Cartoon

A cartoon is a two-dimensional visual art form used for satire, caricature, or humor. Cartoons are created by photographing a series of drawings to tell a story and are used in television shows and films in the form of animated characters. An artist who creates cartoons is called a cartoonist.

The specific definition of a cartoon has changed over the years, and the focus has evolved into different forms and genres. The original concept goes back to the Middle Ages where it was used to describe the initial sketches for a piece of art such as a tapestry, fresco, or stained glass window. Early cartoon images were used to show stories of gods, but it was the appearance of comic strips in major newspapers in the nineteenth century that fostered their popularity and turned them into an accepted mode of art.

Political cartoons, sometimes referred to as editorial cartoons, are popularly read in newspapers and magazines.

History

The history of the cartoon goes back a long way. Before flourishing in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this art form was used by cavemen who sketched on stones and walls with paint and charcoal. Cave painting was a form of journalism as it depicted the important events in the artists’ daily lives—from animals and hunting scenes to people dancing and performing the rituals of the time.

In the Middle Ages, the monks took on the art form, painting colorful pictures to illustrate early books—mostly stories from the Bible. This continued well into the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when artists drew large colored frescos and religious scenes on cathedrals and official structures. From the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, cartoons became an important part of the printed world, used to illustrate stories in books, magazines, and newspapers.

During the eighteenth century, political cartoons were introduced by Germanic artists who used the cartoon as a channel of commentary on serious issues of the day. Their presentation was often funny and sarcastic and was designed to affect the reader’s opinion. Its influence on public life grew over the years as a more modern culture opened additional subjects for discussion and ridicule.

In America, political cartoons were used as far back as 1753 when Benjamin Franklin’s "Join or Die" was first published. In this famous cartoon, a severed snake represented the original thirteen colonies, which would only remain intact if they were united together. Franklin’s cartoon generated a sense of nationhood and helped motivate Americans to fight for their independence.

During the Civil War, artist Thomas Nast introduced some of the most popular images in US politics—Uncle Sam, the Republican elephant, and the Democratic donkey.

In the early twentieth century, cartoons as a form of entertainment caught the attention of the American public. In the forefront of the movement was Walt Disney, who as king of the cartoon, turned animation into an integral part of the Hollywood film scene. Research has shown that Disney’s original audience was not children. Rather, he was more interested in highlighting the standards of his times and used animation to get his messages across. And since almost all the movies used animal characters, children found his films comical and entertaining, and they became his prime viewers.

Cartoon Today

Between 1930 and 1960, known as the Golden Age of Cinema, many cartoon characters were created, and they remain today’s favorites with both children and adults.

Warner Bros. and MGM Studios were the main producers of the first series of animated films, and with the introduction of "over-the-top voice acting," they ushered in a whole new era of humorous cartoons. Voice actors such as Mel Blanc gave unique personalities to Bugs Bunny, Tweety, Yosemite Sam, Sylvester, Porky Pig, and many others.

Walt Disney introduced a new series of short cartoons using Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald and Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto and created full-length animated films such as The Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, and Bambi.

When TV networks began ordering their own cartoon series, the Hanna-Barbera studio came up with the most recognized characters that are still watched today. The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Top Cat, and The Jetsons were originally aired during evening prime time, but were eventually moved to Saturday mornings when more children were home to watch them.

Major animated films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Toy Story, the first feature-length computer-animated film and winner of Oscar awards for its creativity and musical scores, were raving hits and have been translated into many languages across the globe.

DreamWorks and Pixar are the major production studios offering animated films for children and adults in the twenty-first century. Along with its new films such as Frozen, which was the highest-grossing animated film of all times, making nearly 1.3 billion dollars worldwide, Disney Studios has taken to reintroducing old successes such as Cinderella and the Three Little Pigs using today’s modern production equipment.

Cartoon production advances with each new wave of technology. Some characters are still drawn by hand, but most are now drawn on a computer screen; the animator can reposition and recolor them on the screen and create a character in any manner or form. Cartoons now are created using 3D-CGI, which stands for computer-generated imagery; instead of the traditional flat 2D screen, cartoon characters are seen in amazing depth, shadow, and detail that resemble real life.

Cartoons have always been big business. Besides the major film studios that continue to roll out full-length and hit TV series, innovative people are making money from cartoons in other ways, such as offering popular cartoons on YouTube and joining film fests that offer lucrative prizes for original productions. Some animators form their own freelance companies and either animate for themselves or on contract as freelancers.

Political cartoonists can earn money by allowing advertisers to place ads on their website or by attaching themselves to local media outlets that agree to post their cartoons on commission.

Bibliography

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Backer, Dan. "A Brief History of Cartoons." The History of Cartoons. University of Virginia, 1996. Web. 19 May 2016

Baker, Kenneth, Lord. "The History of British Cartoons and Caricatures." Lecture. Gresham College, London, 2011. Cartoon Museum, n.d. 18 May 2016.

Baxter, Devon. "Walt Disney’s ‘Three Little Pigs.’" Cartoon Research. Baxter’s Breakdowns, 18 May 2016. Web. 19 May 2016

"A Brief Cartooning History." CoolCartooning.com. CoolCartooning.com, 2009. Web. 19 May 2016

"Cartoons for Children, Part 1 and 2." Big Cartoon News. Big Cartoon News, n.d. Web. 19 May 2016.

"Timeline: Cartoons." Fact Monster-Arts and Entertainment. Sandbox Networks, Inc., 2016. Web. 19 May 2016.