Three decades since it first emerged on our screens, Captain Planet and the Planeteers will always be remembered as the show that introduced an entire generation to corporate greed and environmental protection. Children of the late 1980s and early 1990s had a number of iconic cartoons to choose from: Transformers, He-Man, Gummi Bears, My Little … Read more
Parents editor Emily Writes on everything wrong with Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig’s latest work on motherhood. Two of the most beautiful and profound friendships I have had in motherhood were conceived in similar ways. When my son would not stop crying, I developed a habit of walking up and down our steep street. I was … Read more
Aroha Bridge writer and director Coco Solid talks about the new characters on the show, the ‘psychic vat of reality’ that birthed them, and her Ihumātao call-out of PM Jacinda Ardern. In season two of locally made cartoon series Aroha Bridge, 10-year old wunderkind pop star Angeline announces on television: “I’m Māori so obviously I … Read more
A new book about the depiction of religion in New Zealand editorial cartoons reveals some disturbing truths. Last week the NZ Cartoon Archive at Wellington’s Alexander Turnbull Library published Mike Grimshaw’s Bishops, Boozers, Brethren & Burkas, which looks at religion in New Zealand through the eyes of the country’s cartoonists from the 1860s to the … Read more
Two Sketches is a webseries featuring Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris chatting and drawing with a selection of New Zealand illustrators, artists, comic artists, cartoonists, sketchers and doodlers. In episode 2, Toby visits with the political cartoonist of the Sunday Star Times, Dominion Post, The Press and Waikato Times, and New Zealand’s first woman editorial political … Read more
Forget Daria, Pepper Ann was the 90s’ greatest cartoon depiction of teenage girlhood, argues Sam Rutledge. Somehow the beloved Pepper Ann, which ran for five seasons is – wait for it – 22 years old. I know, I don’t believe it either, but it turns out we’re all much closer to death than we thought. It … Read more
Now that the Herald has dropped its syndicated Alex cartoon, there’s a glimmer of hope that New Zealand’s moribund newspaper cartooning scene might finally let in some new blood. Toby Morris has 10 suggestions for cartoonists to consider. If you get your news from social media, you might be feeling like the state of cartooning … Read more
Ten years after that blue whale first woke up on a New Zealand beach, Beached Az is coming back to our screens. Below, an exclusive Beached Aziversary trailer plus details of what to expect from the new 10-episode series. The team behind the 2008 Youtube behemoth Beached Az (Anthony Macfarlane, Jarod Green and Nick Boshier) today release … Read more
Philip McKibbin remembers a man who dedicated his life to realising our Treaty partnership. Sir Pita Sharples remembers his old friend Harry Dansey well. He was teaching taiaha classes for prisoners – a new concept back in the ’70s – when Dansey said to him, “I used to do a bit of taiaha.” Sharples was sceptical, “’Cos … Read more
Comics artist and writer Dylan Horrocks pays tribute to the revered New Zealand cartoonist Barry Linton, who died last week. A note from Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris: Last week New Zealand lost a true legend. A relatively under the radar one, but a legend none the less. Barry Linton, often called the godfather of comics … Read more
Al Nisbet’s loudest detractor bids farewell to the controversial cartoon slinger. Today dawned like any other. My cat jumped on the bed and started coughing up a hairball. I forgot to get a new towel before jumping in the shower and had to do the hallway streak of shame. I wore odd socks for the … Read more
From Paddles the cat to Donald Trump, the Spinoff’s cartoonist tallies up the faces that he most often drew through the year. There’s probably an old saying that goes the quickest way to follow history is to follow cartoons. If there isn’t, there should be: a cartoonist’s job is to condense the day’s events into … Read more
Mum of two Wendy Black pays tribute to the beauty of a kid’s TV show featuring a pink hatted cat sheriff, a cactus friend, a blue horse, and a woodpecker. Never has there been a more appropriate time to use the Sad Cat Face Emoji. I just found out that my favourite kid’s TV programme … Read more
Twenty-one seasons in, South Park seems reluctant to die – and the intense licensing of the IP is no different. Don Rowe take the new video game version of everyone’s favourite depraved cartoon for a spin. I’m always nervous when franchises are ported across mediums. Not every show is fit for a game and vice … Read more
The beloved creator of Wal and Dog, who has died at the age of 78, also served up a feminist-bashing tract. But it is possible to deplore that book while celebrating the awe and joy of the rest of his work, writes comics artist Indira Neville. One night at the pub a friend compared me … Read more
Josh Drummond makes a heartfelt plea for Simpsons fans to cho-cho-choose to put the show out of its misery. On May 14, 2015, my bosom swelled with an unlikely emotion: hope. The news had just broken that Harry Shearer looked like he was leaving The Simpsons. Shearer is the voice of some of the show’s best-loved, most … Read more
In the second instalment of our animation-centric column Cool Cartoons, Mark Martin looks at the key cartoon bands of recent times and introduces his own, The Emilys. Cartoon bands seem to be a love/hate thing. Some love their theatrical leanings, off beat humor and chameleon-like ability to switch between musical genres. Other people reckon it’s all … Read more