These drawings have made grown adults cry. Storied artist comes to Wichita this week
Ron Campbell admits he’s not the finest artist ever to live.
It’s the nostalgia of his artwork, the memories associated with them, that makes his artwork special.
The 78-year-old Campbell, originally from Australia, is the creator of the “Beatles” animated TV series from the 1960s — as well as partial creator of a whole host of classic cartoons, ranging from “Scooby-Doo” to “The Flintstones” to more modern shows like “Rugrats” and “Rocket Power.” He animated about 12 minutes of the 1968 Beatles film, “Yellow Submarine.”
Campbell, who continues to paint his cartoon creations in retirement, is bringing his artwork to Wichita this week for a special two-day show.
The exhibition will be from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Tessera Fine Art Gallery, 412 E. Douglas.
Everyone who purchases a piece of his artwork receives a certificate of authenticity, on which they can request Campbell draw any of his cartoon creations. His works have sold anywhere from $295 to $8,000.
He said people have burst into tears watching him draw a favorite cartoon character in person.
“It’s constantly amazing to me — it’s like they become children again,” he said. “I sometimes say that people buy my paintings because it reminds them of some special, happy time in their childhood.”
For his part, Campbell said he’s enjoyed meeting his Saturday-morning audiences, the people who watched and appreciated his cartoons over the decades.
When he was creating cartoons, he said his audience was “just numbers on a page ... our ratings.”
“I had no idea just how beloved many of these characters are in people’s hearts,” he said. “It’s not that my drawings are so magnificent — they’re nice paintings and they do capture the spirit of those cartoons ... but it’s the public’s memory of their happy childhood moments.”
Over the course of his career, Campbell worked with major studios, including Hanna-Barbera, Disney and Nickelodeon.
Some of the shows he’s helped create or otherwise worked on: “Scooby-Doo,” “The Jetsons,” “The Smurfs,” “The Flintstones,” “Rugrats,” “Rocket Power,” “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” and “Ed Edd n Eddy.”
Campbell said he’s only recently begun to realize the universal recognizability of his drawings: “Scooby-Doo is every bit as popular as Mickey Mouse,” he said.
“I could do a drawing of Scooby-Doo and sell it to an Afghani kid in the middle of the Gobi Desert and I can make that child smile — explain that to me,” he said. “I never knew how strange that was when I was doing the films, but that’s what I’m learning doing shows.”
Ron Campbell exhibition
What: Art show of “Beatles” cartoon pop artwork, as well as other beloved cartoon characters from Campbell’s 50-year career.
When: 4-8 p.m. Tues., Nov. 13, 4-8 p.m. Wed., Nov. 14
Where: Tessera Fine Art Gallery, 412 E. Douglas
Admission: Free. Works are available for purchase, and each comes with a certificate of authenticity that Campbell will live-draw a cartoon of your choice on.
More information: www.beatlescartoonartshow.com