We’ve got a brand new feature here at the Andertoons blog that I’m really excited about – “Inside the Cartoonist’s Studio!”
Here’s how it works – I’ve been emailing professional cartoonists three goofy questions and asking them to answer in any way they see fit. Some are thoughtful, some are funny, and some are thoughtfully funny.
Here are the questions:
1) If you were to cast a movie entirely with cartoon characters, what movie would it be and who would star in it?
2) You’re a syndicate editor launching a new comic strip. What’s the worst possible title you can think of?
3) A light bulb over a cartoon’s head signifies an idea, while a string of random characters denotes swearing. Invent a new cartooning icon and what it means.
(OK, so technically that last one isn’t technically a question, but you get the idea.)
I’ll be trying to post a new set of responses every week, so check back often!
Our first cartoonist is Mark Heath who creates the delightful “Spot the Frog”! Here are his answers:
1) If you were to cast a movie entirely with cartoon characters, what movie would it be and who would star in it?
This is the sort of question that knocks a hole in the back of my head, and my brain rolls out like a stale nut. I like movies, but for some reason I’ve never thought to myself, “If I could cast a movie entirely with cartoon characters…” One that comes to mind has already been done, and done perfectly. One Froggy Evening by Chuck Jones. Along with Peanuts and B.C., that bit of animation made me a cartoonist. The expressions are so minimal and so precise. As for something that remains to be made, I’d like to see A Christmas Carol. There are already a thousand adaptions, but there can never be too many. The kids from Soup to Nutz could collectively play the Ghost of Christmas Present (or in their case, Presents.) Monty could play a feckless Marley. Christmas Past could be the fairy godfather from the Barnaby strip. Steve Dallas would be Scrooge. Spot would be the pet frog Dickens forgot to mention. And Robotman appears as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
2) You’re a syndicate editor launching a new comic strip. What’s the worst possible title you can think of?
Judging from the dozen submissions I showed the syndicates before Spot the Frog, I’ll have to assume that Karl the Carrot, Moveable Feast, Idiots, Winslow, and several others I offered were the worst. Other titles I didn’t use but would probably fare as well: Dick’s Dysentery; You’re Too Stupid To Like This Strip; Peanuts.
3) A light bulb over a cartoon’s head signifies an idea, while a string of random characters denotes swearing. Invent a new cartooning icon and what it means.
This question demands someone more clever than I am. I’m trying to think of an icon I use that’s unique to me, and most that come to mind are borrowed from other cartoonists. One of my favorites is the word sigh, bracketed by asterisks. Schulz did this. I paraphrase it (I omit the word sigh and settle for a single asterisk.) I also like the Bushmiller approach, where punctuation says it all (an exclamation point over the head, for example.) If I had to think of a new icon, off the cuff, I’d say a speech balloon that resembles a fist. But even as I say that, I’m not sure that I like it (picture a speech balloon in the shape of a hand, thumb pointing down, over my head.)
Thanks Mark for being our first participant!
Check out “Spot the Frog”! It’s one of my new favorite comics! Try Mark’s Frog Blog too! The “Spot the Frog” website has lots of good info and fun stuff!
Well, that about wraps it up for “Inside the Cartoonist’s Studio!” Check back next week when we’ll be posting more answers to goofy questions!