SARANAC LAKE — Good news, everyone! The posters and buttons for the 2026 Saranac Lake Winter Carnival, themed “Cartoonival” this year, have hit stores. They are illustrated by Saranac Lake native and nationally syndicated “Doonesbury” cartoonist Garry Trudeau.
Both the button and poster depict “Doonesbury” character Zonker illustrating himself into a cartoon illustrating himself into a cartoon in a loop.
Trudeau said he was concerned at first when he heard about the cartoon theme. Initially, he felt the concept called for a “cavalcade” of well-known — but copyright-protected — cartoon characters. Then, when he was assured that it would be acceptable to simply use his own characters, he realized the design would be quite self-referential.
Once he accepted that he’d be commenting on himself through the design, Trudeau said Maurits Escher’s famous lithograph of two hands drawing each other immediately came to mind.
“Especially since the circular design lent itself to a button,” he said.
This design also resembles the ouroboros — an ancient symbol of a snake eating its own tail — making this a Doonesbouroboros.
On the poster, the cyclical Zonker is encircled by concentric rings of color — a nod to the Looney Tunes episode title cards. Trudeau said this made the poster more vibrant, and also placed his character in the larger cartoon universe.
Trudeau was asked what he likes about cartoons.
“Well, they’ve provided me with steady work for my entire adult life, so that’s something to like!” he wrote.
He explained why he enjoys working in the colorful medium.
“A comic strip is also the perfect outlet for a closet megalomaniac,” Trudeau said. “The creator controls every aspect — character design, backgrounds, story arcs, dialogue — with very little oversight. You’re an impresario, putting on a serialized show. All of which, by the way, was good preparation for when I got involved in television. (Trudeau created the 2013 Amazon TV show “Alpha House.”) World-building on deadline was something I was practiced at.”
The state of cartooning as an art form today is complicated, he said. The world that gave him a career has faded.
“There are several different genres of cartooning, not all of them prospering,” Trudeau wrote. “The comic strip, once a dominant cultural art form, has receded in relevance, along with the print newspapers that supported them. The same is true of editorial cartooning. A century ago, there were over 2,000 full-time editorial cartoonists; today there are fewer than 25. and single-panel gag cartooning barely exists anymore, the New Yorker being the last magazine of consequence still buying them.”
But storytelling through drawing has not gone out of style.
“On the other hand, graphic novels, particularly Japanese manga, is one of the fastest growing segments in the publishing industry, and, of course, animation and anime are huge. So broadly speaking, cartooning is alive and well, but no one is ever again likely to have the particular career I’ve had.”
Trudeau’s favorite newspaper comics are Dave Coverly’s single-panel “Speed Bump” and Stephan Pastis’ wordplay-filled “Pearls Before Swine.” He also loves the dry, sardonic one-panel work Tom Toro does at “The New Yorker.”
“The Simpsons still leaves South Park in the dust, and like everyone, I love most of Pixar’s films,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau, who was raised in Saranac Lake, has designed buttons to benefit Winter Carnival since 1981 and posters since 2012.
Buttons
The buttons cost $5 and are available for sale at the following merchants in Saranac Lake: Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Adirondack Bank (Main St. and Church St.), Ampersound, Best Western, Blue Moon Cafe, Coakley Home and Hardware, Community Bank (Broadway), Fusion Market, Grand Union, Hamlets to Huts, Historic Saranac Lake, Hyde Mobil (Broadway and Lake Flower Avenue), Kinney Drugs, NBT Bank, Hotel Saranac’s Academy and Main Gift Shop, Rice Furniture, the Saranac Lake Adult Center, The Village Mercantile, VOCO Saranac Lake Waterfront, Will Roger’s, Adirondack Wine and Liquor, the Belvedere, Elevate ADK, Hair of the Dog, Grizle T’s, Moose Lodge, Romano’s, Rusty Nail and the Waterhole. The list is subject to change.
Buttons will also be sold during Winter Carnival at its Gift Shop and History Hut located on River Street at the boat launch.
They are also available through mail order by sending a check payable to: “Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Committee / Attn: Barb Martin / P.O. Box 566 / Saranac Lake, NY 12983.
There is an additional postage cost based on the quantity of buttons ordered. One to four buttons cost $7.50, five to eight cost $8 and nine or more cost $9. Prices are subject to change.
Past Winter Carnival buttons are also available for $5 each. Contact Barb Martin for information at 518-891-2382.
Posters
Trudeau signed 100 posters which cost $75 each, including tax. There is an additional cost for shipping if local pick-up is not possible.
Signed posters are available to purchase by contacting Jeff Dickson via e-mail at wcpostersales@gmail.com or by phone or text at 518-524-2731.
Those who have purchased signed posters last year should contact Dickson to continue the numbered series. Posters unclaimed by Jan. 30 will be made available to the public in a drawing to be held on Jan. 31. Contact Dickson to have your name entered in the drawing.
A raffle will be held for signed poster No. 1. Sales are limited to 100 raffle tickets at a cost of $5 each. Tickets are available from Dickson or at the Winter Carnival History Hut located near the Ice Palace during Carnival week. The drawing will be held on Feb. 15 and the winner notified.
Unsigned posters are cost $20, including tax. They for sale at Ampersound at 52 Main St., the Academy and Main gift shop in the Hotel Saranac, the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and Rice Furniture. Payment is by cash or check only.
Unsigned posters will also be available at the History Hut during Carnival week. In addition to current-year posters, prior-year unsigned posters for some years are still available for $10. To purchase current or prior posters by mail, contact Dickson. There is an additional cost for shipping.