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Michael Leunig

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Michael Leunig (born 2 June, 1945), often referred to as Leunig, is a noted Australiancartoonist. His best known works include The Adventures of Vasco Pajama and the Curly Flats series. He was declared one of Australian Living Treasures by the National Trust of Australia in 1999, and he currently lives in central Victoria, Australia.

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Biography

Leunig was born in East Melbourne, grew up in Footscray and went to Maribyrnong High School before entering an Arts degree at Monash University. His first cartoons appeared in the Monash University Student Newspaper "Lots Wife" in the late 1960's. He was conscripted in the Vietnam War call-up but he registered as a conscientious objector.

After Monash Leunig enrolled at the Swinburne Film and Television School and then began his cartoon career. He has noted that he was firstly interested in making documentaries before finding his feet with cartooning.

In the early 1970s his work appeared in the satirical magazine Nation Review, Womans Day, London's Oz magazine, and also various newspapers of that era.

The main outlet for Leunig's work has been the daily Fairfax press, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age (Melbourne) newspapers published in Australia. In recent years he has focussed mainly on political commentary, sometimes substituting his simple drawings with reproduced photographic images with speech balloons attached. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has also provided airtime to Leunig to discuss his views on a range of political and philosophical issues.

Leunig's cartoons

Leunig's drawings are done with a sparse, quavering line, usually in black and white with ink wash, the human characters always drawn with exaggerated features. This style served him well in his early years, when he gained a loyal following for his quirky take on social issues. He also made increasingly frequent forays into a personal fantasy world of whimsy, featuring small figures with teapots balanced on their heads, grotesquely curled hair and many ducks.

He has revealed in past interviews that the music of the Beatles inspired his early work, along with European cartoonists the absurdist Newyorker writer/cartoonist James Thurber (as well as dogs and ducks).

His work has frequently explored spiritual and religious ideas.

Leunig's popularity

Leunig was declared one of Australian Living Treasures by the National Trust of Australia in 1999.

There has also been a Leunig Melbourne tram.

The philosophical and mystical nature of his work was selected as one theme for the 15 March 2006 Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games held at the MCG in Leunig's hometown of Melbourne. The principal character was a "boy and his duck", exploring the dreams and visions of a boy, and Leunig was heard reading a stanza of his poem as a voice-over.

Leunig and controversy

As his status as a national institution has grown so too has opposition to the point-of-view reflected in Leunig's works. From feminist criticism of his "stay-at-creche baby" cartoon ("I'm a stay-at-creche baby so she doesn't have to be a stay-at-home Mum.") to his anti-war stance in regards to the invasion of Iraq Leunig and his cartoons have become the subject of controversy.

The Ariel Sharon Cartoon

On January 11, 2006, the The Age (Melbourne) newspaper published a Leunig cartoon which criticised Israeli leader Ariel Sharon, who at the time was hospitalized following a severe stroke, for sanctioning an attack on an 'old Palestinian in a wheelchair' - a reference to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, leader and founder of the militant Islamic group Hamas. This piece attracted many letters of protest from readers.

The Hamshahri Cartoon Incident

During the Muhammad cartoons controversy, a cartoon by Michael Leunig, was published in an Iranian newspaper Hamshahri for a competition in retaliation for the Muhammad Cartoons. This competition was supposed to be on the subject of the Holocaust. Leunig denied he had submitted the cartoon, and said that the act was "malicious and horrible". He demanded the cartoons be withdrawn, and the newspaper removed the cartoons and apologized to Leunig. [link] It later emerged that the cartoon had been submitted as a prank by a sometime contributing writer to the website of The Chaser [link].

The Gaza Cartoon

On July 12, 2006, the The Age ([Melbourne]) newspaper published a Leunig cartoon criticising Israel for re-entering Gaza after a six month absence after Hamas militants captured Corporal Gilad Shalit and in response to continuing Kassam rocket attacks into Israel. This cartoon was condemned by many readers as being one sided and failing to acknowledge that Israel was responding to the kidnapping and daily rocket attacks into Israeli cities.

Some descriptions of Leunig's cartoons

Published works

Works in the Australian National Bibliographic Database

External links

 

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