RMIT Panel on Writing · 27 August 2008
Out and about this week:
This week I’ll be speaking on a Panel on writing at RMIT in Melbourne. The talk will be this Friday for final year media students.
I’ll be bleating on next to actual interesting speakers like TV screenwriter Katherine Fry, Film screenwriter Robert Galinsky and journalist Andrew Murphett.
A Peek Inside the Mind of Searle · 21 August 2008
One of my all time favourite cartoonists, Ronal Searle (and I’m sure I’m one of a bazillion cartoonists whom Searle has had an influence on) wrote an article on his process a while back.
It’s an incredible insight into the man’s thinking, and reveals the secret of his unmistakably unique line work.
Signed, Searled, Delivered:
Aauerrgh! That was an awful pun. Noone deserved that.
Sorry guys.
Read the article here
Finally! Freakazoid on DVD · 29 July 2008
Oh hell yes! Warner’s just released season one of Freakazoid, the best TV cartoon since the Max Fleischer era, on DVD. This is the most demented, hilarious, madcap, witty, surreal, fantastic toon of all time, and now you can get it for the home collection!
I used to watch Freakazoid religiously as a kid, and developed my own style by taking bits and pieces of the Warner art from the show – drawing them from the TV while I watched.
Awesome.
James Kemsley posthumously awarded Order of Australia Medal · 8 June 2008
The late, great, James Kemsley, from today will forever be remembered as James Kemsley, OAM after he has been awarded the high honour of being awarded the Order of Australia Medal.
The Order of Australia, instituted by Her Majesty, The Queen was established as an Australian society of honour for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service.
As soon as I found out James would be posthumously awarded the medal; my thoughts didn’t run to “What?? Wow! That’s amazing!” My very first thought was: “Well of course he is. He was a bloody legend!”
James Kemsley, better known in his later years as the cartoonist who breathed new life into Australia’s longest-running comic strip, Ginger Meggs and turned it into an internationally syndicated Daily and Sunday strip. Although a lot of people who met Kems later in life don’t realise he was also a well-known actor back when he was my age, hosting TV shows on Channel 9 in the 60’s and 70’s.
Kems was known for his affable character “Skeeter the Paper Boy” on Channel 9’s “Super Flying Fun Show.”
The daily show offered a mix of US-based cartoons and viewer competitions. One of his tag lines on the telephone with viewer contestants who were unsuccessful was “Golly gosh!”. When Kemsley left in 1973 to pursue his acting career in London, John Farnham took his place.
The word ‘heyday’ doesn’t really apply to Kems. He always seemed to be at the top of his game at nearly every stage of his life. he lived every moment to the fullest, and dedicated so much time to the things and people he cared about.
He was a true blue Australian, with an undying and unparalleled love of cricket. He was instrumental in establishing the Bradman Museum, and the Don Bradman Foundation.
Kems was also responsible for reviving the ailing Australian Black & White Artists’ Club when it was in considerable debt, and almost dead on its back. He turned it around into the thriving Australian Cartoonists’ Association that it is today.
Kems was one of the most amazing blokes, and one of the best mates I’ve ever had. Losing him in December, after a long and brave fight with Motor Neurone Disease was the saddest and most tragic time for his friends and family. He was one year out from his 60th birthday when he passed away.
I could write a book on James’ lifetime achievements; and believe me it would make a great read- but for now, I’ll just say this:
Kems will be dearly missed by everyone he’d met, but even more dearly remembered for the incredible things he did for those people. His legacy lives on in Ginger Meggs, and in his three equally impressive and talented sons of whom he was immeasurably proud.
Talking Pictures · 8 June 2008
While I was in Sydney this week I caught up with Mike Bowers from the Sydney Morning Herald for the “Talking Pictures” segment on ABC’s Insiders program.
Cartoonist to Host Australian 'Top Gear' · 28 May 2008
One of the best shows on TV, “Top Gear” is about to undergo an Australian make-over.
Motorsport commentator Charlie Cox, Daily Telegraph cartoonist Warren Brown and driving instructor Steve Pizzati have won the highly sought-after job to host the show.
After Warren’s work on “Peking to Paris” and “Difference of Opinion”, this will surely make for another big TV success.
Top Gear – Top job for a top bloke.
Hello Ginger? · 19 May 2008
It was reported today that Japan will appoint its ubiquitous feline cartoon character Hello Kitty as a goodwill tourism ambassador in China and Hong Kong, with the aim of promoting visits to Japan, ministry officials said.
Now, Hello Kitty is the best-known of many fictional characters produced by the Japanese company Sanrio. Registered in 1976, Hello Kitty is now a globally known trademark.
Many American celebrities have contributed to the character’s popularity: Ricky Martin, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Cameron Diaz, Heidi Klum, Steven Tyler, Christina Aguilera, Carmen Electra, Mandy Moore, Raven-Symoné, Miley Cyrus, Varla Jean Merman, as well as Paris and Nicky Hilton have all been spotted with Hello Kitty goods.
I was interviewed on ABC Radio today, because when it was considered who would make the perfect cartoon ambassador to Australia, who would they chose?
Unanimously, that consideration came to Ginger Meggs. After all, he’s an Australian icon, and he’s been around for a lot longer than 1976. (He’s technically old enough to be Helly Kitty’s grandfather), but that aside – he’s a perfect embodiment of the Australian fun-loving larrikin that were so well known for around the world.
Thanks to the tireless work of the inimitable James Kemsley, Ginger Meggs now runs in over 120 papers around over 30 countries around the world, so he’s already doing a good ambassadorial job for Australia – minus the official title.
I did make the comment in the interview that you’d sooner see hell freeze over before you saw Ginger Meggs in a tiny bikini on a beach screaming “So where the bloody hell are you?” – but it’s worth considering; Who else would better fit the role of a cartoon character ambassador to Australia?
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Pat Olliphant Exhibition · 19 May 2008
Stanford’s newly remodeled gallery space on Connecticut Ave., NW in Woodley Park. (Photo by Matt Wuerker)
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In the odd inky corner of the media landscape inhabited by us cartoonists, Pat Oliphant is Placido Domingo.
His is one of the boldest, most unmistakable and longest-lasting voices the dyspeptic art has ever seen. His political satire has cut a deep swath through a line of political figures going all the way back to LBJ, and he doesn’t show any signs of losing his edge.
Now he’s back in the nation’s capital with a wide-ranging show of his acerbic wit — “Leadership: Oliphant Cartoons and Sculpture From the Bush Years” — that just opened at the Stanford in WashingtonArt Gallery in D.C.’s Woodley Park neighborhood.
Click here to read more.
Why are there so many bad animations? · 19 May 2008
Sylvain Chomet is the director of ‘’The Triplets of Belleville,’’ which received an Academy Award nomination for best animated feature film, and his thoughts on the current state of the cartoon animation industry as published in the New York Times in 2004 the are really interesting, not just because of his first-hand insight, but because they’re still relevant today in 2008.
Read the article here
Brad Blaze · 7 March 2008
A mate of mine from Sydney, fellow live caricaturist Brad Blaze has posted a new video of his speed-painting. Very talented bloke.