Cartoons

Dr.Mukul Srivastava
Lecturer
Dept.of Journalism & Mass-Communication
University of Lucknow
Lucknow

Cartoons have always been a factor of interest for the mass-media consumers. a good
cartoons creates more impact than written words. A cartoonist must possess a keen
sense of humor, the ability to satirize and draw caricature. The cartoons are generally
symbolic. Cartooning is a creative art. It is fascinating and covers the realm of mass-
media, which is the channel of communication. It symbolizes the essence of a specific
event that is typical, attractive and has news value. in fact there may be large plethora
of events bearing the headlines, subhead lines of newspaper or its editorial that
cartoonist conceives or flashes the idea, which is uppermost in his mind before he draws
it.

The word caricature derives from the Italian verb ‘caricare’ (“to load,” “to surcharge” as
with exaggerated detail) and seems to have been used first by Mosini in “Diverse Figure”
(1646). The word cartoon comes from ‘cartone’ the Italian word for large figure. It is not
surprising that, although cartoons as they are now known developed gradually out of a
caricature from the 15th century, cartoon is 19th century word. In the early 1840’s when
studio practice was rapidly decaying, cartoon rather suddenly acquired a new meaning;
that of pictorial parody almost invariably multiple reproduced drawing, which by the
devices of caricature, analogy and ludicrous juxtaposition sharpens to the public view of
a contemporary event, folkway, or political or social trend. It normally humorous but
may be positively savage. Just as the personal caricature was for an audience, which
knew the original, so the cartoon was and is based on the wide acquaintance with the
subject.

In its original meaning, a cartoon (from the Italian cartone, meaning "big paper") is a
full-size drawing made on paper as a study for a further artwork, such as a painting or
tapestry. Cartoons were typically used in the production of frescoes, to accurately link
the component parts of the composition when painted onto plaster over a series of
days. Such cartoons often have pinpricks where the outline of the design has been
picked out in the plaster. Cartoons by painters such as Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci
are highly prized in their own right.
“Caricature as a western discipline goes back to Leonardo Da Vincci’s (1452-1519)
artistic exploration of “the ideal type of deformity” –the grotesque- that he used to
better understand the ideal type of deformity. In the 16 th century the work of Flemish
painter Pieter Brughel (1520-1569) is full of near caricature. Yet true caricature in the
sense of the satirical portrait of an individual is almost impossible to identify before the
work of a late 16 th century Bolognese painter, Agostino Carracci, the fist caricatures of
persons whose names are still known today are by Bernini.

“As a means of communication, cartoon is a two way process. A cartoonist conceives

the idea collected from specific event or aspect of society. Then he draws the cartoon,
and it is circulated to the readers through newspaper. On the other hand, when the
readers look at the cartoon, in their own way they are being influenced and the ideas
and opinions are further reinforced.

In modern print media, a cartoon is a piece of art, usually humorous in intent. This
usage dates from 1843 when Punch magazine applied the term to satirical drawings in
its pages, particularly sketches by John Leech. The first of these parodied the
preparatory cartoons for grand historical frescoes in the then-new Palace of
Westminster. The original title for these drawings was Mr Punch's pencillings and the
new title "cartoon" was intended to be ironic, a reference to the self-aggrandising
posturing of Westminster politicians.

Comic strips, also known as "strip cartoons" in the United Kingdom, are found daily in
newspapers worldwide, and are usually a short series of cartoon illustrations in
sequence. In the United States they are not as commonly called "cartoons" themselves,
but rather "comics" or "funnies". Nonetheless, the creators of comic strips—as well as
comic books and graphic novels—are referred to as "cartoonists". Although humor is the
most prevalent subject matter, adventure and drama are also represented in this
medium. Noteworthy cartoonists in this sense include Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson,
Scott Adams, Mort Walker, Steve Bell.

A cartoonist may be connected with the different sectors of life like political social
religious economic environment administration, law & order or others. It all depends on
how the cartoonist is fascinated by the subject and what is his perception towards the
problem or subjects. Cartoon reflects some sort of control, moderation or change in
attitude and opinion levels which are constituents by which the society works. They may
be effective if it is conceived by refined, sober and sensitive section of the society.
Cartoons are pungent mode of communication. Humor and sarcasm constitute important
components of cartoons and consequently, it has bearing with negative and critical
aspects. Whatever characters are there, they are not on the “personal” , but “formal”
level having “social roles” and social status. Further it may lead to proper awareness
corrective measures and create a mood to initiate relevant reform. They are a potent
weapon of ridicule, idle for deflating the pompous and the overbearing, exposing
injustice and deriding hypocrisy.
To understand the cartoons properly there are general standard of journalism of which
one must have the awareness in one’s mind. They are
 Sincerity,
 Truthfulness
 Accuracy
 Impartiality
 Decency
One could highlight four primary functions of cartoons in the Indian press:
1. It performs a vital task of giving in-depth thought to the public.
2. It becomes a key player in determining how a layman perceives an issue.
3. It serves as an artistic record of the transpired.
4. It plays a vital role in freedom of expression during the sensitive period like
Emergency.
 “Compared with other ways of visual expression – movie, television or video-cartoon
represents a static medium; its structure and iconography are thus closer to the painting
and photography. Throughout composition and symbolism, the cartoon contains the
basic elements of them both. What is particular for the cartoon however are the
elements of gag, humor and comic? The cartoon re-presents and re-produces the reality
in the form of fiction that, through pictorial representation, becomes the reality on itself.
While being a medium of mass communication, cartoon remains, in the field cultural
production, the authentic form of artistic creation.

Definition of Cartoons:

Cartoons were used from the 15th century by fresco painters and stained-glass artists.
In the 19th century the term acquired its popular meaning of a humorous drawing or
parody. Cartoons in that sense are used today to convey political commentary, editorial
opinion, and social comedy in newspapers and magazines. The greatest early figure is
William Hogarth, in 18th-century Britain. In 19th-century France, Honoré Daumier
introduced accompanying text that conveyed his characters' unspoken thoughts.
Britain's Punch became the foremost 19th-century venue for cartoons; in the 20th
century The New Yorker set the American standard. A Pulitzer Prize for editorial
cartooning was established in 1922.

“A cartoon is a sketch or design on paper having a comic satirical drawing commenting

on current events or politics”. (Kirkpatrick 1984)
“Caricature ,cartoon ,Comic, strip and animated film cartoon or a linked series of Para
artistic creations .Historically , they arose in the order given but they all have flourished
together .All use artistic means or mediums ,caricature which has been described as a
counterpart ,underlies the others and is present in each….”(Encyclopedia of Britannica)
. Cartooning and dissemination through newspaper has some bearing with Journalism
and in modern society cartooning is a part of the media of mass communication and
education. This news communication system enables large number of citizens to
regularly and effectively interact with each other. The publication of news and views on
various aspects of human activities in newspapers and periodicals is closely associated
with some columns of cartoonists which are important. To understand the cartoons
properly, there are general canons of journalism of which one must have the awareness
in one’s mind. They are (1) sincerity, truthfulness and accuracy, (2) impartiality, (3)
fairplay, and (4) decency. (B. N. Ahuja, 1995).

Cartooning is a creative art. It is fascinating and covers the realm of mass media which
is the channel of communication. It symbolizes the essence of a specific event which is
typical, attractive and has a news-value. (Abu Abraham, 1992)
“Cartooning is the art of disapproval and complaints and treats men and matters with a
certain healthy skepticism and good humored ridicule but never malice” (R.K Laxman)

Cartoons in Journalism
In England in 1843 a series of drawings appeared in Punch magazine that parodied the
fresco cartoons submitted in a competition for the decoration of the new Houses of
Parliament. In this way cartoon, in a journalistic way, came to mean any single
humorous or satirical drawing employing distortion for emphasis, often accompanied by
a caption or a legend. Cartoons, particularly editorial or political cartoons, make use of
the elements of caricature.

Political Cartoons

The political cartoon first appeared in 16th-century Germany during the Reformation,
the first time such art became an active propaganda weapon with social implications.
While many of these cartoons were crudely executed and remarkably vulgar, some, such
as Holbein's German Hercules, were excellent drawings produced by the best artists of
the time. In 18th-century England the cartoon became an integral and effective part of
journalism through the works of Hogarth, Rowlandson, and Gillray, who often used
caricature. Daumier, in France, became well known for his virulent satirical cartoons.

By the mid-19th century editorial cartoons had become regular features in American
newspapers, and were soon followed by sports cartoons and humorous cartoons. The
effect of political cartoons on public opinion was amply demonstrated in the elections of
1871 and 1873, when the power of Tammany Hall was broken and Boss Tweed
imprisoned largely through the efforts of Thomas Nast and his cartoons for Harper's
Weekly. In 1922 the first Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning was won by Rollin Kirby of
the New York World. Other noted political cartoonists include John T. McCutcheon, C. D.
Batchelor, Jacob Burck, Bill Mauldin, Rube Goldberg, Tom Little, Patrick Oliphant, and
Herblock (Herbert Block).

Animated cartoon is still another aspect which is relevant .There are several cases of
interaction between the comic strip of the newspapers and the film cartoon. It seems
cartoons, cartoon strips and comics are not very different though others consider them
somewhat distant. When it’s a comic it is generally, containing humor, but the cartoon is
generally distorted and appears to be ridiculous. It denigrates the character and
exaggerates negative event or situation in a cartoon. Generally it has sense of sarcasm
and also has underlined meaning. A cartoon may have a single panel or a cartoon strip,
but the comic has a story, series strip or book.

Cartoons in Indian context

History of Indian political cartooning:
The factor which probably influenced the rise of cartoons in India more than any other
cultural condition was illiteracy rate. The cartoon become a substantial medium of
commentary which took serious issues and presented them in a manner which was not
only funny, but also designed to affect the viewer’s opinion and therefore more socially
acceptable.
The cartoon reached India by the late 19 th century and spread across regions and
languages. Comparatively history of political cartooning in India is not so old than that
of international cartooning. But no doubt Indian art culture is very rich and we can find
traces of caricature art in the ancient wall paintings and other drawing arts too.
Caricature also permeated much early art of Asia, found in statues of China as far back
as 3000 to 7000 years ago, and in Indian temple sculptures a thousand or more years
ago. Sculptures of rakshasas (demons) with sketches of grimacing faces drawn on their
stomachs and of very explicit sexual acts, as in the temples of Khajuraho and Konarak,
are clear examples of caricature in Indian art of the medieval period. Psychological
portraiture of Mughal court personalities, first commissioned by Akbar (1542-1605)
produced many amusing caricatures that were soon imitated by Rajasthani artists.

It is odd that hardly any Indian cartoonist has inducted the folk idiom into his work. The
reason must be that like journalism itself, cartooning came to India along with British
rule. While the earlier Indian cartoonists were influenced by Punch, a later generation
came heavily under the influence of David Low. There are now scores of imitators of
Low and imitators of imitators working in India”. (Abu Abraham, 1987)

In India art of cartooning came from England and struck roots. Other
forms of art like sculpture, carving, poetry painting and drawing had been thriving in
India for centuries but the art of graphic satire and humor was unknown. During British
time, freedom of the press was limited. Editorials and cartoons were confined mostly to
tackling social reforms. There is know firm substantiation about the first cartoon
published but it’s sure that it was published during the governance of Lord Harding then
the Governor General of India (1844-1848). There are traces of caricatures published in
the 30th April 1850’s edition of the Bengal Harkara and India Gudget. The Delhi Sketch
book was basically a drawing magazine published during 1850 to 1857. But most of the
cartoons were intended to extol Lord Dalhousie. He had taken few significant steps to
improve the Postal and Telegraph system in India. One of the cartoons published in the
Delhi Sketch Book portray him as a postman distributing the post. This book was
succeeded in entertaining the reader but it also ridiculed the Indian tradition and
religions.
Our earliest cartoons have been traced to Delhi Sketch Book, vintage 1850. This
publication folded up in the 1857 rebellion. In a couple of years, evident clones of Punch
like The Indian Punch and The Oudh Punch made their appearance. Perhaps the first
Indian language cartoons appeared in Hindi Punch. The Tamil nationalist Subramania
Bharati has recorded his appreciation of this journal from Mumbai.
The Indian Punch published in 1859 from Delhi was also full of anti-India cartoons. But
Delhi Sketch Book and The Indian Punch had started the cartooning ethnicity in India.
Afterward many comic magazines were published and the newspapers started the
publication of cartoons as well.

Hindi Punch had an important position among all other magazines. This was an Anglo-
Gujrati comic weekly published from Mumbai and well known as Parasi Punch earlier.
This Magazine had been published for almost 26 years and covered different aspects of
Indian politics. Monthly magazine ‘Madhuri’ had published a cartoon drew by Mohanlal
Mahto ‘Viyogi’ a famous author from Bihar. Apparently this was the first cartoon
published in Hindi. It was a simple cartoon showing a singer with Sitar and has ears like
a donkey. He drew these cartoons with the pseudonym ‘Gayakawal’. His cartoons were
basically related to the literature and religion.
Cartoonist like Uttam Singh Tomar and P. Mukharjee also cherished this practice.
Cartoons by Miss Shobha were also remarkable and her cartoon published in ‘Vishal
Bharat’ on the subject of ‘Cinema me Nariyo ka Naritva Darshan’ (exposure woman in
cinema) was notable. Few cartoons drawn by D.N. Varma were appeared in a magazine
‘Ganga’ prints in from Bhagalpur. His cartoons had the sharp comments on the political
and social circumstances. Hakim also contributed few good cartoons which were
published in ‘Sudha’ another monthly magazine then. His most of the cartoons were
based on the independence movement. Throughout 1930 the cartoons drawn by D.
Chatarjee were also published in many newspapers and magazines.

However no single humorous publication had a deeper impression in colonial India than
English magazine, Punch. A riotous procession of its off spring greets us in the second
half of the last century. Delhi Sketch Book, momus, The India Charivari, The Oudh
Punch, The Delhi Punch, The Punjab Punch, The India Punch (two separate publications
under the same title), Urdu Punch and Basantak (a Bengali version of punch) in north
and east; Gujrati Punch, Hindu Punch (a politically radical maharastram paper proscribed
in 1909 for sedition), Parsi Punch and Hindu Punch in the west, a version of punch from
madras in the south. There was even Purneah Punch from a remote town of Bengal.

In India cartooning started in the end of 19 th century and the beginning of 20th century.
“Cartoon journalism had been started by a parasi fellow. Publication of Hindi punch has
started which inspired by the ‘punch’ published from England. It was popular not only in
India but abroad too. This magazine contained caricatures of the rulers and satirical
comments on the politicians. Publication of Shankar’s cartoons had started in Hindustan
Times and Hindustan in 1935. In coming years Shankar’s weekly. After this some more
magazines on cartoons like Nok Jhok, Tarang, Kishmish, Hajamat, Chankya, Hasod,
Tungshring, Rang Chakallas, Joker, Thitoli, Hasyakalash, Has-Parihas etc. were
published. These were the driving sources for the development of Indian cartooning.
(Cartoon Kautuk, Devendra Sharma).”
It was under the influence of Punch; Batjor Ji had started a publication of ‘Hindi Punch’.
From the standard of this publication at that time, a number of general cartoons bearing
with national theme and sentiments of the country and at the same time being artistic,
got regularly published which of course, damaged the Britishers (Chaudhry, 1993:40)
In real sense of the term, cartoons were started in this country from 1930. Shankar Pillai
(1902) is considered as the ‘Father’ of the art of cartooning in India. In Bombay
Chronicle, Shankar became very popular as a cartoonist and he was not only a
Visionary, but substantially contributed to the powerful Indian Journalism

When the Indian national movement began together momentum the cartoonist
gained the courage to depict real characters.
In 1947 India got independence and Indian constitution was framed, it insured freedom
and equal status to all the citizen of India. Secular values, freedom of the press and
important checks on our democratic institutions were considered to the upper most.
We had some renowned satirical cartoonists like Shankar Pillai(1902).He is considered
as the “Father of the cartooning in India”. In “Bombay Chronicle” Shankar became very
popular as a cartoonist .Shankar’s weekly was started in 1948 and it had character like
Mr.Ass & Mrs.Ass .He retired from active cartooning in 1975.
Apart from him “Kadam” a senior cartoonist having a career of fourty two years started
from “Blitz” and he generally used the cartoons connected with folkways, phrases and
sayings. He shifted to Nav-Bharat Times. R.K.Laxman, another great cartoonist of India
is associated with the Times of India & Nav Bharat Times.He has published a series of
seven volumes of cartoons under the title of “You said it” in 1970.
Apart from the newspapers cartoonist one more prominent name is “Pran” whose
famous characters are Chacha Chaudhery, Biloo, Pinky, and Raman etc.

Features of Cartoons:
A cartoon may have number of general features such as appearance, elements and
characteristics. A list of basic aspect may be given as below:
1. One character
2. Two characters or more
3. Expression, talking, activities or typical interactions
4. Surrounding and background
5. Primary, Secondary, tertiary or different focuses
6. Remark of the character, dialogue, general comments, and clippings of News
7. Cartoon without any dialogue or comment, it may be self contained
8. Thinking of the character
9. Animal also “speaks” but with a human face and identified or non –identified
(Personalization)
10. Political theme or any other aspect of society/culture
11. Common man, routine matter and focusing on events
12. Realistic aspect, problems aspirations and others
13. Element of symbol or underlying meaning
14. Any of the basic feature as given above or combined with some others

Different aspect of cartooning

1. Image and identity:
When the cartoonist conceives a feature for cartooning, he has to think of an
image whether positive or negative i.e. the type of individual or character that fits in and
the type of role that may be given to the person. It may be a male or a female
character. It may be a common man, rich man, poor man student or teacher etc. a
cartoon is different from a photograph or usual reporting of news paper, which is in
perfect tense but a serious cartoon conceive and draws from several dimensions .It
always has a background, a time perspective and may also give a message.
While making a cartoon and identifying the specific character and the situation , one has
to make a choice of role and how a particular problem can be rectified and presented in
a cartoon which is a challenge for the cartoonist.

2. Expression and Gesture:

Simple artistic lines but maximum expression and gestures are an important
assets of the cartoonist. Though it is visual, but generally it may be combined with
comment remark or dialogue .Expression and gesture if typical make it more impressive.
It reflects how far the cartoonist has closely conceived the idea, concentrated on the
activities of the characters and set up and did the homework laboriously. It is realm of
aesthetics which is abstract, but it could not be measured or ‘tutored’ unless the
sensitive reader observes the cartoon himself.
 3. Dress and set up physical characteristics
Any cartoonist who draws a character is guided by specific get up and the dress
which usually come from particular category of people .The cartoonist is a keen observer
and he notes down distinct marks of the character and also some physical
characteristics .Consequently the cartoonist personally conceive the idea on local
regional national or international level depending on the subject and situation .Different
cartoonists have different styles but some of them depict typical cartoons having specific
get up and physical characteristics of the prominent persons of the society they may be
from politics, sports , films etc.
4. Natural surrounding and cultural set up
When a cartoonist conceives the characters it is not in vacuum. There must have
a paper surrounding and cultural to develop a proper communication. It may be river,
hill, forest, lake landscape, office etc. It is a fact that some time a cartoon shows just a
single person making a soliloquy or two persons just talking among themselves , but
comparatively any readers do not enjoy it unless details of the surrounding, setting or
relevant cultural set up are given.
5. Sense of humor, wit and sarcasm
Many people say that ‘humor is antidote of stress’ and sense of humor lubricates
the axis on which the globe of ours spin. Cartoons are connected with humor, wit,
sarcasm, and satire which are some what similar terms. It all depends how one uses
them and in what context the term is used. Humor and wit are important aspect of
cartoons and they are some what combined.
The humor and wit create different degrees of mockery, sarcasm and laughter in
cartoons.
6. Comment and Remark
Comment, remark or dialogue constitutes another important aspect of cartooning and
unless the proper comment is mentioned the cartoon would perhaps not be complete.
However there are some cartoons which are self contained and do not need any
comment. Normally the comment should be appropriate, precise and must reflect the
mood of drawing. It should also be crisp witty and also have the element of humor and
sarcasm.
Conclusion
A cartoon is a creative work and has several components though all of them constitute
the same mosaic. The components are sense of commitment, good drawing,
imagination, clear conception and ideas borrowed from surrounding and culture, keen
observation social interaction and overall a strong sense of humor and sarcasm. A
cartoon is a mechanism of communication; a reader and cartoonist have a silent tuning.
Besides, the cartoonist may also have a specific language.
They have a common tuning and communicate with the same frequency, both of
them thinking that it was reality .The cartoon reinforces the reader. The cartoonist
collects information from society and draws a cartoon, while on the other hand the
cartoon gives feed back to the readers and they create impact or reinforce the ideas,
opinion and attitude connected with events. Thus, we can see that cartoons are a very
subtle yet powerful means of communication and efforts should be done to promote
them in the near future as they are slowly losing their relevance and importance in
present era. More encouragement should be given to the budding cartoonist all over the
country .More emphasis should be placed to cartoons in print media.
Cartoons are indeed a very sensitive and powerful tool of mass-communication.
India has great history of political cartooning and we have seen many cartoonists
who got fame and national and international honours as well.but still it hasn’t
attended the respect as a career like any other profession. We have no courses
about cartooning in journalism schools. There is not a single course, which could
deal with this indispensable part of journalism. That’s the reason we are unable
to produce such journalist and editors who can understand its strength. It would
be a great move if we can include cartooning as a subject in journalism courses
to uplift this art form.

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