"Mutts" Creator Patrick McDonnell

Technically, Patrick McDonnell works with imaginary animals. But for the millions who flip straight to the comics section, the "Mutts" crew is as real as their own pets. Everyone from PETA to the Humane Society of the United States have bestowed honors on McDonnell, and even late "Peanuts" artist Charles Schulz called "Mutts" "one of the best comic strips of all time." This fall, McDonnell publishes "Wags," a children's book about what makes "Mutts" star Earl's tail wag.

Name: Patrick McDonnell
Age: 53
Job: Author and illustrator of the comic strip "Mutts" and 13 compilation books.

Earl was inspired by your prior Jack Russell, also named Earl, who lived to be 19. What about Mooch?
Mooch was a combination of a few cats I had when I was growing up. We always had cats and I always wanted a dog, but I guess my parents didn't think I could take care of one. I bought every book about dogs I could find, I wanted a dog so bad. When I finally got Earl, he certainly lived up to everything I could have wanted for a dog.

How did you decide on how Earl would look? Was that instantaneous, or did it develop over time?
Early in my career, I was an illustrator for Forbes and Sports Illustrated and so forth, and in 90 percent of my drawings, there was a little white dog in the background. I just thought I was drawing a generic dog, but an art director told me that I was drawing a Jack Russell terrier. So I looked it up in a book and it was like my cartoon dog come to life. So the cartoon dog became a real dog and the real dog became the cartoon dog.



Every May and November, you do a series in which you highlight the need to adopt from shelters. How did that come about?
I had been doing "Mutts" for four years, and in my notebook I was trying to figure out a way to tell stories about animals in shelters. Then the Humane Society of the United States got in touch with me and asked if I'd do something in November for National Animal Shelter Crusades Week. That's how it started. I try to see the world through the animals' eyes. Last week, I did a story on puppy mills, so I try to do what I can in that area.

What comic strips do you read?
I never say that because I'm friends with the other cartoonists, but the ones that influenced me the most were older strips like "Krazy Kat" and "Peanuts" and "Popeye."

Have any of your strips been controversial?
Of all things, I did one where a tree was chopped down and all the animals lived in the tree, and somebody from the lumber industry complained. I guess trees have a good lobby. It was strange that that would be what I would get a nasty letter for.

You don't hear from anyone concerned about Guard Dog, who is tethered to a very short chain on a yard and yearns to be free?
I do get letters about that. They're not angry letters; they're just letters of concern. I've actually written the story of how he is going to get free and last year I thought I was gonna go with it. I do promise myself two things with the strip: One is that Guard Dog will go free, and the other is that Fatty Snax Deli will turn into a health-food restaurant.

What is your typical day or week like?
I get up at 5:00 or 5:30 and start the day with a little meditation, read spiritual books. Puts me in a good mood to do the strip. I do two or three weeks' worth of strips in a one week and a half, and take a few days off.

Since you've been doing the strip for so many years, have you ever had kids who credited you with their views on animals?
Yeah, it's probably the nicest part of the job. I have gotten letters from kids who decided to be veterinarians or vegetarians or who have volunteered at their local shelters or adopted a dog or a cat from a shelter because of "Mutts."

Tags: animals, cartoons, comics, iworkwithanimals, pets