Neil the Horse is a comic book character created by Canadian cartoonist Katherine Collins (as "Arn Saba") in 1975.
Neil's adventures were syndicated in Canadian newspapers, published in a comic book series, and adapted for a radio musical.
[1] The comic book series featured Neil and his friends Soapy the Cat and the romantic marionette Mam'selle Poupée.
A typical issue included a story in prose with illustrations, a few short comic strips, and a longer comic-strip adventure.
With the red circles on her cheeks, curly hair, large bust and thin waistline, the French-accented Poupée appears to be a cross between Raggedy Ann and Dolly Parton.
Soapy is a street-wise and cynical (with a heart of gold) orange cat, a cigar-smoker and a drinker, who serves as their manager and the brains of the operation.
In 1977, Collins and Toronto cartoonist Jeff Wakefield (Bubblegummers) joined forces to found 'Great Lakes Publishing" (GLP), a cartoon syndicate dedicated to promoting Canadian newspaper comics.
Some of the materials were reprints from the 1970s newspaper comic strip and other sources, with the series described (by "Soapy") in the final issue as containing "everyt'in what's any good from our foist thoiteen years".
To that end, starting in 1985, she began a major adaptation effort, employing David Roman and a fluctuating number (3–12) of experienced animation artists and writers.
As a business partner, John Gertz of Berkeley, California-based Zorro Productions was the salesman, adviser, and liaison with Hollywood studios.