Little Lulu facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Little Lulu
The first Little Lulu cartoon from February 23, 1935 issue of The Saturday Evening Post
Author(s)	Marjorie Henderson Buell
Current status/schedule	Ended
Launch date	February 23, 1935
End date	December 30, 1944
Publisher(s)	The Saturday Evening Post
Genre(s)	Humor

Little Lulu is a popular comic strip character. She was created in 1935 by Marjorie Henderson Buell. Lulu Moppet, the main character, first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post magazine. Her first cartoon was on February 23, 1935. In this cartoon, she was a flower girl at a wedding. She playfully scattered banana peels down the aisle.

Little Lulu took the place of another comic strip called Henry. That comic was created by Carl Anderson. The magazine asked Buell to create a new character. They wanted someone to follow Henry. Buell decided to create a girl character. She felt a girl could do more funny and mischievous things. The Little Lulu cartoons ran weekly until December 30, 1944.

Meet the Characters

Little Lulu is a clever and adventurous young girl. Her best friend is Tubby Tompkins. He is often seen with Lulu and their group of friends. Other important characters include Annie, Lulu's friend, and Gloria, a girl Tubby likes. There are also Iggy, Willy, and Eddie, who are part of Tubby's club.

Little Lulu in Comics

John Stanley's Little Lulu No. 72 (June 1954).

After her start in The Saturday Evening Post, Little Lulu became a daily comic strip. It was published from 1950 to 1969. Many artists worked on this daily strip.

Lulu also appeared in her own comic book series. This started in 1948 with Marge's Little Lulu. Later, the comics were published by Gold Key Comics. Tubby, Lulu's friend, even got his own comic series. In his comics, Tubby often had adventures with the Little Men from Mars.

The original creator, Marge, sold Little Lulu to Western Publishing. The comic books continued until 1984. After that, new comics stopped being made for a while.

Many years later, some companies reprinted the old Little Lulu comics. Another Rainbow Publishing released a large, hardbound collection. Later, Dark Horse Comics also reprinted many Little Lulu stories. These reprints allowed new generations to enjoy the classic adventures.

The Genius Behind the Stories

John Stanley was a very important writer and artist for the Little Lulu comic books. He wrote and planned many of the early comics. He worked with artists like Irving Tripp. Stanley created many of the extra characters that fans love today. He helped make the Little Lulu comics so popular.

Lulu in Advertising

Little Lulu was very popular. She appeared on many products. She was also a big part of advertising campaigns. For example, she was featured in ads for Kleenex tissues in the 1940s and 1950s. She also appeared in Pepsi-Cola magazine ads. Her creator, Marge, was very involved in how Lulu was used in products and ads. Today, Universal Studios owns the rights to Little Lulu.

Lulu on the Big Screen

Screenshot from the 1947 short "A Bout with a Trout"

In the 1940s, Little Lulu starred in a series of animated short films. These were made by Famous Studios for Paramount Pictures. There were 26 Little Lulu cartoons released between 1943 and 1948. The voice of Little Lulu was done by Cecil Roy. Tubby's voice was done by Arnold Stang.

The theme song for these cartoons was written by Buddy Kaye, Fred Wise, and Sidney Lippman. Later, in the early 1960s, two more Little Lulu cartoons were made. These were based on stories from the comic books.

Animated Shorts Filmography

Here is a list of the animated shorts featuring Little Lulu:

Lulu on Television

Little Lulu has also starred in several TV shows and specials.

In the late 1970s, ABC aired two live-action TV specials. These shows featured real actors playing the characters. Lauri Hendler played Lulu in both specials.

Later, in 1976, a Japanese animated series called Little Lulu and Her Little Friends was made. An English version of this anime was also created for American audiences.

In 1995, The Little Lulu Show premiered on HBO. Tracey Ullman and later Jane Woods voiced Lulu in this series. The show was produced in Canada and continued to air for several years.

Little Lulu was almost in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit. However, the movie makers couldn't get the rights in time. She did make a small appearance in The Simpsons episode "Husbands and Knives".

Fans of Little Lulu even have a yearly gathering. They meet at the San Diego Comic Con. There, they perform a play based on a classic Lulu story.

Lulu as a Teenager

In 2009, a new version of Little Lulu was launched in Brazil. It was called Luluzinha Teen e sua Turma (Little Lulu Teen and her Gang). This comic book series showed Lulu and her friends as teenagers. The art style was similar to manga, which is Japanese comic art. This series was very popular at first. However, it was canceled in 2015.

Lulu Around the World

Little Lulu is known in many different languages! Here are some of the names she goes by:

Images for kids

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  The characters in Little Lulu 1995 series. First row: Wilbur, Annie, Gloria, Alvin, Tubby, Little Lulu, Jeannie, Joannie and Margie; second row: Eddie, Iggy, Willy, Mr. and Mrs. Moppet.

Little Lulu panel from March 20, 1943 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

See also

In Spanish: La pequeña Lulú para niños