Tonguç Yaşar

Tonguç Yaşar — Biography

Tonguç Yaşar (1932, Istanbul - 15 December 2019, Istanbul) was one of the leading figures of Turkish caricature, working as both a cartoonist and an animated-film director. After finishing his schooling in Istanbul, he launched his career with a cartoon published in the magazine Hür Adam in 1952, then went on to draw weekly cartoons for magazines such as Akbaba, Dolmuş, Tef, Taş Karikatür and Yön, as well as daily cartoons for the newspaper Vatan. His clean, forceful drawing style and the innovations he brought to the craft made him one of the most respected names in Turkish caricature; he gathered part of his work into a 1969 album titled Sülüname, and his cartoons, published abroad as well, earned him prizes in international competitions.

The second strand of his career was animated filmmaking. His film "Amentü Gemisi Nasıl Yürüdü" won the jury's special prize at the 1972 Adana Golden Boll Film Competition, and the following year the same film cleared the preliminary round of the 9th Annecy International Animated Film Festival, making it the first Turkish animated film ever screened there. His film "Yaşa Don Kişot" took second prize at the TRT Culture, Art and Science Awards, and another of his works won best film at the Darüşşafaka Cinema Club's festival.

He also won first prize in the Ministry of Culture's Nasreddin Hodja Animated Film Competition and went on to direct two Nasreddin Hodja films for the ministry. In total he made 16 short animated films, notably adaptations of Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca's "Balina ile Mandalina" and Sait Faik's "Topal Martı", and he also designed opening title sequences for various films. Yaşar died in Istanbul on 15 December 2019.