Patrick McDonnell (born March 17, 1956) is a cartoonist, author, and playwright. He is the creator of the daily comic stripMutts, which follows the adventures of a dog and a cat, that has been syndicated since 1994.[1] Prior to creating Mutts, he was a prolific magazine illustrator, and would frequently include a dog in the backgrounds of his drawings.[2]
Mutts became syndicated, distributed by King Features Syndicate, starting in 1994. It won the Harvey Award for Best Comic Strip in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003. Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz said of Mutts, "To me, MUTTS is exactly what a comic strip should be."[10][11] A book of McDonnell's life and work, Mutts: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell, was published in 2003 by Abrams Books.
In 2009 McDonnell collaborated with author Eckhart Tolle to create Guardians of Being, a philosophical book about nature and the present moment.[13] In 2011, McDonnell's children's book Me... Jane was published. It is a story about naturalist Jane Goodall growing up and her awakening curiosity about the lives of animals around her. A sequence of Mutts strips led to Goodall's interest in working with McDonnell on the book.[14]Me... Jane won a Caldecott Honor in 2012. In 2010, the Mutts comic strip was appearing in more than 700 newspapers across 20 countries.[15]
McDonnell and his wife Karen O'Connell — whom he met in the late 1970s while both members of the punk band Steel Tips — reside in Princeton, New Jersey,[1] with their dog Amelie, and their cat, Willie Lebowsky. Their Jack Russell Terrier, Earl, who was the inspiration and constant muse for the Mutts character of the same name, died in November 2007 after living with McDonnell for over 18 years.[19]
Awardsedit
Helen Hayes Award for The Gift of Nothing musical (at The Kennedy Center) – Best Adaptation 2015[20]
(written by Mac Barnett) The Skunk (Roaring Brook Press, 2015)
Thank You and Good Night (2015)
Tek: The Modern Cave Boy (2016)
The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned His ABC's the Hard Way (2017)
Otheredit
Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman (1986) (with Karen O'Connell and Georgia Riley de Havenon). New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-2313-0.
Bad Baby (1988). New York: Ballantine (a Fawcett Columbine book) — collection of Bad Baby strips from Parent Magazine; foreword by Elizabeth Crow
Huestis, Peter. "Patrick McDonnell," The Comics Journal #197 (July 1997), pp. 66–80.
Referencesedit
^ abcdefghijkGustines, George Gene (2005-09-25). "In Person: Where the Mild Things Are". The New York Times. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^ abHurley-Schubert, Victoria (July 21, 2003). "Middlesex County cartoonist's pets inspire comic strip". Home News Tribune. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved May 19, 2022. "McDonnell, a 1974 Edison High School, graduate started his career as a magazine illustrator. He always drew a little dog somewhere in the background..."
^"Me . . . Jane - Awards and Grants". American Library Association. January 23, 2012. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^Fiamma, Andrea (September 5, 2014). "20 anni di Mutts. Intervista a Patrick McDonnell". Fumettologica. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^ abConte, Annemarie (February 6, 2008). "His Name is Earl". New Jersey Monthly. Retrieved May 19, 2022. McDonnell was born in Elizabeth and grew up in Edison.... After graduating from New York's School of Visual Arts in the early 1980s, McDonnell moved to Hoboken, where there was a community of underground cartoonists."
^Donald J. Barr (1987-09-28). "From the Publisher". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^Fiore, R. "Funnybook Roulette," The Comics Journal #129 (May 1989), pp. 45-48.
^"National Cartoonists Society Awards". 2006. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^Patrick McDonnell (2007-09-01). The Best of MUTTS.
^"Our Story: All About the MUTTS Comic Strip". Mutts.com. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^Weidenbaum, Marc. "Exhibition Reviews," International Journal of Comic Art vol. 7, no. 2 (Fall 2005), pp. 405-407.
^MacQueen, Ken (October 22, 2009). "Eckhart Tolle vs. God". Maclean's.
^Heintjes, Tom (1994). "Reigning Cat and Dog: An Interview with MUTTS Creator Patrick McDonnell". Hogan's Alley: the magazine of the cartoon arts. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^Lodge, Sally (2010-06-05). "PW Talks with Patrick McDonnell". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^Ritchie, Ryan (2010-09-11). "One on One with Patrick McDonnell: Life imitates art for this animal-championing artist". Vegetarian Times. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^"Interview with Patrick McDonnell, Autumn 2020" (PDF). Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^"Board of Directors - Charles M. Schulz Museum". Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^Smith, Joan Lowell (2008-04-02). "Parting is sweet sorrow for 'Mutts' creator". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved May 19, 2022. "Earl, the Jack Russell terrier who was both companion and inspiration for "Mutts" creator Patrick McDonnell, died in November at age 19."
^Michael Cavna (April 7, 2015). "'Mutts': Patrick McDonnell 'grateful' for 'Gift of Nothing's' new Helen Hayes Award". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^M. Keith Booker (Oct 28, 2014). Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. ABC-CLIO. p. 1662.
^Evry, Ron. "Newswatch: McDonnell Wins Reuben Award, Chris Ware Takes Comic Book Division, Cartoonists Salute Charles Schulz in New York," The Comics Journal, #224 (June 2000), pp. 19-20.
^"National Cartoonists Society Awards". Hahn Library. 2006. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^"1996 Max & Moritz Prizes". Hahn Library. 1996. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^"National Cartoonists Society Awards". Hahn Library. 2006. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^"National Cartoonists Society Awards". Hahn Library. 2006. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^Spurgeon, Tom. "Objective Opinions: Firing Line: Mutts, Patrick McDonnell,"The Comics Journal #189 (Aug. 1996), p. 53.
^Worcester, Kent. "Firing Line: Mutts IV: Yesh!: Patrick McDonnell, The Comics Journal #212 (May 1999), p. 36.)
^both the publisher and Caldecott refer to it with the spaces between the dots
^"An Evening with Patrick McDonnell: The Super Hero's Journey". Cartoon Art Museum. 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
External linksedit
Official Mutts website
Media related to Patrick McDonnell at Wikimedia Commons