In 1931, cartoonist Oscar E. “Otto” Soglow created a playful mini-monarch, whose greatest joys were sliding down palace banisters, eating lunch from a regular workman’s pail and indulging in a daily constitutional to the palace mailbox.
The Little King became a popular feature in The New Yorker magazine. Soglow’s minimalist illustration and even sparser dialogue were part of the King’s appeal. For the next few decades, The Little King popped up in various media, from books to animated cartoons to his own comic title. He experienced global success, as producers and publishers discovered that the cartoon’s pantomime style required little to no translation.
In 1933 and 1934, RKO Pictures made a series of cartoons based on The Little King, and they released a Christmas cartoon called “Christmas Night” (aka “Pals”). The Little King joins two tramps at a Christmas display window, then invites them home to the castle. The three undress and enjoy a bath together, and then go downstairs to nail up their stockings, then retire to bed. Santa comes down the chimney and grows a fully decorated tree from a “Xmas Tree Seed”. The three race around the castle in the miniature cars and planes left behind by Santa. A big crash brings the festivities to a close.
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