Cartoon

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For other uses, see Cartoon (disambiguation).

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Example of a modern cartoon. The text was excerpted by cartoonist Greg Williams from the Wikipedia article
on Dr. Seuss.

A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has
changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semirealistic drawing or painting intended forsatire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such
works. An artist who creates cartoons is called a cartoonist.[1]
The concept originated in the Middle Ages and first described a preparatory drawing for a piece of
art, such as a painting, fresco, tapestry, or stained glass window. In the 19th century, it came to refer
to humorous illustrations in magazines and newspapers, and after the early 20th century, it referred
to comic strips and animated films.[2]
Contents
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1Fine art

2Print media

3Political cartoons

4Scientific cartoons

5Books

6Animation

7See also

8References
8.1Bibliography

9External links

Fine art
Main article: Modello
A cartoon (from Italian: cartone and Dutch: kartonwords describing strong, heavy paper or
pasteboard) is a full-size drawing made on sturdy paper as a study or modello for a painting, stained
glass or tapestry. Cartoons were typically used in the production of frescoes, to accurately link the
component parts of the composition when painted on damp plaster over a series of days (giornate).[3]
Such cartoons often have pinpricks along the outlines of the design so that a bag of soot patted or
"pounced" over the cartoon, held against the wall, would leave black dots on the plaster
("pouncing"). Cartoons by painters, such as the Raphael Cartoons in London, and examples
by Leonardo da Vinci, are highly prized in their own right. Tapestry cartoons, usually coloured, were
followed with the eye by the weavers on the loom.[2][4]

Print media

John Leech, Cartoon no.1: Substance and Shadow, 1843, satirized preparatory cartoons for frescoes in the
Palace of Westminster, creating the modern meaning of "cartoon".

In modern print media, a cartoon is a piece of art, usually humorous in intent. This usage dates from
1843, when Punch magazine applied the term to satirical drawings in its pages,[5] particularly
sketches by John Leech. The first of these parodied the preparatory cartoons for grand historical
frescoes in the then-new Palace of Westminster. The original title for these drawings was Mr
Punch's face is the letter Q and the new title "cartoon" was intended to be ironic, a reference to the
self-aggrandizing posturing of Westminster politicians.

Modern single-panel gag cartoons, found in magazines, generally consist of a single drawing with a
typeset caption positioned beneath, ormuch less oftena speech balloon.[6] Newspaper
syndicates have also distributed single-panel gag cartoons by Mel Calman, Bill Holman, Gary
Larson, George Lichty, Fred Neher and others. Many consider New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno the
father of the modern gag cartoon (as did Arno himself). The roster of magazine gag cartoonists
includes names like Charles Addams, Charles Barsotti and Chon Day.
Bill Hoest, Jerry Marcus and Virgil Partch began as magazine gag cartoonists and moved to
syndicated comic strips. Richard Thompson is noteworthy in the area of newspaper cartoon
illustration; he illustrated numerous feature articles in The Washington Post before creating his Cul
de Sac comic strip. The sports section of newspapers usually featured cartoons, sometimes
including syndicated features such as Chester "Chet" Brown's All in Sport.
Editorial cartoons are found almost exclusively in news publications and news websites. Although
they also employ humor, they are more serious in tone, commonly using irony or satire. The art
usually acts as a visual metaphor to illustrate a point of view on current social and/or political topics.
Editorial cartoons often include speech balloons and sometimes use multiple panels. Editorial
cartoonists of note include Herblock, David Low,Jeff MacNelly, Mike Peters and Gerald Scarfe.[2]
Comic strips, also known as cartoon strips in the United Kingdom, are found daily in newspapers
worldwide, and are usually a short series of cartoon illustrations in sequence. In the United States,
they are not commonly called "cartoons" themselves, but rather "comics" or "funnies". Nonetheless,
the creators of comic stripsas well as comic books and graphic novelsare usually referred to as
"cartoonists". Although humor is the most prevalent subject matter, adventure and drama are also
represented in this medium. Some noteworthy cartoonists of humorous comic strips are Scott
Adams, Steve Bell, Charles Schulz, E. C. Segar, Mort Walker and Bill Watterson.[2]

Political cartoons
Main article: Editorial cartoon
Political cartoons are like illustrated editorial that serve visual commentaries on political events. They
offer subtle criticism which are cleverly quoted with humour and satire to the extent that the criticized
does not get embitered.
The pictorial satire of William Hogarth is regarded as a precursor to the development of political
cartoons in 18th century England.[7] George Townshend produced some of the first overtly political
cartoons and caricatures in the 1750s.[7][8] The medium began to develop in the latter part of the 18th
century under the direction of its great exponents, James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson, both
from London. Gillray explored the use of the medium for lampooning and caricature, and has been
referred to as the father of the political cartoon.[9] By calling the king, prime ministers and generals to
account for their behaviour, many of Gillray's satires were directed against George III, depicting him
as a pretentious buffoon, while the bulk of his work was dedicated to ridiculing the ambitions
ofrevolutionary France and Napoleon.[9] George Cruikshank became the leading cartoonist in the
period following Gillray, from 1815 until the 1840s. His career was renowned for his social
caricatures of English life for popular publications.

Nast depicts the Tweed Ring: "Who stole the people's money?" / "'Twas him."

By the mid 19th century, major political newspapers in many other countries featured cartoons
commenting on the politics of the day. Thomas Nast, in New York City, showed how realistic German
drawing techniques could redefine American cartooning.[10] His 160 cartoons relentlessly pursued the
criminal characteristic of the Tweed machine in New York City, and helped bring it down. Indeed,
Tweed was arrested in Spain when police identified him from Nast's cartoons. [11] Sir John Tenniel was
the toast of London.[12]
Political cartoons can be humorous or satirical, sometimes with piercing effect. The target of the
humor may complain, but they can seldom fight back. Lawsuits have been very rare; the first
successful lawsuit against a cartoonist in over a century in Britain came in 1921, when J. H. Thomas,
the leader of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR), initiated libel proceedings against the
magazine of the British Communist Party. Thomas claimed defamation in the form of cartoons and
words depicting the events of "Black Friday", when he allegedly betrayed the locked-out Miners'
Federation. To Thomas, the framing of his image by the far left threatened to grievously degrade his
character in the popular imagination. Soviet-inspired communism was a new element in European
politics, and cartoonists unrestrained by tradition tested the boundaries of libel law. Thomas won the
lawsuit and restored his reputation.[13]

Scientific cartoons
Cartoons have also found their place in the world of science, mathematics and technology. In the
U.S., one well-known cartoonist for these fields is Sidney Harris.[14] Not all, but many of Gary Larson's
cartoons have a scientific flavor.
Cartoons related to chemistry are, for example, xkcd,[15] which varies its subject matter, and
the Wonderlab,[16] which looks at daily life in the lab.

Books
Books with cartoons are usually reprints of newspaper cartoons.
On some occasions, new gag cartoons have been created for book publication, as was the case
with Think Small, a 1967 promotional book distributed as a giveaway by Volkswagen dealers. Bill
Hoest and other cartoonists of that decade drew cartoons showing Volkswagens, and these were
published along with humorous automotive essays by such humorists as H. Allen Smith, Roger
Price and Jean Shepherd. The book's design juxtaposed each cartoon alongside a photograph of
the cartoon's creator.

Animation

An animated cartoon horse, drawn by rotoscoping fromEadweard Muybridge's 19th-century photos.

Main article: Animated cartoon

Because of the stylistic similarities between comic strips and early animated movies, cartoon came
to refer to animation, and the word "cartoon" is currently used in reference to both animated cartoons
and gag cartoons.[17] Whileanimation designates any style of illustrated images seen in rapid
succession to give the impression of movement, the word "cartoon" is most often used as a
descriptor for television programs and short films aimed at children, possibly
featuring anthropomorphized animals, superheroes, the adventures of child protagonists and/or
related themes.
At the end of the 1980s, "cartoon" was shortened to make the word "toon", which came into use with
the live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), followed two years later by the
animated TV series Tiny Toon Adventures (1990).