M-375 .•.. "The Wizard of Osrin"

THE WIZARD OF OSRIN

SEGMENT A

Fade in "A" :00 "C" SOUND FULL/MUSIC--I'D LIKE TO TEACH THE Osrin ••• Drive Shot

Start Slow Diss. to "B" :17 Roll

Finish Diss. to "B" Full :23 Pull Out from Nixon in Cartoon--l'd Like To Teach The World To Sing •••

Cuts to Osrin in Car

WORLD TO SING

:44 "C" SOUND CONT'D (LOW, MAY NEED BOOSTING)

"NBC Radio News on the hour, Lee McCartney re-

porting." The 20 day old British Dock strike is over.

Representatives of Britains 40,000 dock workers have

voted to accept an agreement Wlhich safeguards the

jobs of the longshoremen.

1:01 ,"C" s d uND CONT'D~RING IN "A'; SOUND UNDER

NARRATION:

To laugh at the news is no easy job. This man does

it as a profession from 8 in the morning· until 5 in

the evening, 5 days a week. He's a professional

journalist of sorts who is in the enviable position of

having the general public laugh with him every morning

M-375 .••. Seg. A

1:19

Page 2

over coffee, or on their way to work. It's no easy task

'A' SOUND OUT /MUSIC UNDER-ON t" TAPE

to combine the wit of an Art Buchwald and the candor of a

Bill Buchley into one graphic essay that says it all, but

with the brush and the ink well, Ray Osrin, Editorial

Cartoonist, does just that, 6 days a week on the Editorial

page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. What makes a man

want to devote his life to drawing funny-pictures of

political types? Well, as Ray Osrin put it: ''I had

wanted to be a cartoonist since my mother dropped me

on my head at age 2 in Brooklyn, New York. I'm not

sure what I would have been had she dropped me on my

head in, say •..•• steubenville?"

RAY OSRIN:

Well, as close as I can pinpoint it, I've been drawing

cartoons since I was about five years old in Brooklyn

and my parents told me that they have soom cartoons

that I drew of Adolph Hitler in 1938 and 39. I always

liked drawing and I would copy all the comic strip

artists of that day and really felt that I would be

nothing else but a cartoonist in some form. I wanted

to be a syndicated cartoonist - have a comic strip of

my own. But as time goes on and you jump around

from one job to another in the field, I settled on

editorial cartooning and I am very happy with it. I

M-375 •••. Seg. A Page 3

think its a very satisfying field. Actually, cartoonists

are very fortunate people, that's cause they can get

a lot off their chest very easy and go horne at night

and feel good. And most of us have to keep it bottled

up inside, but I can say something in a cartoon and

uh, I hope a lot of people agree with me and those

that don't, might at lease see another side of the

situation that they hadn't noticed before. I think all

people do foolish things and make mistakes, whether

they're liberals or conservatives, or Republican or

Democrat, and I think the cartoonist's role is to

point out and have fun with it and show that these

people are human beings and that they're not gods

and that in this country we have the freedom to poke

fun and uh, jest with the issues of the day and by

so doing, get the point across to the public in a

less painful way, than a hard lesson or some very

brutal attack. I try not to, not to use the clever

if I can help it - but from all this and having a desire

from something you see in the paper you want to

MATTE: TITLE: speak out about it. Comes the process of thinking "THE WIZARD OF OSRIN"

of a cartoon that fits the gripe that you have, that

you can register in cartoon form.

M-375 .••• Seg. A

Osrin on Cam. intercut with Cartoon drawing of Nixon poking nose in Dem. H.Q.

MATTE: MONTAGE

Fade to Black

3:36

Page 4

MUSIC OUT/"C" SOUND CONT'D FULL/SOF (Osrin) AND MUSIC--I'VE GOT A TIGER BY THE TAIL SWITCH-I ED ONBUCK

''Yea .... that's right ••.. Nixon's big nose poking into

something might be a very good cartoon. You might

have given me an idea there."

4:13 ALL SOUND OUT

END SEGMENT A

M-375 .••. "The Wizard of Osrin" Page 5

Fade in "A" Roll Osrin at Drawing­board racking brain for ideas

SEGMENT B

:00 "C II SOUND FULL/MUSIC

:21 "C" SOUND UNDER/"B" SOUND FULL-ADAIR

NARRATION:

The editorial cartoonist's job is looked at by many as

somewhat of a glamour job ..... but, as Ray Osrin would

tell you himself, •••• "It is not. " Osrin, like many

other 'work-a-day' people, goes through many prosaic

steps, partictilarly when it comes to battering out ideas

which are meaningful and funny!

:39 "B" SOUND CONT'D FULL/"C" SOUND UNDER

OSRIN:

.••• One thing about this business that makes it more

of a challenge is that comedians of all kinds, writers,

ah, late nite talk show masters of ceremonies,

stand -up comics all have writers .... ah, who help

them out. Editorial cartoonists are the only group

I can think of that doesn't. And ah, we're supposed

to be humorous and witty •••• everyday.

1 :01 "B" SOUND CONT'D FULL/FADE "C" SOUND OUT

Osrin on Camera The amount of news that appears in the paper each looking thru newspaper

day is important too. Sometimes there's not much.

~-375 .... Seg. B Page 6

Well, the biggest stories are probably the continuing

little battle between Shriver and Rogers and the Nixon

Administration and the Democrats trying to get in the

White House. The bombing is a continual thing and

it seems to be growing bigger everyday. The criticism

of the bombing in Vietnam, and I did touch on that in

this morning's cartoon, if you remember. So we try

not to touch on the same subject two days in a row,

unless it becomes so big that it can't be avoided and

then we '11 do it as many times as we have to. But

I think right now I'm going to be concerned with the

upcoming convention and other than that, I don't see

anything .••••

2 :03t "C" SOUND FULL/"B" SOUND UNDER

OSRIN:

Every artist is influenced by some other artists.

2:07 "B" SOUND OUT/"C" CONT'D FULL

People are always talking about you shouldn't copy

and you should be original, yet I really doubt if

anybody is or if there ever was anything that was

totally original. I was strongly influenced by many

artists and other cartoonists are too. So, today, I'm

influenced by Oliphant and Malden and Herblock, there's

a fellow named Wright on a Miami newspaper. However

M-375 .••. Seg. B

Starts with fast cuts of finished cartoons and cut to Osrin sketching Kissinger Saigon puppet cartoon

Page 7

nobody can help you or influence you with your ideas

and that's really the name of the game and uh, your

art work once it reaches a professional level of

craftsmanship and draftsmanship is second to the idea.

The idea is the whole thing and that's where the hard

work is and I really can't answer where it comes

from - Malden says he takes a hot bath and gets ideas,

some of my friends sleep with a pencil and paper

beside their bed and wake up at 2 o'clock in the

morning and get a gem of an idea - that never happens

to me. It always happens in here, in this room, and

with just about two or three hours before my self-

i.Ipposed deadline, and just where the ideas come from,

I don't know. Gratefully they always show up and

they're there. Sometimes the best ideas will just pop.

3 :23 "C" SOUND CONT'D-MUSIC-WE'RE GONNA GET TO­GETHER

4:18 "B" SOUND FULL/ "C" SOUND UNDER

NARRATION:

The editorial cartoonist enjoys the privilege of intimacy

with every cartoon caricature he creates. It is a

flowing freedom that he feels when he can whimsically

create, at will, some outstanding feature or physical

characteristics associated with a well known political

M-375 ..•. Seg. B Page 8

figure. Osrin, like most of his contemporaries, has

his favorites.

4:38 "B" SOUND CONT'D FULL-OSRIN/FADE "C" SOUND OUT

Cuts to sketching From the standpoint of ease of caricature, everybody of Nixon Cartoon.·--Cut back and forth is fond of Richard Nixon and I guess that most editorial to Osrin on camera to cartoons and cartoonists would hope that he makes it again. The sketching , etc.

same thing was true of LBJ, that was not true of JFK,

JFK was very difficult to do, if you're a handsome fellow,

you're very tough on cartoonists. I think McGovern is

giving cartoonists a little bit of trouble. But, not as

much as JFK did. And LBJ was fabulous. He was,

hated to see him go, just Iike cartoonists hated to see

Nikita Kruschev go, we '11 be very sad when Mao Tung

is no longer in the picture. He was excellent to do.

Ho Chi Min was a great fellow to caricature. And

Charles De Gaulle, all the great ones, are passing

quickly. A fellow like Breenev and Kosygin are not

quite as colorful, not quite as interesting for us.

Mel Laird? is a good one to do. My favorite, my

personal favorite, was the late Everett Dirkson.

Dirkson was a delight to draw and to have fun with

and there's not many of those great \ characters left.

It's too soon for me to tell yet, how Shriver is going

to work out, but he's a good looking man and those

are the tough ones again. Spiro Agnew was a lot of

M-375 .••. Seg. B

Osrin drawing Henry the Aide

Inking in the cartoon "The Six Lives of Henry the Aide"

Fade to Black

Page 9

fun, I almost left out one of the all time greats. Spiro

Agnew is marvelous to do and he has requested some

cartoons that he's seen. Showing that he has more of

a sense of humor than some people give him credit for.

He's wonderful, I always hope that on a slow day, S. P.

will say something. Cause usually it's worthwhile

commenting on. • • • Kissinger is fun. He's a great,

physically he's good to draw. He's got a lot of char-

acter. The things that cartoonists can cling to. I

have one lurking back here, it was a personal favorite

of mine and it includes H. Kissinger and his many jobs

in the Nixon Administration from: courier to confidante,

foreign affairs strategist, travel

6:53 BRING IN "C" SOUND UNDER/MUSIC

arranger, private negotiator, foreign policy formulator

And I call it "The Six Lives of Henry the Aide", instead

of "The Six Wives of Henry the Eighth". That's kind

of a pun.

7:08 "B" SOUND OUT/"C" SOUND FULL-MUSIC

8:51 FADE OUT ALL SOUND

END SEGMENT B

M-375 •••• "The Wizard of Osrin" Page 10

Fade in "A" Roll Osrin at Editorial Conference.

SEGMENT C

:00 "B" SOUND UNDER

:01 "C" SOUND FULL/"B" SOUND UNDER

NARRATION:

At 11:00 sharp every morning Ray Osrin takes time

away from his drawing board to attend a conference

with the editorial writers. Osrin may appear to be

taking a much needed break, but in actuality he is

absorbing all of the latest news and editorial policy

of the day. Depending on what is discussed, the

conference may, or may not be helpful in his constant

quest for cartoon ideas.

OSRIN:

And I sit in on this session and listen to what these

men have to say. They're very learned and very

knowledgable in their fields and frequently just listening

to them talk, discuss a situation will inadvertently

spark a thought in my head and I'll jot that down or try

and memorize it and go from there. My job in the

editorial conference really is to be an observer. I

don't set policy, these fellows do after conferring with

Tom Vale himself, how he thinks about things and

happily the Plain Dealer's philosophy and mine usually

jibes so there's no problem there and then it's, after

~-375 •••• Seg. C Pagell

that conference

1 :02 "B" SOUND GOES OUT/"C" CONT'D FULL

it's back to the drawing board and rehashing what I've

heard these fellows say, and then just staring at a

Use in-office shots of blank piece of paper and trying to put it all together Osrin at Drawingboard OTS from Osrin to and sift out from all that which might be the most Drawing Sketch of Drago1,1_, et<h__ topical thing to work on the following day.

1 :1.7 "B" SOUND UNDER (PRESENCE)/"C" CONT'D FULL

Barnard in Osrin 's By 2 :30 in the afte moon, I should have anywhere from office looking over sketches. 3 to 5 comprehensive roughs, drafted out to show to

the chief editorial writer, William C. Barnard and he

will pursue them and together with me in discussing

them will try to amive at which one is simply the best.

Bill is in no way a censor, he's very easy to work with.

He himself has a great sense of humor and isn't

squeamish about a lot of things, so there's no problem

there, it's just a matter of which one we think is the

best cartoon.

1 :51 "B" SOUND GOES OUT / "C" SOUND C ONT 'D FULL

OSRIN:

There's a mixture here. I liked Todds Analogy, I

don't know if it worked, of St. George .•.. I'm also

holding If I Were a Rich ~an, which you told me to

hold for possible weekend use.

~-375 .... Seg. C

Fade to Black

Fade in "A" Roll

Fade up on Osrin walking thru city room and up to engraving to deliver his cartoon. . •

Page 12

0. K. , so you wanta go with that one.

BARNARD:

UM hm ...•.

OSRIN:

You think a sword is better than a - - -

That's the only thing I was : torn between -

BARNARD:

Probably his lance - - -

OSRIN:

0. K. Good idea. . • .

.All righty !

4:16 FADE "C" SOUND OUT

4:18 "C" SOUND FULL/"B" SOUND UNDER

NARRATION:

Much to his great pleasure, Ray Osrin 's cartoons have

shown up far and wide in such publications as the New

York Times, Newsday, National Observer, The Los

Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Time

and Newsweek Magazines. He often has had the

prestigious opportunity of pinch-hitting for the Dean

of American Cartoonists, "Herblock" of the Washington

Post. With the increase in exposure comes too the

increase in Public reaction. • • both critical and compli

mentary. Osrin welcomes response to his cartoons .• ,

M-375 .... Seg. C Page 13

he knows then that someone out there cares - - -

4:52 "B" SOUND OUT/"C" SOUND CONT'D FULL

My wife is my severist critic and ah, mentor. And

ah, however when she really likes something she lets

me know that as well. But she's the first to let me

know when she doesn't like something. If she see's

something that she particularly likes , she will ask me

not to present it to anybody ah, except perhaps the

subject himself like in the case of this morning's

cartoon it was Henry Kissinger ah, was one of her

favorites it proved to be and unless Mr.Kissinger

asks for it I have orders not to give that one away.

She wants to frame that and hang it up herself.

(slight pause)

Gripes and compliments we always like to hear gripes

as well as compliments, it shows people are paying

attention and listening and you're never going to please

everybody so usually there's fifty percent of your

readership out there that's going to disagree with

what you say, when you take a stand. But uh, I do

get my share of complaints and frequently it's an

accusation of being disrepectful and why should we

make fun of the President of the United states. And

I reply with the answer wherever there is humor to be

found or a piffy point to be made, I will try to make it.

~-375 •.•. Seg. C

Series of Osrin cartoons

Fade to Black

Fast Fade Up on "A" Roll

Page 14

And I think if they watch carefully day in and day out

they will see that everybody gets a shot at being picked

on, pretty fair and square. A lot of people have the

philosophy that whoever the President is, he should

never be attacked. He should be revered and treated

almost like a god. And I try to point out whenever I

get complaints like this in the form of a letter or phon~

call, that this is what separates the U.S. from almost

every other country in the world, particularly the

Soviet Union. That we don't r evere, that we r,espect,

when respect is called for by the leaders of our country.

But when things do go wrong we're all free to points

things out. And I hope that we continue to have this

sort of freedom. Frequently these men are not as

sensitive as the public is. The public will feel that

we have insulted them and will accuse us of using bad

taste and being disrespectful. But the subjects themselves

will frequently themselves ask for the cartoons.

7:02 "C" SOUND CONT'D FULL-~USIC-:-IT TAKES PEOPLE LIKE YOU

8:47 "C" SOUND ~ GOES OUT BY ITSELF

8:49

8:50 "C" SOUND FULL-ADAffi/"B" SOUND UNDER-,MUSIC

M-375 .•• -. Seg. C Page 15

NARRATION:

One of the rare qualities found in any individual today

is the ability to laugh at one's self. Perhaps this

is why Ray Osrin is so successful at what he does- -

he finds a bit of humor from within himself, and applies

that to the world around him. We might all do ourselves

, t~a! Javor once in a while; just merely throw off the

shakles of depression. • • and Laugh!

9:12 ''C" SOUND OUT/MUSIC CONT'D UNDER

9:16 "C" SOUND FULL/MUSIC CONT'D UNDER

I think most American cartoonists choose that way ,

they use humor as the guise to get across a very

powerful point . Humor can explode pomposity and

illustrate hypocrisy and make it more palatable.

9:31 "C" SOUND OUT /"B" SOUND FULL/MUSIC

MATTE CREDITS:

1. Title: Wizard of Osrin 2. Narrator: D. Adair 3. W-P: H. Schwartz 4. Unit Director/Cameraman:

D. Goulden Film Editor Dick Mrzena

5. T.D. studio Sound Mixer

6. Co-op 7. Montage/MRA/Public Affairs

(FAST) Fade to Black 11:06 ALL SOUND OUT

~-375 .... Seg. C Page 16

END SEG~ENT C

END OF SHOW