The Saturday Cartoon…

©morland/The Times

A Satirist’s Dilemma…and much more Animation.

I didn’t get to look at or for animations on Friday, but caught up with the latest Livedraw today.
It’s very good!

There’s a funny one from Matt ‘Hack’ Buck on Channel 4 News Online too. Slightly short ending, but you just about get enough time to enjoy Tory villains in all their leotardic glory.

For other animation.

Mark Fiore. I might be a little late with this one, as it’s been out for a while, but it is terrific. So if you haven’t seen Politishop, please do.
Walt Handelsman has got a great new animation on the Presidential Olympics. Gag overload, but it somehow works incredibly well.

I don’t know if I’ve linked to this episode before, but if so who cares. It’s the sixth episode of World Leaders on First Post. Old now, but so good it’s worth watching again in anticipation of new stuff.

There’s an amusing non-political-self-loathing-Hipster-mock over on Current Super News.

Rapid Fire…

Great photograph of Gordo arriving in Baghdad on a Puma helicopter. Number 10 press officers were apparently less than happy about it, so much so that they tried to stop it getting published. Fat chance.

It’s almost too good to be true, as far as cartooning goes. Or maybe too good to be effective, as it is such a funny image in itself. It lends itself well to a label-cartoon though. I scribbled the one below when I saw the picture yesterday, thinking I might use it in one way or another today.

©morland

UPDATE:
Martin Rowson used the image nicely for his cartoon in today’s Guardian.
As did Christian Adams, before anyone else, in the Sunday Telegraph.

New Yorker and beyond…

Super bit of cartooning skill here from the Indy’s Dave Brown.

Animations on a Friday…

Here’s a rather nice homage to early American propaganda animations, with a modern political setting.

Originally a “Best Animation” finalist in MoveOn.org’s “Bush in 30 Seconds” contest, the commercial spot has been expanded to a seven minute short cartoon that tells the rest of the story of Melvin McBean and his family’s struggle to make ends meet in Bush’s economy.

Very nicely done.

Also, have a look at Patrick Blower’s latest Livedraw for the online Telegraph.
It’s a beautifully done piece starting with the tree planting ceremony at the G8 summit in Japan.
Again I can’t seem to find it on the front page, so I’m linking to Blower’s own Livedraw page. Click on archives, and it’s top of the list.

UPDATE:
Matt ‘Hack’ Buck’s Friday animation for Channel 4 News online has just gone live, so make sure you catch that one too!

G-ate…

Super coverage of the G8 gathering in the last couple of days.
World leaders reportedly discussed food shortage – then ate!

With most articles on Monday containing the lunch menu – sprinkled with every possible synonym of glut – politicians at G8 summit could be forgiven for thinking “Oh, come on…give us a break!”

But when presented with such a fabulous public relations foie gras faux pas, what journalists in their right mind would willingly appear sympathetic to diplomatic customs in favour of a good dig.

The leaders can’t win of course.
Imagine if one rejected the abundance on offer in favour of a packed lunch.

Gordon’s “Waste not, want not” speech was a gift. And one that will keep on giving, I’m sure.
A big portion of the obvious, with a hint of hectoring hypocrisy, followed by a generous helping of moralization – all of which left you with a dull aftertaste of depression that will repeat on you for days…

Much like the man himself really.

Cartoonists in papers and elsewhere are having fun with it all, in one way or another:

Steve Bell (Guardian)
Peter Brookes (The Times)
Dave Brown (Independent)
Garland (Telegraph)
Paul Thomas (Express)
Beau Bo D’Or (Channel 4 News)

Fun on a Friday…if you can find it!

It might just be me being useless, but I can’t seem to find Livedraw on Telegraph online today…again. They really are terrific at hiding regular content from regular readers at the Telegraph. It’s probably a ploy to make us trawl through the entire site in search for the one thing we’re actually interested in, but it’s hardly a clever way of encouraging people to return!

Anyway, all is not lost. It’s possible to see the latest installment of Livedraw on Blower’s own page, and I’d suggest you do:

Good fun!

Martin Rowson and the Wet…

There’s something about Martin Rowson and water. It makes for stunning cartoons! (see old post)

Today’s piece is probably one of the most brilliantly painted of all. Gordon as a fully emerged shipwreck, seen from above the surface of the water.
Superbly executed.

Aaaaand Back…

… tentatively at least.

Bugger me.
WordPress looks all different.
Anyway.
Here’s a sketch from today:

©morland

Budget Day cartoons…

©morland

Plenty of red box wielding Darlings in today’s papers.
With Peter Brookes doing no less than two Budget cartoons (on the front page as well as op-ed), there was no point in my doing a third of that kind for the Budget supplement, so I went for a stylistically rather different idea for my piece accompanying the sketch.

Peter’s front page works very well, summing up the essence of the budget with a plastic bag full of drink being presented by Darling as the red box. Simple but effective. That one is unfortunately not available online, but his op-ed cartoon is.
Those of you who watched BBC’s coverage of the glorious budget event might have noticed Peter’s contribution there too. A piece preceding the speech showed Evan Davies presenting his predictions for the budget surrounded by life-size cartoons.

The “rabbit out of a hat” metaphor invariably crops up in cartoons following the budget, and this year was no exception – despite the absence of any such rabbits. That in itself became a reason to use it I guess.
Dave Brown in the Indy rather beautifully shows the bear(market) ruining the Chancellor’s trick.
Guardian’s Steve Bell makes the Chancellor himself the somewhat pathetic rabbit.

Garland in the Telegraph turns to old sporting metaphors, and although the ball is confusingly large it’s undoubtedly a rather poignant description of the Brown/Darling double act.

Matt has no less than four pocket cartoons on the subject.

Paul Thomas in the Daily Express, picks up on the hilariously idiotic heckling from Ed Balls (see below).