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Li'l Abner - Cast of Characters - Supporting Characters and Villains He was succeeded by Ben Rich. [27] The impervious Fosdick considered the gaping, smoking holes "mere scratches", however, and always reported back in one piece to his corrupt superior "The Chief" for duty the next day. Oh hell, it's like a fighter retiring. Lower Slobbovians spoke with burlesque pidgin-Russian accents; the miserable frozen wasteland of Capp's invention abounded in incongruous Yiddish humor. Flying Mach 3.2 at 100,000 ft. , the SR-71 operated in hostile airspace with complete impunity. Two days later the go-ahead was given to Lockheed to start development and the Skunk Works was born, with Kelly Johnson at the helm. In 1952, Fearless Fosdick proved popular enough to be incorporated into a short-lived TV series. Within three years Abner's circulation climbed to 253 newspapers, reaching over 15,000,000 readers. The smell at the site is credited with being the basis for the Skunk Works name. Without any formal office to spare, the group rented an old circus tent, "and on a handshake the project would begin, no contracts in place, no official submittal process." They also released an archive hardcover reprint of the complete Shmoo Comics in 2009, followed by a second Shmoo volume of complete newspaper strips in 2011. People magazine ran a substantial feature, and even the comics-free New York Times devoted nearly a full page to the event," according to publisher Denis Kitchen. The D-21 drone, similar in design to the Blackbird, was built to overfly the Lop Nur nuclear test facility in China. The musical has since become a perennial favorite of high school and amateur productions, due to its popular appeal and modest production requirements. He also briefly filled-in for radio journalist Drew Pearson, participated in a March 2, 1948 America's Town Meeting of the Air debate on ABC, and hosted his own syndicated, 500-station radio show.). The term Skunk Works is synonymous with the research and development department of the Lockheed Martin Co. More recently, Dark Horse Comics reprinted the limited series Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years, in four full-color volumes covering the Sunday pages from 1954 to 1961. Their monetary unit was the "rasbucknik", of which one was worth nothing and a large quantity was worth a lot less, due to the trouble of carrying them around. There are conflicting observations about the birth of Skunk Works. One day, when the Department of the Navy was trying to reach the Lockheed management for the P-80 project, the call was accidentally transferred to Culvers desk. The Lightning team was temporarily moved to the 3G Distillery, a smelly former bourbon works where the first YP-38 (constructor's number 2202) was built. [3] Theirs is the official Lockheed Skunk Works story: The Air Tactical Service Command (ATSC) of the Army Air Force met with Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to express its need for a jet fighter. They have filed several challenges against registrants of domain names containing variations on the term under anti-cybersquatting policies, and have lost a case under the .uk domain name dispute resolution service against a company selling cannabis seeds and paraphernalia, which used the word "skunkworks" in its domain name (referring to "Skunk", a variety of the cannabis plant). I am proud to see the classic logo - my father worked for more than 30 years at Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Projects, known as Skunk Works. One day, Culver's phone rang and he answered it by saying "Skonk Works, inside man Culver speaking." The Skunk Works had predicted that the U-2 would have a limited operational life over the Soviet Union. An attack aircraft that rendered itself invisible to enemy radar. Warren M. Bodie, journalist, historian, and Skunk Works engineer from 1977 to 1984, wrote that engineering independence, elitism and secrecy of the Skunk Works variety were demonstrated earlier when Lockheed was asked by Lieutenant Benjamin S. Kelsey (later air force brigadier general) to build for the United States Army Air Corps a high speed, high altitude fighter to compete with German aircraft. Capp has credited his inspiration for vividly stylized language to early literary influences like Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Damon Runyon, as well as Old-time radio and the Burlesque stage. As utterly wretched as existence was in Dogpatch, there was one place even worse. Skunk Works - Everything2.com Pappy Yokum utters this tagline when, thinking he is dreaming, actually commands a bottle genie to do his bidding. [38] Other promotional tie-ins included the Lena the Hyena Contest (1946), the Name the Shmoo Contest (1949), the Nancy O. Li'l Abner provided a whole new template for contemporary satire and personal expression in comics, paving the way for Pogo, Feiffer, Doonesbury and MAD. Li'l Abner's success also sparked a handful of comic strip imitators. replied the voice at the other end. [1] In November 1941, Kelsey gave the unofficial nod to Johnson and the P-38 team to engineer a drop tank system to extend range for the fighter, and they completed the initial research and development without a contract. Li'l Abner made its debut on August 13, 1934, in eight North American newspapers, including the New York Mirror. The U-2 was tested at Groom Lake in the Nevada desert, and the Flight Test Engineer in charge was Joseph F. Ware, Jr. [46][47] According to the Boston Globe (as reported on May 18, 2010), the town has renamed its amphitheater in the artist's honor, and is looking to develop an Al Capp Museum. FactSnippet No. Over the years, Li'l Abner characters have inspired diverse compositions in pop, jazz, country and even rock 'n' roll: No comprehensive reprint of the series had been attempted until Kitchen Sink Press began publishing the Li'l Abner Dailies in hardcover and paperback, one year per volume, in 1988. The ambitious puppet show was created and directed by puppeteer Mary Chase, written by Everett Crosby and voiced by John Griggs, Gilbert Mack and Jean Carson. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 1 on Twitter: "RT @Eigotoshibainu: @saint_uv skunk works Mammy solved the problem with a tooth extraction and ended the episode with her most famous dictum. The Birthplace Of Stealth: 10 Things You Didn't Know About - HotCars Among the original TV characters were "Mr. Ditto", "Harris Tweed" (a disembodied suit of clothes), "Swenn Golly" (a Svengali-like mesmerist), counterfeiters "Max Millions" and "Minton Mooney", "Frank N. Stein", "Batula", "Match Head" (a pyromaniac), "Sen-Sen O'Toole", "Shmoozer" and "Herman the Ape Man". Capp originally created it as a comic plot device, but in 1939, only two years after its inauguration, a double-page spread in Life proclaimed, "On Sadie Hawkins Day Girls Chase Boys in 201 Colleges". Like the Coconino County depicted in George Herriman's Krazy Kat and the Okefenokee Swamp of Walt Kelly's Pogo, and, most recently and famously, The Simpsons' "Springfield", Dogpatch's distinctive cartoon landscape became as identified with the strip as any of its characters. Learn how we are strengthening the economies, industries and communities of our global partner nations. Sworn to secrecy, they went by the code name Skunk Works (named in jest after Lil'Abner's "Skonk Works" forest, where musty and rank concoctions were brewed). Beginning in 1944, Li'l Abner was adapted into a series of color theatrical cartoons by Screen Gems for Columbia Pictures, directed by Sid Marcus, Bob Wickersham and Howard Swift. January 8, 2021 What is Skunk Works? In 1949, when the all-male club refused membership to Hilda Terry, creator of the comic strip Teena, Capp temporarily resigned in protest. Taking action to help you protect what matters most. When Capp finally gave in to reader pressure and allowed the couple to tie the knot, it was a major media event. Capp provided specialty artwork for civic groups, government agencies and charitable or non-profit organizations, spanning several decades. The term shmoo has also entered the lexicon used in defining highly technical concepts in no fewer than four separate fields of science. [14], During the development of the P-80 Shooting Star, Johnson's engineering team was located adjacent to a malodorous plastics factory. Skunk Works Wiki - everipedia.org "One of the few strips ever taken seriously by students of American culture," wrote Professor Berger, "Li'l Abner is worth studyingbecause of Capp's imagination and artistry, and because of the strip's very obvious social relevance." Skunk Works - Wikiwand The staff was cautioned that they had to operate in strict secrecy. But where did the term come from? A rapidly growing German jet threat gave Lockheed an opportunity to develop an airframe around the most powerful jet engine that the allied forces had access to, the British Goblin. After 1989, Lockheed reorganized its operations and relocated the Skunk Works to Site 10 at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, where it remains in operation today. Li'l Abner himself was a mattress tester, and most others were either moonshiners or bootleggers. The demise of KSP in 1999 stopped the reprint series at Volume 27 (1961). Comic dialects were also devised for offbeat British characters like H'Inspector Blugstone of Scotland Yard (who had a Cockney accent) and Sir Cecil Cesspool (whose speech was a clipped, uppercrust King's English). Shortly after, the go-ahead was given for Lockheed to start developing the United States' first jet fighter. Skunk Works is an official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. The logo, which features a skunk standing on its hind feet with its front legs folded on his chest and smiling confidently, has generated some confusion for generations born well after LilAbner was pulled from the comic pages. Both the Trump and Panic parodies were drawn by EC legend, Will Elder. For Water Innovation To Fly, We Need A Skunk Works Among the actors originally considered for the title role were Dick Shawn and Andy Griffith. Each member of Johnsons team was cautioned that design and production of the new XP-80 fighter jet must be carried out in strict secrecy. And then they would deliver. "Nearly all comic strips, even today, are owned and controlled by syndicates, not the strips' creators. In June 1943, the U.S. Armys Air Tactical Service Command (ATSC) met with Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to express its dire need for a jet fighter to counter a rapidly growing German jet threat. [4] It was originally distributed by United Feature Syndicate and, later by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate. After Capp's death, the Shmoo was used in two Hanna-Barbera produced Saturday morning cartoon series for TV. World Wide Words: Skunk works Before long he was in hundreds more, with a total readership exceeding 60,000,000. Selections from the Li'l Abner musical score have been recorded by everyone from Percy Faith and Mario Lanza to Andr Previn and Shelly Manne. White, David Manning, and Robert H. Abel, eds. [7] In 1952, Abner reluctantly proposed to Daisy to emulate the engagement of his comic strip "ideel", Fearless Fosdick. Skunk Works' Rules & Practices The Alpine Review The name skunkworks originates from a cartoon series called " Li'l Abner " by Al Capp. The comic derivation is true, said Dianne Knippel, director of communications for Lockheed Martin Co. She directed us to LockheedMartin.com, where we learned that the name came about during World War II when engineer Kelly Johnson brought together a select team to develop new aircraft. Lockheed Martin was awarded this prestigious medal in 2007 for an exceptional record of developing cutting-edge aircraft, technologies, and systems solutions for the U.S. Government. In response to the question "Which side does Abner part his hair on? Skunkworks: The Super Secret Program That Built America's Stealth The story is explained as well in the Wikipedia: " [] The "Skonk Works" was a dilapidated factory located on the remote outskirts of Dogpatch, in the backwoods of Kentucky. It is responsible for a number of aircraft designs, highly classified R&D programs, and exotic aircraft platforms. Hilda Terry was the first woman cartoonist to break the gender barrier when the NCS finally permitted female members in 1950. Several years later, the U.S. Air Force became interested in the design, and it ordered the SR-71 Blackbird, a two-seater version of the A-12. 1,193,227 People also liked Fun Fact Skunk Works Blue Interesting Fact But high altitude was not enough. Kellys 14 Rules and Practices" are still in use today as evidenced by our small, empowered teams, streamlined processes and culture that values attempting to do things that havent been done before. ", "Al Capp Replies to Critic of Newspaper Comic Strips;", "Li'l Abner Lost In Hollywood by Michael H. Price", "Gov. But Lockheeds chief engineer, Clarence Kelly Johnson, simply fielded all requests and relayed to his handpicked band of Skunk Works employees what needed to be done. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}343653N 1180707W / 34.614734N 118.118676W / 34.614734; -118.118676. One main building still remains at 2777 Ontario Street in Burbank (near San Fernando Road), now used as an office building for digital film post-production and sound mixing. About - SKONKWERKS.ORG A 1950 cover story in Time even included photos of two of his employees, whose roles in the production were detailed by Capp. About Mind Works Counseling | Anxiety Counseling | San Antonio, TX 78230 It made its debut in Li'l Abner on November 15, 1937. What is Skunkworks? | Webopedia Mammy dominated the Yokum clan through the force of her personality, and dominated everyone else with her fearsome right uppercut (sometimes known as her "Goodnight, Irene" punch), which helped her uphold law, order and decency. I stayed on longer than I should have," he admitted. "What?" [11] His first words were "po'k chop", and that remained his favorite food. In 1964, Capp left United Features and took Li'l Abner to the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate.[52]. Li'l Abner is a satirical American comic strip that appeared across multiple newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. (Response: ", "What's good for General Bullmoose is good for, "Th' ideel o' ev'ry one hunnerd percent, red-blooded American boy! (also, "Wal, cuss mah bones!") Four operational missions were conducted over China, but the camera packages were never successfully recovered. How Skunk Works got its name General Aviation News This would prove to be a common practice within the Skunk Works. Aquatech | Will Sarni on why we need a Skunk Works in water ), In the late 1940s, newspaper syndicates typically owned the copyrights, trademarks and licensing rights to comic strips. The first overflight took place on July 4 1956. His appearances on NBC's The Tonight Show spanned three emcees; Steve Allen, Jack Paar and Johnny Carson. The "Skonk Works" was a dilapidated factory located on the remote outskirts of Dogpatch, in the backwoods of Kentucky. Skunk Works is an official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs, formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. Natural landmarks included (at various times) Teeterin' Rock, Onneccessary Mountain, Bottomless Canyon, and Kissin' Rock (handy to Suicide Cliff). Drawn by cartoonist Steve Stiles,[58] the new Abner was approved by Capp's widow, and brother Elliott Caplin, but Al Capp's daughter, Julie Capp, objected at the last minute and permission was withdrawn. He had an unfortunate predilection for snitching "preserved turnips" and smoking corn silk behind the woodshed much to his chagrin when Mammy caught him. Skunk Works is an industry leader in rapid prototyping, pushing the boundaries of whats possible to quickly design, develop and test innovative solutions. During September 2015 the proposed aircraft was deemed to have developed into more of a tactical reconnaissance aircraft, instead of strategic reconnaissance.[11]. Known locations include United States Air Force Plant 42 and United States Air Force Plant 4. A superhuman dynamo, Mammy did all the household chores and provided her charges with no fewer than eight meals a day of "po'k chops" and "tarnips" (as well as local Dogpatch delicacies like "candied catfish eyeballs" and "trashbean soup"). Fans of the strip ranged from novelist John Steinbeck, who called Capp "very possibly the best writer in the world today" in 1953, and even earnestly recommended him for the Nobel Prize in literature to media critic and theorist Marshall McLuhan, who considered Capp "the only robust satirical force in American life." Forget about it slam dunk! Slipping past Iraqi radar on the morning of January 17, 1991, Lockheeds Nighthawk bombed thirty-seven critical targets across Baghdad, a surgical strike that led, in just forty-three days, to the successful conclusion of Operation Desert Storm. (In his book The American Language, H.L. After about 40 years, however, Capp's interest in Abner waned, and this showed in the strip itself Li'l Abner lasted until November 13, 1977, when Capp retired with an apology to his fans for the recently declining quality of the strip, which he said had been the best he could manage due to advancing illness. "[51] At its peak, the strip was read daily by 70 million Americans (when the U.S. population was only 180 million), with a circulation of more than 900 newspapers in North America and Europe. In the comic strip Li'l Abner, the "Skonk Works" makes oil from the ground up dead skunks for some unknown . Almost every line was followed by two exclamation marks for added emphasis. It was a commentary on human nature itself. What the Hell is a Skunk Work? The Register Mobsters and criminal-types invariably spoke slangy Brooklynese, and residents of Lower Slobbovia spoke pidgin-Russian, with a smattering of Yinglish. After his lower wisdom teeth grew so long that they squeezed his cerebral Goodness Gland and emerged as forehead horns, he proved himself capable of evil. The name was adapted by the Lockheed Corporation, the predecessor of the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, more than 50 years ago. Uncle Sam needed a counterpunch, and Johnson got a call. He was portrayed as a naive, simpleminded, gullible and sweet-natured hillbilly. Through Li'l Abner, the American comic strip achieved unprecedented relevance in the postwar years, attracting new readers who were more intellectual, more informed on current events, and less likely to read the comics (according to Coulton Waugh, author of The Comics, 1947). First in the 1979 The New Shmoo (later incorporated into Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo), and again from 1980 to 1981 in the Flintstone Comedy Show, in the Bedrock Cops segments. Sign up here. In 1988 and 1989 many newspapers ran reruns of Li'l Abner episodes, mostly from the 1940s run, distributed by Newspaper Enterprise Association and Capp Enterprises. "The Comic Page Is the Last Refuge of Classic Art". [44] Journalism Quarterly and Time have both called him "the Mark Twain of cartoonists". The formal contract for the XP-80 did not arrive at Lockheed until October 16, 1943; some four months after work had already begun. Kelly Johnson's elite engineering group was originally housed in a rented circus tent adjacent to a smelly plastics factory. Contest (1951), the Roger the Lodger Contest (1964) and many others. Although it lacks the political satire and Broadway polish of the 1959 version, this film gives a fairly accurate portrayal of the various Dogpatch characters up until that time. [53] According to Tom Roberts, author of Alex Raymond: His Life and Art (2007), Capp authored a stirring monologue that was instrumental in changing the restrictive rules the following year. As with virtually all Skunk Works projects that followed, the mission was secretive and the deadline was remarkably tight. Wed!! It was Kellys unconventional organizational approach that allowed the Skunk Works to streamline work and operate with unparalleled efficiency. The concept came in the wake of the Gary Powers incident. This aircraft first flew in 1966 and remained in service until 1998. The radio show was not written by Al Capp but by Charles Gussman. Honest Abe Yokum: Li'l Abner and Daisy Mae's little boy was born in 1953 "after a pregnancy that ambled on so long that readers began sending me medical books", wrote Capp. She had married the inconsequential Pappy Yokum in 1902; they produced two strapping sons twice their own size. Kelly Johnson and his Skunk Works team designed and built the XP-80 in only 143 days, seven fewer than was required.[4]. When Capp created the event, it wasn't his intention to have it occur annually on a specific date, because it inhibited his freewheeling plotting. What does a Skunk Works do? - Digitopoly Hot Dogs! ", Capp would answer, "Both." "The Comics on the Couch" by Gerald Clarke, "Gallery of vintage ads featuring Li'l Abner as spokesman", Filmmakers host premiere for Dogpatch USA documentary. . was the reply Ralph Kramden told his wife Alice (concerning a comment made by Ralph's mother in-law) in Episode #2, Al Capp designed the 23-foot-high (7.0m) statue of Josiah Flintabattey Flonatin ("Flinty") that graces the city of, "Natcherly", Capp's bastardization of "naturally", turns up occasionally in popular culture even without a specifically rural theme. Li'l Abner: Al Capp, Skunk Works, Dogpatch USA, Shmoo, At one extreme, he displayed consistently devastating humor, while at the other, his mean-spiritedness came to the fore but which was which seems to depend on the commentator's own point of view. And virtually all cartoonists remain content with their diluted share of any merchandising revenue their syndicates arrange. Lockheed was chosen to develop the jet because of its past interest in jet development and its previous contracts with the Air Force. Local attractions that reappeared in the strip included the West Po'k Chop Railroad; the "Skonk Works", a dilapidated factory located on the remote outskirts of Dogpatch; and the General Jubilation T. Cornpone memorial statue. He constantly interspersed boldface type, and included prompt words in parentheses (chuckle!, sob!, gasp!, shudder!, smack!, drool!, cackle!, snort!, gulp!, blush!, ugh!, etc.) In point of fact, Capp maintained creative control over every stage of production for virtually the entire run of the strip. Mary G. Ross, the first Native American female engineer, was among the 40 founding engineers.[8]. The comprehensive series titled Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays, is planned to be a reprinting of the complete 43-year history of Li'l Abner[60] spanning a projected 20 volumes, began on April 7, 2010.