Family Circus

By
on

We already have enough problems identifying the sex of Tweety… Now this:
familycircus.jpg
Today’s Family Circus by Bil Keane (father of Disney animator Glen Keane).

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  • Charlie

    Obviously the Pink Panther isn’t a woman, he’s is just “extra feminine”.

    Still though, Family Circus still ain’t funny.

  • Christopher Cook

    There’s a decal out (available through StickerGiant.com) displaying the face of the panther winking but he has been given some rather extended eyelashes. Apparently someone is questioning his sexual preferences as well.

  • http://members.shaw.ca/petemslie/index.htm Pete Emslie

    Jerry, you mean to tell me that you got it all wrong in your definitive “Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide”?!

    All right mister, I want my 99 cents back!!

  • Grant Beaudette

    Is it just me, or do these poses look extremely un-kidlike? They look like they’re having a well-reasoned political discussion at an upscale cocktail party.

  • red pill junkie

    In Bizantium they fought over the sex of angels. We have this.

  • http://chippyandloopus.typepad.com/ John Sanford

    I love that PJ.
    My personal favorite is the “Wanna be smiled at” episode.
    Let me tell you, yellowed and tattered though it is, it still hangs proudly upon my refridgerator!!

  • Killroy McFate

    “And if he advocated violent revolution against the White Establishment, he’d be a Black Panther.”

  • OM

    …It’s times like these I miss Dysfunctional Family Circus!

  • http://www.myspace.com/brandontoons Brandon Pierce

    Last time I checked, a “Blue Panther” was simply the result of the Pink Panther trapped in a refrigerator. LOL.

  • http://tonydistefanoblogspot.com Tony DiStefano

    Oh brother!!
    The gods of animation are shaking their heads on this one.
    Poor Friz…

  • Mr. Semaj

    Someone had to say it: Pink is a girl color.

  • Floyd Norman

    Ha! My wife was a Black Panther, and now she works for the White Establishment.

    Go figure.

  • Kevin Martinez

    The Family Circus kids are undoubtedly unfamilar with the concept of an alliteration, or the film that the Pink Panther is derived from, so I’ll let this slide.

  • http://chippyandloopus.typepad.com/ John Sanford

    “Meatbulbs”!!!!! Hahahahaha!
    That one still gets me!!!

  • http://www.cartoonresearch.com/gerstein David Gerstein

    Seems to me that no matter how far we think we’ve progressed in gender equality since the 1950s, we’ve gone in reverse in terms of identifying the sexes by color.
    As late as the 1980s, it was quite common for male characters to have pink color coding. Today it’s a thing of the past, identified in the culture with both women and homosexuality in manner that’s frankly sexist on both counts.
    How did we get here? Did it have something to do with the 1980s marketing of Barbie—and, more recently, Disney Princesses—to a generation of children who are now young adults?

  • http://www.electronghosthouse.com/ Paul K.

    @OM haha, exactly– the Dysfunctional Family Circus is the only time that comic strip is funny. Same goes for “Garfield without Garfield” altered comics.
    Anyway, the Pink Panther is a dude as much as the flamboyant Snagglepuss character is. The pink is just to differentiate them from other cats and hint at some innuendo for those inclined.

  • Richard

    Oh, you kids! Don’t you know ANYTHING about animation?
    Oh, right – you watch “Cartoon Network”!

  • http://chippyandloopus.typepad.com/ John Sanford

    “Who broke my lamp?”
    “Not me!”
    Ha!
    It’s just so true!!!

  • Billy Bob

    Brother, you all are taking this real seriously, huh?

  • Nicholas

    Huckelberry Hound was of course a BLUE dog, which raised some adult, establishment eyebrows in the late 1950′s. Jack Webb’s character mentions it in his 1959 film “30″ in the context that a blue dog was out there. No one ever brought up Huck Hound’s gender, however.

  • http://vice.parodius.com/ Dave Silva

    Ah yes, Family Circus.

    The only comic strip that’s even less funny than Garfield.

  • http://tangoland.com Cynthia

    When will this tired old strip disappear? I keep thinking about all the talented cartoonist out there who will never get their work seen so we can keep archaic and unfunny strips like this, Marmaduke and Heathcliff alive. Do these guys have 100 year contracts with their syndicates or something??

  • http://chippyandloopus.com/ John Sanford

    it’s so touching the way their dead gran’pa watches over them.
    sniffle.

  • http://miehana.blogspot.com/ Kevin Kidney

    I’ve been in product meetings at Disney over the years where someone would refer to Piglet as “she” for this very same reason.

    And Bambi is often mistaken as female by new marketing people…

  • WBC

    Obviously Bil Keane is saying you all above this post should go to Hell.

  • http://www.awprunes.blogspot.com/ Larry Levine

    The Family Circus dog is named Barfy, I’d love to hear Dolly’s commentary on that.

  • c.tower

    Actually, THE SIMPSONS identified the “blue-coded” Huckleberry Hound as gay- and DRAWN TOGETHER “outed” several characters, including pink Snaggletooth and YELLOW Pac-Man (there IS no “Ms. Pac-Man”- he’s a transvestite). They also had a VERY- thinly disguised gay version of ALADIN’s Genie- who was PURPLE. (Of course, they also outed Elmer Fudd, so colour clearly isn’t an issue at ALL…

  • Jess Price

    One of the major newspapers in my city allowed readers to “rank” the current comic strips – and make suggestions for new strips to be added.

    Despite my eagerness to get the likes of “Snuffy Smith,” “Family Circus,” and other lame comics removed… readers voted these “classic” strips as their favorites.

    I guess that’s the way it goes when your audience is comprised of grandparents…

  • http://www.myspace.com/brandontoons Brandon Pierce

    Re: “I’ve been in product meetings at Disney over the years where someone would refer to Piglet as “sheâ€? for this very same reason.

    And Bambi is often mistaken as female by new marketing people…”

    So….. did you correct them?

  • Alberto

    I love how it takes two people to make the worlds unfunniest cartoon.

  • Levi

    WHY is pink a “girl color”? I never understood that. why let your sex be limited by a color? wake up!

  • dan

    Thanks for the stomach ache Kevin Kidney.

  • Floyd Norman

    So, Family Circus and Garfield aren’t funny, eh?

    You should have read the Mickey Mouse comic strip when I was writing it back in the eighties and nineties. I managed to keep that strip unfunny for nearly six years.

  • http://chippyandloopus.typepad.com/ John Sanford

    “Who ate all the cookies?”
    “Ida Know!”
    Priceless!

  • http://www.awprunes.blogspot.com/ Larry Levine

    Dolly: “Jim Davis used to do a comic strip called “Mr. Potato Head” but the competition MASHED it”

    Bil, if you like the gag, I wrote it–if you don’t, Ida Know scribed it!

  • Steve Gattuso

    The answer to Dolly is obvious. The Pink panther isn’t a girl, he’s metrosexual…

  • Killroy McFate

    Actually, the Mr. Potato Head strip was written and drawn by CalArts alumnus Brett Koth, who, I believe continues to write and draw the Garfield sunday page. I don’t think Davis does anything except sign checks these days.

  • http://chippyandloopus.typepad.com/ John Sanford

    I like it when Billy draws the strip.

  • Jess Price

    @ Paul K.

    I’d never seen the “Garfield Without Garfield” strips before. Brilliant!

    Thanks for the tip…

  • http://www.awprunes.blogspot.com/ Larry Levine

    I just wrote another Dolly witticism

    Dolly: PJ uses a bath seat because Mommy can’t fit a sofa in the tub.

  • http://www.joestrike.com Joe Strike

    All these comments about FC & none about Tweety’s gender? Lately WB’s been peddling the bird as a babe, the better I guess to get in on all the Barbie/Dora action. Back when Friz was still alive I read him quoted as calling the Tweetster a guy – and somewhere inbetween I saw an ad for a Tweety collectible plate that was entirely gender-neutral (that assignment must’ve been fun for the copywriter) – probably during his/her gender-reassignment surgery.

  • Michael Tuttle

    Sorry for making that spiteful post and on top of that claiming to be part of WBC, which I’m not. I tend to overreact to subjects like these too easily but I’m starting to grow out of it. I sometimes revert on my bad days…

  • OM

    “I managed to keep that strip unfunny for nearly six years.”

    …Ah. And you were writing for Seinfeld as well?

  • Justin Walker

    Sorry, but I thought it was funny.