Animal Crackers is the title of several syndicated newspaper comics over the years. The first was a 1930 comic strip signed by an artist known simply as Lane. The second Animal Crackers was a cartoon panel by Dick Ryan and Warren Goodrich (1913–2002) that was published intermittently from 1936 through 1952. In some papers it ran as Animal Krackers. The third began on April 1, 1968 and continues today. It is distributed by Tribune Content Agency, and appears on Andrews McMeel Universal's GoComics, which is run by Universal Uclick.

Animal Crackers (1936–1952)

The San Francisco Chronicle described Animal Crackers as a "snappy little one-frame strip [that] featured a variety of animal life dealing with various silly situations of a human nature" and as a comic panel "which went on to acclaim in syndication." The San Francisco Chronicle printed the comic panel on its front page next to the weather report. Animal Crackers was syndicated by the Chicago Sun-Times to over 100 papers. Goodrich recalled about the strip, "I used animals to relate human foibles with a little twist. Sometimes it would work, and sometimes it wouldn't. It seems the funny things are just short of tragic." In later years, Goodrich drew a spin-off cartoon series, Creatures, collected in the book Creatures Or Not So Dumb Animals (Eden East Press, 2001). Although Goodrich drew his animal cartoons for years and then wrote newspaper columns ("Travelin' Man") and several books (An Artist's Life), his lasting fame came with a single drawing, "The Little Man," which he drew in 1942. Used alongside San Francisco Chronicle film reviews as a movie rating system, this Goodrich device was praised by Roger Ebert, Gerald Nachman, Austin Kleon, and other writers.

Animal Crackers (1968–present)

Publication history

Roger Bollen drew the strip 1967 to 1994, and then Fred Wagner took over until his death in 2016. The strip is now drawn by long-time Animal Crackers writer, Mike Osbun. It features a group of animals who live in a fictional jungle called Freeborn. This strip was adapted into a Canadian animated television series in 1997.

Characters and story

Sources consulted