Prolific animator Ron Campbell’s artwork to be showcased at Macon’s Gallery West

You’ve seen more of Ron Campbell’s work than you might imagine though you probably never knew it.

Campbell was a remarkably prolific animation artist who worked on and directed such cartoon characters as George of the Jungle, Yogi Bear, Popeye and Olive, the Flintstones, Rugrats and more.

Many more. Too many to mention though there’ll be more as we go.

Big on the list of Campbell’s work is The Beatles’ Saturday morning cartoon series and the animated feature, “Yellow Submarine.” For “Yellow Submarine,” Campbell was primarily involved in drawing the Sea of Time sequence, much of the action between the Chief Blue Meanie and his boot-licking sidekick, Max, and scenes involving the multi-named Jeremy the Boob, Hillary and Nowhere Man.

Gallery West, at 447 Third St., is presenting an exhibition of Campbell’s work today, Saturday and Sunday. Gallery owner Kirsten West said the show is about 75% Beatles cartoons and the rest is from Campbell’s catalog of other cartoons.

Normally, the Gallery West walls are filled with the work of Kirk West, her husband and former Allman Brothers Band road manager, whose photographs depict decades of rock and roll and blues superstars.

“This is a little different for the gallery but so many of us grew up watching these cartoons,” Kirsten West said. “And then there’s the Beatles stuff – I don’t think there’s ever been anything quite like this in Macon before. We’ve even had calls from people and collectors from other states.”

On Friday, there will be an opening with music, food and drink. The exhibit is family-friendly.

With Campbell now deceased, West said she has been in touch with the exhibit’s publisher-promoter, Scott Segelbaum, for several years about bringing the animator’s work to Macon.

But, you know, COVID and all that.

Now, she and Segelbaum, said the time is right. Segelbaum formerly worked in radio and marketing but began producing exhibits of rock and roll star’s artwork and photography. He said he would occasionally have Campbell as a guest to talk about the Beatles cartoons but it became clear Campbell was a favorite whose work sold the best. The two began a long-time partnership featuring Campbell’s work and it gave Segelbaum plenty of time to hear all of Campbell’s stories about his long list of cartoons.

Ready for it? Here are more: Krazy Kat, Beetle Bailey, Tom Slick, Super Chicken, Scooby-Doo, Duck Tales, TaleSpin and, of course, more.

“Ron told me he never woke up not wanting to go work doing what he did,” Segelbaum said. “He was always old-fashioned and drew with a pencil, he never did computer-generated stuff. The very last show he did was “Ed, Edd and Eddie” and after the very last scene he put his pencil down and retired.”

Segelbaum said Campbell worked on so many cartoons and characters he couldn’t remember them all.

“At one point, I said something to him about doing Yogi Bear and he looked up and said to me, ‘I didn’t do Yogi Bear,’” Campbell said. “I told him he did and we looked it up on his page at www.imdb.com and there it was. He did so much work he didn’t even remember it.”

According to Campbell’s bio, he was born in 1939 in Australia and attended Swinburne Art Institute in Melbourne. He was a major force in the animation world for five decades, most often behind the scenes. He died at 81 in 2021.

“He was obsessed with animation from a really young age,” Segelbaum said. “When he was 6, his grandmother took him to a western movie and there was a Tom and Jerry cartoon before it. He was shocked and asked her what kind of animals they were. He told me she said they weren’t real, they were just drawings.

“He said to her, ‘You mean I can draw things and they come to life?’ She said yes and that fascinated him for the rest of his life. From then on he started drawing and reading everything he could find on animation. It truly became his passion and he loved the work and the process. Plus, he was at the right place at the right time in animation history.”

Saturday morning cartoons were about to hit their golden age and a number of big production outfits did work in Australia. Campbell was in on the ground floor and made a name for himself. One day, cartoon producer Al Brodax called to ask him to work on a show.

“Ron said sure and asked what it was about,” Segelbaum said. “Brodax told him it was about The Beatles and Ron told him, ‘OK, but insects make terrible characters for cartoons.’ He didn’t even know who The Beatles were at the time. He learned and his work on the Saturday series led to work on ‘Yellow Submarine.’”

Campbell eventually moved to the U.S. and set up his own studio right across from the famous Hanna-Barbera cartoon studios but he remained low-key, often taking other studios’ overflow work.

Campbell wrote and produced cartoons for “Sesame Street” and did animation for “The Big Blue Marble” which won a Peabody for Excellence in Broadcasting and Emmy for Best Children’s Show.

All this while working on the likes of – here we go again: Super Chicken, Cool McCool, Heathcliff, Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Jetsons, the Smurfs and – you guessed it - more.

The weekend exhibit is free and hours are Friday from 4 to 8 p.m., Saturday noon to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 4 p.m. Further information on Campbell’s work and on Gallery West is at beatlescartoonartshow.com and gallerywestmacon.com.

Prints will be available for sale at Gallery West with one original work available. There will also be an exhibit poster for sale. Much of Gallery West’s photos will also be displayed.

Also, fascinating – and important – events continue across Macon in conjunction with Black History Month. A few include:

• Feb. 18-20: The Douglass Theatre and JP Productions present “The Charles Douglass Story,” the story of the Macon entrepreneur and founder of the Douglass Theatre who is known as the first African American millionaire in Middle Georgia. For showtimes and ticketing information visit www.douglasstheatre.org. The Douglass is at 355 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.
• In addition, on Sunday at 9 a.m., Georgia Public Broadcasting will present “Douglass Theatre Centennial: 100 Years and Beyond” at 9 a.m. A virtual showing will be on the Douglass’ Facebook page at 7 p.m. at www.facebook.com/thedouglasstheatre.
• Saturday, Feb. 19: The Tubman African American Museum continues its “Living Legends Tour,” offering a chance to experience the lives of Maya Angelou, Little Richard, Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman. Times and ticketing information is at www.tubmanmuseum.com. The Tubman is at 310 Cherry St.
• Through Feb 25: The Macon Arts Alliance continues its “Black Artist Showcase” at its 486 First St. gallery. Featured artists range from photographers to painters to quilters and include Caleb Brown, Dsto Moore, Kevin Lewis, Marvin Holloway, Matthew Odom, Randy Heart, Rhonda Miller and Wini McQueen. The exhibit is free and information is at www.maconartsalliance.org.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.