An Illustrated Guide To Caricature

Luck and Flaw, alias Roger Law and Peter Fluck, creators of the puppets which star in the award-winning British series Spitting Image, are the genial hosts for this survey of the art of caricature, both past and present. Using a puppet as a first-person narrator, viewers meet James Gillray, circa 1745, the first full-time professional caricaturist, a man largely acknowledged to be a complete misanthrope. Other early artists include Low, Daumier, Dantan, and Cruikshank (also known as one of Dickens' primary illustrators). On the moderns' side, contemporary caricaturists such as Ralph Steadman, Gerald Scarfe, Steve Bell, and Ralph Sallon discuss their art and their influences. Since the program is British, Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet come in for the lion's share of the lampooning. But there are also some good clips and cartoons of Carter, Reagan, Mick Jagger, and Tina Turner, among others. An excellent program about a little known facet of the cartooning business, this is highly recommended. (See ART OF THE DOGON for availability.)