We can all decrement the count of staff cartoonists in the U.S. by one more as of yesterday. David Catrow has announced that he is leaving the Springfield News-Sun after 25 years as their editorial cartoonist to spend more time on illustrating children’s books and developing animated films.
“It’s bittersweet,” Catrow, 55, said. “I really grew up here. I’ve been an artist since I was old enough to hold a crayon and not eat it. But it wasn’t until I got here that I realized what it was like to be an artist and create things on deadline.”
David has illustrated more than 60 books, was a concept artist for last year’s “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who” movie and his Plantzilla book is being developed into an animated TV series.
According to the individual who tipped me off to this story, the paper will probably not fill the vacancy.
David Catrow is a great cartoonist and I’ve always loved his work. And I was surprised about this news because I thought he had already left the paper?
Wes – you’re right. I had the same reaction when I read the news, but it took me a bit to find the story that mentioned that he took a sabbatical from editorial cartooning while working on the Horton movie.
David Catrow working on ‘Horton Hears a Who’ movie
25 years? WOW! That deserves kudos….and he’s leaving on his own terms.
Best luck in the expanded endeavors.
From his hate mail, it sounds like we would get along.
The empty position at the Springfield News-Sun will NOT be filled.
The paper has a circulation of nearly 32,000. They should be congratulated for keeping a staff editorial cartoonist for that long with such a small circulation.