New Jersey resident Patrick McDonnell has created a wildly popular comics strip based on a dog and cat alot like yours.
By Lee Lusardi Connor
If my cats could talk, I'm pretty sure they'd have chats like those of Mooch the cat, Earl the dog and all the other characters of the 'Mutts' comics strip. They'd discuss things like the perils of traffic, the pleasures of a soft pillow or the frustrations caused by impudent squirrels. Philosophical stuff, too- like why it is that some owners leave their dog chained up outside most of the time, or the necessity of snubbing the cat food lovingly offered by one's owner. Actually, I'm pretty sure my cats do talk, needing only me and other family members to supply the English translation.Lots of us pet owners give voice to their pets' personalities that way. "And I get to that for my job!" 'Mutts' creator Patrick McDonnell, 47, says with delight. "Most letters from readers say that I must live in their houses, because I know exactly what their cat and dog are like."
Well, 50 million daily readers can't be wrong.
That's how many are estimated to read 'Mutts', which is published in 500 papers in more than 20 countries. the strip, nearing its tenth anniversary, has won many national awards and is celebrated with a recent Abrams art book, "Mutts: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell".
The strip's style is clean and spare, and the plot lines are deceptively simple. Earl a Jack Russel terrier named after McDonnell's own dog, lives with his owner Ozzie (loosely based on McDonnell himself). Mooch, a black-and-white cat-with-attitude, lives with his owners Frank and Millie (loosely based on McDonnell's parents). Their daily adventures revolve around walks in the neighborhood, nap, dinner times, and a cast of memorable neighbors, both human and animal.
"I try to do the strip from Earl's and Mooch's point of view," says McDonnell. "I try to keep them animal-like, not like funny little characters in animal suits." For inspiration, he looks no further than his own pets. "I don't think of them as 'the dog' or 'the cat,' but as part of the family. And I wanted that special bond we have with our pets to be part of the strip. Pets are very special to their owners," McDonnell continues. "They take us out of the craziness of our world and remind us that there's nature out there."
PEN, INK AND IDEAS
McDonnell, a peaceful and unpretentious man, was born in Elizabeth and raised in Edison, and now lives in a spacious Middlesex County home, which he and his wife have decorated in an Arts and Crafts style. He works in a studio that overlooks a wooded lot, from which forest creatures occasionally emerge to inspire him. Earl, 15, usually rests nearby. Sleeping on the artist's table is MeeMow, a formerly feral cat rescued by McDonnell's wife Karen from a Jersey City garage. McDonnell works with a fountain pen dipped in ink, on paper he has cut personally.
Idyllic as the setup seems, being a syndicated cartoonist does have its stresses. Their are the daily deadlines and the ever present cartoonist's fear of Runnning Out of Ideas. "Deadlines are tight. You don't get vacations," he says. "You don't think of the future that much, just do your week's worth and trust that the strip will evolve naturally. Unlike a novel or a movie where you know there has to be an ending, comic strips are sort of circular. They're a lot like life, a day-to-day experience." Listening to classical music or jazz and taking walks with Earl help McDonnell break through the occasional creative block.
Though being a cartoonist was a lifelong dream, McDonnell began his career as a magazine illustrator. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan in 1979 and shortly thereafter started illustrating Russell Baker's weekly 'New York Times' "Sunday Observer" column. Later he illustrated the "Scorecard" feature for 'Sports Illustrated' and did a monthly "Bad Baby" comic strip for 'Parents' magazine. A man and a little dog often appeared in his drawings, as well as his doodles. It seemed inevitable that they should appear in his own comic strip when he finally took the plunge with "Mutts", which debuted in 1994.
POPULATING THE MUTTS WORLD
At the beginning, the strips revolved around regular-guy Ozzie and his good-natured dog Earl. On one of their walks, they met Mooch, a curious cat given to cosmic questions who also indulges in the universal feline habits of claiming his owner's lap and/or favorite chair, rejecting his dinner and generally getting his way most of the time. Now the strip's population has increased to include more than a dozen regular characters, including Sour puss, a plump, grouchy tiger cat; Sid the lonely goldfish; Shnelly, the indoor cat Mooch pines for; Butchie, the butcher; and even Crabby the Crab and Mussels Marinara. (When the "Mutts" characters take a walk on the beach, it's the Jersey show McDonnell is thinking of.)
There are also Bip and Bop, a pair of squirrels. Their delight in dropping acorns on Mooch's head is as palpable as Lucy's pleasure in snatching the football away from Charlie Brown. And perhaps there is some connection, for McDonnell is a lifelong fan of 'Peanuts' creator Charles Schuloz, who died in 2000.
"The nicest thing about becoming a cartoonist is that I got to meet my boyhood hero," McDonnell says.
In fact, it was Schulz who suggested he name his main dog character after his own dog, as Schulz had done with Snoopy. Schulz returned McDonnell's regard, writing in an introduction to a 'Mutts' anthology: "What's the highest compliment I can pay Patrick McDonnell? He keeps coming up with ideas I wish I had thought of myself."
The 'Mutts' cast also includes Guard Dog, a bulldog whose owner keeps him chained up outside most of the time. Occasional strips poignantly highlight his loneliness and boredom, to the dismay of pet-loving readers. "I get a lot of mail telling me to let him go," McDonnell admits. "But I think he has a little job to do to help people realiza that dogs are living, breathing animals that deserve better lives than being tied to a chain. A lot of pets have that fate in life. But before this strip is over," he promises, "I will set him free."
FOR LOVE OF ANIMALS
The sad fact is that while Earl and Mooch come from loving homes, many animals don't. Each year, McDonnell devotes two weeks of comic strips to animal shelters and animal adoption. He has also helped promote the Humane Society's National Farm Animal Awareness Week, the Safe Cats campaign, and spaying and neutering. "I'm more than happy to help get the word out about these issues, though I always try to do it in an entertaining, not preachy way," he says. Animal advocates credit McDonnell with inspiring people to adopt thousands of impounded animals each year.
"Thinking about how nice Earl and Mooch have it, it was only natural to think about dogs and cats who don't have it so nice," McDonnell adds "I think it's good for readers to be reminded about all the animals out there who would make great Earls and Mooches for people."
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