|
Topics
Follow Your Dream —
Do What You Love
The Creative Process
Working With Artists/
Creative People
Licensing
Taking a Western Brand Abroad
Taking Corporate Responsibility for the Environment
Using Comic Strips to Teach Kids to Read
How to Become a Syndicated Cartoonist in 10,041
Easy Lessons
|
Jim Davis’ presentations combine the wit and humor of a cartoonist
and the savvy of an international businessman who has made sure
his character is known and loved around the world.
Jim Davis was born July 28, 1945, in Marion, Ind., and was raised
on a small Black Angus cow farm with his parents, James and Betty,
and his younger brother, Dave (Doc). As on most farms, the barnyard
had its share of stray cats — about 25 at one time, by Jim’s
estimation.
Jim thinks he probably would have become a farmer had it not been
for his serious bouts of asthma as a child. Forced inside, away
from regular farm chores, he whiled away the hours drawing pictures.
His pictures were so bad he had to label them. With practice, his
drawing got better, but Jim concluded that pictures accompanied
by words were more fun anyway.
By junior high school, his asthma was in check, and Jim even went
on to letter in high school football. Later, he attended Ball State
University in Muncie, Ind., where he majored in art, business and
practical jokes.
After college, Jim spent two years working for a local advertising
agency before becoming an assistant to “Tumbleweeds” creator
Tom Ryan. Soon, Jim learned the skills and discipline necessary
to become a syndicated cartoonist. He combined his wry wit with
the art skills he had honed since childhood, and Garfield, a fat,
lazy, lasagna-loving, cynical cat, was born. Jim says Garfield is
a composite of all the cats he remembered from his childhood, rolled
into one feisty orange fur ball. Garfield was named after Jim’s
cantankerous grandfather, James Garfield Davis.
The strip debuted on June 19, 1978, in 41 U.S. newspapers. Several
months after the launch, the Chicago Sun-Times canceled Garfield.
More than 1,300 angry readers demanded that Garfield be reinstated.
It was, and the rest, as they say, is history. Today, Garfield is
read in 2,600 newspapers by at least 263 million readers around
the globe.
Jim Davis has had many successes with Garfield, including four Emmy
Awards for Outstanding Animated Program and induction into the Licensing
Hall of Fame (1998), but his most prized awards are from his peers
in the National Cartoonists Society: Best Humor Strip (1981 and
1985), the Elzie Segar Award (1990) and the coveted Reuben Award
(1990) for overall cartooning. The American Association of State
Colleges and Universities awarded Davis the Distinguished Alumnus
award in 1985 for his dedication to the promotion of higher education.
Davis’ time and energy have not been devoted exclusively to
cartooning and Garfield. He is also an active environmentalist:
In 1990, the National Arbor Day Foundation awarded him the Good
Steward award for his efforts in reforestation in his native state
of Indiana. Davis is also involved with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service in a campaign promoting the restoration of wetlands, as
well as The National Wildlife Federation’s “Build a Schoolyard
Habitat” campaign that encourages students to provide wildlife
environments on school grounds.
In 1981, Davis formed Paws, Inc., a full-service licensing studio
created to support Garfield’s global business ventures. Paws
watches over Garfield’s world and operates under the strict
eye of Davis to maintain the quality of the Garfield character that
now appears on thousands of products sold all over the world.
|
