New Animation! Mercenary Madness

The news that the government has been using Blackwater for just about everything prompts this week's animated editorial cartoon. Fellow Paul Verhoeven fans will note the "Robocop" homage.

Enjoy, and happy Labor Day weekend!

NEW ANIMATION: E Stultus Unum

Finally, my take on the town hall meetings. Far from being appalled at the stupidity, I'm impressed at the power of stupid people. What if the left were able to rouse this sleeping giant of American moronitude?

New Animation: Terror Yokels

Every month or so, a new terrorist plot emerges in the most unlikely places--the backwoods of America. Behold the new threat: Terror Yokels!

New Animated Editorial Cartoon: "Afghanistan—The Good War"

Obama keeps firing more drone missiles; we keep blowing up more hearts and minds. It's more than just a crusade. It's a video game!

Here's the latest from yours truly and David Essman:

New Animated Cartoon: Googling While America Burns"

Treasury Czar Lawrence Summers told Congress he could tell America was recovering because Google searches for terms like "total economic collapse" had fallen in number. I couldn't resist doing an animated cartoon about this. So here's the latest from me and David Essman.

ANIMATION: IranTV Presents: America Decides 2000

And here it is!

ANIMATION: The Asterisk president

I think this one is the best ever. It's a riff on the static cartoon I did recently. What do you think?

New Animation: Choking the Final Chicken

Michael Hutchence. David Carradine. When will the scourge end?

Warning: Not suitable for Americans to view with a full stomach.

New Animation Mocks Credit Cards

This one was inspired by Obama's lame-ass credit card bill of rights, in which the credit card companies promised to sort of reduce their maximum interest rate from 41 percent (strange but true, that's how high it can go). It does require having seen those old American Express ads, though.

NEW ANIMATION: Dharma Bums

Here it is—my latest animation with David Essman! This is closer to what these are going to look like from now on...around a minute in length, short and sweet. Fans of "Lost" may appreciate the Dharma Initiative-style training video technique. Fans of torture will appreciate the fact that the CIA thought it was necessary to waterboard one guy 183 times.

New Animation Coming

My newest animation is "Dharma Bums," a simultaneous hat tip to "Lost"--one of my favorite shows--and a send-up of the torture policy that led to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed getting waterboarded 183 times in one month. Because, you know, 182 times just ain't enough.

Anyway, the video goes up at 4 pm East Coast time. Hope you like it!

NEW ANIMATION: The Fiendish Skies

Sitting in airports waiting for flights operated by carriers that might not still be in business by boarding time gave me the idea for this animation, wherein an airine goes out of business WHILE the flight is in progress. Hope you like it.

Revised: "President Obama's First Day"

The first animation has been tightened up. Check out the new and improved version here. It's also a little more relevant than prescient now:

NEW ANIMATION: Death Cab for Sarah

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and animator David Essman have released a hilarious, vicious parody of GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to celebrate Election Day 2008.

Distributed for free on YouTube and at tedrall.com, "Death Cab for Palin" is an animated political cartoon that lampoons Sarah Palin's presidential ambitions. Noting that vice presidents frequently become presidents, "Death Cab" depicts a rabid Vice President Palin trying to poison and bomb President McCain in the style of the classic "Road Runner" cartoon series.

Rall, a syndicated cartoonist for Universal Press Syndicate, is no stranger to controversy. His "Terror Widows" and "FDNY 2011" cartoons after 9/11 were some of the most controversial cartoons in U.S. history. Will "Death Cab for Sarah" join their ranks? "I don't know," says Rall, "but it was such a fun idea I just couldn't resist going with it."

Permission for reproduction and broadcast are freely given under the condition that the piece not be altered in any form without express permission. To contact Ted Rall, please email ted@rall.com.

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TED RALL's editorial cartoons and columns are syndicated to more than 100 newspapers around the U.S. Twice the winner of the RFK Journalism Award and a Pulitzer Finalist, he is President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

DAVID ESSMAN is an animator currently at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His animated films have been screened across the country, including Animation Block Party, The Chicago Underground Film Festival, and the St. Louis International Film Festival.

Coming in an Hour or Two

Stay tuned. David is putting the finishing touches on "Death Cab for Sarah," my second stab at the animated editorial cartoon format. I'll post it here and on YouTube as soon as I have it in my hot little server.

Sneak preview: Against all odds, John McCain wins the presidency. But a certain ambitious former hockey mom from Alaska has designs to take his place. Once she sets her eye on the big job, nothing will stand in her way...not even murder.

TED RALL GETS ANIMATED




Here it is--my first animated editorial cartoon: "President Obama's First Day." It is also available at YouTube.

I wrote, drew and designed the characters for "President Obama's First Day," a tongue-firmly-in-cheek look at liberal Democrats' fantasies of how an Obama Administration would instantly change things for the better.

The animation was done by David Essman (see biography below).

There are some great Flash-based edittoons out there, but they take a different approach than I do. I see each animated cartoon as a skit, as a mini TV show. I hope people enjoy watching 'Obama's First Day' as much as David and I enjoyed making it.

I plan to continue releasing Web-based animated cartoons.

Bios, for those who care:

Ted Rall, 45, is President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. A nationally-syndicated editorial cartoonist for Universal Press Syndicate, Rall's cartoons have appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Village Voice, Los Angeles Times, Time, Newsweek and more than 200 other publications. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1996, and twice won first place in the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards.

David Essman is a 22 year old animator, currently studying at The
School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His films have been screened
across the country at film festivals including San Francisco Shorts,
Animation Block Party, and the St. Louis International Film Festival.