What do the Beatles have in common with the likes of Scooby-Doo, the Jetsons, George of the Jungle, and Scrooge McDuck? All of these characters and series were animated by famed Australian artist Ron Campbell. Over the weekend of February 17-19, Up Front Art Space hosted a special pop-up show of original work from the late artist’s estate.
“What we do is we conjure up happy memories in people’s minds. Saturday morning was their me time. They would get up in the morning, parents would sleep in, and they would fight with their sister over what channel to watch. They’d get out their Sugar Pops and they would sit in front of the TV screen and just watch cartoons while the parents slept in,” explains Scott Segelbaum, Campbell’s friend, business partner, and publisher who arranged the show.
Ron Campbell began his career in 1964 when he received a call to direct an animated show starring the Beatles, a band so new at the time that the Fab Four was not as well-known in Australia. More than half the episodes would be produced in his home country and would receive upstanding ratings on Saturday mornings. He would go on to animate multiple scenes in the Beatles’ animated adventure, Yellow Submarine, including Jeremy Hillary Boob, Ph.D. (a.k.a. the Nowhere Man), the Chief Blue Meanie, and the Sea of Time sequence.
Campbell’s animation career would involve much more than the Beatles, from working on classics such as The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, and Sesame Street, to more current classics such as Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, Rugrats, and Ed, Edd n’Eddy.
“Because Ron was doing this for 50 years, we literally have three generations of kids who grew up with these cartoons,” explained Segelman in an interview with the Falls Free Press.
Campbell passed away in 2021, though his work continues to travel around the country thanks to this show which he and Segelman began touring 15 years ago. The pop-up display consisted of: original work from the Beatles’ animated series, larger pieces from Yellow Submarine, and a wall of other characters the artist worked on, including a rare drawing from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a series which Campbell only worked on a few episodes.
As it has been for the past 50 years, Campbell’s work will continue to be treasured for generations to come, with characters that bring joy to children via streaming services just as they did on Saturday mornings for generations of children.
For more information of Segelman’s show of Campbell’s work, visit www.BeatlesCartoonArtShow.com
