The Cartoon Portal

A cartoon shows a bearded man with a red bow tie holding the hat from Dr. Seuss's "The Cat in the Hat".
Example of a modern cartoon. The text was excerpted by cartoonist Greg Williams from the Wikipedia article on Dr. Seuss.

A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images intended for satire, caricature, or humor; or a motion picture that relies on a sequence of illustrations for its animation. Someone who creates cartoons in the first sense is called a cartoonist, and in the second sense they are usually called an animator.

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, beginning in Punch magazine in 1843, cartoon came to refer – ironically at first – to humorous artworks in magazines and newspapers. Then it also was used for political cartoons and comic strips. When the medium developed, in the early 20th century, it began to refer to animated films that resembled print cartoons. (Full article...)

John Leech, Substance and Shadow (1843), published as Cartoon, No. 1 in Punch, the first use of the word cartoon to refer to a satirical drawing

In print media, a cartoon is a drawing or series of drawings, usually humorous in intent. This usage dates from 1843, when Punch magazine applied the term to satirical drawings in its pages,[1] particularly sketches by John Leech.[2] The first of these parodied the preparatory cartoons for grand historical frescoes in the then-new Palace of Westminster in London.[3]

Davy Jones' Locker, 1892 Punch cartoon by Sir John Tenniel

Sir John Tenniel—illustrator of Alice's Adventures in Wonderlandjoined Punch in 1850, and over 50 years contributed over two thousand cartoons.[4]

Ed, Edd n Eddy logo

Ed, Edd n Eddy is an animated television series created by Danny Antonucci and produced by Canada–based a.k.a. Cartoon. It premiered on Cartoon Network on January 4, 1999, and ended on November 8, 2009 with the premiere of the series' TV movie finale, Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show. Designed to resemble classic cartoons from the 1940s to the 1970s, the series revolves around three adolescent boys known as "the Eds", who constantly invent schemes to make money from their peers to purchase jawbreakers. Their plans usually fail, leaving them in various predicaments. Before signing a contract with Cartoon Network, Antonucci approached Nickelodeon, but the channel demanded creative control of the show, which Antonucci did not agree to. Several specials, shorts, and video games either based on the series or featuring the series' characters have been produced. Viewed from 31 million households in 29 countries by both children and adults, Ed, Edd n Eddy received positive reviews and several awards and nominations. It remains the longest-running original Cartoon Network series and Canadian-made animated series to date.

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Tom Kenny provides the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants.

SpongeBob SquarePants is a fictional character in the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants. He is voiced by Tom Kenny (pictured) and first appeared on television in the series' pilot episode "Help Wanted" on May 1, 1999. SpongeBob was created and designed by cartoonist Stephen Hillenburg shortly after the cancellation of Rocko's Modern Life in 1996. Hillenburg compared the concept to Laurel and Hardy and Pee-wee Herman. As he drew the character, he decided that a "squeaky-clean square" (like a kitchen sponge) fits the concept. His name is derived from "Bob the Sponge", the host of Hillenburg's comic strip The Intertidal Zone that he originally drew in 1989 while studying at the California Institute of Arts. SpongeBob is a naïve and goofy sea sponge who works as a fry cook in the fictional underwater town of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob has achieved popularity with both children and adults, though he has been involved in public controversy.

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Michael Dante DiMartino, an American animation director, co-creator, executive producer and story editor for Avatar: The Last Airbender

There were 61 episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender, an Emmy Award-winning American animated television series written and created by Michael Dante DiMartino (pictured) and Bryan Konietzko. It first aired on February 21, 2005 with a one-hour series premiere and concluded its run with a two-hour TV movie on July 19, 2008. The Avatar franchise refers to each season as a "Book", in which each episode is referred to as a "chapter". Each "Book" takes its name from one of the elements that the protagonist must master: Water, Earth, and Fire. The show's first two seasons each consisted of 20 episodes, while the third season had 21. In addition to the three seasons, there were two recap episodes and three "shorts". The first recap summarized the first eighteen episodes while the second summarized season two. The first self-parody was released via an online flash game. The second and third were released with the Complete Second Season Box Set DVD. The entire series has been released on DVD in both Region One and Region Two.

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Purcell at the 2008 Game Developers Conference

Steve Ross Purcell is an American cartoonist, animator and game designer. He is most widely known as the creator of Sam & Max, an independent comic book series about a pair of anthropomorphic animal vigilantes and private investigators, for which Purcell received an Eisner Award in 2007. The series has since grown to incorporate an animated television series and several video games. A graduate of the California College of Arts and Craft, Purcell began his career creating comic strips for the college newsletter. He performed freelance work for Marvel Comics and Fishwrap Productions before publishing his first Sam & Max comic in 1987. Purcell was hired by LucasArts as an artist and animator in 1988, working on several titles within the company's adventure games era. Purcell collaborated with Nelvana to create a Sam & Max television series in 1997, and briefly worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic after leaving LucasArts. He is currently employed in the story development department at Pixar. His main work for the animation studio has been with the 2006 film Cars and spin-off materials such as shorts and video games. Despite his employment with Pixar, Purcell has continued to work with comic books and came together with Telltale Games in 2005 to bring about new series of Sam & Max video games.

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There's none of this wisecracking and cynicism that you see in ... some of the other cartoons. He's supposed to be a role model for kids. He cares about other people.

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Sources

  1. ^ Punch.co.uk. "History of the Cartoon". Archived from the original on 2007-11-11. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
  2. ^ Adler & Hill 2008, p. 30.
  3. ^ "Substance and Shadow: Original Editorial Accompanying "Cartoon, No. I"". Victorian web.org. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Sir John Tenniel". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 26 August 2022.

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