The Cartoon Museum in London

Because we're lucky enough to live in London, we're blessed with so many places to visit. We like to think we’re pretty well travelled, but we had not visited The Cartoon Museum in Bloomsbury until just a few weeks ago.

The reason for our visit was a cartoon workshop which was being run for kids. This appealed to Robert, who signed up for a two-hour long workshop on jokes. As I was taking him anyway, I decided to spend some time looking around the museum itself. After all, it recently celebrated its 10^th anniversary, so I felt really rather late to this one...

The Cartoon Museum looks pretty unimpressive from the outside (it’s a small building situated in a quiet backstreet not far from Tottenham Court Road), but it has the most fantastic shop which you come to as you walk in. This is full of comic books, posters (all very good value) and the most wonderful array of greetings cards. I had to stop myself from buying more and more as so many of them made me laugh out loud.

However, I soon realised that I couldn’t spend two hours in a shop, so I paid £7 to enter the actual museum (under 18s are free).

It’s a small space, with a downstairs that’s often dedicated to an exhibition. You aren’t allowed to take specific pictures of cartoons, only general views, but suffice to say that there were some brilliant cartoons on show.

[caption id="attachment_2429" align="alignnone" width="1200"] View of the Honeysett exhibition from the Mel Calman gallery[/caption]

When I visited, earlier this month, the exhibition was of cartoons by Martin Honeysett, whose work often featured in Private Eye and The Oldie, and they were fantastic – clever and funny. It wasn’t very busy, which is a shame, but I don’t think this is a place you would come up on by chance.

I also looked in at the Mel Calman gallery which contained a potted history of cartoons through the ages, from political satire onwards, and dating back hundreds of years. There are many original cartoons and caricatures (lots of them brilliant) and including some by George Du Maurier and John Tenniel. William Heath Robinson is there too, of course, as are some very recognisable names – Steve Bell, Gerald Scarfe and Ronald Searle.

It was lovely to walk around and I did learn something, but also didn’t take too long and I think it could have been a bit more interactive or innovative, as it was basically lots of words on a billboard and then the cartoons on the wall (though they were great). I wonder if there could have been something cleverer done with the presentation, or more contributions/thoughts from the cartoonists themselves.

I don’t think this would really entertain children, although the huge pile of comics on a table just outside this gallery certainly would (Robert didn’t want to leave after his workshop, as he just wanted to stay and read old copies of The Beano).

[caption id="attachment_2430" align="alignnone" width="1200"] View of the upstairs gallery[/caption]

I then went upstairs (past a huge cutout of Rupert Bear!) where there was a display containing a real mixture of cartoons, comics and graphic writing. I enjoyed going round here, but actually would have liked to have seen more. For example, there was one framed picture from the comic Bunty, which I really liked many, many years ago. It would have been great if there had been the space to have a while section on comics like these, but the space isn’t huge and there is so much to fit in – including original artwork showing Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx and Dan Dare. There are also some American interlopers, with cartoons from Garry Trudeau and Charles Schulz, and a space for children (and maybe adults!) to draw, as well as more contemporary comics to read.

[caption id="attachment_2431" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert shows off his cartoons[/caption]

And what of Robert’s workshop? He enjoyed it but didn’t love it – I think he wanted to do more jokes and drawings of his own, rather than be led by the instructors. But it was certainly something different to do in the holidays and it was most enjoyable to discover yet another asset to London.

Robert’s workshop cost £10. There are more workshops on in May half-term, so take a look. You are welcome to leave your child while they are there, so you could have two hours to go for a coffee/shopping etc!

I thought £7 was a little steep for adults as my visit didn't take very long, but I understand that the Museum needs to make money and appreciate that children are free. But it was a fun place to visit, good to get away from the hustle and bustle of London for a couple of hours. And I did laugh a lot!

The Museum runs regular exhibitions and talks, for adults as well as kids.

More days out in London

Robert's top pick of the Capital's museums

Shrek's Adventure, London

 

Hello to new visitors!

We are delighted to have published two recent guest posts and wanted to say hello to anyone who may have found us through them.

Our post for Travel Dudes was on our brilliant trip to the US and how we loved being Family of the Day at the Magic Kingdom. You can see this article on Travel Dudes. It includes this picture of us with the cast of the opening show - after which I opened the park with the classic words "Good Morning"!

If you've come to us via Travel Dudes and are interested in reading more about Disney World or Orlando, take a look at Jessica's post on the best rides at Universal Studios, whether 11 is too old for Disney or my post for BritMums about SeaWorld.



You may also have come to us via Travel Bloggers Unite, where we gave our 5 tips for having fun in London with kids. If you've come to us via TBU and are interested in more on London, you could take a look at our posts on the Science Museum, the Shard or the Southbank, and check back here soon for pieces on the fabulous Spy hotel (St Ermin's hotel) and Buckingham Palace.

Please also take a look at other places we've been and give us your recommendations.

Thanks for visiting!

All the best,

Sarah and Jessica

Hello to new visitors!

We are delighted to have published two recent guest posts and wanted to say hello to anyone who may have found us through them.

Our post for Travel Dudes was on our brilliant trip to the US and how we loved being Family of the Day at the Magic Kingdom. You can see this article on Travel Dudes. It includes this picture of us with the cast of the opening show - after which I opened the park with the classic words "Good Morning"!

If you've come to us via Travel Dudes and are interested in reading more about Disney World or Orlando, take a look at Jessica's post on the best rides at Universal Studios, whether 11 is too old for Disney or my post for BritMums about SeaWorld.

Read more »

Beanotown: the Dennis the Menace festival (by Robert)

 

The Dennis the Menace festival (officially called Beanotown) is on until September the 8th. It celebrates 75 years of the Beano and Dennis and Gnasher, two of the most well known comic characters in the country!

In the festival you can dress up as your favourite characters and get pictures of them, you can shoot evil baddies with your special nerf gun like you are Banana Man (but nearly all of the guns were broken ) and you can experience going inside Dennis' treehouse with its own unique style of wall paper (your drawing).

You can read Dennis and Gnasher albums going back to the 1960s and, in the shop, you can buy comics, clothes, pranks, videos and games, some which Dennis might have had himself.



There were two toilets, and these were both very funny because Dennis tells jokes while you're in them. One toilet is normal just with Dennis saying jokes but the other one has been stink bombed by Minnie and Dennis so watch out for that unpleasant surprise.

If you draw a picture about Dennis, Gnasher or any other character, it will be displayed on the wall and if you write down a good enough joke it will be shown in one of the Beano comic books.

I think this is a great day out for all the family and I guarantee that if you go there you will laugh at least once, but probably more.

To see more about the Beano, visit their website 

To find out more about the Beanotown festival, visit their website.

 

Read more by Robert - our visit to Cadbury World.

Beanotown: the Dennis the Menace festival (by Robert)

The Dennis the Menace festival (officially called Beanotown) is on until September the 8th. It celebrates 75 years of the Beano and Dennis and Gnasher, two of the most well known comic characters in the country!

In the festival you can dress up as your favourite characters and get pictures of them, you can shoot evil baddies with your special nerf gun like you are Banana Man (but nearly all of the guns were broken ) and you can experience going inside Dennis' treehouse with its own unique style of wall paper (your drawing).

You can read Dennis and Gnasher albums going back to the 1960s and, in the shop, you can buy comics, clothes, pranks, videos and games, some which Dennis might have had himself.

Read more »