Cartoon comes from the Italian word ‘cartone’. Cartone was a drawing for a first step to a tapestry. Usually these were not funny at all. Cartoon may seem quite recent but they actually are very ancient. Ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics to tell stories. They even used speech bubbles. Cartoons are normally used for telling humorous stories. But they are sometimes used for telling serious stories. They can also be used on posters for advertising.