Mother’s Day is on the way.
Six days and counting. Mother’s Day has been going on since 1908, which, coincidentally, is the year my mother Mollie was born. Just a coincidence? I think yes. I owe a lot to my mom. She discouraged me from being a cartoonist, and without that discouragement, I wouldn’t have been motivated to succeed. Also, she could be really annoying when she wanted to get her way. I am, too, and that has helped me a lot in life.
I realize those anecdotes are not very heartwarming, and to make up for it, I want to share with you a heartwarming clip from the forthcoming documentary “Drawing Life” about George Booth, written and directed by Nathan Fitch. In this scene, cartoonist Seth Fleishman and his mother tell how Seth reached out to George when his mom, a long-time Booth fan, faced a life-threatening health crisis. The story illustrates George’s epic heart and illuminates the difference cartoons can make in life’s most dire moments.
Learn more about the upcoming documentary below.
Here are a few of George’s cartoons that might remind you of some of the moms you know:
If you love George as much as we do, you’ll be happy to know you can find limited-edition, signed prints of one of George’s most popular—and increasingly relevant—cartoons here:
Caption: “I’d just like to know what in hell is happening, that’s all! I’d like to know what in hell is happening! Do you know what in hell is happening?” $350-425.
We’re also featuring two hand-drawn versions of Seth Fleishman’s most popular New Yorker cartoons. While Seth creates his original cartoons digitally for the publication, he has hand-drawn these for this special series.
Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy Mother’s Day.
Yours in Good Humor,
Bob
About Drawing Life: Drawing Life is a new documentary that is at once an intimate portrait of the legendary cartoonist George Booth and of his unique artistic vision of America. Directed by Nathan Fitch (who formerly worked as a Video Producer on The Cartoon Lounge), Drawing Life combines documentary footage of cartoonist George Booth; working at home in Crown Heights Brooklyn, pitching his work to the editors of The New Yorker Magazine, sketching ideas in Prospect park, and much more. Drawing Life will also include animated stories from his long and interesting life, created in stop motion in collaboration with the Animator Emily Collins. At perhaps the most turbulent moment in recent history, Drawing Life and Booth’s work and wit have the power to surmount lines of class/race/geography, to show the shared humanity of people (and animals) from different strata’s of society, and to coax a smile in these uncertain times.
Bob