The National Cartoonists Society has announced the nominees for their prestigious Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year. The nominees are:
Glen Keane
Stephan Pastis
Richard Thompson
From their blog, here are the bios for each of the three:
Glen Keane is an animator, author, illustrator and director who?s credits include The Little Mermaid (Ariel), Aladdin (Aladdin), Beauty and the Beast (Beast), Tarzan (Tarzan) and most recently Tangled (Rapunzel) for Walt Disney Studios. He has recieved the received the 1992 Annie Award for character animation and the 2007 Winsor McCay Award for lifetime contribution to the field of animation. This is Glen?s first nomination
Stephan Pastis is the artist/writer/creator of the daily comic strip ?Pearls Before Swine?, syndicated by United Feature Syndicate. He won the NCS divisional award for ?Best Comic Strip? in 2003 and 2006. This is Stephan?s third nomination.
Richard Thompson is the artist/writer/creator of the daily comic strip ?Cul de Sac? syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate, as well as an illustrator and cartoonist on other features. He is the creator of the weekly cartoon series ?Poor Richard?s Almanac? which runs in the Washington Post, and his illustrations have appeared in numerous publications including U.S. News and World Report, National Geographic and The New Yorker. He has won NCS divisional awards for Magazine and Book Illustration in 1995 and Newspaper Illustration also in 1995. He won a Gold and a Silver Funny Bone Award in 1989 from the Society of Illustrators for humorous illustration. This is Richard?s second nomination.
Winner will be announced during their annual NCS Reuben Awards dinner in May. This year the event will be in Boston MA.
Glen Keane? As in Billy of Family Circus? As in brother of Jeff Keane, president of the National Cartoonist Society. Aren’t there rules against things like this?
Kyle,
Jeff himself would be eligible for the Reuben if he got the votes. The votes for nominees aren’t tabulated by Jeff or anyone in the NCS, for that matter.
Glen was one of the principal creative forces behind “Tangled”, designing Rapunzel, directing animation and more. The release and strong success of that film both commercially and critically last year makes him a very viable candidate for the 2010 Reuben.
The NCS president doesn’t have anything to do with the nominating, balloting or tabulating, as Andrew points out. That is all done by an independent professional firm. He will only be the recipient of endless sibling envy if Glen takes home the hardware.
Good luck to all three nominees! All highly deserving, IMHO.
I was surprised at first to see Glen Keane’s name in there, too, as I generally associate this award with newspaper cartoonists, and think of Glen as…well, one of the premiere animators of our generation to be sure. But he fits the parameters, and is certainly deserving of any and all accolades that come his way. A great list of amazing artists. Just wish you guys had chosen Vegas this year…I might have been able to crash that one!
I’m glad I don’t have to choose one of these three incredible cartoonists. Every one of them deserves the award.
If the NCS doesn’t do the clearly righteous, obvious, long-overdue, right thing and give it to the fabulous Richard Thompson there will surely be a hard long rain of frogs in Cartoonland.
(Taking nothing away from the others nominated, Thompson is a cartoon deity and truly deserves the recognition……)
…and locusts. Don’t forget the locusts….
I totally agree Matt—fingers crossed for a Richard Thompson win. A remarkable cartoonist/ caricaturist….
Legends all… What a line up of draftsmanship, design, humor and consistency…
I read both Cul de Sac and Pearls – they’re both awesome!! … and who doesn’t love Disney…. tough choice!