February 28th, 2018

Ask A Cartoonist: A Night At The Movies

by Tea

The Academy Awards are coming up! I love a good movie, and so do a lot of our cartoonists. While we’re looking forward to seeing who takes home the big prizes this year, I asked our cartoonists to share their own thoughts– or their characters’ thoughts– about movies.

Alex Hallatt, Arctic Circle:

I love old black and white movies and anything with Cary Grant is alright with me.

Bill Griffith, Zippy The Pinhead:

Well, for me (& Zippy), the all-time favorite movie is Tod Browning’s 1932 masterpiece, “Freaks”, in which almost all of the sideshow people were— working sideshow people.

My new graphic bio/novel (to be published next year by AbramsComicArts) about “Schlitzie”, the sideshow pinhead who inspired me to do Zippy has an entire section devoted to the movie and its making.

Here’s a page from that section:

 

Ron Ferdinand, Dennis the Menace:

Dennis Mitchell and the movies have a LONG history together!

Bruce Tinsley, Mallard Fillmore:

In the words of Mallard, “Movies are a popular place to go on a first date. This is a terrible idea; you get to NOT GET TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT EACH OTHER for two hours, except that the person who picked “going to a movie” is just as unimaginative as all of your other first dates who did the same thing.

That having been said, my favorite movies are the ones that are, undisputedly “movies,” not “films.” It’s easy to spot the difference–movies are the ones you want to see; films are the ones you’re supposed to want to see. Also, never go to any movie with someone who calls them “films,” (unless that person is making fun of the people who call them “films”). This is easy to do, simply by not ever associating with anyone who calls movies “films.”

The greatest movie ever made is “The Jerk”. This is not a subjective matter of taste, or cultural bias, or personal predilection, or any of those other things Squishy Relativists say. It is, by all scientific measurements, the best. It’s also iconoclastic, bucking the tradition that most other great movies share: a cameo by Stan Lee”.

Bill Holbrook, Kevin & Kell, On the Fastrack, and Safe Havens:

In “Safe Havens” in 2013, filmmaker Ming was nominated for Best Documentary, and she and her family got to go to the Oscars.

Gary Brookins, Shoe:

My taste in movies runs more toward old classics, particularly film noir. My all-time favorites:
1. “Casablanca”
2. “The Maltese Falcon”
3. “The Big Sleep”
4. “Key Largo”
5. “The Wizard of Oz” (of course, I think the movie would’ve been much better had they cast Humphrey Bogart as the Wizard ;>)

In “Shoe,” Cosmo is the official movie critic for the Treetops Tattler. His reviews are short and to the point.

  

  

Mike Peters, Mother Goose & Grimm:

I have always been a movie buff from an early age and even met some of my movie idols because my mom had a TV show in St. Louis and she would have famous people on her show. But, my biggest idol was Cary Grant, and even tho I have see North By Northwest about a million times, I never got to meet him. One day as I was sitting at my desk at the Dayton Daily News and was talking to my buddy, Bill Schorr, who was the editorial cartoonist for the LA Herald examiner at the time. His desk was next to the movie critics desk, from which he procured Cary Grant’s agent’s phone number. So after a few days, I got up the courage to dial the number. A man answered with a clear British accent, I asked if Cary Grant was available. The answer was, “This is Cary Grant” in the best Cary Grant voice. I almost fainted. I explained that I was the world’s biggest fan and this as a weird call. He replied”My friend, after 82 years nothing seems weird to me anymore” He was most gracious and chatted for a few minutes. The next morning, the phone operator (it was that long ago) Rose, told me I had had a “prank” call of a man pretending to be Cary Grant. Well, she did faint when I told her that it was indeed Mr.Grant! He had called back to congratulate me on the Pulitzer Prize that I had recently won

 

David Reddick, Intelligent Life:

“Let’s just say that when Skip & Mike go to the movies, it’s always an EXPERIENCE!”

 

 

John Rose, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith:

Loweezy makes or mends most of the clothes that her family members wear. But, in this comic strip from a few years ago, Loweezy reveals that she has dreams about one day making clothes for the award-winning movie stars that walk the red carpet.  However, I doubt many of those stars would wear her clothes since they are filled with patches!