In case you didn't know, today is National Cartoonist Day. Put on a smock and find one to hug. Before you do, however, I should point out that the word "cartoonist" is really kind of an umbrella term covering a wide range of artists. Generally speaking, there are two different kinds of cartoonists.
There's the still life cartoonist, such as Charles M. Schulz, who drew Snoopy.
And then there's the moving pictures cartoonist, such as Ub Iwerks, who (under the watchful eye of Uncle Walt) drew Mickey Mouse.
Not that cartoonists always stay within their respective boundaries. Sometimes there's...
...overlap.
Just imagine. We could all have been going to Iwerksland!
ReplyDeleteMitchell, according to just about everybody, including Walt Disney himself, Iwerks was a much better artist and animator. From 1930 on, Walt no longer even drew rough sketches of his cartoons and was basically a "producer" who co-owned (with his brother Roy) his own animation (and eventually live-action) studio. But what a producer! In fact, the man was a visionary, and THAT rather than any innate talent as an artist is what gave him an edge over his many competitors. When Walt came up with an idea, be it a cartoon mouse, a full-length animated feature-film, or a theme park, he made damn sure that idea was realized, even if all he really was doing was just hiring other people (as well as borrowing lots of money from the bank, much to his brother's consternation) to do the realizing.
DeleteAs for Iwerks, who returned to Disney in 1940 after ten years on his own, he designed many of the rides at Disneyland and Disney World, including the Hall of the Presidents. He died in 1971, about five years after Walt.
I love all kinds of cartoons, so Happy Cartoonists Day to all their creators and artists!
ReplyDeleteSo do I, Debra, which is why I try to regularly feature cartoonists, at least the handiwork of cartoonists, here on Shadow of a Doubt
DeleteI always like to throw out that Mike Peters (Mother Goose and Grimm) is my second cousin.
ReplyDeleteThanks for telling me that, Mike. Along with drawing and writing a comic strip, he's also a very fine editorial cartoonist. I'll have to do a post on him.
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