Cartoonists - Drawing & Writing a Legacy of Light-hearted Entertainment

This post is about cartoonists from comic strips and animated TV shows. Many of these have appeared in newspapers, books, and memorabilia (T-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, posters, and souvenirs). Animated shorts often came on screen before a feature film. Nowadays, all we see are ads and other (often violent) movie previews. Cartoons can be violent too but usually presented in a light-hearted way. Watching the comics become animated cartoons was a treat for me growing up. Writing and drawing these strips were often done by a creative team. It's encouraging to see them carried on by family members for future generations to enjoy.

The first cartoon I recall seeing was of my grandparents’ vintage – "The Katzenjammer Kids" (a.k.a. The Captain and the Kids). I recall the ‘twins’ stealing pies off of Mama’s window sill and getting in trouble from the Captain. These black-and-white 'tunes' included rolly-polly, plump characters from the old country. In 1971, they made a comeback alongside “Archie’s TV Funnies”. These animated shorts were first created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr.

Andy Capp & Flo

Although I didn’t read Li’l Abner, by Al Capp (born Alfred Gerald Caplin), it was one of the comics my parents were familiar with when they were teenagers in the 1930s (not to be confused with Andy Capp, by English cartoonist, Reg Smythe, who created his characters in the late 1950s).

Blondie (and husband, Dagwood Bumstead) were popular characters created by Chic Young (1930–1973) and his son, Dean Young (1973-present). Feature-length comedic films, starring Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake,  were also based on these characters.




My Dad and I used to watch James Thurber's animated TV show, My World and Welcome to It (with William Windom). Later, we would traditionally watch Wild, Wild West (with Robert Conrad) and It Takes a Thief (with Robert Wagner).

I learned to love the single-panel comic They’ll Do It Every Time growing up, though the cartoonist, Jimmy Hatlo died in 1963; Al Scaduto took it over until 2008. For some reason, Pogo, by Walt Kelly was one of my Dad’s favorite comic strips to read on Sundays. He loved to read aloud from the newspaper, something my wife does occasionally! My older brother would save Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur by Hal Foster (and others) all year to gift my Dad at Christmas.

I also remember Bil Keane's Family Circus being a single-panel cartoon that appeared in our daily newspaper. Not very funny though! I preferred Hi and Lois by Dik Browne.

I also enjoyed BC (1958) and The Wizard of Id (1964), both of which were created by Johnny Hart (author). Cartoonist, Brant Parker also illustrated Id through 1997, and Hart's daughter, Perri, and grandson, Mason Mastroianni took over after both of the original authors died in April 2007.

Who can forget the Looney Tunes (Merrie Melodies, Warner Bros.) TV cartoons and characters – Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig and Petunia, Sylvester the Cat and Tweety Bird, Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, Tazmanian Devil, Barnyard Dawg and Chicken Hawk, and Speedy Gonzales? My favorite is Marvin the Martian. A close second is my older brother's favorite, the rooster Foghorn Leghorn, and maybe Pepé le Pew. These characters were drawn by Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, Robert McKimson, and Leon Schlesinger, among others.




Bugs' "What's up, Doc?", Speedy's “Arriba, Arriba … Andale, Andale”, and Porky's "That's All Folks!" are unforgettable. I was given the nickname, 'Speedy Gonzales', in 2nd grade because I always finished my math problems first. In college, I somehow collected a set of glass tumblers painted with all the Looney Tunes characters. Not sure what happened to them after I got married!



William Hanna and Joseph Barbera produced one of the most famous cartoon duos, Tom and Jerry, from 1940-1967. The shows aired often on TV, and pretty much every afternoon following my last college class of the day.



I also watched a lot of The Flintstones when I was growing up. I especially enjoyed it when Elroy Jetson built a time machine for the movie, “The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones”. The Flintstones series incorporated lots of pop culture into its episodes – they hired a maid named Lollobrickida (after Gina Lollobrigida), and there was Ann Margrock, Stony Curtis, Ed Sullystone, Alvin (or Alfred) Brickrock, and Rock Quarry. Samantha and Darrin Stephens (from Bewitched) were in a camping episode. Curiously, the Bewitched opening credits were animated by Hanna-Barbera. The Great Gazoo (a tiny alien) was voiced by Harvey Korman. Elizabeth Taylor played Pearl Slaghoople, Wilma’s (Elizabeth Perkins) mother, in the movie version. Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, and Tweety) was the voice of Barney Rubble and Dino the Dinosaur.

For years I faithfully and traditionally watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". I loved the Peanuts characters created by Charles Schulz, and as a teenager, I used to draw Snoopy in various costumes. They were inspired by his alter egos (e.g. the Red Baron).

Jim Davis' Garfield appeared in 1976 as Jon. Funny but lasagna, Garfield's favorite food, was one of the first homemade meals my wife made for me when we were dating.

When I was working, I had several Dilbert-a-day calendars on my desk. Scott Adams was able to capture the personalities of people in an office so well that each character could easily represent someone we worked with.

I had another calendar of Gary Larson Far Side comics; I still use one in my art lesson plans today.

In my recent Illustrators in Literature post, I realize that I was remiss in omitting Dr. Seuss (born Theodor Seuss Geisel) of The Cat in the Hat. I loved reading his books to my daughter. I recall ”Oh Say Can You Say” as an especially difficult tongue-twister book that she loved and I grudgingly read to her. Did you know that German-American Seuss was also a political cartoonist during World War II?

Maybe Gary Trudeau's Doonesbury was too intellectual for our family, but I don’t remember getting much out of it. Another editorial cartoonist was German-American caricaturist Thomas Nast, who has been considered the "Father of the American Cartoon".

I missed out on Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes comic strips, though I later appreciated his Snowmen humor very much!