Another Background Gag Mystery

Painting sets for cockroaches probably isn’t very satisfying. Especially if you don’t have the full spectrum of Technicolors because Walt Disney has them exclusively.

That’s the situation that was faced by whoever did the backgrounds for The Lady in Red, a 1935 Friz Freleng cartoon.

There’s a nicely-drawn establishing shot to open the short, and we get a lunch counter to set the mood. The other shots below are pretty lacklustre.



Ah, but we have hidden gags by the guy who loved sticking references to Tubby Millar and his hometown in background objects. They are littered in a bunch of Merrie Melodies and all have the same style of lettering. It was either Griff Jay or Elmer Plummer. My wild guess is Plummer.

First, cereal made in Portis (and packed by Tubby Millar). Note it’s patented in 1934.



Next, Tedd Pierce’s black olives. Perhaps he used them in his martinis.



Not just cereal! Tubby has laying hens, too. In a throwaway gag, a cross-eyed roach keeps looking the wrong way.



Here are two similar backgrounds but different. One has the cake cups manufactured by “The Millar Co.” The other has them by “The Coleman Co.”



Another Coleman reference.



We’ve talked about Coleman before. Don Coleman’s name and address were in a phoney phone book in Buddy the Detective (1934). At the time, we mentioned the Los Angeles City Directory for 1935 listed his occupation as “cartoonist.” It’s the same in 1936 and 1938. In 1933, it says “artist” and he is living at home with his parents.

A detective is what’s needed to solve the mystery of who Coleman was. He can be found in the 1930 City directory, which reveals he was born in Montana and was 19 years old. His name pops up in the “Junior Times” section of the Los Angeles Times of June 12, 1927 where young people sent in cartoons and other art. Besides Coleman, future animators mentioned in the column were Hardie Gramatky (Disney), Manuel Moreno (Lantz), Leo Salkin (Mintz, UPA), Phil De Lara (Warners) and Bob Stokes (Harman-Ising) with a drawing by Cal Howard (various studios).

His picture is in the Loyola High School annual of 1928-29. The Los Angeles Evening Express of February 1, 1930 mentions he is at Los Angeles Junior College as assistant art editor and a later edition reveals he was taking commercial art, designed the college seal and was illustrating a book called “Rum-Tum-Tummy.” A drawing of his of Loyola’s coach appeared in the October 3, 1930 Los Angeles Evening Post-Record.

I have no evidence his cartoonist job was at the Leon Schlesinger studio, but it would seem most probable.

What happened to him? Other than some Times stories involving events at Catholic schools, his name is in the 1940 Census—living in a jail. Why? I haven’t been able to find out, but it’s him without a doubt. He appears twice in the 1920 Census as well, in Lewiston City, Montana, and San Diego, but his first name is given as “Dominick” (side note: Don Pardo’s first name was actually “Dominick”). With that information handy, we find a WW2 Draft Card for Charles Dominic Coleman now residing with his mother at Tuxedo Terrace in Los Angeles, unemployed. He was born October 15, 1910 and died in San Diego on August 16, 1958, having served as a corporal in the U.S. Army during the war.

The song “The Lady in Red” is a Mort Dixon/Allie Wrubel composition that was first peformed in the 1935 feature In Caliente with Dolores Del Rio and is heard in 14 Warners cartoons, the final one being The Windblown Hare (1948). The music when the parrot is being chased is “Comedy Excitement” by J.S. Zamecnik.