Little Audrey

[2] She was devised after Paramount decided not to renew the license on Little Lulu, the comic strip character created by Marjorie Henderson Buell (a.k.a.

Prior to her adoption by Famous in 1947, Little Audrey had a long career in cartoons but of a series of mostly slapstick gags, some going as far back as the First World War.

Botkin's A Treasury of American Folktales: Little Audrey is a cartoon character about whom thousands of nonsensical short tales during the past five or six years — have been told.

In common with many animated shorts of the period, childlike fantasy played an important role in Audrey's early cartoons, which often used dream sequences as the basis of the storylines.

Slapstick humor crept into the series with the release of Surf Bored (1953), which pitted the precocious little girl against a hulking, but ultimately brainless, lifeguard.

Two Noveltoons spin-offs, Casper the Friendly Ghost and Herman and Katnip, had their own vocal themes, but only after leaving the series.

The series met with moderate success on the newsstand, running for approximately 24 issues until Little Audrey was licensed by Harvey Comics in 1952.

The general storyline was simultaneously overhauled to provide Audrey with supporting characters such as Melvin Wisenheimer, her prankish arch-enemy/frenemy, and Tiny, an imaginative and eager but somewhat insecure young African American boy.

Domestic comedy gradually took over the scripts, as Audrey was shown in conflict with parents, teachers, and other authority figures.

During her most successful period, Audrey starred in at least four of her own titles and was a back-up feature in Richie Rich, Casper, and Little Dot.

The character lasted until 1976, when an industry-wide distribution slump brought an end to most of Harvey's line and most children's comics in general.

Since that time, the character has undergone several revivals and made scattered television and video appearances, most notably in The Richie Rich Show (1996) and Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure (1998).

Audrey appears briefly in a sequence where she is seen pushing a baby carriage while licking a gigantic ice cream cone nestled inside of it.

Audrey is enjoying her air rifle until she shoots down a baby bird and is filled with remorse, then she sees that it survived.

View of the Melbourne, Australia Skipping Girl Sign nicknamed Little Audrey where the jokes were very popular.
Little Audrey in a scene from "The Seapreme Court" (1954).
Little Audrey and Patches, as depicted in the St. John Publications series (1948-1952).