CARTOON: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS, PARTS, TYPES, EXAMPLES - LITERATURE

The comic strip is a form of communication or expression in which illustrations with humorous subtitles are observed. Also, it can be conceived as a simple drawing that shows the characteristics of its subjects with an exaggerated humorous touch. In a very general way, the comic is defined as a simplified and exaggerated version of something.

The word cartoon is the translation of the English term cartoon. Originally, it referred to large-scale sketches for various art forms, such as frescoes and tapestries. From the mid-19th century, it acquired the meaning of a humorous, pictorial, and often satirical parody in its depiction of social and political events.

Starting in 1843, the English magazine Punch and the American magazine The New Yorker popularized this visual form of satire. Since then, it has continued to be used to great effect in society. The reason for its successful evolution lies in the fact that it can provide highly incisive feedback on matters of current interest.

Over the years, the cartoon - which began as a drawing technique - became the drawing itself. The rapid evolution of the media has substantially affected the way it is produced and transmitted. Today, comic book production is a multibillion-dollar, transnational business.

Large companies, both journalistic and entertainment, dominate this world market. For example, the large news networks use it to reinforce their informative content. Other companies - such as Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios and DreamWorks use the comic for entertainment purposes.

Cartoon origin

the beginning

In its original meaning, cartoon comes from the Italian word cartone which meant "large paper". It was a life-size drawing made on paper that would serve as a sketch (cardboard) in the production of a work of art. This technique was first used during the 16th century for fresco painting.

The fresco painting technique involved applying pigments to a wet plaster wall. Previously, the composition was drawn on paper and traced on the plaster wall, using one of two techniques.

The first one consisted of the use of a trace tool. With it, the artist highlighted all the continuous lines. Then, I applied a highlighting liquid to highlight them on the wall.

For the second, a drilling tool was used, and charcoal powder was applied to mark the lines of the composition on the wall.

Printed stage

Starting in the 1800s, the word cartoon lost its sketch meaning, and began to be used to designate satirical drawings. Historical records point to the British magazine Punch (created in 1841), which had already been publishing satirical drawings, as a pioneer of this use.

In 1843, and at the request of the English Parliament, a group of artists began to publish drawings from which those who were going to decorate in paintings and murals some houses that were being built. This group of houses had been destroyed in a fire, and the parliament sponsored the so-called “Houses of Parliament”.

Within the framework of this selection, the journalist John Leech published in July of that year a series of drawings which he called cartoons (comic strips). In them, he sarcastically attacked the government spending money on unnecessary affluence, while the poor starved.

In this sense, the form used by the artist parodied the designs submitted in the 1843 competition to select the Westminster decoration.

Immediately, the term cartoon began to be used as a description of pictorial satire. Over time, it began to be used in reference to any form of humorous drawing.

In the years that followed Leech's famous cartoon, political and comic cartoons flourished in Punch and other print publications. These were designed by groups of artists who became known as cartoonists and cartoonists.

Animated stage

With the beginning of the 20th century, a tool was perfected that would make the comic strip evolve: animation. Broadly speaking, it is the art of making inanimate objects appear to be moving.

Animation, as an artistic impulse, had its origin centuries ago. The first recorded animator in history was Pygmalion, from Greek and Roman mythology. This was a sculptor who created such a perfect female figure that he fell in love with her and begged Venus to bring her to life.

The theory of the animated cartoon held that if the pictures of the stages of an action were shown in rapid succession, the human eye will perceive them as a continuous movement. With this premise in mind, numerous experimenters set about transforming that theory into practical facts.

In 1928, a young filmmaker, Walt Disney, shook the world of cinema with an animated cartoon that also had sound, Steamboat Willie (Willie the steam boat). This event was followed by others such as synchronized music and multiplane cameras to give a sense of depth that Disney incorporated into its comics.

Starting with Disney, a fierce global competition was unleashed to produce animated comics closer to reality. This competition has made a breakthrough in the way that education and entertainment are conceived.

At present, two different fronts can be found in the development of the comic. One of them corresponds to the anime (animation) of Japan and the other to the television cartoons of the United States. The first comes from the style of Japanese manga comics and the second from the comics developed for television production in 1960.

characteristics

Comics are created to convey messages about ideas and judgments that the cartoonist is making about people, events, or institutions. The message can be happy, funny, mocking, wild or sympathetic.

Each cartoon has a number of visual and language characteristics that create the overall impression and help communicate the message. These include the use of symbols, color, cartoons, and stereotypes.

It's narrative

One of the main characteristics of the comic is that it is narrative and everything in it has meaning. In general, this meaning carries a moral and / or social background.

The story tells a concrete story. The French Gassiot-Talabot described it as "narrative figuration" and many consider it almost like an illustrated prose story.

Although the text is not necessary, some authors assure that the text is essential since it reduces the ambiguity of what is narrated in the images.

Symbols

Symbols can be objects, signs, logos, or animals. They are often used to communicate ideas or feelings about people, places, and moods or environments.

Colors

Colors are often used in the comic to help reinforce meanings for the viewer. Similarly, the use of colors creates the range of feelings of the characters in the story. The intention is to seek the empathic sensitization of the reader.

Cartoons

A cartoon is a visual representation of a person (or group) in which a distinctive physical feature is deliberately exaggerated or overemphasized. Cartoons are usually humorous and are often used to poke fun at a person.

Stereotypes

Stereotypes refer to the formation of a quick and superficial image of a group of people that is usually based on false or incomplete information. There are stereotypes of men, women, boys, girls, older people and adolescents. Likewise, there are stereotypes for occupations, national and ethnic groups.

These involve a value judgment on a person or group. Since it can offer a limited or simplistic view of people, it is generally considered undesirable.

However, in comics, stereotypes are often used so that certain types of characters can be identified quickly because it makes them easy to recognize.

Variable length

It can be as short as a simple strip of less than a page or as long as a book. In turn, the comics can be published entirely in a single print run, a single book, or have different chapters that are published at different times.

Various genres

Like the literary genre, the comic has several genres that have been widely developed. Among the most important genres of comics are:

Science fiction
Satire
Terror
Police and mystery
Fantasy
Superheros.

Intimately linked to art

The comic strip, being drawing and narration, is always linked to the world of art. The trends that influence art always end up influencing the comic strip, endowing it with new values and meanings. Modern comics have gone through trends as diverse as surrealism, neo-schematism, and pop art.

Because it is considered a type of language, the comic strip has analogies with other artistic languages, mainly with literature and cinema. With the latter it mainly shares its dual character of Images and words.

It is common to find adaptations of comics to books or movies, while it is common to find parodies of movies or books in comics.

Parts

There are certain key elements that are part of every comic, comic strip or comic strip. Each draftsman needs to know them to carry out his work. Among these parts or elements we can mention:

Panel or vignette: rectangles where artists draw their comic strips. Each of these rectangles is a sequence.
Gutter: space between the panels.
Bleed: resource used by the artist when a character does not fit completely in the panel. When this happens, the part of the panel that cuts them is called a bleed.
Balloons - way a character can communicate in a comic strip. What the character says is usually placed in a speech bubble. The unspoken thoughts or ideas that occur in the character's head are usually placed in a thought balloon.
Onomatopoeia: any word that represents a real sound. If a character falls off a ladder with a crash, the "PUM" onomatopoeia can fill an entire panel to show that it was a strong crash.
Icons: symbols that show what is happening in the character's head. This happens, for example, when a character has an idea and suddenly a lightbulb appears.

Types

Different types of comics can vary greatly from one another. One of the few factors that they could share is humor. Another coinciding factor in them is the variety of ways in which they influence and affect society.

Thus, the criterion for classifying comics is very broad. Some of these types will be described below.

According to your connection to reality

Based on this criterion, a comic can be based on reality or fantasy. If the former occurs, the characters are real, from everyday life. More than representing the character, the comic shows his emotional reactions to life.

At the other extreme, there are the fantasy comics. These, in contrast, represent characters that have nothing to do with reality. The whole purpose of the cartoon is to encourage laughter.

According to the image-legend relationship

If the image-legend relationship is considered, there are two types of comics: centered on the text and centered on the image. Those of the first type have their focus on the legend, which are abundant and very explanatory.

When the image is absolutely essential for the understanding of the comic, the caption is brief and totally accessory.

Editorials or policies

An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration that contains a political or social message. This first emerged during the Protestant Reformation in Germany in the early 1500s.

To spread his ideas, Martin Luther (1483-1546), the leader of the Reformation, appealed to the printed image instead of texts. These images protested the actions of the powerful Catholic Church, and were distributed on large-format posters and illustrated pamphlets. In the end, they proved to be an effective medium for criticism.

Nowadays, editorial comics can be found in most newspapers. Similarly, many radical editorial cartoonists have established their presence on the Internet.

Although editorial comics can be very diverse, there is a certain established style. Most of them use visual metaphors to explain complicated political situations.

Political cartoons have been seen as a narrative form. In fact, in 1922 a Pulitzer Prize was established for editorial cartoons.

Comic gag and comics

Gag comics are humorous pictures found in magazines, newspapers, and greeting cards. Generally, they consist of a single drawing accompanied by a legend or a "speech bubble."

For their part, "comic strips", also known as "comic strips" in the UK, are found daily on fixed pages assigned by newspapers around the world. These are usually a short series of sequence drawing illustrations. In the United States they are commonly known as "comics."

Although humor is the most frequent theme, drama and adventure are also represented in this medium. Most comic strips are standalone, but some are serial in nature, with a story line that can continue on a daily or weekly basis.

Animated comics

One of the most common modern uses of the term comic refers to television, movies, short films, and electronic media. Although the term can be applied to any animated presentation, it is most often used in reference to children's programs.

In them, human-shaped animals, superheroes, children's adventures and other similar themes are used to tell the stories. Until the late 1940s, cartoons were shown in movie theaters.

Back then, it was customary to show two full-length movies separated by a comic strip and a newscast. Many of the cartoons from the 1930s - 1950s were designed to be seen on the big screen. Once television began to grow in popularity, cartoons began to be produced for the small screen.

This type of comic has been the subject of controversy due to the issue of violence, especially because its main audience is children. In recent years, a growing number of adult-themed animated comics have been featured. However, some sectors of the entertainment industry exclude them from the group of animated comics.

Examples of famous comics

Mafalda (Argentina)

This comic was published in Argentina between 1964 and 1973 by the renowned Argentine graphic humorist Joaquín Salvador Lavado, better known as Quino.

Mafalda was a very popular character for her description of the social customs of the middle class. Similarly, she was known for her attacks on the status quo of society.

The cartoon presented the situations through the not so innocent eyes of a girl (Mafalda) who critically observed the world of adults around her. This girl's concerns were the main theme. These were about world peace, the arms race, and the Vietnam War.

In addition, other subjects were touched like the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the hippies and the Beatles. All this thematic variety made this cartoon a typical product of the sixties.

Condorito (Chile)

Condorito first appeared in Okey magazine in 1949. Its creator, René Ríos Boettiger, was better known as Pepo (1911-2000). The central theme revolved around the adventures and misadventures of the main character, Condorito. This was a mix between a condor and a huaso (Chilean peasant) that migrated from the countryside to the city.

By its launch date, Chile was facing heavy rural migration. In this way, the cartoon reflected the social reality of that moment.

Over time, the cartoonist Pepo evolved his character. First, he softened the condor features to make him more human. Also, he created a girlfriend, some friends and even a nephew.

Although it is true that Condorito did not reflect international situations, he portrayed a particular situation in Chile. In Condorito's adventures, Pepo wanted to portray a witty and funny Chilean peasant who comes to town. Since 1955, Condorito has been published in a magazine of the same name both in Chile and in other countries.

Mortadelo and Filemón (Spain)

Mortadelo y Filemón was a cartoon series published for the first time on January 20, 1958. Its creator was the Spanish Francisco Ibáñez Talavera (1936-). Its original title was Mortadelo y Filemón, information agency.

In the words of the author himself, the original objective of the comic was to be a farce. In it, the protagonists, Mortadelo and Filemón pretended to be Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes, respectively. The entire development of the comic portrayed two clumsy beings who lived from problem to problem.

This comic has been taken into a musical and has been the subject of video games. In the same way, it has been distinguished with the Gran Premio del Salón del Comic (1994), the Haxtur Prize (2000) and the Medal of Honor for Merit in Fine Arts (2001).

References

New World Encyclopedia. (s / f). Cartoon. Taken from newworldencyclopedia.org.
Oxford Dictionaries. (s / f). Cartoon. Taken from en.oxforddictionaries.com.
Web Archive. (s / f). History of the Cartoon. Taken from web.archive.org.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (s / f). Cartoon: Not Just For Kids. Taken from merriam-webster.com.
Upton, C. (2006). Birth of England's pocket cartoon: LOCAL HISTORY Smile awhile through the history of the cartoonist. Taken from thefreelibrary.co.
Kehr, D. (2018, July 20). Animation. Taken from britannica.com.
State of NSW, Department of Education and Training. (s / f). Features of cartoons. Taken from lrrpublic.cli.det.nsw.edu.au.
Reati, F. (2009). Argentina's Montoneros: Comics, Cartoons, and Images as Political Propaganda in the Underground Political Press of the 1970s. In J. Poblete and H. L'Hoeste (editors), Redrawing The Nation: National Identity in Latin / o American Comics, pp. 97-110. New York: Springer.
Chilean memory. (s / f). Condorito (1949-). Taken from memoriachilena.cl.
Casas, N. (2015). History and Analysis of the Characters in the Comic. History and Analysis of the Characters in the Comic. Madrid: Editorial Bruguera SA

CARTOON: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS, PARTS, TYPES, EXAMPLES - LITERATURE - 2025