Informational Thoughts Using Google Doodles to Gain

Information

Rebecca McNutt7th Grade Language ArtsMill Creek Middle School

• What do the drafts of the doodle explain about the specific “process” of this doodle?  Be specific.

• What argument does the creator make about their work?

• Which elements of the doodle are the most striking?  Explain.

• What impact does this doodle have on the event or person?   Be specific.

• What is most striking about the doodle?

Questions for Google Doodles

Feb 8, 2011 It wasn’t very difficult for something to spark my imagination when I was a child—whether it was a pile of leaves or a couch of

stackable cushions, just about anything could jump-start my creativity. My first encounter with Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, however, sent my imagination into hyper drive.

I first found the novel while browsing through a random aisle in my local library. The cover was dark, murky and a little worn—but it was the most spectacular thing I’d ever seen. A pair of old-fashioned divers drag their feet over the ocean floor, watching a school of fish drift by. They don’t seem to notice the twisting silhouette of a monster inching toward them.

The cover alone pulled me in, but I didn’t want to spoil all of the possible story lines by actually reading the book. Looking back, I realize that what fascinated me most was the unknown: a creative spark and the imaginative exploration that followed. Since then, I’ve become more familiar with his work and still believe that exploration is the essence of Verne’s novels. His stories pull the readers into a world filled with infinite potential—be it in the clouds, on land or under the sea.

Today’s doodle, celebrating Verne’s 183rd birthday, tries to capture that sense of adventure and exploration. Using CSS3 (and with help from our resident tech wizards Marcin Wichary and Kris Hom), the doodle enables anyone to navigate the Nautilus (nearly) 20,000 leagues with the simple pull of a lever. And for those using devices with built-in accelerometers and the latest versions of Google Chrome or Firefox, it’s even simpler—just tilt your device in the direction you want to explore and the Nautilus will follow.

So voyage below (and above) the waves to see what you can discover... just make sure to keep an eye out for the giant squid.

Update Feb 9, 8:44 AM: You can now explore the ocean from our Jules Verne doodle in full view and HD.

posted by Jennifer Hom

Nov 30, 2011 A great writer and humorist, Mark Twain once said, "Against the assault of laughter

nothing can stand." His characters are as sincere as they are funny and playful; his work is iconic and a part of literary history. As an author that readers around the world have adored for a century, Mark Twain is a perfect fit for a doodle!

Since Google never likes to take itself too seriously, I wanted to pick a scene from Twain's work that is both recognizable and funny. The fence-painting sequence from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer seemed a perfect fit. Not only does it incorporate a little bit of mischievous humor (painting fences is certainly thrilling!) it also plays cleverly with the white space of the homepage. Alluding to a comic-book format, I drew Tom and Ben working on the fence and, therefore, spreading our famous white space across the doodle.

Below you can check out the process for the process-revealing doodle!

Jun 5, 2011 I had a lot of fun working with the folks at Random House — including one of Richard Scarry's actual art directors,

as well as his son, Huck — to create an original pencil and watercolor piece depicting Busytown. There is so much going on in Busytown that I thought I'd show a few closeups here as well as talk about the process.

The drawing was done in pencil, then scanned digitally and printed out in solid black on clear film, or acetate.

The drawing was then transferred to illustration board in blue pencil so I could work on the painting on a separate layer.

Scarry's technique allowed him to work pretty loosely with his watercolors, and he'd frequently paint off-register, that is, not quite up to (or way beyond) the line drawing. This gave his illustrations an even more lighthearted quality. In our case, it's Richard Scarry's Best Google Doodle Ever!

Sep 24, 2011 We’re thrilled to share this guest post by Brian Henson about his father—puppeteer, director and producer Jim Henson, best known as the creator of the

Muppets. For the next 36 hours, we’re honoring Jim’s birthday on our homepage with a special doodle created in tandem withThe Jim Henson Company. -Ed.

When we were kids, my brother and sisters and I were always allowed to stay up late to watch our father’s appearances on The Tonight Show or The Ed Sullivan Show. No matter how late it was or how young we were, my mother would wake us up and trundle us down to the living room television. We’d be giddy—like Christmas. When he came home, he’d head down to the garage where he had a workshop, and repair everything that we broke while he was away—or build a dollhouse for one of my sisters. Jim never stopped making things.

He also loved games—card games, board games, all kinds of games. He was one of those rare parents who was always ready to play again. He loved dogs, particularly goofy ones. And he lived for those moments when everyone laughed so hard they couldn’t talk. I often walked onto the Muppet set to find everyone just laughing hysterically.

Although he loved family, his work was almost never about “traditional” families. The Muppets were a family—a very diverse one. One of his life philosophies was that we should love people not for their similarities, but for their differences.

Jim often had a little lesson about the important things in life: How to be a good person. How to believe in yourself and follow your dreams. And above all, how to forgive. If anything was stolen from one of us—like when the car was broken into—he would always say, “Oh well, they probably needed that stuff more than we did.”

He loved gadgets and technology. Following his lead, The Jim Henson Company continues to develop cutting-edge technology for animatronics and digital animation, like this cool Google doodle celebrating Jim’s 75th birthday. But I think even he would have found it hilarious the way today some people feel that when they’ve got their smartphone, they no longer need their brain.

Jim was clearly a great visionary. But he also wanted everyone around him fully committed creatively. If you asked him how a movie would turn out, he’d say, “It’ll be what this group can make, and if you changed any one of them, it would be a different movie.” Every day for him was joyously filled with the surprises of other people’s ideas. I often think that if we all lived like that, not only would life be more interesting, we’d all be a lot happier.

Posted by Brian Henson, Chairman of The Jim Henson Company