Floyd Gottfredson went to work for the Walt Disney studio on December 19, 1929 as an apprentice animator and in-betweener. Just 5 months later Walt asked him to fill in on the Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip until a permanent replacement for the departed Ub Iwerks could be found.He kept the "temporary" assignment for the next 45 years.
Gottfredson's work on Mickey Mouse in comic strip form was something to behold. His version of Mickey was understandably different from the animated version as different mediums tell stories differently. The daily comic strip opened up grand vistas of adventure for the little mouse, and Floyd was the perfect guy to do it.
Working for 45 years, relatively unknown ghosting for under the Walt Disney byline, Floyd turned his temporary job into a labor of love. Dense storytelling under fun melodramatic themes, Floyd's mouse also had a real liveliness to him. The few months he worked in animation really gave a spark to his strip work, and the mouse seemed truly alove and ready to jump off the page.
On a future birthday I will post some of his strip work, but for now, here's a wonderfully in-depth interview with Floyd from "Nemo: the Classic Comics Library" issue #6 from April 1984, 9 years after he retired from the comic strip he loved...and we loved. Gottfredson was finally getting some acclaim for his work after working a half a century in anonymity...and he was loving it. The article also contains a full checklist of all the Mickey Mouse storyline's that appeared in the comic strip.
Enjoy!
Thanks Floyd...for all the hard work that seemed effortless!!
I just remember the first time a saw the strips drawn by this guy. I was thirteen or so and taken aback. Actually, I passed that whole year by copying his strips as well as Segar's Popeye by heart. It was then when I began to love old comics besides Dc and Marvel stuff. So I have alot to thank Floyd Gottfredson for!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I'm gonna have a great time reading this!
Without question a hall of famer! Gottfredson is still my favorite story-teller for Mickey! i love that Gabe exercised his talent by learning Segar and Gottfredson. That says a lot about him -- all good!
ReplyDeleteGreat Post and thanks. -- Mykal
You're right, Mykal...it says a lot for sure!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see more of your work Gabriel...from great inspiration comes great art!