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In Remembrance: Myron Waldman
Myron Waldman, an animator who worked on several classic Fleischer
Studios cartoon series including Betty Boop, Popeye
and Casper the Friendly Ghost and who created Betty Boop’s
pet dog Pudgy, has passed away on February 4, 2006 in Bethpage, New
York. He was 97.
Born on April 23, 1908 in Brooklyn, New York, Waldman studied in
Pratt University’s Fine and Applied Arts program. Following
graduation in 1930, he was hired by the Fleischer Studio as an
opaquer and was quickly promoted to a position in the inking
department. As a prize for winning an in-studio competition, Waldman
was promoted to in-betweener before finally given his own animation
unit in 1933, working under the direction of studio founder Dave
Fleischer. Waldman worked primarily on the Studios famous Betty
Boop series, with Waldman creating Betty’s pet dog Pudgy for the
1934 cartoon Betty Boop’s Little Pal.
Waldman was known at the studio for his sense of humor. He once
carried a script for the studio’s Stone Age series into
Fleischer’s office, announcing that “It stinks!” He was also known
for his attention to detail. For the 1935 Betty Boop cartoon A
Language All My Own, in which the curvaceous cartoon character
travels to Japan, Waldman had several Japanese exchange students
view his work in order to make sure Betty wouldn’t unintentionally
do something offensive to the Japanese audience.
Under the direction of Fleischer, Waldman served as animator on two
of the four Academy Award nominated shorts that the studio produced-
Educated Fish (1937) and Hunky And Spunky (1939). In
1941, he served as an animation director on the Fleischer Studio’s
two-reel Raggedy Ann And Andy cartoon and the studio’s second
feature length animated film Mr. Bug Goes To Town.
Waldman stayed with Fleischer Studios when, in 1942, it was absorbed
into Paramount Pictures and renamed Famous Studios. However, he only
worked on two more Superman cartoons before entering into the
United States Army for a three year stint. Following his discharge,
he returned to Famous Studios, working there for almost a decade on
such series as Screen Songs, Casper and Little Lulu.
One of his final cartoon shorts at the studio was 1954’s Boo Moon,
the only Casper cartoon produced in 3-D.
In addition to his work at Famous Studios, Waldman created one of
the first graphic novels, Eve: A Pictorial Love Story, which
was released in 1943 to positive critical reviews. He also created
and served as artist for the children’s Sunday comic strip Happy
The Humbug.
From 1958 to 1968, Waldman worked as a director at Hal Seeger
productions. One of his projects was a syndicated television revival
of the Fleischer Out Of The Inkwell series which starred Koko
The Clown. In 1997 he won was awarded the Windsor McKay Award. |
