The political cartoon is a venerable medium, usually
illuminating a situation with at least a wry laugh, almost always exaggerating
personal or national features, thus simplifying the underlying issues to such
an extent that it becomes a caricature. Yet cartoons are vivid and memorable
shortcuts for those wanting only a glimpse of the controversy. A quite separate
class of cartoon raises a laugh at the more general follies of everyday life.
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| Gillray: The Plumb-Pudding in Danger |
In the late 18th century and early 19th
caricaturists like James Gillray
(1756-1815) were merciless in lampooning George III, his government, or the
dissipated Prince Regent. The famous cartoon above shows William Pitt carving
out a maritime Empire for Britain while Napoleon tucks into Continental Europe.
The Victorian weekly Punch set great
store by its weekly political cartoon and John
Tenniel (1820-1914), the admired illustrator of Alice in Wonderland, commented acidly on new Kaiser William II
dismissing diplomatically brilliant Otto von Bismarck as his Chancellor in
1890.
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| Tenniel: Dropping the Pilot |
As the Great War broke out, cartoonists had a field day with
national clichés. In August 1914, F H
Townsend’s Bravo Belgium! had its effect on British public opinion and
other Punch cartoonists like Bernard Partridge were tirelessly
productive:
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| Bravo, Belgium by Townsend |
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| Danse Macabre by Partridge |
World War II brought in another rich crop of cartoons in
Britain, notably from David Low and Leslie Illingworth: Low had villainous
Hitler and Stalin exchanging compliments as they partitioned a prostrate
Poland.
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| David Low: Germany and the USSR partition Poland in 1939 |
But the day of the influential static political cartoon was
passing. Punch itself folded in 1992
after a sharp decline from the 1950s. Cartoonists still drew and “Vicky” Weisz famously parodied
MacMillan as Supermac in 1958 and
later Ralph Steadman was savagely disobliging to Mrs Thatcher.
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| Vicky's Supermac |
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| Steadman on Mrs Thatcher |
Cartoons can cause deep offence as we saw in January with
the horrendous murders by Muslim fanatics of the Charlie Hebdo team in Paris. Here in Greece, the German finance
ministry has described as “vile” a cartoon run a few days ago by the obscure
Leftist newspaper Avgi (circulation 1,800). It is headed The Negotiation Begins and depicts
German Finance Minister Schaeuble in Nazi Army uniform saying We insist on the soap from your fat……………we
are prepared to discuss the fertiliser from your ashes! This is certainly
offensive, undiplomatic and grossly unfair but both Greece and Germany
understand the over-arching Western principle of freedom of expression within
the law.
Thankfully not all life is tied up in politics. Between the
wars
Heath Robinson delighted with
his absurdly complicated machines. Later
Carl
Giles amused as his cartoon family coped with the issues of the day.
Norman Thelwell concentrated on life
with ponies, while
Osbert Lancaster’s
snobbish socialite Maudie Littlehampton and
Marc
Boxer’s metropolitan Stringalongs struggled to come to terms with the
modern world:
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| Heath Robinson's Pancake Maker |
|
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| Grandma Giles |
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| Thelwell's ponies |
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| Boxer's Ladies |
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| The Littlehamptons |
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The
cartoon has long ago taken wings with Disney’s
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck followed by the other cherished characters like
Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, The Flintstones, The Simpsons et al. They have moved
on to the ever-expanding art-form of Animation, revolutionised by digital
processes and able to reproduce monsters, ghouls, huge crowds and action heroes
till the cows come home. But all that is another story.
Let
me finish off by paying a tribute to the wonderfully entertaining comic strips
of now and yesteryear – Oor Wullie and Desperate Dan from Dudley D Watkins in Dundee, Alex’s
parodied City banker dreaming of his investment in a chain of lap-dancing clubs
or Charles Schulz’s marvellous Peanuts strip with Charlie Brown and
Snoopy. Laughter when we needed it most.
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| Oor Wullie |
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| Desperate Dan |
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| Charlie Brown and Snoopy |
SMD
14.02.15
Text
Copyright © Sidney Donald 2015
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