European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 30, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse F a of f i v \ u Hank Ketcham 70, creator of the cartoon character Dennis the menace. Ketcham a world a we re not out waving any banners a i m Gonna miss a when i go into the first Grade too Bado Parent smart enough to teach me there by Judith Weinraub Washington Post Ank Ketcham does no to like invasions of his privacy. Not surprisingly the Man who since 1950 has been depicting wholesome american family life in the Dennis the menace cartoon is a protector of Home and Hearth a and the right not to have crudeness or lewdness infect family oriented entertainment. A the whole moral picture is so dreadful a he laments. Ketcham 70, a genial Youthful looking californian Clad in a Khaki suit and a Pink and White striped shirt with loafers and Matching Pink socks was shedding a Little of his shield to pump for a musical version of Dennis the menace re a play you be embarrassed to take the kids to see a he explains. With a Book by Ernest Chambers music by Doug Katsaros and lyrics by Richard Engquist a a Dennis had its premiere in May. In Ketcham a world a and in that of the musical a daily details May have changed since the �?T50s like trading tricycles for skateboards or acknowledging the existence of the women a movement but not the essential world View. It is a world where women Are ladies and profanity does no to get stronger than a Hec Kuval where mom is at Home with the kids and where the closest the cartoon gets to touching on world events is acknowledging such holidays As Christmas and easter a or recently Earth Day. A a we re not out waving any banners Quot says Ketcham. It is a world where Ketcham is in control. A these Are people i want to live with Quot he says of the characters in the musical so familiar from the cartoon Dennis his parents Alice and Henry Mitchell and their next door neighbors George and Martha Wilson. A and if they Aren t what i like i erase them. The headlines can be murderous and bloody but in my world the Birds Are one of the ways Ketcham avoided everyday unpleasantness a in particular the pain he encountered at the end of his first marriage and during his second one a was by living in Geneva for 18 years from 1959 to 1977. It was there that he met his third wife Rolande and there in a Penthouse studio overlooking Swiss Banks and Harry Winston a diamonds and patek Philippe a Fine watches that he continued to draw the quintessential suburban american cartoon. It was there that he also avoided the turmoil of the 60s and much of the 70s. Instead he witnessed the America of that period by leafing through Sears Cata logs which he has always used for accurate lifestyle details and visiting the states once a year for Bing Crosby a pro am Golf tournament in Pebble Beach Calif. Quot turmoil is something i done to need a other than what i generate myself a he says. A it was a Nice it was a life afforded by Dennis the menace. He has told the Story of its creation Many times but still warms to it. A freelance cartoonist he was sitting at his drawing Board in his Carmel Calif., Home when his wife stormed into his studio with the words Quot your son is a a you mean Dennis a he asked. A Light bulb lit up in his head and a Star was born. In the Early Days of his cartooning Ketcham could empathize in particular with the Young father trying to Start a career. Quot he comes Home tired full of other thoughts a and its hard to come Back and relax enough to enjoy your family a he says. The Young Ketcham saw children in particular his son Dennis As a part of the problem. Quot they always seemed to be in the Way of what you wanted to do Quot he remembers. But being the Model for Dennis the menace loaded the real Dennis with heavy baggage. So did the turmoil surrounding the end of his parents marriage and his mothers death during the divorce proceedings. Today Dennis who lives in Ohio and Hank Ketcham Are estranged. A these things happen Quot says Ketcham referring to both the marital breakup and his songs loss of privacy. A but this was even worse because his name was used. He was brought in unwillingly and unknowingly and it confused the situation pained Ketcham As Well. And the cartoon offered him the outlet of a More orderly life. Quot it was a Little like Pagliacci Quot he says a trying to create laughter when you Are crying inside. An older More prosperous father now he acknowledges he is More at ease with his children with Rolande Dania 17, and Scott 13. The years a and the cartoon which is carried in More than 1,000 newspapers in 14 languages in 48 countries a have been Good to him. He starts each Day Early having spent some time on his exercise Bike before he gets to his studio at 8 30. Quot i am never out of work Quot he says with Delight. And although he has been drawing Quot Dennis a very Long time he says the Challenge of it All keeps him fresh. Quot i like to draw Quot he says. Quot i want to solve the problem of transforming the joke from the written Page to the graphic so it will jump off the Page a so i keep trying to top my own Ketcham started using assistant artists for the sunday cartoons in 1953 or 54 and for the past 10 years he has allowed them further into the daily process though he guards his creation fiercely demanding that he of preliminary rough drawings final roughs and inking. He makes suggestions at each stage of the game. Through the years he estimates he has had Quot half a dozen Quot assistants and uses suggestions from gag writers As Well As do Many other cartoonists he says. It turns out there is a system for such arrangements gag writers Send in batches of 3-by-5 Index cards with jokes. They Are rejected or kept by the cartoonist who pays for what he or she uses in Ketcham s Case $50 for an idea for a daily Panei and $300 for a sunday one. The world of the cartoon panel May be where he feels the safest. Quot i make a Point of staying away from the ugly Side of life. Its just my nature a he says. Quot when i was a youngster in the 20s and 30s, i just Felt amusing others a keeping somebody else a face in a smile a was a driving Force within he even remembers that when he was a kid instead of going out for football he was the head cheerleader. Quot i d rather have upbeat things around me Quot he says of his Pebble Beach life. A lord knows there Are enough things dragging you but evidently not too Many at their three bedroom one guest room House with a Natch a a Golden retriever in residence and a piano and an electric guitar in the garage. And in Case you wondered Rolande Ketcham a trim stylish woman whom he describes As Quot a marvelous Cook and sensational Mother Quot does not work outside the Home. Quot i Don t want her to work out there Quot says Ketcham pointing in the general direction of the real world Quot we have a great saturday june 30. 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page
