receives from his animals is often very different than his interactions with the various human beings he encounters during his days. Tom Wilson often juxtaposed Ziggy's human interactions with his animal interactions for comedic and emotional effect. One of the great appeals of the comic strip is how Ziggy himself deals with the endless stream of misfortunes which befall him on a daily basis. The character is frequently depicted in surreal or arbitrary situations that allow the reader to relate to Ziggy's misfortunes and his take on life. For comedic effect, the strip often mines typical comic strip pop culture territory, such as computers, dating, office relationships, pet ownership, customer service, and many of the other perils of modern life. Since the strip has been in existence for 50 years, Ziggy has experienced the waves of societal and technological change that have swept through our culture in the last five decades. For instance, early strips show him using rotary phones, while strips put out in recent years displays Ziggy's adoption of modern technology like cell phones and flat screen TVs. In other media The animated 1982 Christmas television special Ziggy's Gift, which contained the Harry Nilsson song "Give, Love, Joy", won an Emmy Award. The following year, the special's animator, Richard Williams, also created a series of short vignettes featuring Ziggy. The actor who supplies Ziggy's voice is uncredited, but it is believed to be Williams himself. Ziggy is also notable for the high amount of merchandise and promotional material with his likeness on it. There have been annual calendars produced throughout the years, as well as various greeting cards, books, dozens of plush dolls, collectibles, holiday-themed toys, promotional items, placemats, Christmas ornaments, messenger bags, pillowcases, brooches, posters, coffee mugs, lunchboxes, and cake tins, among a vast number of others. In 2002, Ziggy became the official spokescharacter for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. References External links Ziggy at GoComics Ziggy at Don Markstein's Toonopedia Ziggy in Popular Culture American comic strips Comics characters introduced in 1968 Gag-a-day comics American comics characters 1968 comics debuts