Mother Goose and Grimm (aka Mother Goose & Grimm) is an internationally syndicated comic strip by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mike Peters of the Dayton Daily News. It was first syndicated in 1984 and is distributed by King Features Syndicate to 500 newspapers. Peters has received recognition for the strip with the National Cartoonists Society's 1991 Reuben Award and a nomination for their Newspaper Comic Strip Award for 2000.
Characters and story
The strip revolves around a yellow Bull Terrier named Grimm, owned by an anthropomorphic goose named Mother Goose, along with a dimwitted Boston Terrier named Ralph and a cat named Attila. The strip is noted for its references to popular culture or recent news that are often spoofed and referenced for a certain period of time often depending on the length of the hype devoted to a certain news story or topic (such as Grimm's creation of a website known as "GrimmyLeaks" in reference to the controversy surrounding the scandalous website WikiLeaks, which is devoted to publishing rumors relating to fellow comic strip characters). The comic strip also makes multiple references to iconic fictional characters including Mr. Potato Head, Superman, Batman, and more, along with popular products including Amazon Kindles.
The strip also often consists of stand-alone one-panel comics that do not relate to the continuing story or characters.
Books
- The Portable Mother Goose and Grimm (1987)
- Oh God, It's Grimm (1987)
- Steel Belted Grimm (1988)
- Four Wheel Grimmy (1989)
- Grimmy Come Home (1990)
- It's Grimmy (1990)
- Grimmy: Best In Show (1990)
- Grimmy: Pick of the Litter (1990)
- Grimmy: Night of the Living Vacuum (1991)
- Grimmy: Top Dog (1991)
- Grimmy and the Temple of Groom (1992)
- Grimmy: The Postman Always Screams Twice (1996)
- Grimmy: Friends Don't Let Friends Own Cats (1996)
- Grimmy: King of the Heap (1997)
- Grimmy: Good Dog, Bad Breath (1999)
- Grimmy: Always Stop & Smell the Hydrants (1999)
- Grimmy: Cats & Pancakes Stick to the Ceiling (1999)
- Grimmy: In a Class by Himself (1999)
- Grimmy: Mailmen Can't Jump (1999)
- Grimmy: My Dad was a Boxer (1999)
- Grimmy: The Horrors of Global Worming (2000)
- Grimmy: The Revenge of Grimmzilla (2000)
- Grimmy: It's a Dog Sniff Dog World (2000)
- Revenge of the Fireplugs (2001)
- Grimmy Goes Postal (2001)
- Grimmy's Flea Circus (2001)
- Compost Happens (2001)
- Grimmy's Cat Tails (2001)
- Grimmy: One Sick Puppy (2001)
- The Ultimate Mother Goose and Grimm: 20th Anniversary Collection (2006)
Television show
CBS aired a Saturday morning cartoon in 1991, Mother Goose and Grimm, also promoted as Grimmy, based on the strip. The voice performers included Charlie Brill as Grimmy, Mitzi McCall as Mother Goose, and Greg Burson as Attila. The show is often shown in syndication. It featured early animation work by Stephen Hillenburg, who went on to work on the Nickelodeon hit cartoon Rocko's Modern Life and later created SpongeBob SquarePants.
Cameo Appearances
Grimmy made a couple of appearances on the CGI animated film, Garfield Gets Real. His first appearance was in the cafeteria scene, when Odie jumps on the table that Grimmy's sitting at. His second one was when he was drinking out of the water fountain near the auditorium, in which he sees a poodle and immediately falls in love, drops the water on his head and follows the poodle. He later appeared again in another cafeteria scene in which everyone is thinking of an idea in which to bring Garfield and Odie to come back to Cartoonworld. He appeared again in the men's bathroom drinking out of the toilet, and is immediately embarrassed. This was similar to Dagwood's scene in which he is taking a bath. His final appearance was when everybody is cheering that they had brought back Garfield from the real world, in which he is in a crowd cheering. He did not appear in the sequels, Garfield's Fun Fest and Garfield's Pet Force. Grimmy also made an appearance as a pair of slippers in the Garfield and Friends segment, The Name Game, with his ears excluded.
Lawsuit
In a comic strip published on January 2, 2009, one character wonders if the Colombian crime syndicate puts parts of the body of Juan Valdez in each can of coffee. The comic strip refers to an advertising slogan of Colombian coffee that there's a little bit of Juan Valdez in every can of Colombian coffee. In response to the comic strip, the Colombian Coffee-growers Federation made plans to sue artist Mike Peters for linking Colombian coffee to human rights abuse. The Colombian Coffee-growers Federation announced it would seek at least $20,000,000 "for damage and harm, detriment to intellectual property and defamation" as well as a retraction from all newspapers that published the comic strip that day. Federation President Gabriel Silva called the comic strip "a denigrating and disrespectful piece of black humor". Peters responded saying that he loves Colombia, drinks Colombian coffee every day, and meant no offense or insult. Peters said the comic strip is meant to be read along with the other comic strips that week, including one that refers to a can of Pringles potato chips containing the ashes of the inventor of Pringles.
References
Sources
- Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924â€"1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1
External links
- Official website
- (French) Unofficial website
- NCS Awards
- Toonopedia entry
- Tobin, Suzanne (2002-02-15). "Comics: Meet the Artist with Mike Peters, Cartoonist, "Mother Goose and Grimm"". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2008-10-08.Â
- Tobin, Suzanne (2005-01-14). "Comics: Meet the Artist, Mike Peters, Cartoonist". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2008-10-08.Â