THE FUNNY COMPANY was an American animated cartoon produced in 1963 and seen in syndication. Ken Snyder and Charles Koren produced 260 six-minute long episodes. The Mattel Corporation provided financial backing. Snyder conceived the program in response to then-Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N. Minow's call for more educational children's programs. THE FUNNY COMPANY group resembled a club not unlike a Junior Achievement organization, and most of the time, the stories would revolve around the Company being hired for various jobs to make a little money or doing something for charity. As time went on, the Company decided to make Shrinkin' Violette a movie star and were on their way to Hollywood. Members included leader Buzzer Bell, inventor Jasper N. Park, club secretary Polly Plum, rotund Merry Twitter, club mascot Terry Dactyl, shy Shrinkin' Violette, and two Native American adults--Super Chief whose voice was an air horn of a single-chime railroad locomotive, and his translator Broken Feather. Another adult lending a hand was Professor Todd Goodheart with his supercomputer, the Weisenheimer.

• Robie Lester