Cartoon by Ed McLachlan.
Ed McLachlan was a British cartoonist and book illustrator. He is best known for his political cartoons in The Sunday Mirror (1966-1970) and The London Evening Standard (1970- ), as well as more general humorous illustrations in Punch and Private Eye. His cartoons have been published in magazines all over the world and were frequently awarded and exhibited. As a children's book author, McLachlan is most famous for the 'Simon in the Land of Chalk' (1969) series, twice adapted into an animated TV show.
Early life and career
Edward Rolland McLachlan was born in 1940 in Humberton, Leicestershire. Between 1956 and 1961, he studied at Leicester College of Art (nowadays DeMontfort University), while he published some cartoons in Lucifer, the College Rag Magazine. One of his fellow students was Graham Baker, who'd later become a film director, best known for the cult movie 'Alien Nation' (1988). Baker motivated McLachlan to make a career out of his drawing skills. Still, he felt reluctant to follow this advice. Years later, between 1967 and 1970, McLachlan would work as a lecturer for his old college.
Cartoon by Ed McLachlan.
Punch
After graduation in 1961, McLachlan got a job at a local printing company in Leicester. He was also a part-time lecturer in Graphics at his old college for three years. While designing some posters for a local youth center, people once again told him to submit his cartoons to Punch. To persuade him, they raised a five pound bet. McLachlan took the offer and sent a scrapbook of drawings to the editors. Much to his surprise, they accepted one cartoon and paid him much more than he earned in the printing office. He kept sending new cartoons and by the third week, Punch took no less than seven! From that moment on, McLachlan realized he apparently had talent for this profession. He remained a regular in the magazine for decades.
Cartoon from the mid-1980s satirizing U.S. President Ronald Reagan's military support to overthrow the regime of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.
Private Eye and other magazines
In 1965, McLachlan became a freelance cartoonist. Between 1966 and 1970, he worked as a political cartoonist for The Sunday Mirror, where his work appeared under the title 'McLachlan's View(s)'. Since 1967 he was also one of the house cartoonists of the satirical magazine Private Eye. In 1971, to celebrate Private Eye's tenth anniversary, McLachlan made a cartoon depicting a giant hedgehog squashing cars in an act of revenge. This often reprinted drawing has arguably become his most famous work.
Ed McLachlan's famous hedgehog's revenge cartoon (1971).
In 1970, McLachlan left the Sunday Mirror to draw political cartoons for another paper, The London Evening Standard. In addition, for the Daily Mirror, he drew a series of pocket cartoons titled 'Insiders' (1972-1974). His cartoons have additionally appeared in the Ad Weekly, The Big Issue, Building, The Cartoonist, European Lawyer, Focus, Homes & Antiques, Housing Today, IFG, Investor's Chronicle, the Mail on Sunday, the New Statesman, The Oldie, Reader's Digest, Roof, Saga Magazine, The Salisbury Review, The Spectator and The Sunday Telegraph. Outside his home country, his work has been published in Playboy, Stern, the Swedish magazine Tomorrow and The New Yorker.
'Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings'.
Simon in The Land of Chalk Drawings
In 1969, McLachlan created a series of children's books about a little boy named Simon, who owns a magic chalkboard. Everything he draws comes to life, including his chalk-drawn friend Henry. A total of four titles were published and, between 1974 and 1976, adapted into an animated TV series, produced by FilmFair Productions and broadcast on ITV as 'Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings'. It was also featured in the U.S. children's TV show 'Captain Kangaroo', though with Bob Keeshan as voice-over narrator instead of Bernard Cribbins. In 2002, a new animated series based on 'Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings' was produced by CINAR and Shanghai Animation Film Studio in co-production with Teletoon.
Other children's book illustrations
McLachlan also wrote the children's books 'Claude Makes a Change' (G. Whizzard Publications, 1979), 'Magnus In the Land of Lost Property' (Egmont Children's Books, 1985) and 'The Dragon Who Could Only Breathe Smoke' (Hodder Children's Books, 1985), and illustrated John Greaves' 'Henrietta the Clumsy Hippo' (Barrons Juveniles, 1988).
Cartoon by Ed McLachlan.
Illustrations for adult books
McLachlan has additionally created illustrations for adult non-fiction works. He livened up the pages of sports-themed books like Bill Beaumont's 'Bedside Rugby' (Harper Collins, 1986) and John Walker's 'Chess for Tomorrow's Champions' (Oxford Chess Books, 1994). Language books were of interest too, as David Crystal's 'Rediscover Grammar' (Pearson Education, Ltd., 1988) and 'txting - gr8 bd8' (Oxford University Press, 2008) prove.
McLachlan illustrated four books by economist Jim Slater, namely 'Zulu Principle' (Michael Moons Bookshop, 1992), 'Investment Made Easy' (Orion, 1994), 'How to Become a Millionaire - It Really Could Be You' (Texere, 2000) and 'Beyond the Zulu Principle' (Harriman Modern Classic, 2002), as well as Bernice Cohen's 'The Armchair Investor: A Do-it-Yourself Guide for Amateur Investors' (Orion, 1996) and Daniel Dover & Tim Hindle's 'War or Peace: Skirmishes with the Revenue' (Profile Books, 2002). Since McLachlan loves drawing funny animals, he was a natural to illustrate Randy Barker's 'Sex Tips for Dogs' (Stanley Paul, 1989) and John Rogerson's 'Be Your Dog's Best Friend' (Century Hutchinson, 1992).
His trademark drawings also turned up in 'Lifelines' (Random House, 1994) by Alex Johnston & Jonathon Porritt and '101 Funny Things About Global Warming' (Bloomsbury, 2007) by Sidney Harris. McLachlan visualized a funny, self-mocking look at the United Kingdom in Ben Crystal & Adam Russ' 'Sorry, I'm British! An Insider's Romp Through Britain from A to Z' (Oneworld Publications, 2011). Finally, he illustrated more than 80 'Bangers & Mash' books by Paul Groves, various religious and philosophical books by Rob Kirkwood, 'Graffiti' and 'Illustrated Limericks' by Roger Kilroy and eight volumes of 'English Grammar (Inside Out Series)', published by Macmillan Education. He is also a regular illustrator in the '...For Dummies' series.
Cartoon by Ed McLachlan.
Advertising
McLachlan has written, drawn and designed calendars and more than 300 advertising films for companies like Alka Seltzer, BASF, Bass, Dewar's Whisky, Dyno-Rod, Dunlop, Hamlet, Hyperion, Open University, Renault, Saul Insurance, Selftrade, Sun Life, Shell, Volvo and Walkers Crips.
Recognition
The Cartoonist's Club of Great Britain voted McLachlan "Illustrative Cartoonist of the Year" (1980) and "Advertising Cartoonist of the Year" (1981). The Cartoon Art Trust named him "Gag Cartoonist of the Year" (1982) and gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award (2011). In 2016, the veteran was also honored with an honorary doctorate from the University of Leicester. Between 27 February and 31 March 2018, McLachlan's cartoons were exhibited in the Chris Beetles Gallery in London under the title 'On The Edge. The Cartoon World of McLachlan'.
Death, legacy and influence
Even in old age, Ed McLachlan kept drawing and publishing new cartoons, sharing his vision about modern life. In 2024, he died at age 84. McLachlan's work was an influence on Andy Davey and admired by Wally Fawkes . One of his celebrity fans is John Cleese, who often shared his cartoons on his personal Twitter page. The comedian also bought three cartoons by McLachlan at an 2018 exhibition.
Cartoon by Ed McLachlan.