The Cartoonist

By Ron Coleman

As a teenager growing up in a small town in Oregon in the fifties, I had no desire to finish high school. For one thing, my dad never finished. Also, my big ambition in life was to be a cartoonist, and I was, in fact, already selling some of my cartoons to small magazines. My hero, Walt Disney, had never finished high school, and I felt that if he could quit and succeed, so could I. But my mother would never hear of it, so reluctantly, I continued to go.

In about my sophomore year I began to sell cartoons to a small magazine in Thousand Oaks, California. It was called Computer News and was a trade journal about the computers of that time. These were nothing like the laptops we know today … they were huge Univac computers which filled an entire room. I knew nothing about them, but still somehow managed to come up with cartoons about them.

In my correspondence with the editor, a Mr. Jackson Granholm, I mentioned my desire to quit high school and go into cartooning full time. He wrote back urging me to stay in school, spouting off all the reasons why school was important. To convince him I knew better, I told him about how Walt Disney had quit.

A few weeks later, I was waiting at the mailbox, waiting to see if any magazines had bought any of the cartoons I had recently submitted. When the mail came I was quite surprised to see one letter addressed to me from Walt Disney studios.

It was from their personnel department, and I was sure it was a job offer. Not so. They told me that Mr. Jackson Granholm had contacted them on my behalf and explained my attitude about finishing high school. They advised me very strongly to stay in high school, pointing out that they never even considered applicants without a high school education and preferred some college.

It took the winds out of my sails, but I guess it taught me two things: I was no Walt Disney, and times had changed. I finished high school, and went on for two years of college. Years later I worked for Walt Disney studios, as well as a couple of other major film studios, plus I have been doing cartooning on a freelance basis for years. To date I have been published in hundreds of publications, and I admit the college education was no deterrent at all.

Just a few years ago I finally had the opportunity to meet Jackson Granholm in person. I learned that he was living in Oregon just a few miles away from where I live. I met him for lunch and we had an enjoyable talk about this experience.

Cartoons can be considered as a fantastic part of our lives. Each cartoon carries a moral story and doesn’t even create boredom. Cartoons can refresh you in stressful moments because of their designs and presentation. I used to hate watching cartoons earlier because of elders who say cartoons are only for children. But slowly I became habitual while watching with my nephews together. My best cartoon character is ‘pingu’. Better to say habitual in watching cartoon is like cigarette smoking. Once you enjoy the pleasure provided by them, you can’t retreat back so easily. In the world of cartoons, Disney cartoons have gained wonderful popularity among children, adults and grown ups from all over the universe.

Disney Cartoons from then to Present

Disney cartoons began with cartoon named Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse was miniature black and white animated character when he was created. Still today, Mickey Mouse is the biggest icon that constitutes most of the Disney world and also there exist lot more fantastic characters in Disney. Disney also created famous cartoon characters like Donald Duck, Bambi, Winnie the Pooh, Goofy, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio. This is not all, the list of Disney cartoon character continues, and seems to be endless.

Since the time Disney started his career as a cartoonist, Disney cartoons have been successful and established. Disney is also the creator of some of the unforgettable cartoons and movies like Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Mary Poppins, Snow White, and Old Yeller. These cartoons and movies are still liked by people all over the world and have been translated in different languages.

Mickey Mouse, the Small Hero

Everyone likes Mickey Mouse. Probably there is no one from any cultural background and age who doesn’t like this minute hero. Among Disney cartoons, Mickey Mouse is the most globally accepted cartoon character from his creation to the present. Mickey Mouse made his first entry in ‘Steamboat Willie’ at the theater named Colony in New York City. This was in 18th November, 1928. After the success of Steamboat Willie, Mickey became the star showed up in more than 120 cartoons. Mickey was also the star in ‘The Mickey Mouse Club’ TV shows in 1950s.
At present, Mickey is the respected title of principal welcomer at the Disney theme parks located in different places. As a chief welcomer, Mickey has welcomed kings and presidents, princes and prime ministers, TV stars, film stars, sports stars, and millions of general people.

Use of Disney Cartoon Characters

Because of their universal popularity of Disney cartoons characters, they have found their place in several items that we require for daily purposes. Cartoon characters have been printed on T-shirts, at scrappy books, personal photo album, on individual calendar. The use has not been limited to these. These days, the cartoon characters are increasingly being used in computer as wallpaper and screen saver. Similarly, there are cups and plates available consisting of cartoon character. People also are using these cartoon characters in their person website, on invitations, greeting cards and in birth announcement. CD covers are available that consists of cartoon character picture. These famous cartoon characters are used so widely by us, that their presence is significant to us and creates a smile on our faces with every glance.

I’m trying to find out ANY info on the Disney artist Joe Witzerman. I have a drawing he did for my Mom probably around 1974 or 1975 of Donald Duck and a chipmunk (either Chip or Dale I think). It is signed and is a great drawing. I’m trying to find out if it could be worth anything.

Thanks for the help.