The Daily Cartoonist

One of the major contributions Barrier made to animation fandom was to stop publishing Funnyworld.  Funnyworld was the unquestioned center for animation scholarship and once it disappeared, it forced the development of other magazines to fill the void.

During this period, Mindrot began.  Like Funnyworld, it was designed as an apa zine for Vootie, the funny animal cartoonists’ apa.  David Mruz, editor and publisher, remembered his school teachers warning him not to read comic books or watch cartoons because they would “rot” his mind, so Mruz created a fanzine for others with similarly rotted minds.  The first issue appeared April 1976 and was only two pages long but by the end of the year it had grown to eight pages of offset type devoted to animation and sold to the general public for fifty cents.  A favorable plug for Mindrot in Mark Mayerson’s short-lived animation column for Film Collector’s World attracted the interest of many animation fans looking for a place to share animation information.

This influx of interest encourage Mruz in June 1977 to further expand his fanzine and to develop its familiar format of forty pages in the form of a booklet.  Like Funnyworld, the magazine featured lengthy interviews with animators and historic research.  Unlike Funnyworld, the magazine featured detailed episode listings of animated series and several regular columns by animation historians.  Some potential readers were confused by the title of the magazine so Mruz changed the name to Animania (issue 20, Feb. 1981) and the name change increased sales and recognition (although fans still refer to it as Mindrot when talking).  However, Mruz needed to devote more time to his business and his family and the final issue of Animania was 27 (Dec. 1983).  Mruz made no farewell announcement and over the years has thought about reviving the title.

Mindrot is a fanzine that bring pleasant memories and a smile. I even used it as a header here earlier this month. Yeah, this hit me. But I wasn’t fortunate to know David. So, in lieu of an obituary I can’t find, here is Joel Thingvall’s fond recollections of his lifelong friend.

DAVID MRUZ left us on the afternoon of December 20 A bloodclot in his lung, stopped oxygen to his wonderful mind. He was My Buddy. A lovable, always smiling, good-natured man so full of childlike joy. A Man About Uptown. My Best Friend.

David was an occupational therapist. But then did a unique career move and opened David’s DayCare in 1988. For more than two decades he specialized in caring for toddlers, running their activities, old cartoons in the background, the kid’s rope-line wandering the now upscale Uptown neighborhood. David was the Gentle Giant about town, kinda like Harvey Comics Stumbo. Plus he had the pure innocence and trusting nature of Charlie Brown. And he had the hair cut of Herbie Popnecker.

Big Heart. Bigger Smile.