Leunig’s world of whimsy bulged with appealing ideas.
Cartoonist Michael Leunig, who lived the last half of his life near Violet Town, leaves a rich lode of delight for dogs and people to ponder.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
As it happened, he preferred ducks to dogs, but perhaps that’s because, like me, he liked things that could fly. The idea of flying himself was clearly an appealing one: The Boss reckons it’s a fantasy shared by most boys and girls and with Leunig it never quite left him.
I’m with him, although I am now paying the price for my youthful enthusiasm for staying aloft over land and river.
The Boss met Leunig when he started out as a cartoonist with the Melbourne Age in 1969, alongside giants like Tanberg, Spooner and Nicholson, and watched while he fashioned his own style – one that allowed sharp political comment within a wondrous world of whimsy.
His simple faces and wobbly lines belied a skill in capturing the essence of the natural world and it won him the hearts of millions, with his 24 books, calendars, T-shirts, mugs and prints turning up in offices, libraries, kitchens and children’s bedrooms around the nation.
More often than not, there would be a duck, or many of them, but he was also given to crescent moons and sunrises, as well as tea pots and a couple of well-loved characters, Mr Curly and Vasco Pyjama.
Within his dreamy drawings, often involving a bewildered figure with a long nose (and the duck) there would be an observation about the current state of things - which could be pointed.
Leunig provoked outrage and accusations of mother-shaming for another of his pointed observations on social behaviour.
He craved peace, hated war and the brutal treatment of people and bitterly opposed the invasion of Iraq, when many around him thought it not a bad idea. Those Leunig followers who only ever expected to be amused could be upset when he made a confronting point that forced them to think.
I liked the way he railed against human distraction and distorted priorities. The Boss and I have been working our way through his Instagram account – leunigstudio – which is free and easy to find.
You’ll see his cartoon of a couple watching a beautiful sunrise on the TV, when the real thing is happening out the window. Or where he got in trouble for drawing a mum pushing a bub in a pusher while messaging on her phone.
Then there was his take on Tiananmen Square’s “tank man,” which The Age refused to publish. Someone forgot that the job of a cartoonist is to make us think – not necessarily agree. And they forgot to smile.
Comparing anti-vaxxers to the lone protester in Tiananmen Square saw Leunig shifted off the editorial pages of The Age. Some people just can’t smile about something they don’t agree with.
The Boss credits Leunig with more smiles per square inch than any other cartoonist or artist that he can remember. Vale Leunig – a gift who will long keep on giving. Woof!
12°C