Friday, December 22, 2006
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Smurf
On October 23, 1958 the Smurfs made their first appearance in a story of Johan & Peewit in “Le Journal de Spirou”. Their creator Peyo had worked previously at a number of drawing jobs. But the introduction of the Smurfs into Spirou would change his life.
At first, the Smurfs were just secondary characters. But they soon became stars in their own right. After a few mini-albums, their tales began to appear as full albums. Then the film “The Smurfs and the Magic Flute” appeared, with music by Michel Legrand (he also sang in the chorus !).
Tarzan the white ape
Create by sir Edgar rice Bourroughs. This story of the orphaned English lord, raised by apes in the depths of the African jungle, who grows up to eventually become king of his ape tribe, who falls in love with the beautiful - and conveniently marooned - Jane Porter of Baltimore, who learns the ways of civilization and follows Jane to America (only to lose her in the end), struck a cord with readers. They loved the story - but hated the ending! How could Tarzan not win Jane? Ah, but that would be another story ...
And more Tarzan stories Burroughs would definitely write. The adventures Tarzan had, and the many strange lands he traveled to, would boggle the mind of those who only knew Tarzan from the movies. Tarzan would discover Opar, the lost outpost of Atlantis ~ a hidden valley where the Roman Empire still held sway ~ Pal-ul-don, a land where dinosaurs and prehistoric men still survived ~ the City of Gold, whose inhabitants hunted men with lions ~ and Pellucidar, a land of eternal day at the center of the earth.