UPDATE -- April 2: Wow! We had a better response to this April Fool's Day cartoon than expected. There were many good caption ideas, and John and I will highlight our favorites later. In the meantime, I thought I'd explain what we had in mind for the cartoon. The short answer is: Nothing. We tried to think of a somewhat arbitrary scene to make it a challenge to fill in the blanks. But it wasn't completely arbitrary. As reader andrew pointed out in the comments, the "gorilla in a tutu" reference is from last year's April Fool's Day post (although that's not the first reference we've made to it). And the Elephant and the Donkey reappear from last year, too. The blank sign provided the opportunity to label the gorilla (e.g. social security), but we did not have anything specific in mind. That's it. The rest we left up to your imagination, and your comments prove you have a lot of it. We hope everyone enjoyed the break.
Speaking of which, John and I will be taking a break in the coming week. I may post some older cartoons, but don't expect anything new for a few days while we recharge the batteries.
UPDATE -- April 6: Above is an updated cartoon featuring the caption suggestion that John and I liked best overall. It was submitted by Joe Lederer. Since the April Fool's Day cartoon didn't really have a point to begin with, we thought it was extraordinarily clever to get "April Fools" into the cartoon in a way that actually made some sense (and with only three words!). Our hats are off to Joe. (Joe, send an e-mail with your address to contact -- at -- coxandforkum.com and we'll send you a signed book.)
Though this wasn't an official contest, there were many other good suggestions, including a few noting that both political parties often seemed to say nothing. However, there were some standouts. Honorable mentions go to:
inkboy ... For working the Donkey's rage and the tutu into a joke;
right ... For making it into an actual editorial comment on the lack of serious social security reform from both parties;
kelluman ... For "People for the Ethical Dressing of Animals"; and
Laurence Simon ... For his minimalist, purely visual solution (which you can see here).
Thanks to everyone who participated. That's it for gorillas, tutus and beanies. For now anyway...
Posted by Forkum at April 1, 2005 12:01 AM
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What's with the no-words in the balloons?
Posted by: Deathknyte at March 31, 2005 10:36 PMHm... either this is an accidental publish, or I'm just not getting the reference.
Posted by: Mark J at March 31, 2005 10:38 PMJudging from the time, looks like something went wrong with an auto-updater.
Posted by: Gwaihir at March 31, 2005 10:40 PMWhat does it mean?!? D=!
Posted by: Krunk at March 31, 2005 10:41 PMI get it, it's a caption contest, right?
Posted by: Russell Wardlow at March 31, 2005 10:45 PMDEMOCRAT: Your INTELLIGENCE was DEAD WRONG!
REPUBLICAN: WMD or NO WMD, SADDAM was a threat!
GORILLA: I THOUGHT I JUST LEFT THE ZOO.
Posted by: RG at March 31, 2005 10:47 PMDonk: Social Security is Fine, just FINE!
Elefunk: Social Security has a BAD case of Ponzi Grift, if you get my drift...
Gorilla My Dreams: "I ain't getting any younger or healthier!" (Sign: You MUST feed me!)
Posted by: Carridine at March 31, 2005 10:53 PMDonkey: "I'm a whiney liberal!"
Monkey: "He's a whiney liberal!"
E'fant: "He's a whiney liberal!"
April Fools, perhaps?
Posted by: brian at March 31, 2005 11:26 PMLib: KILL HIM!!! KILL HIM!!!
Repub: Every life has value...
Monkey: How'd I get in the middle of this?
Posted by: at March 31, 2005 11:33 PMSomething about the big gorilla in the room, perhaps?
Posted by: Riggs at March 31, 2005 11:53 PMEither an April Fool's or caption contest. Love the ones so far, will have to come up with a few of my own.
Does this also mean that the comments will be up again? I know I'll be visiting the site a lot more than I do now (multiple times a day) discussing the cartoons you legends post here.
Posted by: Adam Kasugano at April 1, 2005 12:07 AMDonkey: Ape!
Ape: Rrrrr
Donkey: Fools!
Errr, I meant that to be:
Elephant: Fools!
Its gotta be April Fools. Last year they did a series of posts-scetches where one of the two got in a fight, busted nose, put in jail for the weekend... turned out to be April Fools.
Posted by: Boogey Man at April 1, 2005 12:57 AMLib Hippie:Kill Schiavo!!!! Kill her now!!!
Repub:Just leave her in peace
Pat Buchanan:We should never have invaded Iraq.
Posted by: at April 1, 2005 01:31 AMI think it is the best things the political parties have said in a long time.
Posted by: Mustnag 23 at April 1, 2005 02:31 AMDonk- Box is blank because it doesn't matter what he says, it's always going to be a senseless rant against Bush.
Repub- Box is blank because it doesn't matter what he says, the donk is always going to go off on a senseless rant against Bush.
Monkey- Sign is blank because it doesn't matter...
Posted by: gaw at April 1, 2005 02:43 AMGORILLA'S SIGN:
Democrats Hate America
DONKEY:
For God's Sake! That is UTTERLY RIDICULOUS!
ELEPHANT:
I know...I TOLD him to lose the tutu.
GORILLA'S SIGN:
How'd I end up being the butt of this joke?
DONKEY:
I asked for a helicopter, and this is what I got!?
ELEPHANT:
So what do you think of my Pat Buchanan impression?
wha, all three run out of words?
Posted by: Ken Hughes at April 1, 2005 04:46 AMDonkey: Whine-whine-whine!
Elephant: Droning mumble.
Gorilla: Where's Mr. Blonde when you need him?
Just look at the time this was posted. 12:01am on APRIL FOOLS DAY. It's just a joke that some are taking too seriously.
Posted by: Ray at April 1, 2005 06:51 AMDonkey: "How dare you portray our 2008 presidential front-runner as a gorilla in a tutu and beanie carrying a sign that reads, 'Vote Democrat or Die"?"
Elephant: "I can't decide whether you need your eyes examined, or your head!"
Posted by: McGehee at April 1, 2005 06:57 AMDem: It's the 300 lb gorilla, which represents our right to die.
Rep: Look, I know that Terri has gained a little weight since she was hospitalized, but 300 lbs?
Gorilla sign: Just kill me already...
Posted by: booger at April 1, 2005 06:57 AMIn last April 1st post: "The last we heard, John was being stuffed in the back of a Fulton County cruiser muttering something about gorillas in tutus." ;^)
Posted by: andrew at April 1, 2005 07:07 AMWhether it's a caption contest, or a well-done April Fool's joke--or both--doesn't really matter in the long run. It's just nice to see some levity in the face of so much charged emotion all across the Blogosphere.
--TwoDragons
Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at April 1, 2005 07:14 AMDonkey: I love him! And marriage is our human right!
Elephant: Well, as long as you're both not gay, it's okay with me.
Gorilla: P.E.D.A. People for the Ethical Dressing of Animals.
Posted by: kelluman at April 1, 2005 07:36 AMOffering my unsolicited and unofficial vote for Caption Contest Winner (so far):
Ape! - Rrrr! - Fools! (April Fools!)
Well done.
Posted by: Tom_wiht_a_Dream at April 1, 2005 07:44 AMApe's sign:
I'm with stupid
(insert arrows pointing both ways)
Elephant: "Jackass!"
Donkey: "Pachyderm!"
Gorilla's Sign: "Where's George Felos when I need him?"
Posted by: McGehee at April 1, 2005 08:05 AMDonk- How dare you dress Kofi like this!
Pach- Came from your closet..Didn't think you'd mind.
Sign - I (Heart) ICC.
Posted by: JagerHai at April 1, 2005 08:27 AMGorilla's sign: Social Security
Donk's rant: This is the greatest ballerina ever!! She will be performing well into the next century!!!
GOP: Could we at least lose the beanie?
Posted by: right at April 1, 2005 08:36 AMThe Cartoon is saying what it is meant to say, Reality. The donkey says nothing, the gorilla says nothing, and the elephant says nothing. What happens is our comments on reality become our perceptions of what reality really is.
very good cartoon.
Posted by: TL at April 1, 2005 08:43 AMDonk: HOLY ROLLER!!
Elephant: Perhaps, but Dems are the party of Death.
Gorilla: Pull Washington's Feeding Tube now! Close your wallet! (This message brought to you by the Zoo Anti-defamation League, here's your banana.)
RG's was really good, but the one that seems to fit the picture the best is by right ("Could we at least lose the beanie?"). the suggested captions are even approximately the right size for the boxes!
Posted by: Deoxy at April 1, 2005 09:14 AMGorilla: Buy American.
Donkey: Capitalist!!
Elephant: Patriot.
Posted by: Yishai at April 1, 2005 09:17 AMThis cartoon caused me to think, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?"
Donk: We're the Party of Life&trade
Elephant: No, We're the Party of Life&trade
Gorilla: These guys are a bunch of monkeys -- it's time for a third party...
Posted by: Globular Cluster at April 1, 2005 09:33 AMAnother Try:
Donk- How dare you dress Kofi like this!
Pach- Came from your closet..Didn't think you'd mind.
Sign - Here's my food..where's my oil?
Posted by: JagerHai at April 1, 2005 09:33 AMAll these words you people use when you can clearly see that none are needed!
Charlie Chaplin would be appalled!
Donkey's sign: (color blue)
Elephant's sign: (color red)
Exasperated gorilla's sign: (color white)
Posted by: Laurence Simon at April 1, 2005 09:44 AMStill another Try:
Donk- How dare you dress Kofi like this!
Pach- Typical! Blame me for what the French do.
Sign - Here's my food..where's my oil?
Posted by: JagerHai at April 1, 2005 09:50 AMElephant: Hobster is the coolest!
Donk: No TGE is WAY cooler!!!
Gorilla: No, my friend Shadow Fox r0x0rz!!!!
Posted by: ChannelRat at April 1, 2005 09:54 AMGorilla: Hillary/Annan 2008
Elephant: That's not Hillary that's a Gorilla.
Donkey: FOOLS, HILLARY WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!
Nice one, kelluman. Your's may end up being funnier than the real captions (if there are any).
Posted by: cameron at April 1, 2005 10:22 AMI think the idea is that there are always going to be gorillias (issues) that both parties will fight over.
Donk- Rove! Why'z Dan Rather dressed like that?
Pach- Lost the bet. Couldn't convience us(US) of doc authenticity. He wants best 2 out of 3.
Sign- Will lie for food
Posted by: JagerHai at April 1, 2005 10:28 AMDonkey: I demand my right to live on you!
Elephant: That's impossible, man can only live on God.
Monkey: I made these bananas by myself.
Maybe Cox and Forkum forgot how to write? They still retain their ability to draw, but, perhaps, they traded their writing abilities for better artistry.
Posted by: FS at April 1, 2005 10:47 AMDonkey: Why do you care about Teri Shivo so much, she's worthless!
Elephant: Human life is precious and Teri Shivo can still add to society!
Gorilla: ABORTION
You see, both completely over look the rather large Gorilla that is really the "Gorilla in the Midst." Abortion has killed millions of potential Americans which could have hastened the day for new technologies like advanced power technology, however instead of arguing about the large Gorilla, Democrats and Republicans are arguing about a life that at the very least had a chance to live 20+ years very well.
One other option;
Donkey: Just let her die, no one would want to be kept alive like that!
Elephant: All I wanted was the federal court to look at this case for a 19th time!
Gorilla: PONTIFF
Same as above, however this time the argument still on Teri Shivo, but missing the larger picture of the deteriorating condition of the Pope who has been clearly over looked for the past two weeks, but only now is getting heightened media coverage. And I suspect that a good portion of people who want the Pope on life support to keep him alive for as long as possible were the same people who were demanding Teri's death.
It's kind of weird when you think about the season of Easter, how Jesus was brought before several courts and they all washed their hands of Him, and in Teri's case, her life was also brought before several courts and they all essentially washed their hands of it and allowed the previous decisions to stand. Complete cowards for not standing up for a viable life, however I don't think that any of us expected anything more, they all have been allowing mass genocide while still in the womb for 40 years now.
Posted by: Matt Langley at April 1, 2005 10:52 AMMy turn to guess!
It's a comment on possible FEC regulation of blog speech. The gorilla is the FEC, and the word balloons are empty because he forbids political speech. He's wearing a tutu to show it's election time (the American silly season). That's also why the donkey's wearing a dress shirt & tie instead of a Che t-shirt.
Posted by: Al Jackson at April 1, 2005 11:30 AMIt's a gorilla? I thought that was supposed to be Senator Kennedy.
Posted by: Jack Rabbit Slim at April 1, 2005 11:40 AMAss: How did you let it get so big?!!
Elephant: He's harmless.
800-lb Gorilla's sign: National Debt
Posted by: Brian Crouch at April 1, 2005 11:48 AMDonk- McCain! This is your fault! Fix it!
Pach- Trying! Quit filibustering.
Sign- Blogsphere R US
Posted by: JagerHai at April 1, 2005 11:57 AMComment Party Ideas:
Donkey: "You were supposed to bring the Reddi Whip!"
Elephant: "I brought the slip-n-slide."
Gorilla: "I just want to jello wrestle a midget."
:)
Posted by: _Jon at April 1, 2005 12:06 PMDonk- Evil! America deserves better!
Pach- Evil, agreed. But he is YOUR party's chairman.
Sign- Dean 20[__] Keep Dream'n!
Posted by: Jagerhai at April 1, 2005 12:18 PMDonkey: (whining screed about George Bush)
Elephant: (Ranting and raving about the donkey)
Ape: (All the stuff the other two should be talking to each other about, but aren't)
Posted by: David at April 1, 2005 12:18 PMHere's my lame guess:
Donkey: Is that ape real?
Elephant: Yes, you fool.
Ape's sign: Let Terry Live!
Posted by: Ayo at April 1, 2005 12:39 PMSeems pretty obvious to me. Democrats are always screaming about something, Republicans are always responding with measured condescension, and there's always somebody/something in the middle that represents the truth.
;)
Posted by: Anne Haight at April 1, 2005 01:11 PMmy guess has to go with the guys who said April Fools....this seems like a gag meant to encite discussion pertaining the meaning of the gorilla in the tutu...hmmmmmm
Posted by: teddy69 at April 1, 2005 01:18 PMDonk: This was suppose to be a Llama
Elephant: Hey I was in the Margarita Jaccuzi at the time I placed the order
Ape: Dammit, I just wanted to play on the slip-n-slide.
Elephant: "I mean it, this time I really will use the Nuclear Option. I'm not kidding! I really will! OK, that's it! Here I go... I'm going to count to three! One... Two... two and a half... two and three quarters... two and seven eights... I'm serious this time! You're gonna be sorry! Where was I, oh yea! One... two..."
Donkey: "I know we are in the Minority, but with the help of the courts we're going to spread our views all over the country, no matter what you or your kind think. Not only are we going to New Hampshire, We're going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and we're going to Texas and New York. And we're going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan. And then we're going to Washington, D.C., to paint the White House red. Yeeeeaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Gorilla's Sign: "And they say I belong in the Circus!
Posted by: Steve at April 1, 2005 01:20 PMDemocrats always screaming about nothing, Republicans respond with an answer that is also meaningless. The Terry S. case for example. Delay ethics scandle., etc. etc.
All of which is merely a distraction that keeps us from noticeing the real problems right in front of us with are large and obvious.
~E.
Posted by: Eric J. Tower at April 1, 2005 01:57 PMDonkey: Can we really taker her seriously?
Ape: Vote Hillary!
Elephant: Yeah, like you didn't know she was running in 2008.
Posted by: S.V. at April 1, 2005 02:05 PMDonk- This one is yours!
Pach- OK, but I wont Leave This Child behind.
Sign- Edukayshon: Helps meez Pleez!
Posted by: JagerHai at April 1, 2005 02:13 PMDonk- We dems could have gotten'em in the coalition!
Pach- They can't even defend themselves.
Sign- EU
Posted by: JagerHai at April 1, 2005 02:40 PMDonkey: Can't you see this Big-ASS Gorilla in this room! We are in danger. RUN!
Elephant: Oh Please. He's wearing a farking tutu.
Gorilla sign: almost out of 'nannas....
Donkey: APE!
Gorilla: Rall
Elephant: Fools . . .
Ass: Americas youth are pro-Democrats!!
Peanut-Brain: Americas youth picked Republican.
Disassociated dispassionate youth of America: Vote Third Party!
Donkey: "Bubbles!!"
Pach: "Bubbles?"
Gorilla: "Spring training's over, can I get back to Neverland now?"
Posted by: BikerDad at April 1, 2005 04:15 PMDonk: eeeooh!
Rebub: stop talkin out your ass
Gorilla: nothing new here
Posted by: DJ at April 1, 2005 05:03 PMDonkey: Terri's right to die is the most critical....blah blah
Eleph: Terri's parents...blah blah
Gorilla Sign: Social Security Reform
Posted by: zebra at April 1, 2005 05:06 PMDonk: Iraq was still wrong!
Ephunt: Social Security is in crisis!
Gorilla: It was harder for me to get out of the zoo than it is to get across the border.
Could be... They keep talking but nothing is being said?
Caption contest idea:
Doney says: "We need more soldiers."
Monkey's sign says: "WMD"
Elephant says: "You need help."
Gorilla:
ON STRIKE
Donkey:
"IT'S HIS RIGHT!"
Elephant:
"But... he doesn't work."
Could it be that we are all fools? We the public and the politicians have spent a lot of time on these "media circus" issues - these true spectacles of TV entertainment. Has our punditry simply been "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?"
I am reminded of what my old high school science teacher once said to a talkative kid. "You know, the emptiest barrel does make the most noise."
Posted by: ptfoz at April 1, 2005 10:03 PMIts Ted Rall! hahahaha
Posted by: at April 1, 2005 10:29 PMDonkey: The President mis-lead us!
Elephant: Uday and Qusay
Gorilla: I knew I should have taken a left at Albequerque.
Posted by: Anna at April 1, 2005 10:36 PMdonk - you are explointing Terri for political gain!
pach - I'm thinking about individual rights here.
Ape Sign - Judicial Supremacy
Libbo: "HOW DARE YOU DRESS UP THIS APE! HEY, PETA?!"
Rep: "That's Kofi Annan."
ape/kofi: "As if I didn't look like enough of a dumbass..."
Posted by: blah at April 1, 2005 11:12 PMlib: THIS HOMINIDAE IS SMELLING UP THE ROOM
gorilla: I am smarter than you
rep: You said that gorilla's were just as smart and hygenic as humans
Posted by: blah at April 1, 2005 11:23 PMDonkey: But human cloning is immoral!
Elephant: It's a boon for medical research.
Ape: Guess no one here's evolved.
Keep'em coming guys, these are great.
Posted by: Adam Kasugano at April 1, 2005 11:32 PMI think Brian Crouch's about the National Debt is probably the best I read, however I'll try my hand...
Donkey: Your intelligence was dead wrong! The Iraqi war is dead wrong!
Elephant: We liberated an oppressed people...
Ape: Iraq's Future
It's sad how few readers actually understood the cartoon.
Posted by: Jordan at April 1, 2005 11:41 PMIt's sad how few readers actually have a sense of humor. remember, in the end it's still a CARTOON.
Posted by: Tyler at April 2, 2005 12:02 AMya alot of love on these comments
Posted by: tony at April 2, 2005 12:49 AMI think it is a commentary on how politicians scream and holler without really saying anything. Either that or it's just some goofy April Fool's joke. Either way it's pretty cool.
Posted by: Davey at April 2, 2005 03:06 AMYes, that's a great way of looking at it, and so accurate too. No, wait, I know.
Donkey: This is an outrage! Two against one isn't fair!
Elephant: Actually this is your replacement.
Ape: Vote Donkey...errr Democrats.