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Radio Cartoonist

Fans of NPR might be interested to hear that All Things Considered has begun a new segment about cartooning on the radio called Radio Cartoonist, co-hosted by author, animator, and professional radio cartoonist Mo Willems. The show will work this way: Mo will describe a cartoon on the air and All things Considered host Michele Norris will take a stab at the punchline. Listeners are encouraged to take a look at the cartoons online and submit their own captions, the funniest of which are rumored to be read on the show. Since this is a trial run be sure to write NPR and tell them what you think. Read more about the show over on Mo’s blog.

  • http://lifeinaustin.blogspot.com/ xadrian

    Eh, I think the New Yorker did this too didn’t they? As an artist, I’d rather hear a punchline and then draw a cartoon around it. I’d honestly rather have the hosts give us a punchline, Mo does the official cartoon and then people could submit their own art.

    Otherwise the draw of the story is about user commentary rather than this guy’s art.

    I don’t know, I’ve never liked the “hey, give this art a caption” idea.

  • http://lifeinaustin.blogspot.com xadrian

    Eh, I think the New Yorker did this too didn’t they? As an artist, I’d rather hear a punchline and then draw a cartoon around it. I’d honestly rather have the hosts give us a punchline, Mo does the official cartoon and then people could submit their own art.

    Otherwise the draw of the story is about user commentary rather than this guy’s art.

    I don’t know, I’ve never liked the “hey, give this art a caption” idea.

  • http://www.bobstaake.com/ bobstaake

    things like this always strike me as damn artist-unfriendly and serve to circumvent the value of professional cartoonists. it all started when print newspapers (hey, remember THOSE?) would ask their readers to “vote” on what comic strips they should run, and which ones they should dump. a miserable strip like beetle bailey would always beat out a brilliant panel like bizarro because who READS print newspapers? — old people who don’t understand a think about bizarro, but they sure do think it’s funny when sarge calls his secretary a “hot tamale”. pathetic. cartoonists sat back and not only TOOK this crap, but failed to mobilize against it (in theory with the aid of their syndicates). i also said that these contests would end in a heartbeat of cartoonists started asking newspaper readers to vote on which news reporters should go and, more importantly, which editor should get the axe. i feel just as uncomfortable with the new yorker gag cartoon caption contest (clever and fun as it is). nobody would THINK to offer up a j.d.salinger, david sedaris or woody allen short story and then have readers finish it. no editor would even THINK to run something like that, but they seem predisposed to turn their cartoonists into play toys for their readers — while at the same time seeming to suggest that “ANYONE can come up with a great new yorker cartoon — even YOU!” i love mo and his work, but i wish he and npr would take a bigger picture look at the message something like this puts forward. but who knows — maybe if THIS thing takes off then we can provide questions for terry gross to ask her guests — and within a month the powers-that-be at npr might think “hmmmmm, we’re paying terry, what, and we’re getting all these questions provided for FREE”. hmmmmmm indeed.

  • http://www.bobstaake.com bobstaake

    things like this always strike me as damn artist-unfriendly and serve to circumvent the value of professional cartoonists. it all started when print newspapers (hey, remember THOSE?) would ask their readers to “vote” on what comic strips they should run, and which ones they should dump. a miserable strip like beetle bailey would always beat out a brilliant panel like bizarro because who READS print newspapers? — old people who don’t understand a think about bizarro, but they sure do think it’s funny when sarge calls his secretary a “hot tamale”. pathetic. cartoonists sat back and not only TOOK this crap, but failed to mobilize against it (in theory with the aid of their syndicates). i also said that these contests would end in a heartbeat of cartoonists started asking newspaper readers to vote on which news reporters should go and, more importantly, which editor should get the axe. i feel just as uncomfortable with the new yorker gag cartoon caption contest (clever and fun as it is). nobody would THINK to offer up a j.d.salinger, david sedaris or woody allen short story and then have readers finish it. no editor would even THINK to run something like that, but they seem predisposed to turn their cartoonists into play toys for their readers — while at the same time seeming to suggest that “ANYONE can come up with a great new yorker cartoon — even YOU!” i love mo and his work, but i wish he and npr would take a bigger picture look at the message something like this puts forward. but who knows — maybe if THIS thing takes off then we can provide questions for terry gross to ask her guests — and within a month the powers-that-be at npr might think “hmmmmm, we’re paying terry, what, and we’re getting all these questions provided for FREE”. hmmmmmm indeed.