Walt Kelly on George Herriman

FROM THE AUDIENCE: Walt, were you influenced by [George] Herriman at all; did you love his stuff?
KELLY: Not too much because, you know, that guy's all by himself. I've just borrowed devices from him. He had animals and I had animals. I was more influenced by say, [Arthur] Frost, [Rube] Goldberg, [Tad] Dorgan, [T.S.] Sullivant. Really, those guys who worked on sports, or on the bamboozle of the American public, which I think is the greatest and funniest story in the world. Whereas George was a little gentle. He had his own thing, which can only be described as poetry, really. No, I'm not that gentle a person.