Cartoons and cinema
The history of the cartoon strip is also that of a relationship with cinema. The animated pictures of the cinema were influenced by cartoons. But film, a moving medium, has equally been a source of inspiration for cartoons, a static art. Sometimes a transfer of media takes place, both sides adapt, the protagonists of one art form converge with the other.
Cartoons and films both have their origin at the end of the 19th century and were born at practically the same moment. But even before these two art forms officially existed, we can find, for example in the picture stories of Wilhem Busch or in the first cartoons of Windsor McCay, quasi cinematographic narrative, already using some early graphics and elements of audiovisual language even before they found their place on the big screen. The first adaptation of a cartoon for cinema was L'arroseur arrosé de Lumière in 1895, undoubtedly the first humoristic film in history, inspired by the comic strip by Christophe dating from 1889.
In 1921, L'histoire du Monsieur Vieux-Bois, a 35 minute long animated film adapted from a story drawn by Rodolphe Töpffer (1799-1846) was produced by the Genevans François Ehrenhold and Maurice Peyrot-Schlumberg, who entrusted the production to Parisians Cavé and Lortac.
E.C. Segar started out drawing cartoon strips based on Chaplin and then went on to create "Popeye" who became a hero of animated films and was finally adapted by Robert Altman in 1980 into a full-length film. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck were first born as animated figures and were only to be found in cartoon strips afterwards.
Several big names in cinema also expressed their passion for picture stories. The grandiose Russian director Sergej Eisenstein was an admirer of Walt Disney and published several picture stories in a newspaper, as cartoons strips. Frank Tashlin drew cartoon strips in his youth and even worked in the Warner animated film studios. Frederico Fellini was known to be a fan of cartoons and translated, among others, Flash Gordon and Mandrake into Italian. And Alain Resnais was also drawn to cartoons, both the form and the content.
Cartoonists behind the camera
One example of a cartoonist turned film director is Enki Bilal (Bunker Palace Hôtel, 1989; Immortel, 2004). But there are also, Patrice Leconte (Les Bronzés, 1978), Gérard Lauzier (P'tit Con, 1984), Martin Veyron, F. Tullio Altan, Milo Manara, Peyo, Uderzo, Wolinski, Régis Franc, and many others.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet started out as a cartoon script-writer before becoming a director (Delicatessen, 1991; Amelie from Montmartre, 2001). Jean Van Hamme wrote scripts for both genres. Jean Giraud (Moebius) contributed bothto the Walt Disney film Tron (1982), and to Alien (1979). And let us not forget the star director Luc Besson who used numerous cartoon elements in his films (The Fifth Element, 1997) and even owns shares in "Septième choc" who mainly publish cartoons by young authors.
Swiss examples
It is well known that there are many Swiss artists in different domains of Hollywood productions. H.R. Giger (design, Alien), Christian Lorenz Scheurer (concept design, The Fifth Element), the producer Arthur Cohn, cameramen Ueli Steiger and Martin Fuhrer, Pietro Scalia who edited JFK and Gladiator, and of course director Marc Forster, to name but a few.
Gérald Poussin began in animated films and now works in cartoon strips. Thomas Ott, illustrator and designer for cartoons, is an internationally recognised name, he is also a director. Jonas Raeber, who began in cartoon strips, has owned his own studio "SWAMP" since 1990, and is one of the rare Swiss artists recognised on the International animated film scene. Claudius Gentinetta, who now lives in Zurich, is also an illustrator for cartoons and animated films and in 2008, along with Frank Braun, directed the film Die Seilbahn.
The complete version of this text is available on the French version of this website.