TONY LOEB
When Animation Meets the Comics No. 4
TONY LOEB
Anton C. Loeb nasce in Ungheria il 31 marzo 1908, ma cresce a New York. Ha un fratello, Charles G., che come sceneggiatore, nel periodo 1943-44, contribuirà agli albi a fumetti di Better/Standard, Eastern Color/Famous Funnies e Holyoke.
A 14 anni, sta copiando le opere dei maestri nel New York Museum of Art, quando un signore anziano gli dice che sta facendo "una brutta copia". Tony scaglia il pennello sul pavimento e ed esclama: "Non sto copiando. Qualsiasi idiota è in grado di copiare. Sto imparando le regole. Tra un po' realizzerò le mie opere, signore!" L'uomo è il celebre banchiere di New York George Baker, che diviene il benefattore di Loeb e gli paga gli studi alla Academy of Design.
Quando ha 16 anni, ottiene grazie a Baker un lavoro come scenografo presso la Metropolitan Opera Company. Innamorato della musica, Loeb inizia ad accompagnare i cantanti durante le prove. Un giorno, il grande Fëdor Chaliapin lo segue e lo ferma, esclamando "Ragazzo mio... Se proprio devi uccidere la musica, lascia ti insegni io a farlo... con grazia!" Il 29 aprile 1929 Loeb interpreta Sylvio nei Pagliacci di Leoncavallo alla Brooklyn Academy of Music. È l'inizio di una carriera che purtroppo dura poco, poiché una tonsillectomia gli impedisce di continuare a cantare.
Loeb riprende dunque a dipingere, e dal 1935 circa lavora presso lo studio di animazione dei fratelli Fleischer, dedicandosi alle scenografie dei cortometraggi di Popeye (Braccio di Ferro). Nel 1938 lo studio si trasferisce a Miami, in Florida, e Loeb lavora agli sfondi dei lungometraggi Gulliver's
Travels (1939) e Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941). Inoltre apre un proprio studio sulla DiLido Island.
Il 14 febbraio 1939 Loeb sposa la ventitreenne Frances Ravitz di New York, che gli darà tre figli: Marilyn, David L. e Jan G.
Quando, nel 1942, lo studio Fleischer cambia nome in Famous Studios, Loeb torna a New York proseguendo a dipingere sfondi per i cortometraggi di Popeye, Little Lulu, Casper e delle serie Noveltoons e Screen Song. Dal 1949 è di nuovo stabilmente in Florida e dal 1956 fa la spola tra la Miami, New York e Hollywood continuando la sua attività in seno al rinominato studio Paramount, per cortometraggi e serie televisive con i personaggi di Harvey Comics e King Features Syndicate.
Tra il 1943 e il 1946 collabora con il Sangor Studio, scrivendo e disegnando storie a fumetti con animali buffi, pubblicate dalle editrici Better/Standard, Creston/ACG, William H. Wise, Rural Home, Four Star e Timely/Marvel.
Loeb è anche illustratore di diversi libri per ragazzi, da Storytime Favorites (1947) all'adattamento di Allan Chaffee di The Wizard Of Oz (1950).
Nel 1962 lascia lo Studio Paramount e riprende a tempo pieno l'attività di designer nel proprio studio, che ha riaperto il 1° giugno 1959, al 1233 di Lincoln Road sulla Di Lido Island. Nel 1962 comincia a realizzare il design di magliette per la Tropix Togs.
Nel 1972 lavora per l'ultima volta nel campo dell'animazione, contribuendo al lungometraggio di Hanna-Barbera Charlotte's Web. Si ritira nel 1973.
Loeb scompare in seguito a un tumore al Cedars Medical Center di Miami, il 10 dicembre 1984.
Anton C. Loeb was born March 31, 1908 in Hungary, but he grew up in New York. His brother, Charles G. Loeb, worked as a writer during 1943-44, for titles published by Better/Standard, Eastern Color/Famous Funnies, and Holyoke.
At age 14, he was copying old masters at the New York Museum of Art, when an elderly man told him he was doing a "poor job of copying." Tony dashed his brush to the floor and exclaimed, "I'm not copying. Any fool can copy. I'm learning the rules. Later on I'll do my own work, Mister!" The man was the famous New York banking genius, George Baker, who became Loeb's benefactor sending him to The Academy of Design in New York.
When Loeb was 16, Baker got him a job with the Metropolitan Opera Company as a scenic designer.When Loeb was 16, Baker got him a job with the Metropolitan Opera Company as a scenic designer. Having fallen in love with music, Loeb began to accompany the lead singers during rehearsals. One day the great Fëdor Chaliapin went after him and said to him, "My boy...if you MUST murder music, I will teach you how to do it with...finesse!" On April 29, 1929, Loeb sang the role of Sylvio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Unfortunately, shortly after his musical career came to an end after a tonsillectomy that left him unable to sing.
Loeb started painting again full time and from about 1935 he was working at the Fleischer brothers animation studio in New York,
painting backgrounds for the Popeye shorts. After the studio moved to Miami, Florida in 1938, Loeb continued creating backgrounds for shorts as well as for the feature cartoons Gulliver's Travels (1939) and Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941). He also opened his own studio on DiLido Island.
On February 14, 1939 Loeb married 23-year-old Frances Ravitz from New York. The couple would have three children: Marilyn, David L., and Jan G.
When the Fleischer Studio became Famous Studios in 1942, Loeb went back to New York, continuing to paint backrounds for shorts featuring Popeye, Little Lulu, Casper as well as those in the Noveltoons and Screen Song series. In 1949 he was again in Florida and until 1956 he was commuting from Miami to New York and Hollywood, continuing his activity at the Paramount studio on theatrical shorts and TV series featuring Harvey Comics and King Features Syndicate characters.
From 1943-46 he also worked for Sangor Studios, writing and drawing funny animal comics published by Better/Standard, Creston/ACG, William H. Wise, Rural Home, Four Star, and Timely/Marvel.
Loeb also illustrated a few children's books, including Storytime Favorites (1947) and Allan Chaffee's adaptation of The Wizard Of Oz (1950).
He left the Paramount Studio in 1962 to work full time as a commercial artist and designer in his own studio, which had re-opened on June 1, 1959, at 1233 Lincoln Road on Di Lido Island. In 1962 he started designing shirts for Tropix Togs.
He worked one last time in animation in 1972, contributing to the Hanna-Barbera feature cartoon, Charlotte's Web. He retired in 1973.
Loeb passed away from cancer at Cedars Medical Center on December 10, 1984 in Miami, Florida.
FILMOGRAFIA / FILMOGRAPHY
Studio: FLEISCHER -1935-1942
Sfondi / Backgrounds
22/01/1937 The Paneless Window Washer (Popeye)
18/02/1938 Learn Polikeness (Popeye)
14/06/1939 Ghosks Is the Bunk (Popeye)
22/12/1939 Gulliver's Travels
05/12/1941 Mr. Bug Goes to Town
16/01/1942 Kickin' the Conga 'Round (Popeye)
Studio: FAMOUS 1942-1956
Sfondi / Backgrounds
19/05/1944 Lulu in Hollywood (Little Lulu)
29/09/1944 Lulu's Indoor Outing (Little Lulu)
02/03/1945 Magica-Lulu (Little Lulu)
11/01/1946 Bargain Counter Attack (Little Lulu)
09/08/1946 Rocket to Mars (Popeye)
18/10/1946 Sudden Fried Chicken (Noveltoon)
24/01/1947 Musica-Lulu (Little Lulu)
24/03/1947 A Scout with the Gout (Little Lulu)
25/04/1947 The Stupidstitious Cat (Noveltoon - Buzzy)
25/04/1947 Abusement Park (Popeye)
25/07/1947 Much Ado About Mutton (Noveltoon - Blackie)
22/08/1947 The Mild West (Noveltoon)
10/10/1947 A Bout with a Trout (Little Lulu)
24/10/1947 Wotta Knight (Popeye)
07/11/1947 Safari So Good (Popeye)
26/12/1947 The Circus Comes to Clown (Screen Song)
19/03/1948 We're in the Honey (Noveltoon)
26/03/1948 Pre-Hysterical Man (Popeye)
23/04/1948 There's Good Boos To-Night (Casper)
07/06/1948 The Land of the Lost (Noveltoon)
03/09/1948 Snow Place Like Home (Popeye)
15/10/1948 The Mite Makes Right (Noveltoon)
21/01/1949 The Little Cut-Up (Noveltoon)
11/03/1949 Comin' Round the Mountain (Screen Song)
13/05/1949 A-Haunting We Will Go (Casper)
22/07/1949 A Balmy Swami (Popeye)
06/01/1950 Land of the Lost Jewels (Noveltoon)
17/03/1950 Gym Jam (Popeye)
24/03/1950 Shortenin' Bread (Screen Song)
30/06/1950 Heap Hep Injuns (Screen Song)
21/07/1950 Pleased to Eat You (Noveltoon - The Hungry Lion)
18/08/1950 Goofy Goofy Gander (Noveltoon - Little Audrey)
22/09/1950 Boos in the Nite (Screen Song)
17/11/1950 Fiesta Time (Screen Song)
13/04/1951 Drippy Mississippi (Screen Song)
18/05/1951 Miners Forty-Niners (Screen Song)
15/06/1951 Double-Cross-Country Race (Popeye)
13/07/1951 Pilgrim Popeye (Popeye)
10/08/1951 Casper Comes to Clown (Casper)
19/10/1951 Let's Stalk Spinach (Popeye)
07/12/1951 Casper Takes a Bow-Wow (Casper)
15/02/1952 The Deep Boo Sea (Casper)
04/04/1952 Cat Carson Rides Again (Noveltoon - Herman and Katnip)
11/04/1952 Ghost of the Town (Casper)
18/07/1952 City Kitty (Noveltoon - Katnip)
12/09/1952 Pig-a-Boo (Casper)
14/11/1952 Forest Fantasy (Kartune)
13/02/1953 Frightday the 13th (Casper)
06/03/1953 Starting from Hatch (Noveltoon - Baby Huey)
10/06/1953 Invention Convention (Kartune)
12/06/1953 Toreadorable (Popeye)
28/08/1953 Little Boo-Peep (Casper)
02/10/1953 Popeye, the Ace of Space (Popeye)
09/10/1953 Shaving Muggs (Popeye)
20/11/1953 Huey's Ducky Daddy (Noveltoon - Baby Huey)
28/05/1954 Casper Genie (Casper)
16/07/1954 Puss 'n' Boos (Casper)
13/08/1954 Greek Mirthology (Popeye)
20/08/1954 Ship A-Hooey (Herman and Katnip)
12/11/1954 Private Eye Popeye (Popeye)
14/01/1955 Cookin' with Gags (Popeye)
28/01/1955 Hide and Shriek (Casper)
04/02/1955 Dizzy Dishes (Noveltoon - Little Audrey)
11/03/1955 Penny Antics (Popeye)
22/07/1955 Car-azy Drivers (Popeye)
04/11/1955 Cops Is Tops (Popeye)
11/05/1956 Swab the Duck (Noveltoon - Baby Huey)
10/08/1956 Insect to Injury (Popeye)
12/09/1956 Parlez-Vous Woo (Popeye)
Studio: PARAMOUNT 1956-1962
Sfondi / Backgrounds
31/07/1959 Casper's Birthday Party (Casper)
00/09/1960 Scouting for Trouble (Jeepers and Creepers)
00/00/1960-00/00/1961 Popeye the Sailor (TV Series - 54 episodes)
00/07/1961 Trick or Tree (Noveltoon)
00/03/1962 Funderful Suburbia (Modern Madcap)
00/04/1962 Frog's Legs (Comic Kings - Little Lulu)
00/05/1962 Home Sweet Swampy (Comic Kings - Beetle Bailey)
00/05/1962 Hero's Reward (Comic Kings - Beetle Bailey)
00/06/1962 The Hat (Comic Kings - Snuffy Smith)
00/09/1962 Et Tu Otto (Comic Kings - Beetle Bailey)
00/10/1962 Keeping Up with Krazy (Comic Kings - Krazy Kat)
00/11/1962 Robot Ringer (Modern Madcap)
00/12/1962 Fiddlin' Around (Noveltoon)
1963 The New Casper Cartoon Show (TV Series - 16 episodes)
00/00/1963-00/00/1963
Beetle Bailey (TV Series - 10 episodes)
00/09/1963 Harry Happy (Modern Madcap)
00/10/1963 Tell Me a Badtime Story (Modern Madcap)
00/00/1963-00/00/1964 Barney Google (TV Series - 15 episodes)
00/04/1964 Sailing Zero (Swifty and Shorty)
00/09/1964 Robot Rival (Modern Madcap - Zippy Zeipher)
Studio: HANNA-BARBERA 1972
Sfondi / Backgrounds
01/03/1973 Charlotte's Web
FUMETTOGRAFIA / COMICOGRAPHY
Editore / Publisher: AMERICAN COMICS GROUP (alias CRESTON)
Ferdie Bear - Ha Ha Comics #5 (2/1944)
Pa Pig and Junior - Ha Ha Comics #26 (2/1946)
Red Robin - Giggle Comics #9 (6/1944)
Swifty Takes The Cake - Giggle Comics #2 (11/43)
Editore / Publisher: BETTER (alias STANDARD, NEDOR)
Camera Bug - (1945)
Chuckie Cat - Goofy Comics #9 (5/1945)
Dauber Dog - (1943/46)
Edgar Elephant - (1943)
The Flying Pony - Coo Coo Comics #17 (5/1945)
Illustrazioni / Illustrations - (1945-46)
Pinly the Curious Penguin - Coo Coo Comics #9 (1/1944)
Pip the Penguin - Complete Book of Comics and Funnies #1 (1944)
Sky Terrier - (1943)
Squinty - Coo Coo Comics #16 (3/1945)
Steeple Jack - (1945)
Trixie - (1944)
Uncle Bunny - (1944)
Editore / Publisher: FOUR STAR PUBLICATIONS (alias AJAX, FARRELL)
Lil Chief Hotshot - Hi-Ho Comics #3 (6/1946) [Loeb?]
Editore / Publisher: LEFFINGWELL
Hambone - Chuckle #nn [1] (1945)
Treacle - Chuckle #nn [1] (1945)
Editore / Publisher: MARVEL (alias TIMELY)
Morty Monk and Buck Baboon - (1943)
Waldo and Ferdy - (1943)
Editore / Publisher: RURAL HOME
Mort Monk The Mysterious Footprint Burglaries [Tavola con testo e illustrazioni / Text Illustrations] - Laffy-Daffy Comics #2 (3/1945)
Editore / Publisher: WILLIAM H. WISE
America's Funniest Comics (1944)
BIBLIOGRAFIA / BIBLIOGRAPHY
ILLUSTRAZIONI PER LIBRI / BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS
Editore / Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE
The Wizard of Oz (1950)
Editore / Publisher: WONDER BOOKS
The Little train That Won a Medal #512 (1947)
Storytime Favorites #514 (1947)
