Dinky Doodle
Dinky Doodle was a cartoon character created by Walter Lantz for Bray Productions in 1924. It was also distributed through the Standard Cinema Corporation.
Description
Dinky was a standard boy character, sporting a flat cap, a striped shirt, and dark shorts. He and his dog Weakheart appeared alongside Lantz himself in a series of cartoons that combined live-action and animation, similar in style to Max Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell series. Walter Lantz not only acted in this series, but also wrote and directed it. The character of Weakheart, Dinky's black and white pet dog, was based on the 1920s canine film star Strongheart. The series was mainly silent, with some scenes having a gibberish sound when someone talked. Some scenes had sound effects for objects and animal sounds. A few episodes were parodies to fairytale stories such as the Pied Piper and Jack and the Beanstalk. Even the first episode was a parody to the story of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp.The character enjoyed a degree of popularity among audiences. Contemporaneous reviews stated that Dinky Doodle had become a famous figure in the cinema world and was loved by millions, but was retired from the screen in 1926.