Col. Heeza Liar (1913-1917; 1922-1924)
The Col. Heeza Liar series is one of utmost significance in animation history, as it was the first cartoon series to feature a recurring animated star--the title character, a blustery and self-important little hero. Before Heeza Liar, most cartoons were one-shots; as typified by McCay's first two films, one cartoon rarely bore any relation to another. The one genuine cartoon series to precede Heeza, Émile Cohl's "The Newlyweds," did include recurring players, but featured little to no actual animation of them; most of the human figures were static.
The Heeza Liar series was also J. R. Bray's first "pure" cartoon subject; whereas The Artist's Dream had included live action, Col. Heeza Liar in Africa (November 1913) relied solely on animation. For the first two years of production, the Heeza cartoons were quite long for their day, including about ten minutes of footage per film. Exceptions were several 1915 subjects concerning World War I, all rather short and created for a special Pathe screen magazine of the period.
J. R. Bray animated and directed the Heeza Liar cartoons from the start until likely some point in 1915 or 1916. Animation for Heeza in 1916 and 1917 was likely done by others at the studio, such as Les Elton. Heeza Liar went on hiatus from 1917 until 1922, when Walter Lantz was given the task of reviving the series. A fluid new character design for the Colonel came about through this project.
The striking difference between the 1910s and 1920s Heeza series is that the latter incorporated a fairly sizable amount of live action footage, usually involving Lantz and others at the studio interacting with the Heeza Liar character. The success of Fleischer's "Out of the Inkwell" was likely behind the decision to use this technique; indeed, the format of combining cartoon and live-action worlds would become a trend in the 1920s, encompassing series like Vitagraph's "Roving Thomas" and Walt Disney's "Alice Comedies" among others.
Despite the incredible importance of Col. Heeza Liar, the series' survival rate has been rather poor to date. As always, there is hope that more examples will surface.
Above: Advertisement for an early entry in the Col. Heeza Liar series, 1915.
The Heeza Liar series was also J. R. Bray's first "pure" cartoon subject; whereas The Artist's Dream had included live action, Col. Heeza Liar in Africa (November 1913) relied solely on animation. For the first two years of production, the Heeza cartoons were quite long for their day, including about ten minutes of footage per film. Exceptions were several 1915 subjects concerning World War I, all rather short and created for a special Pathe screen magazine of the period.
J. R. Bray animated and directed the Heeza Liar cartoons from the start until likely some point in 1915 or 1916. Animation for Heeza in 1916 and 1917 was likely done by others at the studio, such as Les Elton. Heeza Liar went on hiatus from 1917 until 1922, when Walter Lantz was given the task of reviving the series. A fluid new character design for the Colonel came about through this project.
The striking difference between the 1910s and 1920s Heeza series is that the latter incorporated a fairly sizable amount of live action footage, usually involving Lantz and others at the studio interacting with the Heeza Liar character. The success of Fleischer's "Out of the Inkwell" was likely behind the decision to use this technique; indeed, the format of combining cartoon and live-action worlds would become a trend in the 1920s, encompassing series like Vitagraph's "Roving Thomas" and Walt Disney's "Alice Comedies" among others.
Despite the incredible importance of Col. Heeza Liar, the series' survival rate has been rather poor to date. As always, there is hope that more examples will surface.
Above: Advertisement for an early entry in the Col. Heeza Liar series, 1915.
Col. Heeza Liar Filmography (59)
Green: Project Print or Video
Gray: Print Known Elsewhere
Red: No Known Print
Col. Heeza Liar in Africa 11/29/1913
Col. Heeza Liar's African Hunt (aka Big Game Hunt) 1/10/1914
Col. Heeza Liar Shipwrecked 3/14/1914 [clip only]
Col. Heeza Liar in Mexico 4/18/1913 [clip only]
Col. Heeza Liar, Farmer 5/18/1914
Col. Heeza Liar, Explorer 8/15/1914
Col. Heeza Liar in the Wilderness 9/26/1914
Col. Heeza Liar, Naturalist 10/24/1914
Col. Heeza Liar, Ghostbreaker 2/6/1915
Col. Heeza Liar in the Haunted Castle 2/20/1915
Col. Heeza Liar Runs the Blockade 3/20/1915
Col. Heeza Liar and the Torpedo 4/3/1915
Col. Heeza Liar and the Zeppelin 4/10/1915
Col. Heeza Liar Signs the Pledge 5/8/1915
Col. Heeza Liar in the Trenches 5/13/1915
Col. Heeza Liar at the Front 5/16/1915
Col. Heeza Liar, War Aviator 5/22/1915
Col. Heeza Liar Invents a New Kind of Shell 6/5/1915
Col. Heeza Liar, Dog Fancier 7/10/1915
Col. Heeza Liar Foils the Enemy 7/31/1915
Col. Heeza Liar, War Dog 8/21/1915
Col. Heeza Liar at the Bat 9/4/1915
Col. Heeza Liar, Nature Faker 12/28/1915
Col. Heeza Liar's Waterloo 1/6/1916
Col. Heeza Liar and the Pirates 3/5/1916
Col. Heeza Liar Wins the Pennant 4/27/1916
Col. Heeza Liar Captures Villa 5/25/1916
Col. Heeza Liar and the Bandits 6/22/1916
Col. Heeza Liar's Courtship 7/17/1916
Col. Heeza Liar on Strike 8/17/1916
Col. Heeza Liar Plays Hamlet 8/24/1916
Col. Heeza Liar's Bachelor Quarters 9/14/1916
Col. Heeza Liar Gets Married 10/11/1916
Col. Heeza Liar, Hobo 11/16/1916 [clip only]
Col. Heeza Liar at the Vaudeville Show 12/21/1916
Col. Heeza Liar on the Jump 2/4/1917
Col. Heeza Liar, Detective 2/25/1917
Col. Heeza Liar, Spy Dodger 3/19/1917
Col. Heeza Liar's Temperance Lecture 8/20/1917
Col. Heeza Liar's Treasure Island 12/17/1922
Col. Heeza Liar and the Ghost 1/14/1923
Col. Heeza Liar, Detective 2/11/1923
Col. Heeza Liar's Burglar 3/11/1923
Col. Heeza Liar in the African Jungles 6/3/1923
Col. Heeza Liar in Uncle Tom's Cabin 7/8/1923
Col. Heeza Liar's Vacation 8/5/1923
Col. Heeza Liar's Forbidden Fruit 11/1/1923
Col. Heeza Liar, Strikebreaker 12/1/1923
Col. Heeza Liar, Nature Faker 1/1/1924
Col. Heeza Liar's Mysterious Case 2/1/1924
Col. Heeza Liar's Ancestors 3/1/1924
Col. Heeza Liar's Knighthood 4/1/1924
Col. Heeza Liar, Sky Pilot 5/1/1924
Col. Heeza Liar, Daredevil 6/1/1924
Col. Heeza Liar's Horseplay 7/1/1924
Col. Heeza Liar, Cave Man 8/1/1924
Col. Heeza Liar, Bull Thrower 9/1/1924
Col. Heeza Liar the Lyin' Tamer 10/1/1924
Col. Heeza Liar's Romance 11/1/1924