''Wee Pals'' is an American syndicated

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

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. He was creator of the strip ''Wee Pals'', the first American syndicated strip with a racial integration, racially integrated cast of characters. Biography ...

. 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'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

'' cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, 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 The Register and Tribune Syndicate was a Print syndication, syndication service based in Des Moines, Iowa, that operated from 1922 to 1986, when it was acquired by King Features to become the Cowles Syndicate affiliate. At its peak, the Register a ...

, before moving to

United Feature Syndicate United Feature Syndicate, Inc. (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 ( ...

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. Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05& ...

, 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 — An 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 from , itself a re-spelled version of the , a diminutive form of , meaning . In Europe, the kepi is most commonly associated with French ...

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

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

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

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

and racism, despite that she herself expresses chauvanistic and misandrist views. 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. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resulted in g ...

). * 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 — A chubby, bookish white boy with glasses. * Diz — An

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

boy who's never without his sunglasses and

beret A beret ( , ; ; ; ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap made of hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in the 19th century in Southern France and the north of History of Spain (1808 ...

. He plays trumpet like his namesake

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

and often narrates the "Funky Fables" strips. * Charlotte — A 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 (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

) A happy carefree young boy who is very good friends with Randy and Jerry. He is often shown to be the

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

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 Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for ...

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 (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

) 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 * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

) 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 hearing impairment, deaf and muteness, could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak ...

) 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 is shown in an earlier strip that he wears glasses underneath his bangs.

''Wee Pals'' bibliography

* ''Wee Pals That "Kid Power" Gang in Rainbow Power'' (Signet Books, 1968) * ''Wee Pals'' (Signet Books, 1969) introduction by Charles M. Schulz * ''Kid Power'' (Signet Books, 1970) * ''Nipper'' (Westminster Press, 1971) * ''Nipper's Secret Power'' (Westminster Press, 1971) * ''Wee Pals: Rainbow Power'' (Signet Books, 1973) * ''Wee Pals: Doing Their Thing'' (Signet Books, 1973) * ''Wee Pals' Nipper and Nipper's Secret Power'' (Signet Books, 1974) * ''Wee Pals: Book of Knowledge'' (Signet Books, 1974) * ''Wee Pals: Staying Cool'' (Signet Books, 1974) * ''Wee Pals: Funky Tales'' (New American Library, 1975) * ''Wee Pals: Welcome to the Club'' (Rainbow Power Club Books, 1978) * ''Choosing a Health Career: Featuring Wee Pals, the Kid Power Gang'' (Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Health Resources Administration, 1979) * ''Wee Pals: A Full-Length Musical Comedy for Children or Young Teenagers'' (The Dramatic Publishing Company, 1981) * ''Wee Pals Make Friends with Music and Musical Instruments: Coloring Book'' (Stockton Symphony Association, 1982) * ''Wee Pals, the Kid Power Gang: Thinking Well'' (Ingham County Health Department, 1983) * ''Wee Pals Doing the Right Thing Coloring Book'' (Oakland Police Department, 1991) * ''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)

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. It was known for its seasonal television specials, ...

with animation done in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Topcraft Topcraft Co., Ltd. (株式会社トップクラフト ''Kabushiki-gaisha Toppukurafuto'', also written as "Top Craft") was an animation studio established in 1972, by former Toei Animation producer Toru Hara, and located in Tokyo, Japan. It was f ...

. It aired in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

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 S, or s, is the nineteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and other latin alphabets worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. ...

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.,

Jules Bass Julius Caesar Bass (; September 16, 1935 – October 25, 2022) was an American director, producer, lyricist, composer and author. Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency, and then co-founded the film production company Videocraft ...

* 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 April Terri Winchell (born January 4, 1960) is an American actress, writer, and radio host. Since 1996, she has been the voice of Clarabelle Cow. Early life Born on January 4, 1960, in Whitestone, New York, but raised in the Greater Los Angel ...

(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 the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been owned and operated by the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network through its ABC Owne ...

, the ABC

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an network af ...

in the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

. 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.

Musical

In 1981, Turner collaborated with writer Ole Kittleson and musician Norman Boaz on a musical version of the strip, also called ''Wee Pals'', described as "A Full-Length Play for Ten Boys, Four Girls, Fourteen Women, and One Dog (real or child in costume)," intended to be performed for school plays and childrens' theater productions. Original songs written for the show included "Wee Pals," "Mister Cool," and "Soul Food."

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 Comics about children 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