Cartoon Cuties materials

cover art for a future issue

   For those interested, the way I work is almost reverse of the way most cartoonists do. I seldom write a script before drawing, but rather I like to draw out a scene or even a complete story before I actually write the script. That my work has any structure at all when I'm done I credit fully to the Holy Spirit -particularly since I frequently get to write the script after a long period has passed since I drew it. I don't plan stories so much as I work by instinct. Immediately below is a prime example. This page I sketched out with another story in mind from the one I eventually settled on. Fortunately, the work was loose enough that I could fit it into another story. What I like about this page is the expressions used. For someone who only recently began to draw more traditional cartoon characters, I seem to've grasped the basics effectively. Growing up, I tried to copy the more realistic aesthetic of Jonny Quest, not "funny animal" art. This has manifested in interesting ways, some of which are viewable here, as I still tend to draw fabrics in the same quasi-realistic sense I picked up from Dr. Quest. Hopefully, this lends credibility to the idea that these cartoon characters are living in the real world.

   Speaking of the real world, the basic concept of Cartoon Cuties is that cartoon characters (though only certain kinds -anthropomorphized furniture being strictly the creation of cartoonists, for example) live alongside regular human beings. The setting is a movie studio built on the outskirts of a rural community where many "annies" have settled. "Annie" is derived from the phrase "animated actors" and I thank Mr. Mark Holmes for coming up with the term for me. You see, I wanted to avoid the word "toon" as that would tie the project more directly to established properties like WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT. I wanted a more unique universe where cartoon characters are fully human themselves despite possessing animal features. Hence, these characters are sort of a hybrid of human anatomy and the typical cartoon aesthetic. Annies have five fingers instead of four, for example. Granted, much of this is pretty arbitrary. Female characters have skin instead of fur, but several male characters have fur like their screen counterparts have. There is a method to it all, but it's pretty complex to try to briefly explain it with words. Hopefully, over the course of several issues, the universe presented will snap into focus for the reader. The following few pages are for a story to appear in issue 8 or 9 or so. They should provide a decent illustration of how humans and annies share the same space.

   My first annie was Daisy Poise (seen in the pages above), created for a Betsy The Bookwriter episode in parody of THE WIZARD OF OZ. Daisy was The Milksop Mouse. She triggered the creation of Crissy Carrots. In expanding Crissy's world, Daisy became a part of it (after a considerable re-design). It's fitting that I have in my stable more mice than any other sort of femanimal, given there are probably more mice in cartoons than any other animal. Daisy is the featured player, but there are a good half dozen supporting players that are mice, such as this one here...

   The areas marked with X's will be blacked out in coloring, by the way. Below is an interesting page, drawn to look like a newspaper page advertising what the local theaters are showing. This is set in the late 50's. Chickie Little is an interesting character (I think, anyway). Her real name is Lois Teppert, and had actually been created for a project that never got off the ground. She (within the universe of Cartoon Cuties) achieved fame through a series of cartoons as the character "Chickie Little" and here we see an ad block for one of her cartoons. The title of the short wasn't really planned (though it looks like it was), rather I chose words that would fit into the space provided for the title! To lend authenticity, I try to make the names of directors and producers on these posters sound Jewish, due to the number of Jews who found work in Hollywood during the Golden Age of movies. The page came about as a way to salvage an earlier pencil sheet that I drew for a story which I eventually abandoned. In the original configuration, Lois was standing behind a park bench and reacting to a newspaper headline. She was the only element of that page that really worked, so I kept her and roughed in a new scene around her. Once I'd erased the original scene and saw Lois there by herself, the movie poster idea came to me. So...

   The page below isn't finished, but it's pretty close. These characters, as yet unnamed, I introduce in issue 4. These twins were hired by the fictional movie studio before branching out into their own line of clothing (this drawing done as one of the pages of their catalog). Eventually, I want to develop their adventures more, but this pinup page keeps them visible until they can again take center stage. Since the comic hasn't hit stands yet, I have no way of knowing which characters people will want to see more of and which ones the public won't care for.

   Finally, we have a pinup shot of a character I haven't yet named. I really enjoy the process of designing new characters for the book. The idea for this one was to draw as cute a character as I possibly could. Only certain types of animals lend themselves to this sort of thing. This is my first chipmunk, as "chipmunk cheeks" is a descriptive used for cute girls with baby faces. This is a play on that. How large a part will she eventually play in the series? Only time will tell. UPDATE: Based partially on a suggestion from Jim Ludwig, and in tribute to the late, great Doris Day, this character will be named Doris Flowers...