Rotten Tomatoes Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse

Play trailer Poster for Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse 2025 1h 38m Documentary Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
100% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 99% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus is a landmark in reckoning with the Holocaust and breakthrough in serious comic art -- but his full achievements are more remarkable and eclectic. ART SPIEGELMAN: DISASTER IS MY MUSE tracks his beginnings in the 1960s as co-creator of the Wacky Packages trading cards; his co-founding of the underground comics magazines Arcade (with Bill Griffith) and Raw (with wife Françoise Mouly); In the Shadow of No Towers, his reaction to 9/11, inspired by witnessing the attacks from his home in lower Manhattan; his controversial covers for The New Yorker (1993-2003) that prompted the NYPD to picket the magazine's office; and his public response to Maus's recent ban by a Tennessee school board. Spiegelman proves an eloquent guide through his provocative work, along with contemporaries (Robert Crumb, Gary Panter) and younger cartoonists (Joe Sacco, Jerry Craft, Molly Crabapple) inspired by Spiegelman's unflinching confrontation of personally traumatic themes.

Where to Watch

Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse

Critics Reviews

View More
Tim Cogshell FilmWeek (LAist) 05/09/2025
It's mostly [Art Spiegelman] talking about his work, himself, his life and his family. That could be cloying but it's not here. It works very well. Go to Full Review Claudia Puig FilmWeek (LAist) 05/09/2025
It's very timely. A fascinating and intimate documentary. Go to Full Review Bob Strauss San Francisco Chronicle 04/14/2025
4/4
“Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse,” the latest installment of the venerable PBS “American Masters” series, does a thorough job of laying out and appreciating all of the cartoonist’s significant, consistently subversive works. Go to Full Review Anne Brodie What She Said Nov 28
4/4
Spiegelman took cartooning in an all-new dimension, recreating his parents’ memories in the camps …the straight, engrossing goods on that vile chapter in German history . The tone is unsparing and real Go to Full Review Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault 05/27/2025
B
It looks towards the past at a work that looks even further into the past. It deals lightly with some of the controversy that has buzzed around 'Maus' over the years, such as its banning in some schools. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Alfia N @RT01946752 03/27/2025 This is gonna be epic! Maus was a transformatif work of my young adult life. It deserves every accolade See more NUR R @RT34887701 03/26/2025 Great documentary movie See more M Ihsan M @RT37455290 03/24/2025 Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse" is an informative and inspiring documentary, offering deep insights into an artist who has transformed the world's perception of comics and graphic novels. It is a worthwhile watch for those interested in art, history, and freedom of expression. See more No N @RT73995421 03/21/2025 the history about presentation spiegelmen as well as the movie. u must see!! See more Andriyanto O @RT23177316 03/07/2025 Spiegelman nice person See more Lemon C @RT43133402 03/03/2025 nailed it with his biography. 10/10 See more Read all reviews
Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Cast & Crew

View All

Molly Bernstein

Director

Philip Dolin

Director

Françoise Mouly

Self

Art Spiegelman

Self

Dash Spiegelman

Self

Robert Crumb

Self

More Like This

View All
Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb 96% 98% Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb Watchlist TRAILER for Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere % % Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere Watchlist TRAILER for Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer 100% 96% How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer Watchlist TRAILER for How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer A Savage Art: The Life & Cartoons of Pat Oliphant 85% 98% A Savage Art: The Life & Cartoons of Pat Oliphant Watchlist TRAILER for A Savage Art: The Life & Cartoons of Pat Oliphant Third Act 100% % Third Act Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse

View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus is a landmark in reckoning with the Holocaust and breakthrough in serious comic art -- but his full achievements are more remarkable and eclectic. ART SPIEGELMAN: DISASTER IS MY MUSE tracks his beginnings in the 1960s as co-creator of the Wacky Packages trading cards; his co-founding of the underground comics magazines Arcade (with Bill Griffith) and Raw (with wife Françoise Mouly); In the Shadow of No Towers, his reaction to 9/11, inspired by witnessing the attacks from his home in lower Manhattan; his controversial covers for The New Yorker (1993-2003) that prompted the NYPD to picket the magazine's office; and his public response to Maus's recent ban by a Tennessee school board. Spiegelman proves an eloquent guide through his provocative work, along with contemporaries (Robert Crumb, Gary Panter) and younger cartoonists (Joe Sacco, Jerry Craft, Molly Crabapple) inspired by Spiegelman's unflinching confrontation of personally traumatic themes.
Director
Molly Bernstein, Philip Dolin
Producer
Alicia Sams, Sam Jinishian
Distributor
Cargo Film & Releasing
Production Co
Pollyanna, Jewish Story Partners, American Masters, Claims Conference, Foothill Productions, Particle Productions
Genre
Documentary, Biography
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 21, 2025, Limited
Runtime
1h 38m
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings