Patrick McDonnell

Patrick McDonnell (born March 17, 1956) is a cartoonist, author, and playwright. He is the creator of the daily comic strip Mutts, syndicated since 1994. Prior to creating Mutts, he began a career as a prolific magazine illustrator, and would frequently include a dog in the backgrounds of his drawings.

McDonnell's picture book, The Gift of Nothing, was adapted as a musical for the Kennedy Center stage, as was his picture book about the childhood of Jane Goodall, Me... Jane, which won a Caldecott Honor in 2012. His work has been animated for television commercials, most notably a PSA for the NY Philharmonic. He is co-author of Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman, published in 1986 by Abrams Books.

McDonnell is involved with many animal and environmental charities. His characters have been enlisted by the United States Marines, the American Library Association, and by the Humane Society of the United States. The Mutts characters appear on the New Jersey Animal Friendly license plates, which fund state pet population programs.

He won the Harvey Award for Best Comic Strip eight times, and has been given four National Cartoonists Society Awards.

McDonnell was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, from an Irish father and an Italian-descendant mother. Early artistic influences were Charles M. Schulz, George Herriman, and E. C. Segar. McDonnell was raised in Edison, New Jersey and, after graduating from Edison High School in 1974, attended the School of Visual Arts (SVA) on scholarship, graduating in 1978.

McDonnell began a career as a magazine illustrator and would frequently include a dog in the background of his illustrations. Moving to Hoboken, New Jersey, he met a group of underground cartoonists such as Peter Bagge and Kazimieras G. Prapuolenis (Kaz), and had some of his earliest drawings appearing in The Village Voice, and as Jerseyana in New Jersey Monthly magazine. A book of his life and work, Mutts: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell, was published in 2003 by Abrams Publishing.

McDonnell is involved with many animal and environmental charities. His characters have been enlisted by the United States Marines (2006 Toys for Tots holiday poster), the American Library Association (2007 ‘Read!' poster), and by The HSUS (humane postage stamps). The MUTTS characters appear on the New Jersey Animal Friendly license plates which fund state pet population programs. The 2007-2008 MAZDASPEED Team featured MUTTS-themed vehicles promoting pet adoption and the work of The Humane Society of the United States.

In 2009 collaborated with author Eckhart Tolle to create Guardians of Being, a philosophical book about nature and the present moment. In 2011, McDonnell's children's book Me...Janewas published. It is a story about naturalist Jane Goodall growing up and her awakening curiosity about the lives of animals around her. A sequence of MUTTS strips led to Goodall's interest in working with McDonnell on the book. Me...Jane won a Caldecott Honor in 2012.

McDonnell has been a vegetarian since around 1990, and has been vegan since 2012. McDonnell is a member of the Board of Directors of the Humane Society of the United States, the Fund for Animals, and The Charles M. Schulz Museum.

McDonnell and his wife Karen O'Connell — who met in the late 1970s while both members of the punk band The Steel Tips — reside in Edison, New Jersey, with their dog Amelie, and their cat, Willie Lebowsky. Their Jack Russell Terrier, Earl, who was the inspiration and constant muse for the Mutts character of the same name, died in November 2007 after living with McDonnell for over 18 years.

• Helen Hayes Award for The Gift of Nothing play (at The Kennedy Center) – Best Adaptation 2015
• Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, 2011, given at the Eisner Awards
• PETA Humanitarian Award 2001
• National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year 1999
• National Cartoonists Society's Award for Comic Strip of the Year 1996
• National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award (nominee) 1997 and 1998
• Germany’s Max & Moritz Prize for Best International Comic Strip 1998
• Swedish Academy of Comic Art's Adamson Statuette 1997
• Harvey Award for Best Comic Strip 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010
• Ark Trust Genesis Award 1997, 1999
• National Cartoonists Society Award for Greeting Cards 1991
• National Cartoonist Society Award for Magazine and Book Illustration 1991

Mutts

Collections

• MUTTS (1996)
• Cats & Dogs (1997)
• More Shtuff (1998)
• Mutts Little Big Book (1998)
• MUTTS Sundays (1999) — large format, in color
• Yesh! (1999)
• Our MUTTS (2000)
• A Little Look-See (2001)
• Sunday Mornings: A MUTTS Treasury (2001) — large format, in color
• What Now (2002)
• I Want To Be The Kitty! (2003)
• Mutts: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell (2003) — retrospective
• Dog-Eared (2004)
• Sunday Afternoons: A MUTTS Treasury (2004) — large format, in color
• Sunday Evenings: A MUTTS Treasury (2005) — large format, in color
• Who Let The Cat Out? (2005)
• Everyday MUTTS: A Comic Strip Treasury (2006) (Sundays in color)
• Animal Friendly: A MUTTS Treasury (2007) (Sundays in color)
• The Best of Mutts (2007) — retrospective
• Call of The Wild: A MUTTS Treasury (2008) (Sundays in color)
• Mutts: Shelter Stories: Love. Guaranteed. (2008) — collection of over 100 Shelter Stories strips accompanied by photos and vignettes of adopted pets
• Stop and Smell the Roses: A MUTTS Treasury (2009) (Sundays in color)
• Earl & Mooch: A MUTTS Treasury (2010) (Sundays in color)
• Our Little Kat King: A MUTTS Treasury (2011) (Sundays in color)
• Bonk!: A MUTTS Treasury (2012) (Sundays in color)
• Cat Crazy: A MUTTS Treasury (2013) (Sundays in color)
• Living the Dream: A MUTTS Treasury (2014) (Sundays in color)
• Playtime: A MUTTS Treasury (2015) (Sundays in color)
• Year of Yesh: A MUTTS Treasury (2016) (Sundays in color)
• #LoveMutts Treasury (2017) (Sundays in color)
• You Have Those Wild Eyes Again, Mooch: A New Mutts Treasury (2018) (Sundays in color)
• The Art of Nothing: 25 Years of MUTTS and the Art of Patrick McDonnell (Harry N. Abrams, 2019)
• Hot Dogs, Hot Cats: A Mutts Treasury (2020) (Sundays in color)

Mutts children's books

• The Gift of Nothing (2005) — New York Times bestseller
• Just Like Heaven (2006)
• Hug Time (2007) — New York Times bestseller
• Wag! (2009)

Other children's books

• Art (2006)
• South (2008)
• Me... Jane (2011)
• The Monsters' Monster (2012)
• A Perfectly Messed-Up Story (2014)
• (written by Mac Barnett) The Skunk (Roaring Brook Press, 2015)
• Thank You and Good Night (2015)
• Tek: The Modern Cave Boy (2016)
• The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned his ABC's the Hard Way (2017)

Other

• Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman (1986) (with Karen O'Connell and Georgia Riley de Havenon). New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-2313-0.
• Bad Baby (1988). New York: Ballantine (a Fawcett Columbine book) — collection of Bad Baby strips from Parent Magazine; foreword by Elizabeth Crow
• Guardians of Being (2009) (Words by Eckhart Tolle)
• (with poet Daniel Ladinsky) Darling I Love You: Poems from the Hearts of Our Glorious Mutts and All Our Animal Friends (2017)