Belated Deathblog: Ronald Searle (1920-2011)

When the celebrated illustrator and cartoonist Ronald Searle died in December of last year, I wanted to do a tribute post to him here, but felt that that post should consist of some choice examples of his work, rather than just pointless, poorly thought out words. Unfortunately though, my ability to present such examples was compromised by my failure to locate the volume that features all of my favourite Searle drawings, and furthermore represents my main point of connection with his work. Images available online proved generally unsatisfactory, and so, rather than cobble together some half-hearted obit post, I abandoned the idea.

Now though, the collection ‘Hurrah for St. Trinians’, published in hardback in 1948 by McDonald of London, and eventually purchased by me from a second hand bookshop in Shrewsbury for the princely sum of £2, is back in my hands, and we can proceed apace.

I have very fond memories of finding and buying this book, then sitting in the park with some friends, laughing ourselves stupid as we looked over the cartoons within. Why did we laugh so much? It’s difficult to explain really. After all, most of the ‘gags’ in Searle’s cartoons are pretty weak, bordering on non-existent, but… that’s not really the point. It’s the detail, immediacy and uncanny vitality of his artwork – sort of an unlikely combination of subtlety, precision and absolute dementia - that raises a fair few of them to the level of genius. ‘Mr Eccle Shave’ in particular has lived on in my mind, making me cackle at inappropriate moments, ever since.

As the venerable D.B. Wyndham Lewis puts it more eloquently in his introduction to the book:

“In a Parisian gunsmith’s window a short time ago I saw a delightful little automatic, handbag-size, with a butt of pink-and-blue enamel designed with Cupids and butterflies; just the thing for the Ritz cocktail hour. Encountering the satiric art of Mr. Ronald Searle in due course, it struck me at first glance that the infinite grace and finesse of his method of liquidating the Booboisie was strangely similar, but I was wrong. Mr. Searle is adverse to heat and noise. There is no bang, and his victims do not tumble off their stools in grotesque attitudes, interrupting polite conversation and annoying the barman. They subside quietly and very gently into decorative patterns and don’t know what hit them. It is, so to speak, a fine Florentine blade slipped with regretful courtesy under the fifth rib, and Mr. Searle is all too sadly aware that the Cinquecento engraving on the blade is wasted on those dopes.”

And so, without further ado, here’s the Florentine blade in action.

Youtube Film Club: Mindbending Russian Animation

Remember Captain Pr0nin? No? Well anyway, my brother has been busy of recent sending me links to a whole raft of really extraordinary science fiction-themed Russian animation from the ‘80s and ‘90s, that I think need to be shared.

Many of these seem to be loosely based on stories by Ray Bradbury – perhaps part of a series taken from his work? They are quite varied in style, suggesting the work of numerous animators/directors rather than a single mastermind, but all seem united by an overriding aesthetic of desperate, post-industrial pessimism.

The images and techniques used has a very late ‘70s/early ‘80s feel to them I think – it puts me in mind of the kind of stuff used by prog rock bands and the like in the late ‘70s, when they realised the jig was up and started making marginally punk-informed statements against Orwellian oppression and so forth (think Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” in particular), and also of sombre ‘80s stuff like Raymond Briggs’ “When The Wind Blows”.

I realise I may not have exactly sold these to you in the preceding paragraphs, but needless to say, they are full of strange and beautiful sounds and images and are well worth your time. Thanks again to Paul for turning me on to them, and I hope you enjoy.

We’ll start off with one that’s a fairly straightforward SF story, with English sub-titles even, and get more abstract and tripped out from thereon in.









As a bonus, here is something Paul describes as being “the beginning of an episode of a more mainstream sci fi show”. All I can say is, you know your country is suffering from serious “chaotic crumbling of monolithic super-state” type angst when shit like this is considered “more mainstream” in relation to anything. Basically it’s a sorta faux-anime deal, featuring: a man piloting a giant penis, many tentacles, shoggoth beasts, much facial hair and a moustachioed man’s head grafted onto an octopus. Ugly, desperate H.R. Giger type vibes all round. The theme tune is awesome and reminds me of the music from Transformers cartoons.Yikes.

Captain Pr0nin.

Demented, hyper-imaginative low budget cartoons from Russia, early 1990s? - YES PLEASE!



Here, Captain Pr0nin takes on some punks and meets James Bond, amongst other things: