cartoon

thumb|John Leech (caricaturist)|John Leech, Substance and Shadow (1843), published as Cartoon, No. 1 in Punch, the first use of the word cartoon to refer to a satirical drawing

AI overview

A cartoon is a satirical drawing that uses exaggerated or humorous imagery to comment on social or political issues, a term that originated in the 1840s when it was first applied to such works in the British publication Punch. Cartoons matter because they provide a distinctive form of visual commentary that combines art with social criticism, making complex ideas accessible to a broad audience through wit and illustration.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

In the Vinony graph

Within Vinony's link graph, cartoon is referenced by 1,897 other articles, and connects out to animation, comic strip and Franco-Belgian comics.

Vinony files it under 1843 introductions, Cartooning and Comics terminology.

Its subject is documented across 68 Wikipedia language editions.

Research

2,584 papers

Cartoon.PHAGE (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2023DOI: 10.1089/phage.2023.29040.car
The impact of postoperative cartoon viewing on emergence delirium in young children: A randomized controlled trial.International journal of nursing studies · 2025Chen W, Xie Y, Gao J et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2025.105141
Infants' brain activity to cartoon face using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.PloS one · 2022Yamanaka N, Kanazawa S, Yamaguchi MKDOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262679
Cartoon marketing exposure decreases perceived risks of e-cigarette use in adolescents.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2023Kirkpatrick MG, Dormanesh A, Unger JB et al.DOI: 10.1037/pha0000642
Cartoon.Nature biotechnology · 2000DOI: 10.1038/75276
Cartoon.Nature biotechnology · 2000DOI: 10.1038/71969
Cartoon.Nature biotechnology · 1999DOI: 10.1038/12796
Cartoon.Nature biotechnology · 1999DOI: 10.1038/13607

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Subclass of: work of art
Image: Busterbrown15.jpg

Show 9 more facts

partially coincident with: caricature
Commons category: Cartoons
topic's main category: Category:Cartooning
equivalent class: dbpedia.org/ontology/Cartoon
WordLift URL: data.thenextweb.com/tnw/entity/cartoon
practiced by: cartoonist
different from: caricature
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
described by source: Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition

Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~12 min read

Encyclopedic overview

10 sections

Contents

Fine art
Mass media
Political
Scientific
Comic books
Animation
See also
References
Bibliography
External links

thumb|John Leech (caricaturist)|John Leech, Substance and Shadow (1843), published as Cartoon, No. 1 in Punch, the first use of the word cartoon to refer to a satirical drawing

A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images intended for satire, caricature, or humor; or a motion picture that relies on a sequence of illustrations for its animation. Someone who creates cartoons in the first sense is called a cartoonist, and in the second sense they are usually called an animator.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “cartoon” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.