A Captain and the Kids Cartoon ~ A Day at the Beach ~ 1938

In 1938, the comic strip The Captain and the Kids (Rudolph Dirks’ parallel version of his own strip The Katzenjammer Kids) was adapted by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, becoming the studio’s first self-produced series of theatrical cartoon short subjects, directed by William Hanna, Bob Allen, and Friz Freleng. The series was unsuccessful, ending after one year and a total of 15 cartoons. Following that cancellation, Freleng returned to Warner Bros., where he had earlier been an animation director. The Captain was voiced by Billy Bletcher, Mama was voiced by Martha Wentworth, and John Silver was voiced by Mel Blanc. The whole family is at the beach for an outing, and each is having their own little adventure. The Captain fights the sun with his beach umbrella, in an attempt to nap. Grandpa tries to build a sand castle, but the waves keep wiping it out. Mama, after trying to defend her picnic basket, tries dipping a cautious toe into the big bad ocean, eventually needing to be rescued by the Captain. And the kids, naturally, are cooking up mischief. Their first target is that picnic basket, but their plan to use a pelican backfires when a lobster cuts the rope they were using. Then they set out to enjoy the water, but their “borrowing“ the bottom of the safety rowboat has bad consequences later. Characters The Captain (Voice: Billy Bletcher) Director Isadore “Friz“ Freleng Animator William C. “Bill“ Nolan Producer Fred Quimby