Little Annie Fanny

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Little Annie Fanny on the cover of Playboy's Little Annie Fanny: Volume 2 (2001)
Little Annie Fanny on the cover of Playboy's Little Annie Fanny: Volume 2 (2001)

Little Annie Fanny is a long running comic strip created by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder for Playboy. Vaguely inspired by the comic strip Little Orphan Annie (and directly descended from Kurtzman's optimistic and squeaky clean Goodman Beaver character), it first appeared in the October 1962 issue of Playboy.

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[edit] Synopsis

The concept is that the title character is a busty and naïve waif who continually finds herself in various and bizarre situations where lusty men continually attempt to sexually molest or exploit her.

Most storylines would revolve around topical events and popular culture. Thus, a mid-1960s Annie episode would satirize Beatlemania, whereas a late-1970s installment might place the heroine inside a glittering disco. Sexual angles in the news, such as streaking, nudist resorts, or gay liberation were invariably pounced upon by Kurtzman & Co.

[edit] Publication history

Little Annie Fanny made its publication debut in Playboy issue of October, 1962.[1] The strip boasted lavish production values and fully painted panels of great detail, and as such the first fully painted feature in American comics.[1] It was a great success, but very time-consuming for Kurtzman. The amount of work required a steady rotation of assistants. Kurtzman's primary collaborator was fellow Mad Magazine alumnus Elder, but over the years, artwork was also provided by Jack Davis, Russ Heath, and Al Jaffee (all of whom also worked at Mad), as well as Larry Siegel, Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton. Most consisted of the group of artists that had worked together on Trump, a lavish, short-lived humor publication that had been fleetingly bankrolled by Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner.

Initially published in each monthly issue, the strip became less frequent during the 1970s. With over 100 episodes appearing in all, the strip ceased publication in 1988.[1] Kurtzman ended the strip when he felt he had run out of story material. The comic strip saw a revival in 1998 with art by Ray Lago and Bill Schorr, and appears sporadically in Playboy.

[edit] Attempted adaptations

The December, 1978 issue of Playboy mentioned a "world-wide search for the actress who will portray Little Annie Fanny in a live-action movie..." but no film was ultimately made.

In 2000 Mainframe Entertainment was approached by Playboy to create a CGI animated series based on Little Annie Fanny, but no actual series was produced.[2]

[edit] Trivia

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The feature's logo was an imitation of the one used in Sunday installments of Little Orphan Annie. Two of the supporting characters-- Sugardaddy Bigbucks and the Wasp-- were direct parodies of Daddy Warbucks and his longtime henchman, the Asp.
  • In an article in Mad Magazine presenting hypothetical magazines from other planets, a spoof of Playboy includes a cartoon feature: "Little Annie's Seven Fannies"

[edit] Book collections

[edit] Sources

Footnotes
  1. ^ a b c Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Little Annie Fanny.
  2. ^ Playback. Film and Television Production.
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