Hearst Entertainment will be releasing a network quality animated Beetle Bailey video for the first time, and NBM Books will be releasing 50 Years of Beetle Bailey featuring the "best of" each decade, as a follow-up to their previous Beetle Bailey release, Still Lazy After All These Years.

Beetle Bailey and the National World War II Memorial

Beetle Bailey has been working hard to help raise awareness and funds for the design, construction and maintenance of the National WW II Memorial.

This long overdue tribute to the World War II generation is scheduled to break ground during Beetle Bailey�s celebratory year in 2000 and will be located in Washington D.C. on the National Mall.

Mort Walker, with the enthusiastic support of King Features Syndicate and Hearst Entertainment, is lending his support to the National World War II Memorial Campaign in many ways including cross promotions between the National World War II Memorial Campaign and Beetle Bailey which began in September 1999 and will continue throughout 2000.

On V-J Day, September 2nd, Army Command Sergeant Major Ronald W. Bedford began his Non-Commissioned Officers Association (NCOA) WW II Honor Walk to raise awareness of the effort to build a WW II Memorial on the National Mall of Washington, D.C.

To help raise public interest, Mort Walker created a special strip which ran in 1,800 newspapers on September 2nd. Walker was quoted as saying, �It takes an awful lot to get Beetle involved in anything that remotely resembles work, but this is a cause that even he is standing up for!� In the strip, Beetle, who typically prefers sleeping to marching, tells Sarge to �Hold me back! I feel like marching with him!� Not only does Sarge not hold him back, he joins in the walk himself.

Beetle Bailey and Sarge made personal appearances along the 1,500 mile route that covered six states and 144 cities, villages and military installations. The characters� images were featured on the back of the T-shirt worn by Bedford and on the promotional materials used along the route to raise awareness. Mort Walker joined Bedford and the characters on the final leg of the walk into Washington, D.C. on Veteran�s Day 1999.

Mort Walker created the wonderful strip below devoted to raising awareness and funds for the WW II Memorial Campaign that ran in 1,800 newspapers the Sunday before Veteran�s Day, November 7th, 1999. This strip will be reproduced and signed as limited edition prints and sold to raise funds for the Memorial Campaign.