Cartoon: Its Unique Characteristics and Uses

Cartoons are simple sketches or drawings with exaggerated features that are satirical or humorous and are usually published in newspapers, magazines, or periodicals. Most cartoons combine words and pictures to convey their messages, while others express their message through pictures alone. The artist who specializes in creating cartoons is called a cartoonist.

Cartoonists often use few details of a particular character to help us easily identify them while exaggerating the other features of the same character, such as the head, hands, or feet, just to create humor. For example, the size of a cartoon character’s head may be one-third or one-half the length of the body. Cartoonists often use oversized heads to draw readers’ attention to important facial expressions of characters, such as a smile, grimace, squint, anger, etc. Cartoonists also use symbols as shortcuts to help them tell their stories. For example, a dark cloud on a character’s head can indicate that the character is desperate or has a problem, while a light bulb on their head can indicate a bright idea gained by the character.

Each separate scene in a cartoon is called a Panel. The printed text that accompanies and explains the action of a cartoon character, usually in a closed space, is called a balloon.

There are several features that can easily help someone to identify cartoons. Some of these include:

1. Human or animal figures known as ‘characters’ are depicted in cartoons.

2. Little character detail is shown in cartoons.

3. Cartoons are not realistic but representative.

4. There is always an exaggeration or culmination of some parts of the character’s body such as the head, hands, eyes, nose, etc.

5. Cartoons are humorous, satirical and dramatic.

6. Facial expressions and feelings of a character such as happiness, anger, pain, etc. they are normally indicated by the size and posture of the eyes and mouth.

Cartoons play various roles in society. These roles are primarily educational and social.

1. Cartoons are used to create illustrations in books, magazines, newspapers, and other periodicals to educate the general public about important issues in the nation.

2. They are used for advertising products and services.

3. They are used to explain difficult subjects or topics in textbooks.

4. Caricatures are used as finished drawings for publications.

5. Painters in the Fine Arts area use cartoons as sketches for paintings.

6. Cartoons are used to highlight some negative trends in society, such as corruption, etc.

7. They serve as a form of entertainment for both children and adults, especially when used for animations.

8. They are used to alleviate the boredom of readers of storybooks, newspapers and magazines.

9. They promote the sale of newspapers and magazines.

10. They are used as teaching aids in schools, especially at the lower levels of the academic ladder.