A Couple of Goodbyes...

Some people who helped define the cartoon-filled Saturday mornings of old have passed away.

Mark Evanier has come out from behind his can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup (which, as we all know, is the symbol of being too busy to update your blog (he was actually having gastric bypass surgery - good luck with that, Mark!)) to tell us that Alex Toth died on Saturday at the age of 78. Toth was an extrememly prolific animation designer and comics artist who designed things like "Herculoids" and "Space Ghost" and the "Hot Wheels" comic book and animated series.

Also, puppeteer Mary Ritts died on May 14 at the age of 95, reports the LA Times. The Ritts puppets were featured in the first TV incarnation of Pink Panther cartoons for NBC (1969) and their only child, Mark Ritts, played Lester the lab rat on "Beakman's World" for CBS.

We also lost ska artist Desmond Dekker over the last week; he recorded the hit song "The Israelites" in 1968 with his group The Aces. He was 63-ish and had a heart attack in London.