Cartoon

A cartoon is any of several forms of art, with varied meanings that evolved from one to another.

Historical meaning

The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist, a cartoon by Leonardo da Vinci

In its original meaning, a cartoon (from the Italian cartone, meaning "big paper") is a full-size drawing made on paper as a study for a further artwork, such as a painting or tapestry. Cartoons were typically used in the production of frescoes, to accurately link the component parts of the composition when painted onto plaster over a series of days. Such cartoons often have pinpricks where the outline of the design has been picked out in the plaster. Cartoons by painters such as Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci are highly prized in their own right. A world-renowned collection of Peter Paul Rubens cartoons for huge tapestries is displayed in the collection of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida.

Print media

"Cartoon no.1: Substance and Shadow", an illustration by John Leech that satirizes the preparatory cartoons for frescoes in the new Palace of Westminster (1843), and which created the modern meaning of the word "cartoon"

In modern print media, a cartoon is an illustration, usually humorous in intent. This usage dates from 1843 when Punch magazine applied the term to satirical drawings in its pages, 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 pencillings and the new title "cartoon" was intended to be ironic, a reference to the self-aggrandising posturing of Westminster politicians.

Modern gag cartoons are found in magazines and newspapers and generally consist of a single drawing with a caption immediately beneath or (less often) a speech balloon. Many consider New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno the father of the modern gag cartoon (as did Arno himself). Gag cartoonists of note include Charles Addams, Gary Larson, Charles Barsotti, Chon Day and Mel Calman.

Editorial cartoons are a variation of this, found almost exclusively in news publications. 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, multiple panels. Editorial cartoonists of note include Herblock, Mike Peters, David Low and Gerald Scarfe.

Comic strips, also known as "strip cartoons" 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 as commonly called "cartoons" themselves, but rather "comics" or "funnies". Nonetheless, the creators of comic strips - as well as comic books and graphic novels - are referred to as "cartoonists". Although humor is the most prevalent subject matter, adventure and drama are also represented in this medium. Noteworthy cartoonists in this sense include Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson, Scott Adams, Mort Walker, Steve Bell.

Editorial cartoons

File:Joinordie.png

This early political cartoon by Ben Franklin was originally written for the French and Indian War, but was later recycled during the Revolutionary War

An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration or comic strip containing a political or social message. Editorial cartoons can usually be found on the editorial page of most newspapers, although a few, like Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury are sometimes found on the regular comics page. In recent years, many radical or minority issue editorial cartoonists who would previously have existed obscurely in the samizdat or not at all have found large audiences on the internet. While not carrying the same legitimacy as corporate newspaper cartoonists, self-editing online cartoonists who do not find themselves subject to the conservative constraints of the newspaper industry have often produced challenging, incisive and acerbic work with great visual innovation. Political cartoons are sometimes published in books.

Editorial cartoons can be very diverse, but there is a certain established style among most of them. Most editorial cartoons use visual metaphors and caricatures to explain complicated political situations, and thus sum up a current event with a humorous or emotional picture. In modern political cartooning a division has started to emerge between two styles of cartooning. The traditional style, involving visual metaphors is described as the 'nasti' style (named after Thomas Nast), and the more text heavy 'alti' style that tells a linear story, usually in comic strip format. Although their style, technique or viewpoints may differ, editorial cartoonists draw attention to important social and political issues.

They do not do this dispassionately. Although most western editorial cartoonists by necessity occupy the middle political ground, this is by no means true of all cartoonists and there is a spectrum of political commentary in cartoons which runs from the extreme right through the centre to the extreme left. That same spectrum also represents religious ideologies and reactions to them and this can produce work that has a tangible effect on peoples lives. Editorial cartooning has a history of controversy. When it is seen from a sympathetic or even familiar cultural viewpoint, the editorial cartoon functions as critical commentary but just as often the same cartoon can be seen as propaganda by those outside of that culture.

Over the years, certain common metaphors and symbols have been repeatedly used by many different cartoonists. Examples include the use of Uncle Sam to represent the United States, John Bull, Britannia or a lion to represent the United Kingdom, a beaver to represent Canada, a bear to represent Russia, a dragon to represent China, and so forth.

Politicians are sometimes unable to separate themselves from the characters cartoonists create, especially if many cartoonists use similar elements. Richard Nixon and Joe Clark are prime examples of this phenomenon. Many times, a political cartoon makes fun of different thing s that are happening in the world.

Motion pictures

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

Because of the stylistic similarities between comic strips and early animated movies, "cartoon" came to refer to animation, and this is the sense in which "cartoon" is most commonly used today. These are usually shown on television or in cinemas and are created by showing illustrated images in rapid succession to give the impression of movement. (In this meaning, the word cartoon is sometimes shortened to toon, which was popularized by the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit). Although the term can be applied to any animated presentation, it is most often used in reference to programs for children, featuring anthropomorphized animals, superheroes, the adventures of child protagonists, and other related genres. Animated material which does not fit the traditional conventions of mainstream Western animation, such as Japanese anime are often confused with the definition of cartoons.

In science

The term "cartoon" is sometimes used in a scientific context to mean a diagram, particularly one that depicts a generalised occurrence rather than a specific example.

External links

• CartoonStock database of gag, editorial and historic cartoons
• Punch website's history of cartoons
• New Yorker's Cartoon Bank
• Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index
• Don Markenstein's Toonopedia
• Big Cartoon Database
• Golden Age of Cartoons
• A free cartoons directory : The Cartoon Spot
• Toon-Cycle: Cartoon community and media resources
• Russian animated cartoons and World Day of Animated cartoon
• British Cartoon Archive has a database of over 100,000 editorial cartoons published in the British press
• Using editorial cartoons in the classroom Sources, analysis, interpretation (mostly English with some German)
• Goldbrick Gallery: A daily collection of the latest masterstrokes from the sharpest pens in Editorial Cartooning.

Credits

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