Ron Campbell loved animation as a child.
    "I'd go to the movies on Saturday afternoon, and I thought Tom and Jerry were real," he said with a laugh. "I didn't quite understand."

   Born in Australia, he always loved drawing and painting but he said he will never forget his fascination upon witnessing, while studying art, a series of drawings become moving animation.

    In the early 1960s, he did subcontract work as an animator for King Features, based out of Sydney, where he helped with "Beetle Bailey," "Krazy Kat" and "Cool McCool."

   He was then asked to storyboard, direct and animate "The Saturday Morning Beatles," which aired on ABC each week from 1965 to 1969. It was number one in the ratings for two straight years.

  "The show was tremendously successful," Campbell said. "Not because of anything I did but because of the Beatles." (As for The Beatles, he said, "I think their music is fabulous. But I'm not a lunatic about it.")

   He was able to come to the U.S. as an animator and, after being in the states for about a year, helped with the production of The Beatles film "Yellow Submarine."

   He said he and colleague Duane Crowther "labored away for six months" to animate the "Nowhere Man Song," most of the "Blue Meanie" and "Max" animation, as well as "The Sea of Time."

  It should be noted that Campbell did not design the characters. Peter Sanders designed the animation of the TV Beatles, and graphic designer Heinz Edelmann came up with the artistic concept for "Yellow Submarine" -- that "flat design and color" that people associate with the art of that era.

   Campbell's career was far from over after his early success. He went on to be involved with writing and producing cartoons for "Sesame Street" and produced the animation for "The Big Blue Marble," winning a Peabody and Emmy.

   He also contributed to "Scooby Doo," "George of the Jungle," "The Jetsons," "The Flintstones," "The Smurfs," "The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Rugrats," "Darkwing Duck" and several others.

   In the '90s, he was nominated for an Emmy for his storyboard for "Ahh! Real Monsters."

    He lives in Arizona now and, most recently, he directed episodes of "Ed, Edd, and Eddy" for Cartoon Network.

   Nearly 70 years old, he said his retirement gig is "doing reminiscent, nostalgic paintings," like the ones he'll be painting during the art show in Westminster. People can come by to watch him paint, and he said he has "lots of little anecdotes" about animation that he enjoys sharing.

    At least 40 of his paintings - vivid, small pop art pieces - will be exhibited throughout the weekend, many of which are of The Beatles but others may include Fred Flinstone or Scooby Doo.

    He will offer work starting at $200 for an original painting, he said: "Pop art for the populace."

Lauren LaRocca