This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for The Flintstones comic strip shows Fred using his vehicle to squeeze out the last bit of toothpaste in the tube.
Gene Hazelton (1919-2005) worked as both an animator and a newspaper comic artist. In 1939 he was hired by Walt Disney Studios and contributed animation drawings to films such as Fantasia and Pinocchio. After the 1941 animators’ strike at Disney, Hazelton worked for Robert Clampett at Warner Bros., as well as for Hanna-Barbera at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. During the 1950s Hazelton worked as a freelance illustrator and in the process developed his first newspaper comic panel called Angel Face. Beginning in 1961, and for over two decades, he served as the chief illustrator for both The Flintstones and the Yogi Bear newspaper strips for Hanna-Barbera, and assisted with the studio's The Jetsons.
The Flintstones (1961-1988) was a comic strip that was adapted from a television series. The show ran for six seasons between 1960 and 1966. It was the first animated evening series on network television, and until The Simpsons, the most financially successful one. The television show and the strip dealt with family issues in a prehistoric setting.
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