thom Buchanan.
I'm an artist and photographer.
People are my favorite subjects to portray in art and photos. My wife (and studio partner) has called that my 'people skills', as I've been passionately creating portrait studies for many years.
I refer to myself as a pictorialist, a combination of image-making and journalist. Images are my life.
Still awake, Thom?
ReplyDeleteOr up again against some schedule?
Whatever!
Thanks for your Sunday greetings.
And a happy / merry Kelly Sunday to you!
Hun
Thom -
ReplyDeleteI just got back from a trip to Florida and discovered something fascinating. Universal Studios, in their "Island of Adventure" park, has a stretch of terrain called Toon Lagoon, made up mostly of comic strip-themed attractions. These include Popeye, Blondie, and Hagar the Horrible, but - more interestingly - there is a Pogo display! It's nothing too impressive - first of all, there's a HUGE drawing of Pogo & Albert above a store (the store unfortunately seems to sell mostly Betty Boop merchandise, with no Pogo goodies in sight). Secondly, there's a (cracked-in-half and "sinking") Okefenokee-style skiff in front of the same store that you can sit in, with two-dimensional plastic cutouts of Howland and Churchy. All the artwork is based off the early '50s models of the characters. Pogo & Albert in particular are not all that well-drawn, and are either blown up from comic art that Kelly never intended to be seen that large, or were produced specifically for the park by a less skilled artist imitating Kelly drawings. The Pogo & Albert pose resembles the cover of Animal Comics #17, but with the characters updated to their 1950-era models. Down below in the skiff, Howland is playing the bagpipes, and Churchy is thoughtfully strumming a banjo.
While I was disappointed that Pogo didn't have a larger presence in the park, it was fun to get my photo taken with Churchy and Howland. If any of you happen to be in that area, it's definitely a cool photo op for a Kelly fan! (After Universal I spent some time in the Everglades, which had a nice Pogo-ish feel to them - complete with some very close encounters with some of Albert's cousins!).
~Craig