Ann Telnaes interview, but not by me

This one snuck up on David-Wasting-Paper blog a few weeks ago, but I've asked Ann to do my City Paper interview as well. David's got 105 interviews with cartoonists up, and I'm slowly working my way through them. He questions people from all types of cartooning it seems.

Ann Telnaes - Cartoonist Survey #95
March 12, 2010

Telnaes' year in review

I'm a little slow to get to this, largely because I still believe newspapers are for reading, not viewing, but here's Ann Telnaes' excellent year in review animation. All the cartoons she's done for the Post since 2007 are available which I think is damn nice of the Post.

Now with a corrected link!

Telnaes and Wuerker are runnerups for Berryman award

Editorial cartoonists Ann Telnaes and Matt Wuerker were Honorary Mentions for the annual Clifford Berryman award. Interestingly, they were both mentioned for their online editorial cartooning. Bill Day, who recently was fired, was also cited. His work submitted for the RFK Award this past year was excellent. The winner was Mike Keefe and the ceremony will be in Washington. Here's the press release:

Mike Keefe of Denver Post Wins Berryman Cartooning Award

From National Press Foundation; Wuerker, Telnaes, Day Also Cited

Washington, November 19 -- Mike Keefe of the Denver Post has been awarded the 2009 Berryman Award for Editorial Cartooning for a wide-ranging series of drawings that poked fun at politicians, journalists and public perceptions.

The award carries a $2,500 prize and a crystal trophy. The award will be presented at the 27th annual National Press Foundation Awards Dinner, Tuesday night, February 16th, 2010, at the Washington Hilton Hotel. The theme of the night’s dinner is, “Journalism Matters.” NPF has created a special blog about its dinner, http://tinyurl.com/yhvsozl.

The judges also awarded Honorary Mentions to Matt Wuerker of Politico and Ann Telnaes of washingtonpost.com for the “innovative use of animation in their work, which is expected to be the wave of the future.”

· One devilishly complicated animated cartoon from Wuerker is called, “The Really Big Operation. “ It is based on a children’s game in which contestants take turns trying to extract a bone or organ from a patient, using an electrified tweezers. In Wuerker’s online version, the “patient” is the U.S. health care system, and making a mistake (as everyone must do) results in a dialogue balloon popping up, saying for example, “BZZZT! Don’t even go near proposing Single Payer. You’ll be called a socialist!” www.politico.com/wuerker/animation.html

· Ann Telnaes, a Pulitzer Prize and previous Berryman winner, uses sound bites made by public figures and then constructs an ironic and often absurd reference for them – Uncle Sam carrying an enormous figure representing China on his back, while a Chinese figure holding U.S. exports in a gift bag stands nearby. When the screen goes dark, you hear the loud sound of Uncle Sam crashing to the ground. (www.washingtonpost.com, search for Ann Telnaes.)

· In another gesture towards the historically important venue of cartooning, the judges awarded a Certificate of Merit to cartoonist Bill Day, for a series of graphically powerful images highlighting child abuse. One showing a small child facing an enormous fist hardly needs a caption at all. Day is the former editorial cartoonist of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, now syndicated by United Feature Syndicate. His work can be seen at www.unitedfeatures.com.

Keefe will narrative a dozen or so drawings at the event, which draws 1,000 people from the Washington journalism, policy and think tank communities. Single drawings from Wuerker, Telnaes and Day will also be shown. The cartooning award is always one of the highlights of the dinner, the single largest source of unrestricted revenue for NPF, a non-profit that provides no-cost, all expenses paid educational programs for journalists.

In one of Keefe’s entries, he mocks the health care debate and the public’s refusal to pay for infrastructure improvements with a drawing showing a family bumping along a miserable, rocky road. “WHY AREN’T YOU USING THE HIGHWAY?” a woman asks her husband. “I DON’T BELIEVE IN PUBLIC OPTIONS!” he snarls in return as a terrified baby in the back bawls his head off. Keefe has been the editorial cartoonist of the Denver Post since 1975. His work is available through http://www.intoon.com/.

The judges were David Rapp, editor-in-chief, Federal Computer Week, and VP/Content, 1105 Government Information Group; Kathy Mannix, executive director, Young D.C., and Walter Wurfel, broadcast executive. For information about participating in the NPF dinner, contact Kerry@nationalpress.org, 202-663-7282. For information about NPF, contact NPF president Bob Meyers, bob@nationalpress.org.

Ann Telnaes has a new blog

Ann Telnaes writes in, "I'm doing a blog- not much writing, but reposting past print editorial cartoons which are still relevant today and linking to interesting news items: http://anntelnaes.blogspot.com/ "

Anyone interested in editorial cartooning should definitely check this out. Ann's one of the best cartoonists around, and her line is lovely.

Her animations are still appearing regularly on the Washington Post website.

Politico on editorial cartoonists and Obama

Alan Gardener found this Politico story before I did - "Cartoonists draw blank on Obama" By DAVID MARK, Politico 1/26/09 - but I ask "where's Matt Wuerker, their own political cartoonist? Is he not having trouble drawing Obama so he got left out?"

Or perhaps this is a stringer's article.

Telnaes, Pett's USA Today cartoon on Slate's top 50

At least according to "On the Slate: The Best Editorial Cartoons of '08," By E&P Staff December 30, 2008. I gave up clicking through the one cartoon per page that Slate offered up.

Good stuff in today's papers

"Godzilla's Older, Creepier Cousins: Beings Such as Filth Licker Haunt Japanese Culture," By Blaine Harden, Washington Post Foreign Service, Friday, October 31, 2008; A01. This is about creatures called yokai, who are apparently roughly equivalent to goblins and boggarts. Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt are a married couple have written a book about them, when not translating manga.

The animated movie Fear(s) of the Dark was also reviewed in "Gripped (at Times Loosely) by Fear," By Neely Tucker, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, October 31, 2008; Page C06.

Meanwhile in the Post's Comic Riffs, Michael Cavna's interviewed a bunch of cartoonists about the election including locals Telnaes, Sorenson, and Wuerker in "Who'll Win the White House? Cartoonists Issue Their Predictions" as well as decidedly non-local Garry Trudeau in "Obama Wins? Yes, 'Doonesbury' Calls the Election!"

And on Disney's direct to video movie and Fairies product line is "Disney Hoping 'Tinker Bell' Spreads Fairy Dust on Sales" By BROOKS BARNES, New York Times October 31, 2008.

Telnaes returns to animation roots

Dave Astor's reporting that DC editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes will no longer be doing static political cartoons. I hope it works out for her, although I'll miss her traditional work. Telnaes trained in animation with Disney, but her new cartoons are done in Flash animation and featured on the Washington Post website.
Ann "Telnaes Ending Print Syndication to Create More Animations for WashingtonPost.com," By Dave Astor, E and P Online June 2, 2008.

Telnaes animation continues on Post website

Just a reminder that other cartoonists in the area besides KAL are doing regular animation.

Telnaes on what a Pulitzer Prize meant to her

See "Past Pulitzer Winners Describe What It Meant to Them," by Dave Astor, Editor and Publisher, April 18, 2008.

Should we switch to stalking Ms. Telnaes as opposed to Richard "Cul de Sac" Thompson? After all, he may be a dead-end! Hahahahahahha!

Sorry, not enough sleep. Rest assured, we're sticking with Our Man Richard.

Ann Telnaes spoke in NYC this week

Dave Astor has the story at Editor and Publisher. Remember her editorial cartoon animations are appearing twice weekly in the Post.

And Trina Robbins will be reviewing the Sex and Sensibility exhibit that Telnaes appears in for the next issue of the International Journal of Comic Art, which has a new issue available now in spite of the website's datedness.

Ann Telnaes interview on gender bias in editorial cartons

Ann Telnaes was interviewed for the story that appeared in the paper - "Drawing the line: Editorial cartoonists confront issues of sexism and racism when caricaturing the Democratic front-runners," by Pam Platt, Louisville, KY Courier-Journal February 10, 2008, but Ms. Platt also posted the interviews she did on their website.

And a tip of the hat to Alan Gardner's Daily Cartoonist blog for one of the links.

Telnaes animation continues on Post website

The Democratic Love-In starring the leading lights of the party.

Still pointing out things in the Post

Richard "Cul de Sac Cartoonist" Thompson points out that Tom the Dancing Bug is missing from the Weekend section. Bah.

But Ann Telnaes has another animated editorial cartoon, The Legacy Tour, on the website.

Feb 7: Oliphant, Telnaes, Davies and Bennett at National Archives

A tip from Bruce Guthrie... I'll try to be there.

The Center for the National Archives Experience is pleased to present programs in celebration of our new exhibit "Running for Office: Candidates,Campaigns, and the Cartoons of Clifford Berryman" which opens February 8 in the Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery.

Thursday February 7 at 7pm
William G McGowan Theater
Running for Office: Cartooning and Politics
Join moderator Stephen Hess, Distinguished Research Professor of Media and Public Affairs at the George Washington University and co-author of Drawn & Quartered: the History of American Political Cartoons, as he welcomes four Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonists: Pat Oliphant, the most widely syndicated political cartoonist in the world; Ann Telnaes, freeland editorial cartoonist with CartoonArts International/NY Times Syndicate and Women's eNews; Matt Davies, editorial cartoonist for the Journal News, Westchester NY; and Clay Bennett, editorial cartoonist with the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The panelists will discuss their work, what inspires and motivates political cartoons, and how these cartoons effect the political
community and the public.

Telnaes animation on Post website

The Washington Post has put an Ann Telnaes editorial animation on their website for the first time, although a UK newspaper site has been running them for a while. Check out Bill and Hill now!

Ann Telnaes, like Tom Toles, also lacking basic decency

An Insult to a Patriot
Washington Post Saturday, September 22, 2007; Page A15

I had to shake my head at the disrespectful cartoon depicting Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a bikini and high heels, surfing on top of his campaign bus [Drawing Board, Sept. 15].

It seemed to be more than editorial misfeasance. It suggested to me purposeful nastiness that probably had your editorial board chuckling.

It was distasteful and shameful, and it seems clear that if the slight is focused on Republicans, then to heck with decorum and good taste.

Your arrogant paper obviously feels it can do whatever it wants without consequence. Whatever happened to real journalism and respect, in this case, for a man who has devoted his life in service to his country?

-- Christopher S. Moody
Gaithersburg

Obviously, the intent of the bikini was to compare Sen McCain's reinventing of himself with Britney Spears's performance flop in a bikini earlier in the month. The artist, unmentioned in the following rant, is Ann Telnaes of Washington, DC, who's won a Pulitzer Prize for her commentary. Comments on the letter can be seen by clicking through to the Post website.

Wish You Were There #4 - Telnaes and Moss exhibit reviews

These two are from the International Journal of Comic Art 4:1 (Spring 2002). I was still feeling my way with writing these.

Pens and Needles: The Editorial Cartoons of Ann Telnaes. Rosslyn, VA: The Newseum, October 26, 2001--March 3, 2002.

The Newseum is closing in 2002 to move to Washington, DC so the Telnaes show (entitled Pulitzer Prize 2001: Editorial Cartoonist Ann Telnaes in the exhibit) will be the last one for several years. Telnaes, the second woman to win the Pulitzer, has no home newspaper; instead she is under contract with Tribune Media Services. The small exhibit consisted of 16 cartoons, 11 of them originals. 5 were on the disputed 2000 presidential election, 2 on the separation of church and state, 1 on Elian Gonzales, 2 on China's human rights record and the last on OSHA's regulating the home workplace. Telnaes worked as an animator for Disney and Warner Bros., and now does a weekly strip as one of the 'Six Chix.' Her line is very distinctive, probably due to her animation work; one can immediately recognize her art. Telnaes draws in pencil, inks her work and then scans it into a computer to add color. She now produces both black and white and color versions of each cartoon; this show reveals the color detracts from the impact of the cartoon. While this was a pleasant little show, the public would benefit from a larger one showing a larger amount and demonstrating a wider range of her cartoons. The exhibit is online at http://www.newseum.org/telnaes/gallery/open_index.htm. If that site is taken down, many of the cartoons in the exhibit can be seen at http://cagle.slate.msn.com/news/telnaes/main.asp; Telnaes' own site at http://www.anntelnaes.com is under construction as of this writing.

Geoffrey Moss: A Pen as Mighty as a Sword. Rosslyn, VA: The Newseum, Fall 2001--March 3, 2002.

A very small exhibit of six pen and ink cartoons drawn after the terrorism of September 11 was tucked into a corner of the main exhibit hall. Moss, who calls his captionless cartoons "Mossprints" is syndicated by Creators. The six drawings were in the classic tradition of newspaper illustration, showing death as a gasmask-wearing skeleton and the Israel / Palestine issue as part of the larger problem. A larger exhibit with more information on Moss would be a pleasure; this show functioned as an appetizer.

AAEC report with DC cartoonists quotes

A good article on the state of editorial cartooning can be found in "Trying Times In Toontown" by Randy Barrett, National Journal, Monday, July 2, 2007. Barrett talks to Tom Toles and Ann Telnaes on the local front, and many of the same points (and cartoons) were made in last night's Cartoonapalooza.

Ann Telnaes editorial animations in London's Guardian

Stringer (just kidding!) and Politico editorial cartoonist (really) Matt Wuerker just emailed to say, "Ann Telnaes is just today starting to run animations off the front page of the Guardian UK. check it out-- a great new venue for political cartoons on the front page of one of the marquee international newspaper's website--- http://www.guardian.co.uk/ "

Great news, Matt. I love her work. Here's the direct link. But... "specializing in animated cartoons?" I thought she put Disney behind her when she won that Pulitzer.