Fun Trivia : Far Side, The

Structure Sub-topic of: Comics E-K Quizzes Interesting Questions, Facts and Information There are a total of 40 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display. Special Topics Gary Larson Cartoons

Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information

Far Side, The

What is Mr Larson's first name?

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Gary. His brother, Dan, inspired many of Gary's cartoons.



How much was he paid for his first cartoons?

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$90. Gary took his first six cartoons to a local Seattle based magazine called the Pacific Search.



When did his cartoon first appear as 'The Far Side'?

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1980. First appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on January 1, 1980.



Who named the cartoon series 'The Far Side'?

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Stan Arnold. Stan was associated with the San Francisco Chronicle.



Where does Larson say his ideas come from?

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Caffeine. Gary always wished that a book like Five Thousand and One Weird Cartoon Ideas existed.



What animals are Larson's favorites when drawing his cartoons?

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cows. Larson almost changed the name of his works to The Cow Side.



Who is quoted in the forward to 'The Prehistory of the Farside' as saying 'Tragedy is when I cut my finger.Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die.'?

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Mel Brooks.



Whose first grade class was the author in?

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Mrs Ferguson's. Larson's first grade photo is displayed on the back cover of 'A Tenth Anniversary Exhibit.'



What kind of creature has been given the name Strigiphilus garylarsoni?

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a louse. It is actually a chewing louse found exclusively on owls named by Dale Clayton of the University of Chicago.



Which well known female primatologist was the subject of a controversial cartoon drawn by Larson?

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Jane Goodall. When Jane learned of herself featuring in a Far Side Cartoon she said, 'Wow! Fantastic! Real fame at last! Fancy being in a Gary Larson cartoon!'



In one of "The Far Side" cartoons, a group of animals sneaked some meat out of the farmer's freezer. One of them samples it and says, "I’d say we taste a little like chicken". What kind of animals are they?

Journey to "The Far Side"


Cows. Cows were the frequent subjects of Gary Larson's cartoons. In another comic, a group of cows were standing upright, chatting in a field until one of them yelled "Car!" and they dropped to all fours until the car passed.



In another classic "The Far Side" cartoon, primitive "vegetarians returning from the kill" are depicted. What giant vegetable are they carrying?

Journey to "The Far Side"


Carrot. Gary Larson made a few vegetable-oriented cartoons – the Potato Heads in Paris, surrounded by French fries, for example. It's nice to know that vegetarianism was practiced by some of our more environmentally advanced ancestors. Allegedly, bioengineers are working on bringing back those mutant carrots.



This "The Far Side" cartoon showed a book-laden boy attempting to enter the "Midvale School for the Gifted". What was preventing him from doing so?

Journey to "The Far Side"


He was trying to push the door marked "Pull".. Brainy folks, particularly scientists, were the frequent focus of Gary Larson's cartoons. This once inspired a bit of controversy when Larson included a slightly tacky comment about chimp researcher Jane Goodall in one of his comics. Luckily, Goodall had a sense of humor and later wrote a complimentary introduction to one of his books.



In another quirky "The Far Side" cartoon, the many moods of a particular type of dog were displayed. All of the pictures were the same, however, from happy to angry to excited to suicidal. Which pleasant breed of dog was it?

Journey to "The Far Side"


Irish Setter. This cartoon would have also worked with a Golden Retriever – another dog with a perpetually happy face. Dogs were frequent subjects of Gary Larson's cartoons, with one comic depicting "Ginger" taking out the neighbor's flowerbed once and for all...with a bulldozer.



This "The Far Side" cartoon, depicting "The real reason that dinosaurs became extinct", was probably not appreciated by portions of the population. What were the dinosaurs doing?

Journey to "The Far Side"


Standing around smoking.. Comedian Lewis Black once said that some of us deal with tragedy by using humor, and the same is probably true about controversy. Smokers may not have liked the cartoon, but it is a classic! Dinosaurs and cavemen were another popular subject for Gary Larson, with one cartoon depicting a group of cavemen hunters around a mammoth that was felled with a single arrow: "Maybe we should write that spot down".



Another classic "The Far Side" cartoon depicted what we say to dogs and what they hear. Ginger's human unleashed a tirade about the dog rummaging through the garbage, but all Ginger heard was "Blah, blah, Ginger, blah, blah, blah, Ginger". In a corresponding cartoon, what did Fluffy the cat hear?

Journey to "The Far Side"


Nothing. Gary Larson didn't indicate whether cats can't understand us or whether they choose not to listen. Cat owners will tell you that it is the latter.



Christmas was also a subject targeted by "The Far Side" cartoons. In one such comic, what happened to Santa's sleigh?

Journey to "The Far Side"


It was smashed on the front of a plane.. Gary Larson's Christmas cartoons showed up on a series of demented holiday cards. Other Christmas comics included Santa mixing up the toy bag with his laundry bag, and Santa telling the reindeer that he had one word to say regarding all of the complaints he'd been hearing from them: "Venison".



We found out in "The Far Side" that animals are very smart. What did a bear do when he found himself in the crosshairs of a hunter's rifle?

Journey to "The Far Side"


Pointed towards his friend.. We learned an important lesson here; when it comes to a life or death situation, sacrifice a friend. Another classic bear cartoon: two bears come upon several campers asleep in their sleeping bags, and one exclaims "sandwiches!"



Some of "The Far Side" comics made us cringe. In one cartoon, what were the doctors carrying in the horse hospital?

Journey to "The Far Side"


Rifles. The cartoon had a lasting effect. Whenever you heard of a horse being put down after incurring injuries during a race, you may have visualized horses with broken legs, lying in hospital beds while doctors walked the aisles, carrying clipboards and rifles. It's another way that humor can help us deal with tragedy.



The traditional animosity between cats and dogs was the focus of several of "The Far Side" comics. In one cartoon, what had a dog written on a clothes dryer to coax a cat into it?

Journey to "The Far Side"


Cat fud. We learned a fundamental lesson here: Dogs can't spell. Unfortunately, curiosity may have got the cat; he was heading for the dryer.