A Brief History of Cartoons, Comics & Animation

Overview of cartoons: Single framed (caricatures, editorial and humourous; Comic Strips, Comic Books and animation

2. Single-Framed Cartoons
Simple visual messages in one
frame
Three types:
Caricatures
Editorial
Humourous
Lascaux Cave Painting
2

3. Single-Framed Cartoons:
Caricatures
Word “caricature” from Italian caricare:
to load, to exaggerate by means of often
ludicrous distortion of parts or
characteristics.
Egyptian Artwork
PompeiiLeonardo Da Vinci Caricatures 3

4. Single-Framed Cartoons
Caricatures
Annibale Carracci and
Relatives
In Italian the word came from
Annibale, Agostino and
Ludovico Carracci who
invented modern caricature in
1590
Annibale Carracci caricatures 15954

5. Single-Framed Cartoons
Caricatures -Antiportraits
Political caricature in 1600s
Louis XIV in France and Queen
Anne in England called them
"antiportraits”
Political cartoons played role in
the French Revolution and the
Napoleonic era
Early Political Caricature
5

6. Single-Framed Cartoons: Caricatures
Analysis Requires Knowledge: William Pitt and Napoleon dividing the world between them
"Plumb Pudding in Danger", James Gillray, 1805
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7. Features are exaggerated
Need to know those in public eye
7
Single-Framed Cartoons: Caricatures
By Anthony Jenkins Globe & Mail

8. Al Hirschfeld
American caricaturist, known for
simple Black and White satirical
portraits of celebrities
Unique style
One of the most important and
influential figures in contemporary
caricature
Usually just simple black ink and lines
on white background
Captured likeness with minimal lines.
8
Single-Framed Cartoons: Caricatures
Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003)

9. Editorial
Making a point!
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Single-Framed Cartoons: Editorial

10. William Hogarth:
Founder of English editorial
cartoons about 1731
Published drawings showed living
conditions with moral intent
Influenced many
10
Single-Framed Cartoons: Editorial
William Hogarth: A Harlot's Progress

11. Benjamin Franklin
Revolution
Founder of American political
cartooning
Benjamin Franklin's famous rallying
cry for unity-Join or Die-a divided
snake showing the colonies
Benjamin Franklin’s Call to Arms
11
Single-Framed Cartoons: Editorial

12. James Gillray
Napoleon
England James Gillray lampooned King
George III as "Farmer George" and
Napoleon as "little boney"
Gillray became very famous and went
insane
Early 1800s with lithography cartoons
appeared more in magazines and
newspapers
12
Single-Framed Cartoons: Editorial
"Plumb Pudding in Danger", James Gillray, 1805
Napoleon once said that the English
caricaturist James Gillray “did more
than all the armies in Europe to bring
me down.”

13. Thomas Nast
1862 Harper's hired Thomas Nast to cover
the Civil war
Drawings improved morale and Lincoln said
he had done much to preserve the union
Boss Tweed
Nast famous for campaign against corrupt
politician William Tweed; Nast's 50
cartoons increased circulation They
attempted to bribe Nast with $100,000 to
study abroad
Boss Tweed –Gangs of New York 2002
DiCaprio movie
13
Single-Framed Cartoons: Editorial
Boss TweedNast’s Santa

14. Magazines
14
Single-Framed Cartoons: Editorial
Respected humour magazine Illustrations
Punch 1841 Vanity Fair 1859

15. Canadian cartooning began Montréal 1849 with Punch in
Canada. Modeled after its British Punch, Canadian Punch
featured cartoons by John Henry Walker.
15
Single-Framed Cartoons: Editorial
Canadian Magazines
Punch in Canada 1849
Canadian Illustrated
News 1869
More successful was Canadian
Illustrated NewsMontréal 1869 with
work of many artists, cartoonists. One
was the Frenchman Edward Jump,
who specialized in caricatures of
political figures. Jump worked on the
paper from 1871 until 1873, when he left
for the United States. Jump lampooned
the nation's leaders.
Toronto Globe reporter, John Wilson
Bengough, launched an irreverent
cartoon weekly called Gripon May 24,
1873.
The first major English-Canadian
humour magazine, Grip survived for 22
years

16. Bill Mauldin:
WWII: "Willie and Joe”and
Civil Rights
16
Single-Framed Cartoons: Editorial
Affecting attitude change

17. 17
Single-Framed Cartoons: Editorial
Herbert Block /Herblock
Civil Rights Era
Herb Block editorial cartoonist took on politically
powerful
Herb Block responsible for coining the term
McCarthyism to describe the senator's communist
witch hunt
His drawing of shifty eyed Nixon became a symbol

18. Paul Conrad (1924-2010)
Rodney King Beating-
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Single-Framed Cartoons: Editorial

19. Michael Ramirez
Janet Jackson Superbowl
incident, 2004
Controversial halftime show
later referred to as a
“wardrobe malfunction”
“ Nipplegate” led to immediate
crackdown and widespread
debate on perceived
indecency in broadcasting.
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Single-Framed Cartoons: Editorial

20. Humorous
Puck, 1871 and Judge,
1881
The New Yorker, 1925,
Harold Ross
Charles Addams
Gary Larson
Art Spiegelman
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Single-Framed Cartoons: Humourous

21. 21
Single-Framed Cartoons: Humourous
Puck 1871 Judge 1881

22. (Harold Ross) Known for its cartoons and
short humorous sketches
Rea Irvin created Eustace Tilley, a New York
gentleman in early 19th century, for first cover.
Tilley so popular that every February
he appears on cover.
The New Yorker famous for its cartoons
Popular stereotype is cartoons punch lines so
non sequitur that they are impossible to "get".
( inspired an episode of the sitcom Seinfeld.)
22
Single-Framed Cartoons: Humourous
Eustace Tilley
The New Yorker, 1925

23. The New Yorker
Peter Steiner ,1993
The cartoon marks a notable
moment in the history of the
Internet.
When he created it, Steiner attached
no profound meaning to it!
“On the Internet, nobody knows
you’re a dog”
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Single-Framed Cartoons: Humourous

24. Gary Larson The Far Side
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Single-Framed Cartoons: Humourous

25. Multi-Framed Cartoons
Egyptian Paintings
Greek Vases
Japanese "Continuity Paintings”
Bayeux Tapestry, 1067
Flip Books
Comic strips historically from papyrus
paintings in Egypt portraying scenes of
wrestlers fighting;
Greek vases also had sequential
drawings as well as Japanese paintings;
novelty toys that simulated motion in
1500s inspired animators
230 foot long Bayeux Tapestry:
William the Conqueror, Battle of Hastings
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Multi-Framed Cartoons

26. Comic Strip Stamps
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Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comic Strips

27. German Wilhelm Buschis
called founder of modern
comic strip for his comic Max
and Moritz in 1865
newspaper
Wilhelm Busch: Max and Moritz
27
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comic Strips

28. First colour comic strip Pulitzer's
Sunday World 1895 Hogan's Alley by
Richard Outcault
Social commentaryabout poor kids in
tenements-Central character kid in a
yellow shirt -The strip became known
as The Yellow Kid of Hogan's Alley -
the sensationalist tactics that
journalists use to increase
circulation were labeled “yellow
journalism”
Showed class and racial tensions in new
urban, consumer society.
A mischievous group of New York City kids
from the wrong side of the tracks.
Richard Outcault –The Yellow Kid
28
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comics

29. Satire of Pulitzer and Hearst
29
Multi-Framed Cartoons
Leon Barritt 1998 editorial cartoon: Pulitzer and Hearst stirring up American public to go to war with Spain

30. Slapstick simplicity, detailed
characterization-Visual and verbal
creativity
Widely praised by intellectuals and
treated as serious art.
Krazy Katdescribed as surreal and
violent,
Krazy Kat, undefined gender-antagonist
Ignatz Mouse, Krazy Kat has
unrequited love for Ignatz Mouse
Inspired artists like Chuck Jones and Tex
Avery to create Bugs Bunny-equally
absurd and violent -furthering the
concept that violence resolves conflict
George Herriman‘s “Krazy Kat”
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Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comics

31. 31
Action/Adventure
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comic Strips
Buck Rogers began 1928

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Action/Adventure
Dick Tracy began 1931 in Detroit Mirror
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comic Strips

33. 33
1950s-1960s and beyond -political and social satire
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comic Strips
Walt Kelly’s Pogo

34. 34
Max Gaines 1930s
Max Gaines credited with the
introduction of the first comic book,
Funnies On Parade
Max’s 1933 comic was a compilation
of newspaper "funnies" and given
away as a promotion
Inexpensive and ”4 colour" graphics.
Even after the first comic book was sold
on the newsstand (Famous Funnies #1
1934), the medium continued to rely on
reprinted material.
Max Gaines –first comic book
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comic Books

35. 35
Superman, 1938
Jerry Siegel and Joe Schusterwere
turned down at first with,
"We are in the market only for strips
likely to have the most extra-
ordinary appeal, and we do not feel
Superman gets into this category.”
United Features responded that
Superman was "a rather immature
piece of work."
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comic Books

36. 36
Superman, 1938
DC Comics (Detective Comics) began in
1937. Max Gaines began Action Comics
and bought the strip and signed them
Were told to rewrite parts within 3 weeks
for 13 page story and paid them $10 a
page.
Joe Shuster lived in Toronto until 10 yrs
old; had worked for The Star and used
it as the inspiration, paper was the
Daily Star in earliest Superman stories.
Metropolis skyline was inspired not by
Cleveland, where he lived, or New
York, but by Toronto.
Movie Directors Learned Filmmaking
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comic Books

37. 37
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comic Books
Canadian Comics
1941 Nelvana of the Northern Lights
by Adrian Dingle. Nelvana fought the
Axis Powers, super villains, spies
1942 Johnny Canuck by Leo Bachle
Canuck fought Hitler and evil doers

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“Seduction of the Innocents” written by
Frederic Wertham-waged war on comics
unwholesome elements
1948, some of the comic publishers formed
the Association of Comic Magazine
Publishers
Attack on Comics 1940s/50s
Comic Code Authority
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Comic Books
William Gaines: MAD
Magazine, 1954
Madconverted to a magazine format to escape the
censor's knife

39. 39
Art Spiegelman's MAUS, 1987
Spiegelman narrates the story of his
father’s life in the Holocaust as well as
his own as a second generation
affected by it
A graphic novel defined as a fictional
story presented in comic-strip format
and presented as a book
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Graphic Novels

40. 40
Frank Miller’s Sin City, 2005
hard-boiled detective story-neo-noir
comic
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Graphic Novels
Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor, 2003
The stories concern the everyday life of Pekar and his job
as file clerk

41. 41
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Manga
Japanese "Manga"
Manga is a Japanese term that
can be translated as
"whimsical sketches”

42. 42
The Magic Lantern 1675
Christiaan Huygens
and father Athanasius
An early slide projector.
The user projected images on
glass onto a screen by moving
them in front of a flame
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Animation

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Praxinoscope 1882
Emile Reynaud
Assistant Emile Cohl
provided the drawings
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Animation
Reynaud opened first theatre in 1882

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Emile Cohl1907
Credited with the starting point
of animation in film.
Fantasmagorie
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Animation

45. 45
George Melies
Trip to the Moon, 1902
Mieles was magician and pioneer of
film-used early trick ideas, multiple
exposures
Trip to the Moon was hugely
successful but not financially…it
was heavily pirated!
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Animation

46. 46
Winsor McCay
Little Nemo 1911, Gertie1914
Winsor claimed he invented
animated cartoon, inspired by
flippers
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Animation
Little Nemo
Gertie

47. 47
Max Fleisher
(1883-1972)
The Tantalizing Fly 1919
Pioneer in animated cartoons
Characters Betty Boop, Koko the
Clown, Popeye, and
Superman
Responsible for a number of
technological innovations
Fleischer, brother Dave & Lee
De Forest made the first
cartoon with sound, Oh Mabel
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Animation

48. 48
Walt Disney
Snow White& Beauty and the
Beast
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Animation
1928 Steamboat Willie
First fully synchronized
soundtrack

49. 49
Chuck Jones & Tex Avery
Looney Tunes -Merry
Melodies
Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck,
Road Runner, Wile E Coyote
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Animation

50. 50
Hanna and Barbera
The Flintstones 1960-66
Imitated “The Honeymooners”
Primetime
Most financially successful network
animated franchise for 3 decades
(until The Simpsons)
The Jetsons 1962-1987
“The Jetsons' world is our world:
explosive technological advances,
entrenched bourgeois culture, a
culture of enterprise that is very
fond of the good life.”Jeffrey
Tucker
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Animation

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Jay Ward (1920-1989)
Multi-Framed Cartoons: Animation

53. “The Simpsons created an audience for prime
time animation that had not been there for
many years…as far as I’m concerned they
basically reinvented the wheel”
Seth McFarlane

54. 2014, According to international box-
office count, Frozen is now the highest
grossing animated film of all time.
2001 ‘s Shrek won the first ever
Academy Award for Best Animated
Feature