Patrick McDonnell (born March 17, 1956) is a cartoonist, author, and playwright. He is the creator of the daily comic strip '' Mutts'', which follows the adventures of a dog and a cat, that has been syndicated since 1994. Prior to creating ''Mutts'', he was a prolific magazine illustrator, and would frequently include a dog in the backgrounds of his drawings. "McDonnell, a 1974 Edison High School, graduate started his career as a magazine illustrator. He always drew a little dog somewhere in the background..." McDonnell's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

, ''The Gift of Nothing'', was adapted as a musical for the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

stage, as was his picture book about the childhood of

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best kn ...

, ''Me . . . Jane'', which won a

Caldecott Honor The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

in 2012. His work has been animated for television commercials, most notably a

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

for the NY Philharmonic. He is a co-author of '' Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of

George Herriman George Joseph Herriman III (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip '' Krazy Kat'' (1913–1944). More influential than popular, ''Krazy Kat'' had an appreciative audience ...

'', published in 1986 by Abrams Books. McDonnell is involved with many animal and environmental charities. His characters have been used by the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

, the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

, and by the

Humane Society of the United States The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...

. The ''Mutts'' characters appear on the New Jersey Animal Friendly license plates, which fund state pet population programs. He won the

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...

for Best Comic Strip eight times, and has been given four National Cartoonists Society Awards.

Early life

Patrick Luigi McDonnell was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the son of an Irish father and an Italian-American mother. Early artistic influences were

Charles M. Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wi ...

, and

E. C. Segar Elzie Crisler Segar (; December 8, 1894 – October 13, 1938), known by the pen name E. C. Segar, was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of Popeye, a pop culture character who first appeared in 1929 in Segar's comic strip ''Thimble ...

. McDonnell was raised in

Edison, New Jersey Edison is a township located in Middlesex County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated in Central New Jersey within the core of the state's Raritan Valley region, Edison is a commercial hub, home to Menlo Park Mall and Little India. It ...

and, after graduating from Edison High School in 1974, he attended the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

in New York on scholarship, 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." graduating in 1978.

Career

At SVA, McDonnell met a group of underground cartoonists, such as

Peter Bagge Peter Bagge (pronounced , as in ''bag''; born December 11, 1957) is an American cartoonist whose best-known work includes the comics ''Hate'' and '' Neat Stuff''. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduce ...

and Kazimieras G. Prapuolenis (Kaz). Moving to

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

, shortly after graduating, McDonnell had some of his earliest professional drawings published in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'', and as "Jerseyana" in '' New Jersey Monthly'' magazine. His first high-profile ongoing freelance work was providing illustrations for the

Russell Baker Russell Wayne Baker (August 14, 1925 – January 21, 2019) was an American journalist, narrator, writer of Pulitzer Prize-winning satirical commentary and self-critical prose, and author of Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography '' Growing Up'' (1 ...

''Observer'' column for '' The New York Times Sunday Magazine'' from 1978 to 1993. His work on the ''Observer'' column got McDonnell interested in the idea of eventually doing a comic strip. McDonnell created a monthly comic strip, ''Bad Baby'', for ''

Parents Magazine ''Parents'' was an American monthly magazine founded in 1926 that featured scientific information on child development geared to help parents in raising their children. Subscribers were notified of the magazine’s dissolution via a postcard maili ...

'', which ran for ten years. The ''Bad Baby'' strips were collected and published by Ballantine Books in 1988. ''Bad Baby'' was adapted into an animated TV movie in 1997. During that time he also was a regular contributor to ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'', ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...

'', ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'', ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', and many other national magazines. McDonnell's illustrations for magazines, books, and

greeting cards A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthdays ...

earned him two National Cartoonists Society Awards in 1991. '' Mutts'' became syndicated, distributed by King Features Syndicate, starting in 1994. It won the

for Best Comic Strip in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003. ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and infl ...

'' creator

said of ''Mutts'', "To me, MUTTS is exactly what a comic strip should be." A book of McDonnell's life and work, ''Mutts: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell'', was published in 2003 by Abrams Books. In 2005, McDonnell curated an exhibition — ''"Top Dogs: Comic Canines Before and After

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

"'' — at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa ( Spanish for " Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area in California. Its estimated 2019 population was 178,127. It is the largest city in California's Wine Country and ...

. In 2006, the ''Mutts'' characters were featured in the

Toys for Tots Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas. The program was founded in 1947 by reservist Major Bill Hendricks. Th ...

holiday poster, and in 2007 were part of the

's "Read!" poster. The 2007-2008

Mazdaspeed (often stylized in all-caps as MAZDASPEED) was Mazda's in-house performance division. The company was a grassroots racing team in Japan. Owned by Mazda Motor Corporation, they built production model vehicles, became involved in motorsports develop ...

Team featured ''Mutts''-themed vehicles promoting pet adoption and the work of the

. He also created a set of "humane postage stamps" for the Humane Society. In 2009 McDonnell collaborated with author

Eckhart Tolle Eckhart Tolle ( ; ; born Ulrich Leonard Tölle, February 16, 1948) is a German-born spiritual teacher and self-help author of ''The Power of Now'' and '' A New Earth''. After being recommended by Oprah Winfrey, his first book, ''The Power of No ...

to create ''

Guardians of Being ''Guardians of Being'' is a picture book written by Eckhart Tolle, and illustrated by Patrick McDonnell. Content Eckhart's official website describes the book as conveying "a profound love of nature, of animals, of humans, of all life-forms ...

'', a philosophical book about nature and the present moment. In 2011, McDonnell's children's book ''Me... Jane'' was published. It is a story about naturalist

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. ''Me... Jane'' won a

in 2012. In 2010, the ''Mutts'' comic strip was appearing in more than 700 newspapers across 20 countries.

Personal life

McDonnell has been a vegetarian since around 1990 and a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

since 2005. McDonnell is a member of the Board of Directors of the

, the Fund for Animals, and The

Museum. 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 Edison,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, with their dog Amelie, and their cat, Willie Lebowsky. Their

Jack Russell Terrier The Jack Russell Terrier is a small terrier that has its origins in fox hunting in England. It is principally white-bodied and smooth, rough or broken-coated and can be any colour. Small tan and white terriers that technically belong to ot ...

, 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.

Awards

Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

for ''The Gift of Nothing'' musical (at The Kennedy Center) – Best Adaptation 2015 * Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, 2011, given at the

Eisner Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

* PETA Humanitarian Award 2001 * National Cartoonists Society's

Reuben Award The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

for Cartoonist of the Year 1999 * National Cartoonists Society's Award for Comic Strip of the Year 1999 * National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award (nominee) 1997 and 1998 * Germany's Max & Moritz Prize for Best International Comic Strip 1998 *

Swedish Academy of Comic Art Svenska Serieakademin ("The Swedish Academy of Comics") is a Swedish organisation founded in 1965 by the journalist Sture Hegerfors, who has been its president from the start. The academy is based on the structure of the Swedish Academy and has 1 ...

's Adamson Statuette 1997 *

for Best Comic Strip (for '' Mutts'') 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010 * Ark Trust

Genesis Award The Genesis Awards are awarded annually by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to individuals in the major news and entertainment media for producing outstanding works which raise public awareness of animal issues. Presented by the HSUS ...

1997, 1999 * National Cartoonists Society Award for Greeting Cards 1991 * National Cartoonists Society Award for Magazine and Book Illustration 1991

Bibliography

''Mutts''

Collections

* ''MUTTS'' (1996) * ''Cats & Dogs'' (1997) * ''More Shtuff'' (1998) *''Mutts Little Big Book'' (1998) *''MUTTS Sundays'' (1999) — large format, in color * ''Yesh!'' (1999) * ''Our MUTTS ''(2000) * ''A Little Look-See ''(2001) *''Sunday Mornings: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2001) — large format, in color * ''What Now (''2002) * ''I Want To Be The Kitty! ''(2003) *''Mutts: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell'' (2003) * ''Dog-Eared ''(2004) *''Sunday Afternoons: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2004) — large format, in color *''Sunday Evenings: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2005) — large format, in color * ''Who Let The Cat Out? ''(2005) * ''Everyday MUTTS: A Comic Strip Treasury'' (2006) (Sundays in color) * ''Animal Friendly: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2007) (Sundays in color) *''The Best of Mutts'' (2007) — retrospective * ''Call of The Wild: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2008) (Sundays in color) *''Mutts: Shelter Stories: Love. Guaranteed. '' (2008) — collection of over 100 ''Shelter Stories'' comics accompanied by photos and vignettes of adopted pets * ''Stop and Smell the Roses: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2009) (Sundays in color) * ''Earl & Mooch: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2010) (Sundays in color) * ''Our Little Kat King: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2011) (Sundays in color) * ''Bonk!: A MUTTS Treasury ''(2012) (Sundays in color) * ''Cat Crazy: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2013) (Sundays in color) * ''Living the Dream: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2014) (Sundays in color) * ''Playtime: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2015) (Sundays in color) * ''Year of Yesh: A MUTTS Treasury'' (2016) (Sundays in color) * ''#LoveMutts Treasury'' (2017) (Sundays in color) * ''You Have Those Wild Eyes Again, Mooch: A New Mutts Treasury'' (2018) (Sundays in color) * ''The Art of Nothing: 25 Years of MUTTS and the Art of Patrick McDonnell'' (Harry N. Abrams, 2019) * ''Hot Dogs, Hot Cats: A Mutts Treasury'' (2020) (Sundays in color)

''Mutts'' children's books

*''The Gift of Nothing'' (2005) — ''New York Times'' bestseller *''Just Like Heaven: A Mutts Children's Book'' (2006) *''Hug Time'' (2007) — ''New York Times'' bestseller *''Wag!'' (2009)

Other children's books

*''Art'' (2006) *''South'' (2008) *'' Me . . . Jane'' (2011)both the publisher and Caldecott refer to it with the spaces between the dots * ''The Monsters' Monster'' (2012) * ''A Perfectly Messed-Up Story'' (2014) * (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)

Other

* ''Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman'' (1986) (with Karen O'Connell and Georgia Riley de Havenon). New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. . *''Bad Baby'' (1988). New York: Ballantine (a Fawcett Columbine book) — collection of ''Bad Baby'' strips from ''Parent Magazine''; foreword by Elizabeth Crow *''

'' (2009) (Words by

) * (with poet Daniel Ladinsky) ''Darling I Love You: Poems from the Hearts of Our Glorious Mutts and All Our Animal Friends'' (2017)

References

External links

Official ''Mutts'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, Patrick 1956 births Living people American comic strip cartoonists People from Edison, New Jersey Artists from Elizabeth, New Jersey Artists from Hoboken, New Jersey Reuben Award winners School of Visual Arts alumni Edison High School (New Jersey) alumni

Early life

Career

Personal life

Awards

Bibliography

''Mutts''

Collections

''Mutts'' children's books

Other children's books

Other

Further reading

References

External links