In the book 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, contributor John A. Lent writes: “Beetle Bailey is a tribute to [Mort] Walker’s complete mastery of the comic strip, blending visual gags, slapstick, social commentary, and very funny and memorable characters.”
Remember that animated Beetle Bailey TV special that captured all these lauded traits of Mort Walker’s popular comic strip? You probably wouldn’t. It never aired on TV.
Thirty-five years ago, a half-hour special based on the comic strip was set to air on CBS.
According to Wikipedia, it was produced as a potential series pilot, but it was never shown after there were leadership changes at the network.
The comic strip Beetle Bailey was created by Walker in 1950, centering on the title character, who was initially a college student, but in 1951, the character enlisted in the army, and the strip focused on military life.
Circulation of the comic strip was boosted with this change and remained popular, and it became a staple of newspapers afterward. Due to Beetle Bailey’s popularity and familiarity with so many, it’s no wonder that an animated special was produced.
It wasn’t the first time Beetle Bailey had been brought to life in animation. In 1963, a series of 50 six-minute shorts were produced by Paramount as part of the syndicated show The King Features Trilogy, which aired with animated versions of Krazy Kat and Snuffy Smith, two other Kings Features Syndicate comic strips.
Characters from the Beetle Bailey comic strip were also featured in Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter, which aired in 1972 as part of the anthology series The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie and featured a number of other comic strip characters.
With the CBS special, Beetle would have the entire story to himself. At Camp Swampy, General Halftrack receives a communique from the Pentagon. They want a soldier at the base brought up to their physical standards for the “ideal soldier,” and they will be coming by for an inspection.
It’s decided that Beetle, even with this propensity for laziness, should be the one who is to represent the base as the ideal soldier, and that Sergeant Snorkel needs to get him into shape; otherwise, the Sarge will be sent back to life as a civilian and replaced.
Meanwhile, the other soldiers, Plato, Killer, and Zero, hatch a “top secret” idea to create a “secret weapon” of sorts to gain favor with the Pentagon brass.
Walker’s humor from the comic strip translates well to the show, especially in the scenes between Sarge and Beetle, particularly the opening scene where Sarge attempts to get Beetle out of bed in the morning. “Make up your mind, Sarge,” Beetle says, “Which do you want? Rise or shine?” Sarge then tips the bed and “slingshots” Beetle out of the bed using the springs.
There are also well-choreographed sequences, as Sarge attempts to train Beetle, including a moment where Sarge, trying to teach Beetle to rope climb, falls off the side of the cliff, continuing an ongoing joke from the comic strip.
Beetle Bailey’s directors Mitch Rochon, Rob Shellhorn, and Mike Svayko (television animation veterans) do solid work balancing all of the show’s characters, and much like the Peanuts and Garfield specials, Beetle Bailey captures the look and design of the comic strip and allows it to segue comfortably to animation. This is undoubtedly due to Walker’s involvement with the show, as he co-wrote it with Hank Saroyan (another television animation veteran).
The special also boasted a “who’s who” of voice acting talent: Greg Whalen as Beetle, Henry Corden as Sarge, Frank Welker as Zero, and Sarge’s look-a-like anthropomorphic dog, Otto, Larry Storch as General Halftrack, Mendi Segal as Plato, Bob Bergen as Killer and Linda Gary as Ms. Blips and Miss Buxley.
Although it never aired after being produced, the Beetle Bailey special was eventually made available on a DVD collection of the original Beetle Bailey animated shorts. We sadly lost Mort Walker in 2018. His sons, Greg, Brian, and Neal Walker, continue to create the Beetle Bailey comic strip, which still appears in newspapers.
In his book, The Comics Since 1945, Brian Walker summed up how his father’s comic creation has continued for almost 75 years: “Beetle Bailey wasn’t just about the army. The military pecking order of Camp Swampy represented all organizations in which incompetent bosses imposed pointless rules on those below them. Beetle was the classic low man on the totem pole who resisted authority. He became a hero to millions of readers.”
You can watch the special online, HERE.
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
I really enjoyed this special, which I had never heard of before today. Every aspect of the production, from the animation to the voice acting, is of a very high quality for a 1980s TV cartoon and perfectly captures the spirit of Mort Walker’s comic strip. Larry Storch is great as General Halftrack, reviving his Frank Morgan/Mr. Whoopee voice in the service of playing a very different sort of character. And I don’t think Miss Buxley has ever looked better.
CBS was due for a change in management in 1989, for by then the network had fallen to third place behind NBC and ABC for the first time in its history, and heads were bound to roll. Perhaps incoming president Jeff Sagansky thought that cancelling the Beetle Bailey special was the first step in reversing the decline in ratings. If so, it didn’t work out in the long run.
Hank Saroyan is the nephew of Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Saroyan, who in his youth dated a model named Adrienne LeClerc; she would later marry animator Bill Tytla. Hank is also a cousin of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian.
Paul, Once again, thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge! I had no idea that Hank Saroyan had so many connections!
With all that’s been said about this special, I’m surprised that it never truly aired on television. If CBS was smart, they’d dump it in the summer sandwiched between reruns.
Granted, if they were REALLY smart, they’d wait until The Simpsons comes out to justify picking up Beetle Bailey. Wouldn’t that have been something?
In 1963, a series of 50 six-minute [Beetle Bailey] shorts were produced by Paramount …
Not all of them–Gerry Ray’s overseas studio handled almost half the output.
Really miss Mort’s tight, professional cartooning in the current run of the strip. As for now, the artwork varies wildly day-to-day (sometimes shockingly amateurish).At times, its so loose that it appears that rough thumbnail sketches were simply enlarged and then inked. I wouldn’t mind if it was decided to just go to permanent reruns.
You’re referring to Artransa Animation of Sydney, Australia, which made eighteen Beetle Bailey cartoons, or just under a third of the total. After Artransa got the contract with King Features, Gerry Ray was sent out from New York to oversee production on the KFS shorts. He reorganised the studio and streamlined its production process, but it was never “his” studio per se. Artransa’s main focus was on producing animated commercials for the Australian television market.
When you think about it, it’s kind of surprising that “Beetle Bailey” made it through the Vietnam years; presumably there were enough “hawks” who read the funnies. And 35 years ago would have been just before the Persian Gulf war.
Wish Howard Morris had returned to voice Beetle.
There were a couple of other notable names in the credits, with Bob Bergen voicing Killer and Fred Crippen credited with animation keys.
That’s also the first army base I’ve seen flying the flag backwards, with the union on the fly end, but admittedly that does fit Camp Swampy.
Thanks Jody! This was a fun gig! I took Larry Storch to dinner at Smokehouse after our recording session and we chatted all things Tennessee Tuxedo and Groovy Goulies. Such a sweetheart. I was a geeky fan boy. Hope he gets MeTV Toons in heaven. He’s all over the network!
I was surprised I got this job as I thought my audition sucked. So did voice director Hank Saroyan who told me so at the recording session. I asked him why he hired me. He said, “Oh, I’ve worked with you enough times to know you’d give me what I wanted.” That should be a lesson to those pursuing cartoon vo. Ya just never how or why you get a gig. I really thought this special was gonna be a hit, and perhaps go to series.
Hi Bob, I am terribly sorry for my oversight, in neglecting to include you in the article. I touched base with Jerry and we have amended it- you are now included. Thanks and sorry again!
I need to check out more of these cartoons based on comic strips. They used to do series or specials for tons of them like Pogo, Hagar the Horrible, B.C., and even The Far Side.
It was funny to see you quote 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics because I just bought a copy of it in a used bookstore!
I was Mort W’s studio assistant and worked on this special, first creating ‘model sheets’ for the animators from choice comic strip panels. We were quite pleased with the on-model accuracy of the animated figures. We lunched with Producer Hank Saroyan at the genesis of this project and later recall ‘speeding thru red lights’ to deliver special inked art Mort created to advertise this special, slated for TV Guide. Apparently a new Chair at CBS shelved our completed special, one for Cathy and I believe also the Marvin comic strip, none broadcast. I remember volunteering to listen to an audition cassette of potential voices; five examples per main character. All the ‘Miss Buxley’ ones sounded the same; ditzy Marilyn Monroe imitations. But when I heard one particular ‘General Halftrack’ voice, I immediately ordered THAT one to be used, recognizing it to be from Larry Storch. I later met him and told him “you got that job ’cause of me.” Yet Larry never got to see the show. On DVD, this one-shot is a final rarity !
As for that Marvin special, CBS eventually came around to airing it sometime later on, which led to a prime time series that ran for no longer than one season.
I still remember the short animated Beetle Bailey segments that aired during Sesame Street in the 1980’s. it’s a shame we never got a full animated series, especially with that voice cast.
Actually, as I mentioned in the comments in a previous article, it debuted in season four (1972-74) along with a few other inserts with King Features characters. The segment was included as a “Classic Cuts” extra on the first “Old School” set complete with the rarely seen KFS copyright at the end.
I like Bettle Bailey . What they have now is not worth watching or reading . Back in the 50 , 60 , and 70 year’s it was great , now it is all Hell . Walt Disney , Disney movies , Disney World , Disney Land is not like it used to be . It is not worth going to they have ruined it all .
Beetle Bailey was great to read and watch . Back in the 50 , 60 , and 70 ‘s . Disneyland , Disneyworld is not worth going to ! This is not what Mr.Walt Disney wanted. . Not even your father . Hope you have a great Memorial Day.
Yeah, I could’ve gone without that blatant going off-topic comment slightly posted twice. I think Walker’s kids are doing the best they can on the strip (plus, one of them is a huge contributor for The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library). I do wish they do storyline stuff again (and maybe stronger gag-a-day jokes).
Thanks for another fun read, Michael! It’s a shame that the Beetle Bailey tv special never had been aired. It seems that it had so much potential to have a wide audience and become an entire series.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!
Beetle Bailey was pretty much my favorite comic strip growing up and I bought at least a dozen paperback collections, which I still have. I also read Walker’s book Backstage at the Strips, about Beetle, Hi & Lois, and Boner’s Ark, his comic about a “floating zoo”.
I bought a dvd set of all 50 Beetle shorts for only 3 bucks on clearance, so I got that unseen special as a cool bonus.
For those in the US, this is also available to stream on Tubi under the entirely unhelpful title, “All-Star Specials,” along with a few other comic strip specials that had aired on CBS around the same period in the late 80s. It also has the two Blondie specials with Loni Anderson as the titular character, and Hagar the Horrible. (As a side note, there were two Betty Boop specials in that playlist that were removed some time ago, but the program description still contains references to Betty)
The Beetle Bailey special was especially peculiar because it was fairly well-written and I had neither seen it or heard of its existence until I watched it on Tubi.
Now, I know why. Thanks for the article.