The cartoon blog of Andertoons cartoonist Mark Anderson. He discusses his cartoons, cartooning, comics and, oddly enough, LEGO.
OK, today’s entries were largely self-congratulatory, so here’s an interesting tidbit on cartooning:
I recently saw the Tom Hanks episode of Bravo’s “Inside The Actor’s Studio” and when asked what other career he could see himself in, the two time Oscar winner replied “I’d like to be a cartoonist.”
How great is that?!
Tom, baby, anytime you wanna talk ‘toons I’m here. Have your people call my people. We’ll do lunch.
Just a heads up that one of my Thanksgiving cartoons is in the November 2004 issue of Good Housekeeping!
This is my favorite of the Thanksgiving cartoons that I did this year and I’m thrilled to not only see it published, but to see it published in Good Housekeeping! (For those of you playing at home, it’s on page 232)
And, as a special bonus, if you click the following link right now, you’ll see another one of my Thanksgiving cartoons absolutely free! Now what would you pay?!
Hey, I’ve got a couple of cartoons in the November 2004 issue of Funny Times!
One of my business cartoons, and one of my religion cartoons grace the inside front cover of the esteemed humor monthly.
Apparently I was also honored back on August 25th with Funny Times’ Cartoon of the Week! (Thanks to cartoon compatriot Mike Lynch for hipping me to this!)
Normally at this point in an entry I’ll include a link to a cartoon in the same vein as the others I’ve listed, but I’m feeling impish today! So here’s one of my sponge cartoons instead! Enjoy!
Dum dah dah daaaah dah dah daaaaaaah! (That’s our new theme song! Catchy eh?)
Welcome to a brand new edition of Inside the Cartoonist’s Studio! (Applaud here.)
OK, let’s welcome to the blog, the funny, the clever, the just plain odd… P.S. Mueller!!! (Cue band.)
1) If you were to cast a movie entirely with cartoon characters, what movie would it be and who would star in it?
A good movie to remake with cartoon characters might be Being John Malkovich with Dagwood Bumstead in the title role. I mean, millions have been trying to get into Dagwood’s head for decades and this would be the perfect chance. The John Cusack part would go to a self-depicted Robert Crumb ( taken from his earlier comics.), and the Cusack character’s wife should be played by Nancy. The part of Cusack’s evil love interest in the film would go to none other than Lana Lang, a character I have never trusted, who I have long felt was badly cast by the Superman execs. The old fellow in the movie, who is quite integral to the plot, should be portrayed by Archie’s High school principal, Mr. Weatherbee. I think he’s still working and might be available.
2) You’re a syndicate editor launching a new comic strip. What’s the worst possible title you can think of?
Li’l Fascist.
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.
I recommend pile of excrement, with stink-lines and flies, to indicate the awareness of a ghastly marketing ploy.
(P.S. also asked me to include this, and it seemed like a good way to avoid more talk of bathroom related topics, so…)
“If I can say anything I want, I would like to take a brief opportunity to warn about the decay of our civil liberties and the erosion of free speech in our society. Voting against George Bush and his minions of evil can only be a start. The idea of reclaiming freedom might yet have a chance, but only if we reclaim our democracy first. Sadly, though, it may be too late. If It is too late and we are all doomed spend our remaining years as corn syrup-sucking, dull-eyed, semi-literate, flesh-colored fatbags, I plan to become overbearingly smug about being 53 and closer to death than some of you whippersnappers.”
“Oh yeah, and I have a new book out, too. It’s called Your Belief System Is Shot and it will be shipping later this week. The publisher is Jones books. Buy it and I’ll change my whole attitude about this deranged pursuit of empire thing.”
Thanks a bunch P.S.! Be sure to check out his website and buy his book!
Tune in next week when our guest will be Bob the Angry Flower’s Stephen Notley! Goodnight!
Dum dah dah daaaah dah dah daaaaaaah! (Fade out…)
“Fans of Whose Line Is It Anyway? will love Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show!”
Isn’t that a great opening line for a review? I wish I could use it.
The idea behind the show is that the cast performs improvisational comedy a la Whose Line on a stage completely covered by that ugly green color you’ve seen in so many special effect behind-the-scenes featurettes. The show is then sent off and animation is added depending on the performaces of the actors.
Sadly, it’s the animation that gets in the way here. I think part of the charm and power of improvisational comedy is that the audience participates not only by yelling out topics, titles and the like, but by filling in the mimed actions for themselves. Watching someone bow their legs and hop up and down on stage holding pretend reins is much funnier than seeing someone doing the same thing on a cartoon horse added later.
The animation is certainly servicable. I kind of enjoyed the jerky Flash style added to the one syllable boot camp game. And when a scene called for a wild west saloon, the animation was cute and well conceived, but I couldn’t get past the “See? Isn’t this funny? I mean look at this funny cartoon hat I’m wearing!” feel of it all.
I had high hopes for Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show, but I’m afraid I’ll be looking to catch reruns of Whose Line Is It Anyway? instead.
