Film Roman, the animation house responsible for animating The Simpsons and King of the Hill, announced this week that it had entered into an agreement with Classic Media to create a new animated Dick Tracy television series based on the original UPA Dick Tracy shorts.  With cartoons like Gerald McBoing Boing, Dick Tracy, and Mr. Magoo UPA defined the first modernist style in commercial animation during the 1950s.

 

Created in 1931 by Chester Gould, Dick Tracy revolutionized crime comics and spawned successful radio and film franchises.  Starting in 1960 UPA produced over 125 five-minute Dick Tracy episodes, which ran in syndication.  More recently Dark Horse produced a Dick Tracy figure -- and the Mezco Toy Company has a line of Dick Tracy toys set for release in 2003.