Ron Campbell	- Download MP3-

Contributed Photo
Ron Campbell created this image of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band.

Animator Ron Campbell has worked on some of the most beloved cartoons of all time, including "Scooby Doo," "The Jetsons," "The Flintstones" and "Rugrats."

Several times a year, he travels to shows selling art pieces and he finds fans of all ages who grew up with one character or another. Whether the buyer is a Rugrats or Flintstones fan usually depends on his age, Campbell said.

His most popular pieces by far, however, are the ones he did for a show that hasn't been on the air in 40 years. From 1965 to 1967 (reruns were shown in 1968 and '69), Campbell directed "The Beatles" cartoon series. He also did some of the animation for the Fab Four's full-length animated film "Yellow Submarine," released in 1968.

"I've been involved in some very successful cartoons, but none are as popular with people as the Beatles stuff," he said.

Campbell and his artwork will be part of the KZ106 Classic Rock Art Show, a free exhibit featuring rock photographs, handwritten song lyrics, album artwork, gold records, concert posters and artwork created by rock musicians. Many of the pieces are available for purchase.

Campbell will have original paintings for sale and will give demonstrations throughout the weekend.

Campbell, who was 24 when he hired on to work on the Beatles cartoon, said he never met or talked with any of the Beatles about the show, but he heard that Ringo Starr and George Harrison were OK with it. John Lennon had some harsh and unprintable things to say about it, he said.

"They were disappointed in the animation, and, of course, it was simple and crude," Campbell said. "It was very low-budget."

A big bone of contention with the Beatles was that American actors were used "so that 40 million American kids could understand it."

Paul Frees did the voices for both Lennon and Harrison, and Lance Percival voiced Paul McCartney and Starr.

"That grated on the Beatles, and they insisted that it was, by contract, to never be shown in England."

Al Brodax produced the cartoon and the movie. When the film ran into problems late in production, he asked Campbell and Duane Crowther to help tie up loose ends. The pair ended up animating about 12 minutes of the movie, including several transition scenes and the Sea of Time sequence, as well as a good bit of the action between Chief Blue Meanie and his boot-licking sidekick, Max.

Campbell said he is proud to have been a part of "Yellow Submarine," and that he knew it was groundbreaking work, but he had no idea how big its impact would be.

"I take no credit for how beautiful it is," he said. "At the time, we certainly knew we were working on a neat film. We knew Heinz Edelmann's designs were right. We did not really know we would be working on a film that captured the zeitgeist of the '60s."

Ron Campbell's Cartoon Credits

"Scooby Doo," "The Jetsons," "The Flintstones," "Rugrats," "George of the Jungle," "Krazy Kats," "Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy," "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Winnie the Pooh" and "The Smurfs"

IF YOU GO

* What: The KZ106 Classic Rock Art Show.

* When: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. today and Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday.

* Where: Hamilton Place, I-75 at Shallowford Road.

* Admission: Free.

* Phone: 756-6141