''Wee Pals'' is an American syndicated comic strip about a diverse group of children, created and produced by

Morrie Turner Morris Nolton Turner (December 11, 1923 – January 25, 2014) was an American cartoonist, creator of the strip ''Wee Pals'', the first American syndicated strip with an integrated cast of characters. Biography Turner was raised in Oakland, Ca ...

. It was the first comic strip syndicated in the United States to have a cast of diverse ethnicity, dubbed the "Rainbow Gang".

Background

When cartoonist

began questioning why there were no minorities in the comic strips, his mentor, ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and infl ...

'' cartoonist

Charles M. Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wi ...

, suggested he create one. Morris' first attempt, ''Dinky Fellas'', featured an all-black cast, but found publication in only one newspaper, the ''

Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

''. Turner integrated the strip, renaming it ''Wee Pals'', and on February 15, 1965, it became the first American syndicated comic strip to have a cast of diverse ethnicity. Initially syndicated by Lew Little Enterprises, it was then carried by the Register and Tribune Syndicate, before moving to

United Feature Syndicate United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along ...

in the 1970s. When it debuted, the strip originally appeared in only five daily newspapers, as many papers refused to run a strip featuring black characters.Jones, Steven Loring. "From 'Under Cork' to Overcoming: Black Images in the Comics," ''Ethnic Images in the Comics'' (The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, 1986), p. 27. After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the number of papers carrying the strip grew either to 60 or to more than 100 dailies (sources differ). As the comic strip's popularity grew, Turner added characters. He included children of more and more ethnicities, as well as a child with a physical disability. He also added a weekly section called "Soul Corner", which profiled notable African Americans from history. In its later years, the strip was distributed by

Creators Syndicate Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few suc ...

Characters

* Nipper — African-American boy who always wears a blue or grey American Civil War

kepi The kepi ( ) is a cap with a flat circular top and a peak, or visor. In English, the term is a loanword of french: képi, itself a re-spelled version of the gsw, Käppi, a diminutive form of , meaning "cap". In Europe, this headgear is most ...

, and has a dog named General Lee. Turner based Nipper on himself as a child. * Ralph —

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

neighborhood bigot and ruffian * Connie — athletic white girl who frequently clashes with Ralph over his

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practice ...

and racism. She's an outspoken member of the neighborhood "Girls' Lib" organization (a play on the

Women's Liberation Movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

) * Sybil — African-American girl who is also in the Girls' Lib organization. She is a very nice and respectful young girl who has a very good relationship with Connie. * Oliver — chubby, bookish white boy with glasses. * Diz —

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

boy who's never without his sunglasses and

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret rema ...

. He plays trumpet like his namesake Dizzy Gillespie and often narrates the "Funky Fables" strips * Charlotte — white bespectacled girl who uses a wheelchair. She has a pet parrot named Polly Esther. * Randy (

) The second in command of the Rainbow Club who is very good friends with Oliver. He also has a one-sided friendship with Ralph. * Pablo (

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

/ Mexican-American) A happy carefree young boy who is very good friends with Randy and Jerry. He is often shown to be the pacifist of the group. * Mikki (African-American; about four years old) A young girl who has a very big imagination. She is mainly seen with Jerry and Trinh * Rocky ( Native American) A respectful kind young boy who is very proud of his racial background. He is good friends with Randy and Nipper. * George ( Asian-American of Chinese origin) A quiet young boy with a vivid imagination who often discusses Chinese parables. He has a good relationship with Oliver, Nipper, and Jerry. * Jerry (

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

) An upbeat, happy, loyal young man with a very big heart. He is very good friends with Nipper, Oliver, Diz, Randy and Trinh. It's shown that he might have feelings for Sybil. * Trinh (

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

) A kind-hearted little boy who is very good friends with Mikki. * Sally (ethnicity unstated, but

deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have som ...

) A respectful young girl with a very kind heart. She appears in the later strips in the series. * Wellington (ethnicity unstated, dark hair covering eyes) A hip young boy who is mainly shown with Diz. It's shown in a earlier strip that he wears glasses underneath his bangs.

''Wee Pals'' bibliography

* ''Wee Pals That "Kid Power" Gang in Rainbow Power'' (Signet Books, 1968) ASIN B002T6NAOG * ''Wee Pals'' (Signet Books, 1969) ASIN B003ZUKTLW — introduction by

* ''Kid Power'' (Signet Books, 1970), ASIN B001IKPRM2 * ''Nipper'' (Westminster Press, 1971), ASIN B002IY2XOM * ''Nipper's Secret Power'' (Westminster Press, 1971) * ''Wee Pals: Rainbow Power'' (Signet Books, 1973) ASIN B000M8UYII * ''Wee Pals: Doing Their Thing'' (Signet Books, 1973) ASIN B00129HWKO * ''Wee Pals' Nipper and Nipper's Secret Power'' (Signet Books, 1974) ASIN B001M5GOOS * ''Wee Pals: Book of Knowledge'' (Signet Books, 1974) * ''Wee Pals: Staying Cool'' (Signet Books, 1974) * ''Wee Pals: Funky Tales'' (New American Library, 1975) ASIN B00072KLVE * ''Wee Pals: Welcome to the Club'' (Rainbow Power Club Books, 1978) ASIN B003VC7JQW * ''Choosing a Health Career: Featuring Wee Pals, the Kid Power Gang'' (Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Health Resources Administration, 1979), ASIN B0006XCLLC * ''Wee Pals: A Full-Length Musical Comedy for Children or Young Teenagers'' (The Dramatic Publishing Company, 1981) ASIN B0006XW1I0 * ''Wee Pals Make Friends with Music and Musical Instruments: Coloring Book'' (Stockton Symphony Association, 1982) ASIN B00072YGD8 * ''Wee Pals, the Kid Power Gang: Thinking Well'' (Ingham County Health Department, 1983) ASIN B0007259DY * ''Wee Pals Doing the Right Thing Coloring Book'' (Oakland Police Department, 1991) ASIN B0006R4G98 * ''Explore Black History with Wee Pals'' (Just us Books, 1998) * ''The Kid Power Gang Salutes African-Americans in the Military Past and Present'' (Conway B. Jones, Jr., 2000), ASIN B0006RSDC4

Animated series: ''Kid Power''

During the 1972-73 television season, ''Wee Pals'' was animated as ''Kid Power'', a series produced by

Rankin/Bass Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usual ...

with animation done in Japan at Topcraft. It aired in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on ABC television on Saturday mornings. All of Turner's characters were featured, united through the coalition the characters dubbed "Rainbow Power." In ''The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows'', David Perlutter says, "The same broad ethnic mix s the comic making it one of the first television animation programs aimed at children to accurately reflect the racial diversity of America and thus providing for many others to follow." A total of 17 episodes were made, most of which aired from September 16, 1972, to January 6, 1973, followed by reruns. In the following year, a few new episodes that were unfinished during the first season aired on Sunday mornings (combined with reruns) until September 1, 1974.

Staff

* Producer/director:

Arthur Rankin Jr. Arthur Gardner Rankin Jr. (July 19, 1924 – January 30, 2014) was an American director, producer and writer, who mostly worked in animation. Co-creator of Rankin/Bass Productions with his friend Jules Bass, he created stop-motion animatio ...

, Jules Bass * Teleplay: William J. Keenan * Associate Producer: Basil Cox * Animation Supervision: Toru Hara, Tsuguyuki Kubo * Music: Perry Botkin Jr. * Songs: Jules Bass, Perry Botkin Jr. * Editorial Supervision: Irwin Goldress * Sound Engineers: Jim Harris, John Boyd

Voices

* Donald Fullilove (Diz and Randy) * Michelle Johnson (Sybil) * Charles Kennedy (Nipper) * Gary Shapiro (Jerry and Wellington) * Jay Silverheels Jr. (Rocky) * Greg Thomas (Oliver) * Jeff Thomas (Ralph) * April Winchell (Connie) * Carey Wong (George)

''Wee Pals on the Go''

During the same 1972–73 television season, ''Wee Pals on the Go'' was aired by

KGO-TV KGO-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's ABC network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, KGO-TV ma ...

, the ABC owned-and-operated station in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Bay Area. This live-action Sunday morning show featured child actors who portrayed the main characters of Turner's comic strip, Nipper, Randy, Sybil, Connie, and Oliver.

References

External links

Wee Pals
at

* * {{Children's programming on the American Broadcasting Company in the 1970s American comic strips African-Americans in comic strips Topcraft Child characters in comics Children's comics Teen comedy comics 1965 comics debuts Gag-a-day comics Comics set in the United States Comics adapted into television series Comics adapted into animated series African-American comics