Cool Animated Toy Soldier "Bazooka Joe"

Bazooka Joe

Cool Animated Toy Soldier "Bazooka Joe." I found this neat 3D animation of Bazooka Joe while browsing around, thought it was cool enough to post. This is courtesy of the Virtual Curation Museum in Virginia, a great place to spend some time if you are into animation.

I just love the look of this. It has an almost holographic feel to it. Must have taken quite some effort to get it so precise from all angles.

Bazooka Joe, incidentally, has his own connection to animation. He is a comic strip character who for many years has been featured in packages of individually wrapped pieces of Bazooka bubblegum. His black eyepatch is unmistakable, and every kid recognizes him when they open a pack of Bazooka. He appears around the world with Bazooka bubblegum, a true ambassador for America.

He was the brainchild of cartoonist Wesley Morse, who was asked in the early 1950s by Woody Gelman, the head of Product Development at Topps, to create him. While Bazooka Joe has adopted more modern dress over time, the animation above has him in traditional soldierly garb.

Bazookas were designed to allow infantrymen to defend themselves against tanks. They were developed independently by both Americans and Germans and saw extensive service during the last two years of World War II. While known as "bazookas" in the US, they were known as "Panzerfausts" in the German Wehrmacht.

Ok, enough of the lesson. Anyway, the one above is just a toy. Here's what a bazooka would look like in action:

A bazooka ready to go in "Castle Keep" (1969)

2020