Fate just keeps on happening

And I should know, I animated them

The 3 Fates from Disney’s HERCULES (1997) I used an animated truck-in (animating the characters getting larger) together with a camera truck for this shot, since the directors wanted an ‘extreme’ push in to that scissors and thread. This is easy with computer animation, not very easy with hand drawn animation. I did the character layouts for the entire sequence.

No, the camera move is NOT called a ‘zoom’. A zoom is a lens. You’re welcome.

I got some news, and have some news, about the FurBabies. The first one is a surprise. I normally hate surprises but if the Fates decide in my favor, it could be a good one.

More about that later. It’s a SEEEE-crettt!

The second bit of news was something that was bound to happen eventually.

If I want to play (GoFish) with the Fates, I have to take a short break from drawing the FurBabies comic strip. We normally work two weeks ahead of publication. I have completed original strips until the 24th of March.

Cartoonists once were expected to work 365 days a year. Rudolf Dirks, creator of THE KATZENJAMMER KIDS, the longest running American comic strip (1897-2006 ), was the first to ask for a vacation. His request was refused and he took it anyway. His boss William Randolph (Citizen Kane) Hearst promptly hired someone else to draw the strip. Dirks sued Hearst and kept the characters, went over to Pulitzer’s paper, and there were now TWO strips with the same characters in different papers. THE KATZENJAMMER KIDS stayed with Hearst, and Dirks wrote and illustrate THE CAPTAIN AND THE KIDS. Both strips ran for decades.

Garry Trudeau famously took a break from DOONESBURY in the 20th century. It’s now common for cartoonists to do this, for a variety of reasons.

I am reusing one week of 2024 comics from March 25 to March 31, 2025. They will have the original copyright dates. I found this preferable to doing slapdash work in order to meet deadlines. An artist can never afford to do less than their best work, deadline and time budget notwithstanding.

Most online cartoonists repeat older strips, sometimes labeling them ‘classics’ to notify the readers. I’ll notify them in the comments on the March 24 strip. (It’s one of my favorites from this year.)

New April FurBabies strips will appear just in time for the GoComics site update. That’s no joke! —to quote my friend Jerry Lee (NoJoke) Brice.

Thank you for your understanding. Wish me luck. I’m off to create a little Fate-al attraction.

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