Cohl had two basic assignments at Fort Lee: humorous newsreel inserts and "The Newlyweds" animated series. The newsreel (one of the first of its kind) was started by the Sales Company in March 1912 and continued by Universal (Éclair's distributor). "The Newlyweds" started life as a newspaper comic strip by George McManus in the New York "World". The three main characters are a fashionable woman drawn in the style of the "Gibson Girl", her obliging husband, and Baby Snookums, an absolute hellion of a child who nevertheless gets everything he wants (usually at the expense of the father). The series was popular both in the United States and in France (under the name "Le Petit Ange"). Cohl wanted to make the first animated series, and he liked "The Newlyweds". As for McManus, he may have been convinced to sign with Cohl at the urging of his friend Winsor McCay. Prior to this point, there had been a few adaptations of comic series into films, but they were all live action. Examples include "Happy Hooligan" (starring J. Stuart Blackton as the title character), "Buster Brown", and "Mutt and Jeff" (later to become a successful animated series).