Tehachapi comics creator leaves legacy but no fanfare
| Wednesday, Aug 17 2011 04:30 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Aug 17 2011 06:42 PM
Del Connell | 1918-2011
Images
Del Connell spent several decades at the Walt Disney company drawing Mickey Mouse and other cartoons.
One of the many comic book series Del Connell originated for Western Publishing Company (in addition to Space Family Robinson).
One of the many comic book characters Del Connell created during his time at Western Publishing Company. This is his original art, which created the comic book series.
One of Del Connell's drawings of Mickey Mouse.
Longtime Techachapi resident Del Connell, who created scores of Walt Disney comics among hundreds of others in his prolific career, died Friday, just weeks after receiving a lifetime achievement award at the annual pop culture convention known as Comic-Con. He was 93.
"It was a grand life," said his widow, Ruth Connell, in a telephone conversation Wednesday.
"His most well-known activity is he wrote the Mickey Mouse strip that was syndicated all around the world in different languages. He really touched millions of lives in his lifetime. His whole life was comics."
The irony of the recent award -- what his widow called the crowning achievement of his career -- is that he earned it, in part, for not making a name for himself. It was common practice for the panels of artists and writers at that time to go unsigned, which meant that the creators worked anonymously.
"It didn't bother him," Mrs. Connell said. "He was making a living."
But the knowledge that the comics industry would single him out for the honor meant the world to Connell, according to his son Brady, who accepted the award on his father's behalf after medical concerns made it impossible for the artist to be honored in person at the San Diego convention. Connell was suffering from cancer and the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
"I wasn't able to bring the plaque to him right after Comic-Con; I had to wait another 10 days, and by that time he was declining, and I was able to put the plaque in his hand and he at least felt the recognition from his peers," Brady Connell said.
"And it was just 20 days after the awards ceremony that he passed."
In his long career, the mostly self-taught artist created memorable characters such as Super Goof, the daring alter ego of Disney's beloved Goofy, and wrote the basic storyline that was eventually adapted into the "Lost in Space" television series and motion picture.
Mark Evanier, a television writer and comic book historian, chaired the committee that gave Connell the award. Evanier told The Californian in July that Connell was a perfect choice; he had written thousands of comic books and created memorable characters, but to Evanier's knowledge, Connell's name didn't appear on a single one.
"He was very humble," Evanier said. "One of the reasons we don't know how much he wrote was because he wasn't the sort to shout it from the rooftops."
Connell was born in Ohio in 1918 and took only a couple of art classes before moving west. He worked for Walt Disney as a young artist from about 1938 to 1940, when he joined the Army during World War II. He was stationed in Panama, where he drew up strategic maps of the area.
"Walt Disney was really wonderful," Mrs. Connell remembered. "He told them when they went off to war that when they came back, they'd have a job at Walt Disney."
After the war, Connell started a 30-year career at Western Publishing, where he eventually became editor in chief. All the while, he continued his association with the Walt Disney company.
"I'm most proud of him doing Mickey Mouse," Mrs. Connell said. "He did a three-panel gag for Mickey Mouse every day of his life, including Sundays, for 20 years."
But once he retired in the late 1980s, he left comics behind entirely, his widow said, and showed little interest in the evolution of the industry.
"He really made a break from that world. His was very, very nice stuff, Disney, MGM -- goody-goody stuff. They couldn't talk about sex or race or religion or anything of that stuff. He was a pretty pure person."
The Connells moved to Tehachapi in 1987 and settled into retirement, though son Brady and his dad collaborated on a number of entertainment projects aimed at children. The senior Connell also had written many movie and television scripts over his lifetime, which may be further developed by his son, executive producer of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."
"Because I'm in the industry, I feel blessed to have some of his scripts and ideas realized," Brady Connell said. "He was an adventurer and he created dozens and dozens of original characters. I'm looking forward to pulling those out and doing something with them."
The family is planning a private memorial for Connell, who, in addition to his wife and son Brady, is survived by another son, Kelly Sean Connell, daughter, Casey Ann Noll, and four grandchildren.
