cartoon characters

15 Stories

'Times Have Changed': Homer Stops Strangling Bart

'Simpsons' acknowledges the shift in new episode

(Newser) - Scenes that show Homer Simpson strangling his son Bart, often preceded by a frustrated "Why, you little...," are such a staple of the long-running animated sitcom that compilation videos exist showing all the times it's happened. Going forward, however, it appears the Springfield patriarch "has had...

Disney Revives Character After Nearly a Century

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who preceded Mickey Mouse, stars in new animated short

(Newser) - Mickey Mouse's rabbit forefather just came back from the Disney dead. Considered Walt Disney's "first breakout animated star," Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was first introduced to audiences in the 1927 short Trolley Troubles, per Variety . Disney went on to create 26 shorts starring the plucky rabbit...

After 2-Year Ban, Happiest Place on Earth Opens Its Arms Again

Hugs, character interactions make their return

(Newser) - It's been more than two years since Disney characters mingled with theme park guests—rubbing noses, whispering secrets, and perhaps most importantly, offering hugs. When Disneyland reopened last April after a 14-month closure triggered by a global pandemic that made physical interaction risky, visitors could only glimpse Mickey and...

Cartoon Frog Taken Over by the Alt-Right Croaks

Creator Matt Furie gave up trying to keep Pepe out of the hands of white supremacists

(Newser) - He tried to #SavePepe but in the end, Matt Furie had to let the frog go. The Guardian reports that Furie, the cartoonist who created the amphibian character that was appropriated by the alt-right in internet memes, killed off Pepe the Frog to coincide with Free Comic Book Day on...

Cartoon Frog Now Officially a Hate Symbol
Pepe the Frog Is
Now a Hate Symbol
Sep 28, 2016 7:40 AM CDT

Pepe the Frog Is Now a Hate Symbol

Cartoon has been added to Anti-Defamation League's hate-symbols database

(Newser) - When Matt Furie started drawing Pepe in the early 2000s, the Los Angeles artist conceived the character as an "everyman frog" living an "early 20-something hedonistic lifestyle," he tells the Atlantic . But the cartoon frog soon morphed into an Internet meme, and was then adopted by the...

Cartoon on the Box? Your Kid Will Like the Cereal
Cartoon on the Box? Your
Kid Will Like the Cereal
study says
Mar 8, 2011 1:52 PM CST

Cartoon on the Box? Your Kid Will Like the Cereal

Children preferred the taste when there was a penguin on the package

(Newser) - Want to get your kids eating brussels sprouts? Try putting them in a box with a cartoon character on the front. A new study found that children thought cereal tasted better when it came out of a box with penguins from Happy Feet on the front, USA Today reports. The...

Fred & Wilma (and the Brontoburger) Turn 50
 The Flintstones Turn 50 
Oct 3, 2010 4:09 PM CDT

The Flintstones Turn 50

Seems like only 12,000 or so years ago

(Newser) - Fifty years ago, the culturally iconic cartoon The Flintstones debuted on ABC. Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty inhabited the fictional town of Bedrock in 10,000 BC in an equally fictional world inhabited simultaneously by humans and dinosaurs. But they were no knuckle-draggers: The Flintstones were the first members of...

Korean Man Marries Pillow
 Korean Man Marries Pillow 
a gem from wednesday
Mar 14, 2010 9:32 AM CDT

Korean Man Marries Pillow

Groom keeps company with anime character accessory, buys it meals

(Newser) - A South Korean man’s dream came true recently when he married a body pillow bearing an illustration of an anime character. Lee Jin-gyu, 28, fell for a dakimakura, or body pillow, printed with an image of Fate Testarossa, a character in a popular cartoon series, the UK Metro reports....

Woman Spends $16K to Look Like Jessica Rabbit

British great-grandmother indulges her toon obsession

(Newser) - A 57-year-old British great-grandmother is obsessed with Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and especially with Roger's wife, Jessica—so obsessed that she spent $16,000 to look like the toon siren. "I just think she's a very sexy cartoon," Annette Edwards says in an interview with This Morning, during...

Vatican Praises The Simpsons' Take on God

Despite his jokes, Homer knows Him 'quite well'

(Newser) - The Vatican's newspaper sees right through Homer Simpson’s superficial ambivalence about—or even ignorance of—God to a soul that finds its “ultimate refuge in” the supreme deity. In a study of that great theological repository, The Simpsons, the editors of L'Osservatore Romano praise its portrayal of “...

'Naughty' Mickey Hits the Wii
 'Naughty' Mickey Hits the Wii 
Nov 5, 2009 11:14 AM CST

'Naughty' Mickey Hits the Wii

Disney dares to reimagine him for new generation

(Newser) - Mickey Mouse is going back to his papered-over roots as a mischief-maker as Disney reimagines its core property for a new generation, and perhaps a new revenue stream. The first vehicle is “Epic Mickey,” a video game for the Wii console in which players can choose to play...

Happy 35th Birthday, Hello Kitty
 Happy 35th 
 Birthday, 
 Hello Kitty 
watch your mouth
Nov 1, 2009 2:11 PM CST

Happy 35th Birthday, Hello Kitty

Fashionable events surround style icon's big day

(Newser) - She can't blow out the candles, but Hello Kitty turns 35 today. Launched by the Japanese greeting card firm Sanrio in 1974, the mute, mysterious feline made her US debut in 1976 and is now an international style icon. "Who doesn't love Kitty?" fashion entrepreneur Kimora Lee Simmons asks....

Rebuilt 'Small World' Not Too Small for Disney Marketers

(Newser) - The recently renovated “It’s a Small World” ride at Disneyland has some new inhabitants, OC Weekly reports—Disney characters. The ride, which debuted in 1964 to showcase tolerance, now features animatronic versions of popular movie figures alongside children of the world, the AP adds. “What message are...

Beetle Bailey Finds New Barracks
Beetle Bailey
Finds New
Barracks
Jul 16, 2008 1:14 PM CDT

Beetle Bailey Finds New Barracks

Creator Mort Walker's Cartoon Museum is Ohio-bound

(Newser) - One of the world's biggest collections of cartoon art has found a new home at Ohio State University, the Wall Street Journal reports. "Beetle Bailey" creator Mort Walker amassed more than 200,000 pieces of cartoon art during his 7 decades in the business but had to move his...

Cartman's Evil Is His Appeal
 Cartman's Evil Is His Appeal 
Apr 6, 2008 12:16 PM CDT

Cartman's Evil Is His Appeal

Foul-mouthed fat kid ranks 10th in all-time list of cartoon characters

(Newser) - Eric Cartman—the foul-mouthed fat kid in the "South Park" foursome of misfit boys—has ridden his ability to do the unthinkable to No. 10 on TV Guide's top 50 cartoon characters of all time. What's the appeal, exactly, of a malicious, mean, lying, selfish 8-year-old? "I'd say...

15 Stories
Most Read on Newser