Alex Anderson (cartoonist)
| Alex Anderson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alexander Hume Anderson, Jr. September 5, 1920 Berkeley, California, U.S. |
| Died | October 22, 2010 (aged 90) Carmel, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
Alexander Hume "Alex" Anderson, Jr. (September 5, 1920 in Berkeley, California – October 22, 2010 in Carmel, California) was an American cartoonist who created the characters of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Bullwinkle, and Dudley Do-Right, as well as Crusader Rabbit. He was not directly involved in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, however.
Anderson was a nephew of Mighty Mouse producer Paul Terry, and began his career in 1938 at his Terrytoons animation studio. Anderson and Jay Ward grew up together in Berkeley, California, and formed a business in the late 1940s to pitch cartoon ideas to television, including Crusader Rabbit, Rocky, Bullwinkle, and Dudley Do-Right. Only Crusader Rabbit was accepted, and after Anderson's other cartoon ideas failed to sell, he joined a San Francisco advertising agency, while Ward moved to Los Angeles to try to sell TV studios on a Bullwinkle series.
Mr. Anderson reportedly retained half-ownership of the characters and received regular payments until Ward died in 1989. In the early 1990s Anderson filed lawsuit against Ward's heirs to reclaim full credit as the creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Following Jay Ward's death, Anderson, who had not received public recognition for creating Dudley Do-Right, Bullwinkle and Rocky, learned the characters had been copyrighted in Ward's name alone. Consequently, Anderson sued Ward's heirs to reclaim creator credit. In 1993 or 1996, (sources differ), Anderson received a settlement and a court order acknowledging him as "the creator of the first version of the characters of Rocky, Bullwinkle and Dudley."Ted Key, creator of the comic strip Hazel, had a similar situation with his characters Mr. Peabody and his pet boy Sherman.
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