John Kricfalusi

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John Kricfalusi

Born Michael John Kricfalusi
Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada
Other name(s) Raymond Spum, John K.
Official website

John Kricfalusi (pron. "Kris-falusi") (born Michael John Kricfalusi), better known as John K., is an Emmy-nominated Canadian animator.

He is creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show and The Ripping Friends animated series, The Goddamn George Liquor Program, the first animated series made using Macromedia Flash, as well as the founder of animation studio Spümcø International. When Kricfalusi did not completely approve[1] of one of his cartoons, he would credit himself as Raymond Spum.[2] As of May 2008, this has only occurred in the Ren and Stimpy episode Nurse Stimpy.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Work with Ralph Bakshi

For many years, Kricfalusi drew low-end studio television cartoons (the best one in Kricfalusi’s opinion was the The Jetsons revival) before being "rescued" around 1985 by director Ralph Bakshi (whom Kricfalusi had worked for before during two brief periods in 1981 and 1983). Kricfalusi and Bakshi were going to make a film called Bobby’s Girl, but that film fell through when Tristar’s president stepped down. Kricfalusi’s first finished project was directing the animation for The Rolling Stones’ 1986 music video of “Harlem Shuffle”[citation needed]. Kricfalusi’s most famous project under Bakshi was Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, based on the classic Terrytoons character. Kricfalusi directed eight of the twenty-six episodes and supervised the series.[3] Kricfalusi also worked on another cartoon series at the time called Galaxy High, providing character designs for some of the aliens in the series.

[edit] Ren & Stimpy

Kricfalusi founded his Spümcø International animation studio with partner Jim Smith, creating the controversial Ren & Stimpy Show. Spümcø sold the show to Nickelodeon in 1988. Nickelodeon and Kricfalusi conflicted regarding the production, including the level of violence in the show. Kricfalusi points specifically to the episode "Man's Best Friend", which features Ren beating the character George Liquor with an oar, for his firing.[4] Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi from production of the series in 1992, leaving the production of the series in the hands of Nickelodeon and Games Animation.

[edit] Web-based cartoons, music videos, Hannah-Barbera cartoons, and The Ripping Friends

In 1996, John Kricfalusi created the first internet cartoon series using Macromedia Flash, The Goddamn George Liquor Program. He followed this with Weekend Pussy Hunt, the second Flash cartoon.

Since then, Kricfalusi has worked on various projects including some web-based cartoons, Björk and Tenacious D music videos, some Yogi Bear cartoons (including Boo Boo and the Man, A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith and Boo Boo Runs Wild), two Jetsons cartoons (Father & Son Day and The Best Son), and the short-lived FOX Kids TV series The Ripping Friends.

[edit] The return of Ren & Stimpy

Most recently he has written, directed, and starred in a new Ren & Stimpy show, entitled Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon produced for Spike TV, a network which has allowed the animator much more freedom to work with the lewd and bizarre themes that make his art distinctive. Most of the stories were based on fan ideas and original scripts that were rejected by Nickelodeon during the show's original run. After only three of six episodes aired, the show was also canceled because the network censors found it too much by even their own standards. Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon was released on DVD including three episodes that never aired. Kricfalusi hoped its success would guarantee a straight-to-DVD Ren and Stimpy series so he could avoid the problem of censors.

[edit] The Looney Tunes Golden Collection

Kricfalusi provides several audio commentaries in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volumes 2 and 3 (DVD sets of classic Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons) and appears in some of the bonus featurettes as well. Typically, Kricfalusi does commentary on the Bob Clampett cartoons, whom Kricfalusi often praises for his fast-paced and nutty style. John refused to do any more commentaries after volume 3 because of artistic integrity. He disapproved of the method of restoration for the cartoons through DVNR (Digital Video Noise Reduction), which tends to erase parts of the artwork, and the oversaturation of the colors.

[edit] 2000s

On February 13, 2006 Kricfalusi started his own weblog, All Kinds of Stuff, containing knowledge about animation history and frequent criticisms of modern animated shows.

In September 2006, his animated music video for “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Close But No Cigar”[5] from the album Straight Outta Lynwood was featured on the DVD side of the DualDisc album. The song is about a man who ends relationships with women who have one minor flaw he cannot get past. The video features John K’s animated cat, Cigarettes. He also animated a THX logo parody for Tenacious D’s movie The Pick of Destiny, as well as a music video for their song “Classico”. As of 2008, he is in development of a webtoon starring George Liquor. It will be sponsored by Pontiac Vibe.[6] Also in 2006, he served as an art director for a segment for Class of 3000 entitled "Life Without Music."

[edit] Influences

Kricfalusi says his heroes are Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Frank Sinatra and Kirk Douglas.[7] His Myspace page also mentions Milt Gross, Tex Avery, Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Elvis, Don Martin and Robert Ryan as heroes.

[edit] Criticisms

Kricfalusi has been accused by people that he has worked with for being unreliable and self-obsessed. Billy West, who worked with him on Ren & Stimpy, called Kricfalusi "the most obnoxious person I ever met," citing his abusive demands that West quit the show after he was fired for failing to finish episodes on time and claimed that he did this in order to prevent censorship of the show which had high amounts of violence and provacative themes. West subsequently refused to return to the show when it was brought back by Spike TV.[8]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Interview with Chris Savino - X Magazine.
  2. ^ John Kricfalusi. IMDB.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
  3. ^ Who's Who in Animated Cartoons. 187.
  4. ^ Dr. Toon interviews John Kricfalusi. Animation World Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-05-19.
  5. ^ Music Video
  6. ^ http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2008/03/george-liquor-pilot-sketches.html
  7. ^ "Kirk Douglas, The Greatest Hollywood Actor," John Kricfalusi's Stuff at Blogspot
  8. ^ http://www.tvsquad.com/2006/06/15/billy-west-the-tv-squad-interview/

[edit] External links

[edit] Interviews and Articles