Early Edition

Mort Walker Discusses 50 Years of 'Beetle Bailey'

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And you know, folks, it is hard to believe, but "Beetle Bailey" is 50 years old. That's right, the comic strip and cast of characters, namely Sgt. Snorkel, General Halftrack and Miss Buxley, are the creation of cartoonist Mort Walker. And the Army honored him yesterday with the highest civilian accolade: the Distinguished Civilian Service Award, decorating him for his work, his military service and his contribution to a new military memorial. But the Pentagon has not always cottoned to Beetle or Mort Walker.

We welcome the whole cast this morning from Washington, Mort Walker joins us from our bureau there.

Good morning, how are you, sir?

MORT WALKER, CARTOONIST: Good morning, I'm fine.

HARRIS: Good to see you, you and the medal there. What did that mean to you?

WALKER: Well, it really is a sort of a vindication of what I thought I was doing all along. I was entertaining people, and being jovial and good-natured. And the Pentagon didn't like that for a while, but they finally came around.

HARRIS: When and why didn't they like that?

WALKER: Well, they thought I was making fun of officers, which would, you know, hurt morale. Also when I brought in, Lt. Flap (ph), the black character, they thought I was inciting racial tensions, or something like that, but that all goes away.

HARRIS: Inciting? Wait a minute, inciting racial tensions rather than easing them?

WALKER: Yes, yes, but, you know, nobody understands what you're doing for awhile. It took awhile, you know, for them to like the character and know that I wasn't proselytizing for black causes or other stuff, you know? So, you know, finally, when they got to like the character, Lt. Flap had become one of our most popular characters.

HARRIS: And you yourself actually served in the military, and did it -- how did it make you feel to have the Pentagon turn on you like that? WALKER: Well, I expected it. You know, I don't think that a lot of people understand humor. Because humor: You can't be funny with success, you have to be funny with failure. So, you know, I was just doing what normal cartoonists do, they make fun of everybody.

HARRIS: Well, let me see what normal cartoonists do, while we chat I want to see if you can draw -- you can draw and talk at the same time. I want to see what -- how long it takes you to put together a Beetle Bailey for us this morning. Can you do that?

WALKER: Well, I'm not like President Ford who couldn't chew gum and walk at the same time. I can draw and talk.

HARRIS: All right, great, well, tell us this: Do you have a particular favorite of all the ones that you have done? You've done thousands.

WALKER: Well, I just did my latest book: "50 Years of Beetle Bailey." I had to read through 18,000 strips in order to do the selection and I had too many favorites. You know, I liked so many of them. So, I don't know that I have one in particular.

HARRIS: So then to what do you attribute his success?

WALKER: I create friends for people. I like to think that people can go to the breakfast table and spend a couple of minutes with a friend, get a chuckle, start the day right, you know, make up a little bit for the bad news on the front page.

HARRIS: Are all these characters friends of yours? are these people that you actually knew or served with?

WALKER: Right, every one of the characters in my strip are based on real people. Beetle Bailey was my friend in high school and college who was so lazy. I'd go by and pick him -- to pick him up to play golf and I'd say: Come on, David, we've got tee-off time. And he'd just turn over, grab his pillow -- I took his bed and turned it upside down, he fell out on the floor, he grabbed his pillow and went back to sleep. And I said: that ought to be in a cartoon.

HARRIS: Sounds like you were Sgt. Snorkel then, in that case. Well, how much longer do you think you can go on with this, you've been doing it some 50 years?

WALKER: Well, I hope forever, I'm still in good shape. People ask me if I'm going to retire, and I say: Old cartoonists never retire, they just erase away.

HARRIS: Have you trained anybody else in your family to take on after you retire?

WALKER: I have six of my 10 children working for me. And it's sort of a cottage industry. We come into the studio and we work and then we go and play golf.

HARRIS: Nice life. WALKER: It's quite a life.

WALKER: Nice life, I'd trade you in a heartbeat. Mort Walker we thank you so much for your time this morning and your expertise as we see you put together as we see you put together a little Sgt. Snorkel there for us. Congratulations on the medals and all you have achieved, thanks much.

WALKER: OK, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com