Cartoonist and Animal Lover Patrick McDonnell at Princeton’s Center for the Arts

PRINCETON, NJ—On Saturday Nov 30, 2024, the Butler and I went to meet a cartooning legend—Patrick McDonnell, who talked about comics, love, the Dalai Lama, and animal activism. I was finally around my own kind and it was without the claustrophobia and exhaustion of NY Comic Con!

The Paul Robeson Center for the Arts in Princeton, New Jersey is modern style building with handicap access for wheelchairs. I don’t know if they have any provisions for other disabilities like an ASL interpreter; however, the video of Coconut (explained at the end) is on YouTube with captions. The neighborhood around Witherspoon Street, while gorgeous, is not easy for driving and parking if you aren’t familiar with it. There was a parking garage across the street, but the line to get into it was frustrating. We left that line and found street parking about three blocks away on a quiet street without parking meters.

Patrick McDonnell Interviewed by Charles Viera

Most people know McDonnell as the Mutts comic strip creator. His compassionate soul exudes in his book dedicated to a side character in Mutts, the chained up dog known as Guard Dog. Doozy is a little girl who would sneak through the fence and bring this “big mean” dog treats. Other than her visits, Guard Dog only had the Moon to talk to. One thing McDonnell knew for sure about Guard Dog’s story was that Doozy was going to be his human adopter whenever it was time to get that dog off that chain.

His friend Charles “Sparky” M. Schulz (Peanuts creator), said he regretted never letting Charlie Brown kick that football so McDonnell realized the right time would come for Guard Dog to get off the chain. It had been 29 years. Hollywood was going to be that right time and place for Guard Dog to get his happy ending off the chain. Then one studio bought another and that was the end of that project. We won’t get a Mutts movie, but we now have Breaking the Chain. If you want to see a preview of Breaking the Chain, visit this previous announcement.

McDonnell knew at age five he wanted to be a cartoonist. He worshipped Jack Kirby. And a couple of the paintings feature McDonnell’s take on Jack Kirby’s krackle (the black bubbly circles he often drew in his panels). McDonnell made 150 paintings during the pandemic. He would reuse canvases so each painting has 2-3 paintings underneath. He needed to cope with the restrictions COVID-19 put on travel and socialization.

The exhibition of McDonnell’s art ends in a few days, December 7. The Super Hero’s Journey exhibit was curated by Charles David Viera (*ed. note: someone I’ve modeled for and I’ve modeled at this very location a couple times!)

We were privy to the making of a fascinating collaboration. It was a strange coincidence that brought McDonnell and his wife, Linda, to a meeting with the Dalai Lama‘s niece. That niece spoke about plans for a book about the environment. Linda offered up the idea that Patrick should draw it. It was a strangely remarkable twist of fate which led to the creation of the book, Heart to Heart. The couple was supposed to go out and visit where the Dalai Lama lives, but then COVID happened.

To conclude the lecture, Heather Achenbach, the executive director of the animal rescue organization, SAVE, showed a mini documentary about a pitbull mix named Coconut. It did have good music, but not Sarah MacLachlan nor Jann Arden; it was the song Nobody Knows by The Lumineers.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.