Horrifying Cartoon Nostalgia: 39 Unlikely Mashups Done By This Artist (New Pics)

Bored Panda once again reached out to Daniel, who kindly shared what inspired him to start combining these two seemingly opposite themes in his work.

“I have always been a big cartoon and horror fan, lived for Saturday mornings as a kid, and my first introduction to the 'horror/comedy' genre was to rent Toxic Avenger when I was about seven, so in school, I drew mashups of cartoons and movies already back then. Remember drawing mashups with Snoopy a lot back then (and I still do),” wrote Daniel.

We were wondering what about that era of comic art and design he finds most compelling, and how it influences his creative process.

Daniel replied: “I grew up in the '80s and '90s and then later watching late '90s cartoons after stumbling home from a night out. That’s the cartoons I find most compelling, and the same with horror, it's '80s, '90s, and noughties horror flicks, that’s my go-to. But if there is a new horror movie out that I like, I gladly slap them in a drawing.”

Daniel also shared how he selects which cartoons or horror elements to mash up in his artwork: “My process is going for humor. If I come up with a mashup, I write it down in my notebook and then I can go back later and look through it and if it still makes me chuckle, I start drawing on it.”

Daniel’s artwork manages to be both creepy and humorous at the same time. He shared how he balances these two tones and what the artist hopes viewers take away from this juxtaposition.

“Yeah, I try to find a perfect balance between them and it can be hard, but luckily I have a teenage daughter and a wife who also is seriously into horror, so I have my own focus group to check with if I have doubts about a drawing. So that helps.”

As an artist who revisits and reshapes nostalgic characters, Daniel shared what he thinks about the ongoing influence of childhood cartoons on adult life.

“I like cartoons on adult life a lot, and have been watching them all my own adult life, King of the Hill, Mr. Pickles, Bob's Burgers, Archer, Bojack and Brickleberry, just to name a few, and that influences me a lot and is what I want to achieve with my art, to do cartoons that adults can find funny and awesome.”

Lastly, Daniel added: “I got a lot of new stuff coming out and also some fun collaborations this fall. So stay tuned on my social media!”