Cartoon notes

I've just returned from a work-related trip to Alberta.
Nice to write from home again.

Two cartoons I enjoyed today:

First, on the crisis in the U.S. financial sector... I think artist Mike Luckovich is right on target (link below). It's hard for me to accept, really hard to accept, how very smart people permitted ill-advised mortgage-backed securities and a competitive herd mentality to lead companies down the path of financial ruin. So now, we're seeing this.

On a completely different topic, I like this slice of life ... a current view of parents and children by Brian Bassett. It's a sign of the times.

Image courtesy of PHOTOCROMO

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Cartooning history: Disney and Hitler

I admire illustrators and cartoonists. In particular, the work of pioneers like Walt Disney.

Recently, I've became more aware of the historical context in which cartoonists like Disney produced their material. I've seen a number of historical references that apparently indicate that the German Nazi leadership of the 1930s and 1940s admired the works of Disney. Now, a Norwegian museum claims to have found drawings of Disney characters signed by a certain A. Hitler.

Adolf Hitler was an artist before the first World War and before he drifted into politics. You can read the story and see some samples of the drawings in the U.K.'s Telegraph page here.

While it may be true that Hitler admired the work of Disney, it's also true that the Disney company used its animators to produce anti-Nazi propaganda during the period. Take a look at this animated cartoon, which pillories the education of Nazi youth.

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Thanks to Paal Gladso of Norway for providing access to his photograph of a wallpainting in the basement of the Oslo opera house. The Germans occupied Norway during the Second World War.