Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Mike Luckovich
Aired January 12, 2003 - 09:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: With all the talk of nuclear weapons and possible war, it's time to look at the lighter side of things.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And we have just the guy to do that for us. Mike Luckovich is an award-winning cartoonist for the "Atlanta Journal Constitution." And he's done some brilliant work already this morning.
MIKE LUCKOVICH, EDITORIAL CARTOONIST, ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: Well, wait until you see it first.
COLLINS: It is, though.
LUCKOVICH: Well, you know, people ask me do you really come up with these ideas here in the studio, or have I had these ideas for three weeks.
O'BRIEN: Who would ever ask you a question like that?
LUCKOVICH: Miles said that. Miles says, is this like one of these baking shows where I have a pre-baked cake ready to go.
O'BRIEN: You put the cake in, and out it comes?
LUCKOVICH: No, you know, I got in today, I didn't know what the topic was. I was watching the Falcons lose last night. I didn't know what I was going to do. So -- and then -- so they're putting makeup on me and I'm listening to Miles and you're saying that about the reality TV. So I was thinking, well, the top thing is North Korea and then reality TV. So anyway, this is what I came up with.
You see Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Il, he's got his missiles. There are the other bachelors in the background. And Trista (ph), I believe her name is, is standing there, and Kim Jong Il is saying to her, "give me a rose, or be annihilated."
O'BRIEN: He's got a couple of...
LUCKOVICH: Yes, so, you know...
O'BRIEN: Presents there for her.
LUCKOVICH: Exactly. So these other bachelors, they don't have that going for them.
O'BRIEN: No, they don't. They look like they drank a little something too.
LUCKOVICH: Yes, they're a little bit in shock. But I was drawing up until just now. I mean, it's not even done yet.
O'BRIEN: Well, how about some stuff that you did over this past week?
LUCKOVICH: I do have other things. Let me get my little list here. All right. You know, let's see. Well...
O'BRIEN: Was it Korea all week, or...
LUCKOVICH: No, I did other things.
O'BRIEN: Oh, by the way, real quickly, I said, you know, Kim Jong Il. And Kim Jong Il (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- Kim is God's gift to cartoonists.
LUCKOVICH: Oh, yes.
O'BRIEN: You've got to love that, right?
LUCKOVICH: Well, I love his hair.
COLLINS: What's the best feature? The hair, it's got to be the hair, right?
LUCKOVICH: The hair. It's the Ernie hair from "Bert and Ernie." You know, I love these world leaders who will just dress and style themselves just for cartoonists, and he really has done that. When he's got these little weird jacket, western-type jackets and things. So he's perfect.
O'BRIEN: Who is his tailor?
LUCKOVICH: I have no idea.
O'BRIEN: So, on that point...
(CROSSTALK)
LUCKOVICH: Well, things have changed now that, you know, the whole get tough policy has kind of changed. They're going to talk to him now, and so I've got Bush and he's, you see Kim Jong Il is on a swing and Bush is swinging him, and a couple in the background is saying, "I detect a subtle shift in policy."
O'BRIEN: Now, wait a minute, let's go back to Bush there for a minute. I've got to ask you about your Bush right now. It seems as if you've given him Reagan hair. And what's with the ears?
(CROSSTALK)
LUCKOVICH: You know, he does have rather large ears. And he's really, his face is not that much fun to draw. So you've got to have fun where you can. So I always make the ears a little bit bigger. Now, let's see. You know, last -- actually, it was a week and a half ago, the FBI came out with the alert about the five suspects that may have illegally entered the country. And then one of the guys turned out to be some Pakistani guy who was saying, hey, it wasn't me, it wasn't me.
O'BRIEN: I'm a jeweler. I'm here.
LUCKOVICH: So one of the FBI agents is saying to the other one something like, let's see, "broadcasting photos of these five suspects we think snuck into the U.S. will make up for our past lapses." If you look back at the drawing, you see that the final guy is ...
COLLINS: What made you think of Mr. Kool-aid there? I've got to know.
LUCKOVICH: You know, I don't know. I was just trying to think, who is the goofiest person I could put up there?
O'BRIEN: I would have thought of Barney. Barney would have been up there.
LUCKOVICH: I use Barney too much.
O'BRIEN: You use him too much?
LUCKOVICH: Yes. I want to have some fun.
(CROSSTALK)
LUCKOVICH: You know, I don't know. You know, I have a Barney quota, and just one a week.
O'BRIEN: Too much saccharin. Got to quit.
LUCKOVICH: No, you know, this was sort of a week to use little characters. Now that Watts, Representative Watts from Oklahoma has left Congress, there are no African-American Republicans at all in Congress. So I drew this cartoon. You see they're getting their photo taken. The congressional Republicans, and one of them is saying "we needed some color." As you see, down below, we have those two little guys inserted into the photo.
O'BRIEN: Reaching out in any way they can.
LUCKOVICH: Exactly. Probably the...
O'BRIEN: Melts in your mouth.
LUCKOVICH: Exactly. Now, probably the funnest topic from the last couple of weeks has been the Raelians, the cloned baby gang.
O'BRIEN: It's really a stereotype and caricature of itself, isn't it?
LUCKOVICH: Actually, actually, you would think this would be a fun topic for a cartoonist, but it was so difficult because it was so -- the whole thing, they were so moronic and crazy, you couldn't -- so this is the one I did. I've got a Raelian guy there, and the head, Rael, I think his name is Rael, and a reporter is saying, "we don't see any cloned baby." And Rael says, "oh, so now you're questioning our invisibility breakthrough."
COLLINS: Very good.
O'BRIEN: You know, when did it become hard to trust a sect which believes UFOs brought life to the planet? I just think the world is going to heck in a hand basket, isn't it?
LUCKOVICH: It's destroyed my faith, I think.
O'BRIEN: All right. One more? We have time for one more.
LUCKOVICH: OK. Well, they had the alcohol study came out this week that drinking is actually fairly good for you. So I did this cartoon. I've got a guy with three various bottles. He's saying, "I'm a triathlete."
O'BRIEN: That's good. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
LUCKOVICH: He's got beer, wine...
O'BRIEN: And Jack.
LUCKOVICH: ... and Jack Daniels, yes.
O'BRIEN: Excellent. Excellent work. Do we have time for one more or not? No, we're told that's it.
LUCKOVICH: Oh, come on! Jeez! Oh, well.
O'BRIEN: There you go. Don't make Mike mad. We don't have anymore, apparently. All right. That's great work. Thank you.
LUCKOVICH: Well, thank you for having me.
COLLINS: Mike, thank you so much. Those are awesome.
O'BRIEN: And thanks for drawing one up there in real time.
LUCKOVICH: Oh, no problem, no problem. All right.
COLLINS: Sign it and leave it with us.
LUCKOVICH: All right, you got it.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. Mike Luckovich.
O'BRIEN: Do it for the boss. For the boss.
COLLINS: Oh, that's true. Better idea.
O'BRIEN: Anyway. All right. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 12, 2003 - 09:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: With all the talk of nuclear weapons and possible war, it's time to look at the lighter side of things.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And we have just the guy to do that for us. Mike Luckovich is an award-winning cartoonist for the "Atlanta Journal Constitution." And he's done some brilliant work already this morning.
MIKE LUCKOVICH, EDITORIAL CARTOONIST, ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: Well, wait until you see it first.
COLLINS: It is, though.
LUCKOVICH: Well, you know, people ask me do you really come up with these ideas here in the studio, or have I had these ideas for three weeks.
O'BRIEN: Who would ever ask you a question like that?
LUCKOVICH: Miles said that. Miles says, is this like one of these baking shows where I have a pre-baked cake ready to go.
O'BRIEN: You put the cake in, and out it comes?
LUCKOVICH: No, you know, I got in today, I didn't know what the topic was. I was watching the Falcons lose last night. I didn't know what I was going to do. So -- and then -- so they're putting makeup on me and I'm listening to Miles and you're saying that about the reality TV. So I was thinking, well, the top thing is North Korea and then reality TV. So anyway, this is what I came up with.
You see Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Il, he's got his missiles. There are the other bachelors in the background. And Trista (ph), I believe her name is, is standing there, and Kim Jong Il is saying to her, "give me a rose, or be annihilated."
O'BRIEN: He's got a couple of...
LUCKOVICH: Yes, so, you know...
O'BRIEN: Presents there for her.
LUCKOVICH: Exactly. So these other bachelors, they don't have that going for them.
O'BRIEN: No, they don't. They look like they drank a little something too.
LUCKOVICH: Yes, they're a little bit in shock. But I was drawing up until just now. I mean, it's not even done yet.
O'BRIEN: Well, how about some stuff that you did over this past week?
LUCKOVICH: I do have other things. Let me get my little list here. All right. You know, let's see. Well...
O'BRIEN: Was it Korea all week, or...
LUCKOVICH: No, I did other things.
O'BRIEN: Oh, by the way, real quickly, I said, you know, Kim Jong Il. And Kim Jong Il (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- Kim is God's gift to cartoonists.
LUCKOVICH: Oh, yes.
O'BRIEN: You've got to love that, right?
LUCKOVICH: Well, I love his hair.
COLLINS: What's the best feature? The hair, it's got to be the hair, right?
LUCKOVICH: The hair. It's the Ernie hair from "Bert and Ernie." You know, I love these world leaders who will just dress and style themselves just for cartoonists, and he really has done that. When he's got these little weird jacket, western-type jackets and things. So he's perfect.
O'BRIEN: Who is his tailor?
LUCKOVICH: I have no idea.
O'BRIEN: So, on that point...
(CROSSTALK)
LUCKOVICH: Well, things have changed now that, you know, the whole get tough policy has kind of changed. They're going to talk to him now, and so I've got Bush and he's, you see Kim Jong Il is on a swing and Bush is swinging him, and a couple in the background is saying, "I detect a subtle shift in policy."
O'BRIEN: Now, wait a minute, let's go back to Bush there for a minute. I've got to ask you about your Bush right now. It seems as if you've given him Reagan hair. And what's with the ears?
(CROSSTALK)
LUCKOVICH: You know, he does have rather large ears. And he's really, his face is not that much fun to draw. So you've got to have fun where you can. So I always make the ears a little bit bigger. Now, let's see. You know, last -- actually, it was a week and a half ago, the FBI came out with the alert about the five suspects that may have illegally entered the country. And then one of the guys turned out to be some Pakistani guy who was saying, hey, it wasn't me, it wasn't me.
O'BRIEN: I'm a jeweler. I'm here.
LUCKOVICH: So one of the FBI agents is saying to the other one something like, let's see, "broadcasting photos of these five suspects we think snuck into the U.S. will make up for our past lapses." If you look back at the drawing, you see that the final guy is ...
COLLINS: What made you think of Mr. Kool-aid there? I've got to know.
LUCKOVICH: You know, I don't know. I was just trying to think, who is the goofiest person I could put up there?
O'BRIEN: I would have thought of Barney. Barney would have been up there.
LUCKOVICH: I use Barney too much.
O'BRIEN: You use him too much?
LUCKOVICH: Yes. I want to have some fun.
(CROSSTALK)
LUCKOVICH: You know, I don't know. You know, I have a Barney quota, and just one a week.
O'BRIEN: Too much saccharin. Got to quit.
LUCKOVICH: No, you know, this was sort of a week to use little characters. Now that Watts, Representative Watts from Oklahoma has left Congress, there are no African-American Republicans at all in Congress. So I drew this cartoon. You see they're getting their photo taken. The congressional Republicans, and one of them is saying "we needed some color." As you see, down below, we have those two little guys inserted into the photo.
O'BRIEN: Reaching out in any way they can.
LUCKOVICH: Exactly. Probably the...
O'BRIEN: Melts in your mouth.
LUCKOVICH: Exactly. Now, probably the funnest topic from the last couple of weeks has been the Raelians, the cloned baby gang.
O'BRIEN: It's really a stereotype and caricature of itself, isn't it?
LUCKOVICH: Actually, actually, you would think this would be a fun topic for a cartoonist, but it was so difficult because it was so -- the whole thing, they were so moronic and crazy, you couldn't -- so this is the one I did. I've got a Raelian guy there, and the head, Rael, I think his name is Rael, and a reporter is saying, "we don't see any cloned baby." And Rael says, "oh, so now you're questioning our invisibility breakthrough."
COLLINS: Very good.
O'BRIEN: You know, when did it become hard to trust a sect which believes UFOs brought life to the planet? I just think the world is going to heck in a hand basket, isn't it?
LUCKOVICH: It's destroyed my faith, I think.
O'BRIEN: All right. One more? We have time for one more.
LUCKOVICH: OK. Well, they had the alcohol study came out this week that drinking is actually fairly good for you. So I did this cartoon. I've got a guy with three various bottles. He's saying, "I'm a triathlete."
O'BRIEN: That's good. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
LUCKOVICH: He's got beer, wine...
O'BRIEN: And Jack.
LUCKOVICH: ... and Jack Daniels, yes.
O'BRIEN: Excellent. Excellent work. Do we have time for one more or not? No, we're told that's it.
LUCKOVICH: Oh, come on! Jeez! Oh, well.
O'BRIEN: There you go. Don't make Mike mad. We don't have anymore, apparently. All right. That's great work. Thank you.
LUCKOVICH: Well, thank you for having me.
COLLINS: Mike, thank you so much. Those are awesome.
O'BRIEN: And thanks for drawing one up there in real time.
LUCKOVICH: Oh, no problem, no problem. All right.
COLLINS: Sign it and leave it with us.
LUCKOVICH: All right, you got it.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. Mike Luckovich.
O'BRIEN: Do it for the boss. For the boss.
COLLINS: Oh, that's true. Better idea.
O'BRIEN: Anyway. All right. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
