Tuesday 23 January 2007

Shes wants a...KERMIT!

In the early days of the characters life, whilst appearing as a daily newspaper strip, I was approached by a toy company showing interest in producing a Matt soft toy. It seemed like a good idea at the time, something like how the charge of the Light Brigade was for recruitment drives! So the great day came. Following a colouring competition, the 12 winners gathered at the toy company in order to receive their very own Matt toy. Local press were present, pictures were to be taken, what could possibly go wrong? I remember that the little girl was called, Nicola. She was the last to be presented with the toy. All seemed to go well...until she began to utter those words which have haunted me ever since, " I don't want this, I want a Kermit!" At which point, mummy dear attempted to calm the sweet child down. "But, this is a toy factory, and I WANT A KERMIT!" continued Nicola. Finally, the wonderful youngster left, minus one green frog.

However, the plus factor for any cartoonist is when you check out the letters page of whichever comic you happen to be working on, to discover that a young reader has taken the time to either write in or draw a picture of your character. It's just one of the many things that make the job worthwhile.

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