Johnny Kitties Special Edition: Cry-Baby Revisited

Hi everyone,

Surprise! This drawing took me weeks to finish, I think, because I feel like I captured everything I wanted to capture about John Waters' 1990 classic Cry-Baby in my first tribute drawing in 2011. Can you believe it's been almost 10 years?

I've always felt uneasy about including the Confederate flag stage curtain in that original drawing, even though it is accurate to and fits well in the film. The Black Lives Matter movement and recent events only amplified my concern. Yet, that Cry-Baby artwork was drawn with nothing but love, so I will keep it in my Johnny Kitties collection. 

But here's another piece to celebrate Cry-Baby that I think I might love just as much: It's Cry-Baby in the daytime. The nice thing about revisiting this movie to create a new illustration so many years later is that enough Kitties have joined our family to play all the characters. 

Welcome to Turkey Point! 

This scene is early in the movie, just after Cry-Baby talked to Allison for the first time and then serenaded her while driving on the wrong side of the road after school. Now at home, with Allison still on his mind, Cry-Baby and his gang greet Grandma Ramona and Uncle Belvedere. I knew this movie was going to be great when I saw that Director John Waters got Iggy Pop to take a bath outside in a bucket. 

In this illustration, Gordon plays Johnny's character, as always, and Lily, again as Allison (Amy Locane), invades Cry-Baby's thoughts. The Mother Kitty and B.J. also reprise their roles as Ramona and Belvedere (Susan Tyrrell and Iggy Pop). The rest of the Kitties mix it up: This time around, Comet and Ashes play Milton and Hatchet-Face (Darren E. Burrows and Kim McGuire). Mini portrays Cry-Baby's sister Pepper (Ricki Lake), with Stephen and Mew as her little kids (Jonathan Benya and Jessica Raskin). Emily shows her stuff as Wanda (Traci Lords), and Walter plays it cool as Dupree (Robert Tyree). 

But maybe the real star of this drawing is the skeleton head, just in time for Halloween. The Kitties stayed away from that role. 

The only thing missing from this drawing is a snippet of Cry-Baby's fantastic soundtrack. I couldn't fit the lyrics, but I did have "(My Heart Goes) Piddily Patter, Patter" by Nappy Brown in my head the entire time I was coloring: "My heart goes Piddily Patter, Patter/ Piddily Patter, Patter/ Every time I look at you/ Don't I know what's the matter, matter?/ What's the matter, but I think it's cause I love you." That Cry-Baby soundtrack still rocks, '50s style! 

What's Next? 

New Johnny Kitties illustrations, celebrating Johnny's two latest films – The Professor and Waiting for the Barbarians – are swirling in my head and on the horizon. Until next time, I hope you enjoy this flashback.