The inspiring story of how the creator of the Strange Cartoons followed his dream, faced the truth, and discovered that even the strangest ideas can find their place in the world.
Once upon a time, there was a man named Mr. Jinks who absolutely loved making cartoons for kids. He wasn’t famous or anything, but he had the biggest imagination and the silliest ideas. His goal? To make kids laugh so hard.
Every time he finished a new cartoon, Mr. Jinks would gather his two kids, Lily and Max, and show it to them first.
“What do you think?” he’d ask, eyes wide with excitement.
“It’s awesome, Dad!” they’d cheer. “You should totally post it on your channel!”
So he did. But Mr. Jinks was nervous about what people online might say. What if they didn’t like his cartoons? What if they said they were dumb? Just thinking about it made his stomach twist.
That’s when he got the idea to task his children to help manage the channel on his behalf.
“Lily, Max,” he said, “how about you run the YouTube channel? You can read the comments and tell me what people are saying. Deal?”
“Deal!” they said, high-fiving each other.
Every week, Mr. Jinks made a new cartoon. And every week, his kids gave him glowing reports.
“People LOVE your stuff, Dad!”
“They said it’s better than TV!”
“They want more!”
Mr. Jinks was thrilled. He worked even harder, drawing funnier characters and wackier adventures. His cartoon series, The Strange Cartoons, kept growing.
But one day, while he was working on his computer when he noticed some of the comments from his page. His children had left his YouTube page open as they were working on it… and on the page were the real comments.
He started reading.
And his heart sank.
Some comments said the cartoons were “too weird” or “not funny.” Others were just plain mean. Mr. Jinks couldn’t believe it. Had his kids been lying to him this whole time?
He called them in.
“Lily, Max… why didn’t you tell me the truth?”
The kids looked at each other, then at their dad.
“We didn’t want to hurt your feelings,” Lily said softly.
“We love you, Dad,” Max added. “And we know your cartoons are awesome. Maybe not everyone sees it now, but someone will.”
Mr. Jinks felt like a balloon with all the air let out. But he thought about what his kids said. Maybe… just maybe… they were right.
So he kept going. He kept drawing. He kept dreaming.
And guess what?
A few months later, Mr. Jinks got an email from a TV agent. She said she LOVED The Strange Cartoons and wanted to put them on a brand-new kids’ channel.
Mr. Jinks couldn’t believe it. He jumped so high, he almost hit the ceiling!
Moral of the Story: Even if people don’t get your dream at first, don’t give up. Keep going. One day, someone will see just how amazing you are.
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