Katzenjammer Kids

''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years (1914 to 1949).Dirks profile
"Born in Heide, Germany, Rudolph Dirks moved with his parents to Chicago at the age of seven." It debuted December 12, 1897, in the ''American Humorist'', the Sunday supplement of William Randolph Hearst's ''New York Journal''. The comic strip was turned into a stage play in 1903. It inspired several animated cartoons and was one of 20 strips included in the Comic Strip Classics series of U.S. commemorative postage stamps.

After a series of legal battles between 1912 and 1914, Dirks left the Hearst organization and began a new strip, first titled ''Hans and Fritz'' and then ''The Captain and the Kids''. It featured the same characters seen in ''The Katzenjammer Kids'', which was continued by Knerr. The two separate versions of the strip competed with each other until 1979, when ''The Captain and the Kids'' ended its six-decade run. ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' published its last strip on January 1, 2006, but is still distributed in reprints by King Features Syndicate, making it the oldest comic strip still in syndication and the longest-running ever.

History

Creation and early years

''The Katzenjammer Kids'' was inspired by ''Max and Moritz'', a children's story of the 1860s by German author Wilhelm Busch.

''Katzenjammer'' translates literally as ''the wailing of cats'' (i.e. "caterwaul") but is used to mean ''contrition after a failed endeavor'' or ''hangover'' in German (and, in the latter sense, in English too). Whereas Max & Moritz were grotesquely but comically put to death after seven destructive pranks, the Katzenjammer Kids and the other characters still thrive.

Dirks and Knerr

''The Katzenjammer Kids'' was so popular that it became two competing comic strips and the subject of a lawsuit. This happened because Dirks, in 1912, wanted to take a break after drawing the strip for 15 years, but the Hearst newspaper syndicate would not allow it. Dirks left anyway, and the strip was taken over by Harold Knerr. Dirks' last strip appeared March 16, 1913. Dirks sued, and after a long legal battle, the Hearst papers were allowed to continue ''The Katzenjammer Kids'', with Knerr as writer and artist. He took over permanently in the summer of 1914. However, Dirks was allowed to create an almost identical strip of his own for the rival Pulitzer newspapers, although he had to use a different name for the strip.

Initially named ''Hans und Fritz'' after the two naughty protagonist brothers, Dirks' new feature was called ''The Captain and the Kids'' from 1918 on. ''The Captain and the Kids'' was very similar to ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' in terms of content and characters, but Dirks had a looser and more verbal style than Knerr, who on the other hand often produced stronger, more direct gags and drawings. ''The Captain and the Kids'' soon proved equal in popularity to ''The Katzenjammer Kids''. It was later distributed by the United Feature Syndicate, while Hearst's King Features distributed ''The Katzenjammer Kids''.

1950s to the present

''The Captain and the Kids'' expanded as a daily strip during the 1930s, but it had only a short run. However, the Sunday strip remained popular for decades. From 1946, Dirks' son, John Dirks, gradually began doing more of the work on ''The Captain and the Kids''. They introduced new characters and plots during the 1950s, including a 1958 science fiction storyline about a brilliant inventor and alien invasions. Even as John Dirks took over most of the work, Rudolph Dirks signed the strip until his death in 1968. John Dirks' drawing shifted slightly towards a more square-formed line, though it maintained the original style until ''The Captain and the Kids'' ended its run in 1979.

Knerr continued drawing ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' until his death in 1949; the strip was then written and drawn by C.H. "Doc" Winner (1949–1956), with Joe Musial taking over in 1956. Musial was replaced on ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' by Mike Senich (1976–1981), Angelo DeCesare (1981–1986), and Hy Eisman (1986–2006). Now syndicated in reprint form, the strip is distributed internationally to some 50 newspapers and magazines. Eisman reused a lot of old gags and stories in later years.

Characters and story

''The Katzenjammer Kids'' (three brothers in the first strip but soon reduced to two) featured Hans and Fritz, twins who rebelled against authority, particularly in the form of their mother, Mama; der Captain, a sailor who acted as a surrogate father; and der Inspector, a long-bearded school official. Other characters included John Silver, a pirate sea captain; the Herring Brothers, John Silver's three-man crew; and King Bongo, a primitive-living but sophisticated-acting black jungle monarch who ruled a tropical island.

As originally created, Mama's husband was Papa Katzenjammer, her brother was the bungling sailor Heinie, and der Captain–introduced in 1902—was Heinie's boss. After a short while, Papa was dropped from the strip without explanation, with der Captain taking over his function. By the 1940s, der Captain and Mama were often presented as a de facto couple.

The immediate Katzenjammer family usually spoke stereotypical German-accented English. When first introduced, der Captain and der Inspector did not, but within months adopted the accent as well. During World Wars I and II, when the United States was at war with Germany, the Katzenjammer family were temporarily presented as Dutch.

The defining theme of the strip was Hans and Fritz pranking der Captain, der Inspector, Mama, or all three, for which the boys were often spanked, but sometimes shifted the blame to others. Other stories involved der Captain taking the Katzenjammers on treasure hunts or cargo voyages, sometimes aided by or competing with John Silver. Still other stories involved King Bongo enlisting the Katzenjammers to run errands or go on missions related to his kingdom; in both strips, by the mid-1930s, the family lived on Bongo's island—usually called Squee-Jee—and were readily at hand.

Knerr's version of ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' introduced several major new characters in the 1930s. Miss Twiddle, a pompous tutor, and her brainy niece Lena came to stay permanently with the Katzenjammers in early 1936. Later in the year Twiddle's ex-pupil, "boy prodigy" Rollo Rhubarb joined them. The ever-smug Rollo is always trying to outwit Hans and Fritz, but his cunning plans often backfire.

''The Captain and the Kids'' also introduced some new characters. Ginga Dun is a snooty Indian trader who can outsmart almost anyone and only talks in verse. Captain Bloodshot is a pint-sized pirate rival of John Silver's.

Notable features of the later strips, at both syndicates, included a more constructive relationship between the Captain and the boys, who sometimes bickered like friendly rivals rather than pranking each other outright. The King and his people, also in both strips, were now Polynesian rather than African.

In other media

''The Katzenjammer Kids''

The ''Katzenjammer Kids'' characters initially appeared outside comics in a two of live-action silent films. The first film, titled ''The Katzenjammer Kids In School'' released in 1898., was made for the Biograph Company by William George Bitzer. The second film titled ''The Katzenjammer Kids in Love.'' was released in 1900

Between December 1916 and August 1918, a total of 37 ''Katzenjammer Kids'' silent cartoon shorts were produced by William Randolph Hearst's own cartoon studio International Film Service, which adapted Hearst's well-known comic strips. The series was retired in 1918 at the height of the characters' popularity – partly because of the growing tension against titles with German associations after World War I. The comic strip was briefly renamed to ''The Shenanigan Kids'' around this time, and in 1920 another five cartoons were produced under this title. All ''Katzenjammer Kids''/''Shenanigan Kids'' cartoons from International Film Services were directed (and most likely also animated) by Gregory La Cava.

The Katzenjammer Kids also appeared (along with other King Features comic-strip stars) in Hal Seeger’s TV special ''Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter'' (1972).

''The Captain and the Kids''

In 1938, ''The Captain and the Kids'' became the subject of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's first self-produced series of theatrical short subject cartoons, directed by William Hanna, Bob Allen and Friz Freleng: ''The Captain and the Kids

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