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145-408: Michael John Kricfalusi ( / ˌ k r ɪ s f ə ˈ l uː s i / krihs-fuh- LOO -see ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K. , is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, and former animator and voice actor. He is the creator of the animated television series The Ren & Stimpy Show , which was highly influential on televised animation during the 1990s. From 1989 to 1992, he

290-399: A Cartoon! , also known as World Premiere Toons for Cartoon Network . Seibert approached Kricfalusi for advice and for recommendations for personnel to head the shorts, among them David Feiss , Tom Minton , Pat Ventura, and Eddie Fitzgerald. Kricfalusi directed Icelandic singer Björk 's animated music video for the song " I Miss You " in 1997, which features Björk and the character Jimmy

435-508: A bonus feature. A set for "Seasons Three and a Half-ish", containing all of season three and the first half of season four up to "It's a Dog's Life/Egg Yölkeo", followed on June 28, 2005. Season Five and Some More of Four completed the DVD release of the Nickelodeon series on September 20. Like the previous DVDs, some scenes were removed in these releases. A two-disc set dubbed The Lost Episodes

580-405: A cartoon short entitled Cans Without Labels , starring the character George Liquor (with Michael Pataki reprising the role for the final time before his death in 2010, having recorded his lines beforehand), with the initial delivery date of February 2013. The cartoon was due to be screened at the 2016 Annecy International Animated Film Festival for the first time; however, at the last minute it

725-482: A cause. She had left the Termite Terrace in 1943 and did not meet Clampett again until 1960. She did, however, hear from people whom Clampett helped break into the animation business and/or mentored. Clampett is survived by his three children, who preserve his work. They are Robert Clampett Jr., who worked for his father as a puppeteer at Bob Clampett Productions; Ruth Clampett, an author of several books, including

870-568: A child, and by studying cartoons and their production systems from the 1940s and 1950s. His main influence is Bob Clampett , and he also names Chuck Jones , Frank Sinatra , Kirk Douglas , Milt Gross , Tex Avery , Peter Lorre , The Three Stooges , Al Jolson , Bing Crosby , Dean Martin , Elvis Presley , Don Martin and Robert Ryan . Michael Barrier , an animation historian , said that Kricfalusi's works "testify to his intense admiration for Bob Clampett's Warner Bros. cartoons" and that no cartoonist since Clampett created cartoons in which

1015-535: A child, and by studying cartoons and their production systems from the 1940s and 1950s. His main influence is Bob Clampett . After moving to Los Angeles in 1978, he collaborated with Ralph Bakshi and worked for Filmation , Hanna-Barbera , and DIC Entertainment on various shows. In 1989, Kricfalusi co-founded the animation studio Spümcø , with which he remained until its dissolution in 2005. Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi from Ren & Stimpy due to creative differences and his failure to meet production deadlines;

1160-463: A contract that stipulated Clampett would host the documentary and also have approval over the final cut. Jackson also claimed that Clampett was very reluctant speaking about the other directors and their contributions. Though Clampett's contribution to the Warner Brothers animation legacy was considerable and inarguable, he has been criticized by his peers as "a shameless self-promoter who provoked

1305-638: A cultural touchstone in the mid-1990s, and were featured in works such as the films Clueless (1995), The Cable Guy , and Jack (both 1996). Ren & Stimpy placed 31st in TV Guide 's list of "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time" in 2002. The cover story of the October 2001 issue of Wizard , a magazine for comic book fans, listed the 100 Greatest Toons ever as selected by their readers, with Ren & Stimpy ranked at number 12. Other entertainment journals similarly hold Ren & Stimpy as one of

1450-581: A deep impression on Kricfalusi. After he was expelled from Sheridan College at the end of 1978, Kricfalusi moved to Los Angeles, California, intending to become an animator. After moving to Los Angeles, Kricfalusi was introduced to Milt Gray by Bob Clampett , suggesting he should join Gray's classical animation class. Gray was working for Filmation at the time, and soon Kricfalusi found work there as well, getting his start on shows like Super Friends and The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show . His first independent cartoon

1595-537: A demented Peter Lorre from the film The Maltese Falcon . When Nickelodeon terminated Kricfalusi's contract, Billy West , already the voice of Stimpy, took the role using a combination of Burl Ives , Kirk Douglas , and a slight "south of the border accent" for the rest of the Nickelodeon run. West voiced Stimpy for the Spümcø and Games Animation episodes, basing the voice on an "amped-up" Larry Fine . Some notable artists and performers who voiced incidental characters on

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1740-422: A few months short of graduating in 1931. He found a job at a doll factory owned by his aunt, Charlotte Clark . Clark was looking for an appealing item to sell and Clampett suggested Mickey Mouse , whose popularity was growing. Unable to find a drawing of the character anywhere, Clampett took his sketchpad to the movie theater and came out with several sketches. Clark was concerned with copyright, so they drove to

1885-855: A kind of nondescript dinosaur sock puppet that later evolved into Cecil." In high school, Clampett drew a full-page comic about the nocturnal adventures of a cat, later published in color in a Sunday edition of the Los Angeles Times . King Features took note and offered Clampett a "cartoonist's contract" beginning a $ 75 a week after high school. King Features allowed him to work in their Los Angeles art department on Saturdays and vacations during high school. King Features occasionally printed his cartoons for encouragement, and paid his way through Otis Art Institute , where he learned to paint in oils and to sculpt. Clampett attended Glendale High School and Hoover High School in Glendale , California , but left Hoover

2030-496: A late-night block for shows that appeal to both children and adults. The immediate influence of the show was the spawning of two "clones". Kricfalusi's previous employer Hanna-Barbera produced 2 Stupid Dogs , in which Kricfalusi contributed jokes. Walt Disney Television Animation produced The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show to mimic the show's success. The Disney series failed to gain any recognition and remained obscure. However, The Ren & Stimpy Show had

2175-482: A live-action host presenting different cartoons, each cartoon parodying a different genre. Ren and Stimpy were pets of one of the children in Your Gang , serving as a parody of the "cat and dog genre". The network's vice president of animation production Vanessa Coffey was dissatisfied with the other projects but liked Ren and Stimpy, singling them out for their own series. Production of the series' pilot episode began in

2320-639: A magazine article in 1946, shortly after he left the studio, Clampett repeatedly referred to himself as "the creator" of Bugs Bunny, often adding the side-note that he used Clark Gable 's carrot-eating scene in It Happened One Night as inspiration for his "creation". (Clampett can be observed making this claim in Bugs Bunny: Superstar .) The other two directorial fathers Bugs is claimed to have had are Tex Avery , who directed A Wild Hare , his first official short; and Robert McKimson , who drew

2465-410: A money prize to whichever member of the staff turned in the best original story. Clampett's story won first prize and was made into My Green Fedora , also directed by Freleng. Clampett felt encouraged after these successes and began writing more story contributions. After Schlesinger realized he needed another unit, he made a deal with Tex Avery , naming Clampett his collaborator. They were moved to

2610-476: A presentation by Kricfalusi. The show came to garner high ratings for Nickelodeon, and at the time was the most popular cable TV show in the United States, but the network disagreed with Kricfalusi's direction of the show, and disapproved of his missed production deadlines. Kricfalusi points specifically to the episode " Man's Best Friend ", which depicts the character George Liquor as an abusive father figure, as

2755-466: A ramshackle building used by gardeners and WB custodial staff for storage of cleaning supplies, solvents, brooms, lawnmowers and other implements. Working apart from the other animators in the small, dilapidated wooden building in the middle of the Vitaphone lot, Avery and Clampett soon discovered they were not the only inhabitants - they shared the building with thousands of tiny termites . They christened

2900-546: A rubbery, flexible animation quality visible in all Clampett's shorts, and Maltin noted an "energetic, comic anarchy". While Clampett's cartoons were not as well known in the latter half of the 20th century because television syndicators only had the rights to the post-1948 Warner cartoons, his creations have increased in notoriety and acclaim in recent decades. Martha Sigall recalled Clampett as "an enthusiastic and fun type of guy". She describes him as consistently nice to her and very generous when it came to gifts or donations to

3045-556: A second reboot of the series to be produced without the involvement of Kricfalusi. The series centers on Ren Höek (voiced by John Kricfalusi in seasons 1–2; Billy West in seasons 3–5), a hot-tempered, psychotic, "asthma-hound" Chihuahua , and Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat (also voiced by Billy West), a dimwitted and happy-go-lucky Manx cat . The duo fill various roles from episode to episode, including outer-space explorers, Old West horse thieves, and nature-show hosts, and are usually at odds with each other in these situations. While

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3190-450: A single cartoon for Republic, It's a Grand Old Nag , featuring the equine character Charlie Horse and produced at Bob Clampett Productions. Republic management, however, had second thoughts due to dwindling profits, and they discontinued the series. Clampett took his direction credit under the name " Kilroy ". In 1949, Clampett turned his attention to television, where he created the famous puppet show Time for Beany . The show, featuring

3335-477: A studio-wide drive to get ideas for an animal version of Our Gang commenced. Clampett submitted a drawing of a pig (Porky) and a black cat (Beans), and, in an imitation of the lettering on a can of Campbell's Pork and Beans, wrote "Clampett's Porky and Beans." Porky debuted in the Friz Freleng-directed I Haven't Got a Hat in 1935. Around the same time, Schlesinger announced a studio-wide contest, with

3480-414: A team of Taiwanese animators to draw characters more emotive and wild, which at the time was considered radical. He recalls being "saved" from having to work on these cartoons by director Ralph Bakshi , who had worked with him before in 1980 and 1982. They began working on the designs for the film Bobby's Girl , which was sold to TriStar Pictures but was later cancelled. Under Bakshi, Kricfalusi directed

3625-475: A wider influence on the future of animation. Mike Judge credits the success of Ren & Stimpy reruns on MTV for the network's willingness to commission Beavis and Butt-Head . Writer Larry Brody credits Ren & Stimpy for leading a new golden age of animation, as other networks followed Nickelodeon and invested in new cartoons, opening the way for more adult-oriented satirical shows like Beavis and Butt-Head . David Feiss , an animation director of

3770-432: A year after the original Nickelodeon run ended. The Ren & Stimpy Show received widespread critical acclaim. Matt Groening , creator of The Simpsons , praised the show for its outrageousness and called it "the only good cartoon on TV" other than The Simpsons ; he was later critical of Kricfalusi's firing. Terry Thoren, former CEO and president of Klasky Csupo , said that Kricfalusi "tapped into an audience that

3915-413: Is an American comedy animated television series created by John Kricfalusi and developed by Kricfalusi, Bob Camp , Jim Smith and Lynne Naylor for Nickelodeon . Originally produced by Spümcø , the series aired on Nickelodeon from August 11, 1991, to December 16, 1995, with its last episode airing on MTV on October 20, 1996, spanning for a total of five seasons and 52 episodes. The series follows

4060-635: Is buried in Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills . Since 1984, The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award has been given each year at the Eisner Awards . Recipients of the award include June Foray , Jack Kirby , Sergio Aragonés , Patrick McDonnell , Maggie Thompson , Ray Bradbury and Mark Evanier . Clampett's Tin Pan Alley Cats (1943) was chosen by the Library of Congress as a "prime example of

4205-516: The Looney Tunes Golden Collection volumes 2 , 3 and 5 , for cartoons directed by Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones . On February 13, 2006, Kricfalusi started his own weblog , John K Stuff , posting about cartoons and the animation industry. The site was originally intended for other artists and entertainers, and specifically other cartoonists. Kricfalusi directed commercials for Comcast and Voice over IP company Raketu in 2007. He

4350-480: The Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes DVD. In February 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that characters from Ren & Stimpy were scheduled to appear in an upcoming Nicktoons feature-length film. Three months later, Variety reported that Nickelodeon was in negotiations with Kricfalusi about another revival of the characters. Bob Camp and William Wray revealed in an April 2016 panel discussion that Kricfalusi

4495-418: The adult animation spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" . Since 2006, Kricfalusi has maintained a personal blog dedicated to cartoons and animation. There, he popularized the term " CalArts style ", a pejorative which was later used by others to criticize a widespread 2010s cartoon aesthetic. In 2018, Kricfalusi was accused by two former Spümcø artists of grooming and sexually abusing them in

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4640-576: The American Television Archive. Some of this animosity appears to have come from Clampett's perceived "golden boy" status at the studio (Clampett's mother was said to be a close friend of cartoon producer Leon Schlesinger ), which allowed him to ignore studio rules that everyone else was expected to follow. In addition, Mel Blanc , the voice actor who worked with Clampett at the same studio for ten years, also accused Clampett of being an "egotist who took credit for everything." Beginning with

4785-583: The Cat . The second music video was for Classico by Tenacious D, starring the band members as cartoon characters. He animated them again in a THX logo parody for the band's feature film, The Pick of Destiny . Kricfalusi served as art director for a musical segment in the show Class of 3000 entitled Life Without Music , which first aired on November 3, 2006. In 2014, he produced art for Miley Cyrus ' Bangerz Tour . Venturing into Internet cartoons, Kricfalusi created Weekend Pussy Hunt in 1996 for MSN , which

4930-580: The Disney studio. Walt and Roy Disney were delighted, and they set up a business not far from the Disney studio. Clampett recalled his short time working for Disney: "Walt Disney himself sometimes came over in an old car to pick up the dolls; he would give them out to visitors to the studio and at sales meetings. I helped him load the dolls in the car. One time his car, loaded with Mickeys, wouldn't start, and I pushed while Walt steered, until it caught, and he took off." Clampett was, in his words, so "enchanted" by

5075-452: The Idiot Boy. Jack Black of Tenacious D approached Kricfalusi to produce a music video for the song " Fuck Her Gently " from their debut album , released in 2001. Black browsed Kricfalusi's website and, since both he and his bandmate Kyle Gass held Ren & Stimpy in high regard, he asked Kricfalusi to produce the video. The costs amounted to $ 40,000. Initially, Sony Music did not allow

5220-515: The Man , A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith and Boo Boo Runs Wild , and two Jetsons parody cartoons he produced, The Jetsons: Father & Son Day and The Jetsons: The Best Son . Kricfalusi contributed several articles in 1993 and 1994 for the magazines Film Threat and Wild Cartoon Kingdom under various aliases. Kricfalusi appears in several bonus featurettes and provides audio commentaries for

5365-456: The Roosevelts ", which aired in October 2011 and " Treehouse of Horror XXVI ", which aired in October 2015. He collaborated with streetwear brand Stüssy to create a short series of apparel based on his designs in 2012, which he promoted with a commercial featuring some of his characters. The advertising agency Muhtayzik-Hoffer hired Kricfalusi in 2013 for an ad campaign for F'real milkshakes. He

5510-590: The Warner Bros. cartoons. Clampett, whose collection of drawings, films and memorabilia from the golden days of Termite Terrace was legendary, provided nearly all of the behind-the-scenes drawings and home-movie footage for the film; furthermore, his wife, Sody Clampett, is credited as the film's production coordinator. In an audio commentary recorded for Bugs Bunny: Superstar , director Larry Jackson claimed that in order to secure Clampett's participation and access to Clampett's collection of Warners history, he had to sign

5655-404: The animation for The Rolling Stones ' 1986 music video " Harlem Shuffle ". The team's most successful project was Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures for CBS , based on the classic Terrytoons character. The series was well-received, and it is considered the forerunner of creator-driven cartoons. Kricfalusi directed eight of the twenty-six episodes and supervised the series. At the beginning of

5800-483: The animation would feature sponsored products to tie in with the cartoon, but in lieu of real advertisements, it featured fake commercial breaks advertising nonexistent products, most notably "Log". Kricfalusi cited Carbunkle Cartoons, an animation studio headed by Bob Jaques and Kelly Armstrong, for beautifully animating the show's best episodes, improving the acting with subtle nuances and wild animation that could not be done with overseas animation studios . Some of

5945-513: The animation. Mighty Mouse was cancelled amidst controversy for allegedly depicting the main character snorting cocaine . Bakshi maintained that neither he nor Kricfalusi had the character sniffing cocaine, and that the character was sniffing the crushed petals of a flower, which were handed to him in a previous scene in the cartoon. In 1994, Kricfalusi pitched a revival series of Mighty Mouse to Paramount , which would have featured other Terrytoons characters such as Deputy Dawg , but they rejected

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6090-452: The armed forces, Frank Tashlin rejoined Schlesinger as director, and that unit was eventually turned over to Robert McKimson . Milton Gray notes that from The Hep Cat (1942) on, the cartoons become even more wild as Clampett's experimentation reached a peak. Clampett later created the character of Tweety , introduced in A Tale of Two Kitties in 1942. His cartoons grew increasingly violent, irreverent, and surreal, not beholden to even

6235-701: The best cartoons of the '90s and cartoons for adults. In 2003, a reboot of the series helmed by John Kricfalusi, titled Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" , was launched on a late night programming block on Spike TV and was rated TV-MA . The new series is more adult-oriented than the original, and features an explicitly homosexual relationship between the main characters, strong profanity, graphic violence and female nudity. Billy West declined to participate in Adult Party Cartoon , saying that it "wasn't funny" and joining it would have damaged his career. Eric Bauza subsequently replaced West as

6380-408: The building " Termite Terrace ", a name eventually used by historians to describe the entire studio. The two soon developed an irreverent style of animation that would set Warner Bros. apart from its competitors. They were soon joined by animators Chuck Jones , Virgil Ross and Sid Sutherland , and worked virtually without interference on their new, groundbreaking style of humor for the next year. It

6525-413: The cartoon business". He reveals that Jones was angry at Clampett for making some generalizations in his 1970 interview with Funnyworld that gave Clampett too much credit, including taking sole credit for not only Bugs and Daffy but also Jones's Sniffles character and Freleng's Yosemite Sam . He writes that Jones began making additional accusations against Clampett, such as that Clampett would "go around

6670-434: The cartoon, but remained supportive of Kricfalusi. ABC canceled the show after six episodes, finding the humor not suitable for children's programming. Kricfalusi formed Spümcø animation studio with partners Jim Smith , Bob Camp and Lynne Naylor . They began working on a pilot for The Ren & Stimpy Show on behalf of Nickelodeon , after the eponymous characters were favored by Nickelodeon producer Vanessa Coffey in

6815-419: The character George Liquor was removed, being changed to "George American". Many other episodes included someone smoking a cigar, pipe, or a cigarette. Several episodes had violent, gruesome, or suggestive scenes shortened or removed, including a sequence involving a severed head, a close-up of Ren's face being grated against a man's stubble, and a scene that was shortened where Ren receives multiple punches to

6960-533: The definitive Bugs Bunny model sheet. Depending on the source, Bugs' primary creator could be either Jones or Freleng. Some argue that, based on a viewing of the early Bugs cartoons of the late 1930s and early 1940s, the character was not "created" by one director, but evolved in personality, voice, and design over several years through the collective efforts of Clampett, Avery, Jones, Freleng, McKimson, Mel Blanc, Cal Dalton , Ben Hardaway and Bob Givens . In Bugs Bunny: Superstar , Clampett also takes credit for drawing

7105-484: The early 20th century, where a director supervised the entire process. These methods are in contrast with animation production methods in the 1980s, where there was one director for animation and a different director for voice actors, and the cartoons were created with a "top-down" approach to tie in with toy production. Animator Vincent Waller compared working on Ren & Stimpy and SpongeBob SquarePants in an interview: "Working on Ren and Stimpy and SpongeBob

7250-499: The emotions of the characters "distort their bodies so powerfully". In March 2018, former Spümcø employees Robyn Byrd and Katie Rice told BuzzFeed News that Kricfalusi sexually harassed and groomed them while they were underage. Byrd told the website that she was in a sexual relationship with Kricfalusi in 1997 at age 16, and flew to California to live with him when she was 17. Rice said that Kricfalusi had flirted with her and made overt sexual comments towards her starting when she

7395-487: The episode remains unproduced. After leaving The Ren & Stimpy Show , Kricfalusi consulted, and other Spümcø animators worked for Donovan Cook 's 2 Stupid Dogs , which was put into production by Hanna-Barbera president Fred Seibert . The cartoon's credits read "Tidbits of Poor Taste Supplied by John Kricfalusi" for the three "Little Red Riding Hood" episodes: "Red", "Red Strikes Back", and "Return of Red". In 1994, Hanna-Barbera and Seibert started production on What

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7540-427: The episode. Years later on Spike TV, the show's revival, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" , debuted with this banned episode as their unofficial pilot, even receiving a TV-MA rating. Games Animation, however, was allowed to include more risqué content and even occasional graphic violence , despite "Man's Best Friend" not featuring any of both. The series ran for five seasons, spanning 52 episodes. The show

7685-431: The episodes from the second season, "Svën Höek", did have footage reinserted from a work-in-progress VHS tape, but with an editing machine timecode visible on-screen; the scene was later restored by fans. Three other episodes ("Powdered Toast Man", "Dog Show", and " Big House Blues ") contain extra footage that was not originally broadcast on Nickelodeon. The DVD set even includes the banned episode " Man's Best Friend " as

7830-653: The faintest hint of real-world physics, and his characters have been argued to be easily the most rubbery and wacky of all the Warner directors'. Clampett was heavily influenced by the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dalí , as is most visible in Porky in Wackyland (1938), wherein the entire short takes place within a Dalí -esque landscape complete with melting objects and abstracted forms. Clampett and his work can even be considered part of

7975-501: The financially ailing Ub Iwerks , whom Schlesinger subcontracted to produce several Porky Pig shorts. These shorts featured the short-lived and generally unpopular Gabby Goat as Porky's sidekick. Despite Clampett and Jones' contributions, however, Iwerks was the only credited director. Clampett's first cartoon with a directorial credit was Porky's Badtime Story . Under the Warner system, Clampett had complete creative control over his own films, within severe money and time limitations (he

8120-425: The first season of the show holds a rare 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews from critics, though the remaining seasons have not been rated. The show came to garner high ratings for Nickelodeon, having double the viewership of the other Nickelodeon cartoons for its first season and later averaging three times their viewership. Due to the first season's high ratings, Nickelodeon renewed

8265-570: The format. Time Life released several episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show in a "Best of" set in September 2003. This set is now out of print . On October 12, 2004, Paramount Home Entertainment released the first two complete seasons in a three-disc box set; although the cover art and press materials said the episodes were "uncut", a handful of episodes were edited, due to the use of Spike TV masters where Spike TV would cut some scenes from episodes to make room for longer commercial breaks. One of

8410-399: The hero and rotoscoped it into the film. Clampett planned to leave Leon Schlesinger Productions, but Schlesinger offered him a promotion to director and more money if he would stay. Clampett was promoted to director in late 1936, directing a color sequence in the feature When's Your Birthday? (1937). This led to what was essentially a co-directing stint with fellow animator Chuck Jones for

8555-494: The idea. Kricfalusi left Bakshi's studio to work on The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil for ABC , where he teamed up with many of the people who would later work with him on many of his Spümcø projects. ABC had been negotiating for the production of the show with the Clampett family, who insisted that Kricfalusi be part of the production as he was a strong proponent of Bob Clampett's cartoon style. The long negotiations delayed

8700-466: The late 1990s, when they were teenagers. Kricfalusi released an apology for his behavior, blaming his mental health and "poor impulse control". He has since declared his withdrawal from the professional animation industry. Michael John Kricfalusi was born on September 9, 1955, in Chicoutimi , Quebec , Canada to Michael Kricfalusi, who was of Ukrainian descent, and Mary Lou Kricfalusi (née MacDonell), who

8845-463: The lead in the Buffalo Billy television show. In the late 1950s, Clampett was hired by Associated Artists Productions to catalog the pre-August 1948 Warner cartoons it had just acquired. He also created an animated version of the puppet show called Beany and Cecil , whose 26 half-hour episodes were first broadcast on ABC in 1962 and were rerun on the network for five years. Clampett's studio

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8990-658: The material particularly funny; they were merely doing what was expected". The series ended its original run on Nickelodeon on December 16, 1995, with "A Scooter for Yaksmas", and had a total of five seasons and 51 episodes, although one episode from the final season, "Sammy and Me/The Last Temptation", remained unaired. Almost a year later, the episode aired on Nickelodeon's sister network, MTV , on October 20, 1996. The animation production methods used in The Ren & Stimpy Show were similar to those found in Golden Age cartoons of

9135-408: The meaning of "safe" as "spend a third of what they spend now per picture, hire proven creative talent, and let them entertain." He estimated Spümcø's run of The Ren & Stimpy Show cost around $ 6 million to produce. The relationship between Kricfalusi and Nickelodeon deteriorated to the point where Kricfalusi would communicate with Nickelodeon only through his lawyer. News outlets and several of

9280-426: The middle of a school season, and Kricfalusi spent much of his time that year at home, watching Hanna-Barbera cartoons and drawing them. Kricfalusi's interest in golden-age animation crystallized during his stay at Sheridan College , where he attended weekly screenings of old films and cartoons at Innis College held by film archivist Reg Hartt , among them the cartoons of Bob Clampett and Tex Avery , which left

9425-664: The misadventures of Ren Höek , an emotionally unstable and psychotic chihuahua dog; and Stimpy , a good-natured and dimwitted Manx cat . It is the third to be aired of the original three Nickelodeon animated series known as " Nicktoons ", alongside Doug and Rugrats , and is considered to be one of the progenitor series of the brand. The Ren & Stimpy Show has received widespread critical acclaim from critics and audiences, with praise going to its visuals, animation, and surreal nature. However, it has also generated significant controversy for its dark humor , adult humor , violence, and shock value . This controversy contributed to

9570-400: The model sheet for the first Porky Pig cartoon, I Haven't Got a Hat (1935), even though it was actually drawn by Friz Freleng . Animation historian Milton Gray details the long and bitter rivalry between Clampett and Jones in his essay "Bob Clampett Remembered". Gray, a personal friend of Clampett, calls the controversy "a deliberate and vicious smear campaign by one of Bob's rivals in

9715-832: The music and mores of our times" and a print was buried in a time capsule in Washington, D.C. , so future generations might see it. Porky in Wackyland (1938) was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2000, deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Animator John Kricfalusi , best known for being the creator of Nickelodeon 's The Ren & Stimpy Show , got to know Clampett in his later years and has reflected on those times as inspirational. Kricfalusi cited Clampett as his favorite animator and Clampett's The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946) as his favorite cartoon: "I saw this thing and it completely changed my life, I thought it

9860-422: The new medium of sound cartoons that he tried to join Disney as an animator. While Disney wanted to hire Clampett, they ultimately turned him down due to them having had enough animators at that time, so Clampett instead joined Harman-Ising Studios in 1931 for ten dollars a week. Leon Schlesinger viewed one of Clampett's 16mm films and was impressed, offering him an assistant position at the studio. His first job

10005-481: The new show. While he was initially pleased with the added freedom afforded to him by Spike, he later expressed disappointment in the series due to its slow pacing and overuse of toilet humor . Only three episodes aired before Spike's entire animation block was "put on hold", and the complete series was ultimately released in 2006 on DVD including three additional episodes that never aired. Kricfalusi also wanted to release an episode titled "Life Sucks" straight to DVD, but

10150-468: The new studio. In his first years at the studio, Clampett mostly worked for Friz Freleng , under whose guidance Clampett grew into an able animator. By the time he joined Harman-Ising, Clampett was only 17 years old. By 1934, Schlesinger was in a bit of a crisis trying to find a well-known cartoon character. He noted that the Our Gang series consisted of nothing but "little kids doing things together," and

10295-442: The original series, Kricfalusi showed apparent disregard for meeting production deadlines, with only three out of the ordered nine episodes being completed on time. After the first three episodes aired, Spike's entire animation block was removed from its programming schedule and three more episodes, already in production and completed by the time Adult Party Cartoon was canceled, were subsequently released three years later in 2006 on

10440-429: The peak of his creativity and against everyone's advice. In 1946, two years after Warner Bros. bought out Leon Schlesinger's studio, his key executives Henry Binder and Ray Katz went to Screen Gems , the cartoon division of Columbia Pictures , and asked Clampett to join them as the studio's creative head. He ultimately worked as a screenwriter and gag writer for the studio. Clampett was now working for three studios at

10585-442: The police, they could neither arrest nor investigate Kricfalusi because the statute of limitations had passed. In response, Kricfalusi's lawyer confirmed that "for a brief time, 25 years ago, he had a 16-year-old girlfriend", but denied that Kricfalusi's "avid pursuit" of Rice was sexual harassment or that he had ever possessed child pornography. Kricfalusi released an apology to the women and his fans for his behavior, which he said

10730-471: The production of the new reboot nor will he receive any compensation from it. Originally set to be produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio , production on the reboot has been moved to Awesome Inc in October 2021, while Snipple Animation announced their involvement in September 2022. According to West, development was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States , contrary to earlier rumors that

10875-540: The production staff's altercations with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices department, in addition to Spümcø's failure to deliver episodes on time, all of which led to Kricfalusi's termination from the show in 1992. Games Animation would produce the remaining three seasons of the series. One episode was initially left unaired in North America until it was broadcast on MTV on October 20, 1996. A reboot for adult audiences, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" ,

11020-523: The project had been canceled. Paramount Global (at the time operating as ViacomCBS), the parent company of Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, has not responded to requests for a comment about the status of the show, though West reiterated that it was still in production. On September 14, 2021, West confirmed that he was reprising his roles as Ren and Stimpy. Other returning crew members from the original series include Bob Jaques , Chris Sauve and former Spümcø alumni Robyn Byrd, who previously advocated to get

11165-636: The puppet show Time for Beany in 1949. A later animated version of the series, Beany and Cecil , was initially broadcast on ABC in 1962 and rerun until 1967. It is considered the first fully creator-driven television series and carried the byline "a Bob Clampett Cartoon". In his later years, Clampett toured college campuses and animation festivals as a lecturer on the history of animation. His Warner cartoons have seen renewed praise in decades since for their surrealistic qualities, energetic and outrageous animation, and irreverent, wordplay-laden humor. Animation historian Jerry Beck lauded Clampett for "putting

11310-680: The reboot canceled. Series regular Bob Camp was also assigned to return for the reboot, but was dismissed from the project due to creative differences. The reboot was originally supposed to premiere on July 12, 2024 on Comedy Central in Latin America, but has since been delayed for unknown reasons. The reboot made its debut on Comedy Central in France on July 1, 2024. Sony Wonder initially distributed collections of episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show on VHS , which were not grouped by air dates or season. For instance, The Classics Volume 1 VHS

11455-479: The rights for Nickelodeon's programming on home video transferred from Sony to Paramount Home Video. Paramount only released one video of The Ren & Stimpy Show , "Have Yourself a Stinky Little Christmas", which was a re-release of a Sony video from 1993. In 2005, Paramount released The First Ten Cartoons on UMD , only for playback on Sony's PSP portable video game system. Presumably due to poor sales of UMD movies and shows, no further episodes were released on

11600-533: The same time: Warner Bros., Screen Gems, and his new independent studio, Bob Clampett Productions. Deciding "this was too much of a good thing" and seeking more creative freedom than WB would allow, he made the decision to leave WB shortly after joining Screen Gems. That same year, Republic Pictures incorporated animation (by Walter Lantz ) into its Gene Autry feature film Sioux City Sue . It turned out well enough for Republic to dabble in animated cartoons. Bob Clampett, now working solely for his own studio, directed

11745-505: The second disc were not completely uncensored, Turbine Classics offered to send everybody proof of purchase of an uncensored disc. The set comprises a mix of the known US airings and the German TV airings which included some exclusive scenes of various episodes. Since the set is the first to include all scenes ever broadcast worldwide, it is considered the first truly uncensored DVD release of the series. Seven action games based directly on

11890-445: The second season, Kricfalusi left the show. The production of Mighty Mouse was very different from other cartoons at the time, gaining creative and artistic leeway thanks to the success of the irreverent Pee-wee's Playhouse on CBS a year before. The animators had much more creative input, driven by Kricfalusi's production system that emphasizes artistic contribution in every step of the process, from outline to storyboard to layout to

12035-481: The series for twenty additional episodes in November 1991, alongside the second season of Rugrats and the second and third season of Doug . The show for a time was the most popular cable TV show, with several airings being the most-watched scripted cable TV show in 1993 in the United States. The show quickly developed a cult following in college campuses, and was included in the launch of Nickelodeon's SNICK ,

12180-467: The series' staff ascribe the tension to episodes not being delivered promptly. Author Andy Mangels , writing for Wizard magazine, commented that "Kricfalusi's lax treatment of deadlines angered not only the networks, but his loyal viewers as well." However, some of the delays were attributed to Nickelodeon's prolonged approval process and withdrawal of approval from scenes and episodes that had been previously approved. Another point of contention

12325-578: The sexual abuse allegations made against him the previous year. However, some praised Pataki's voice acting performance. In the 2020 documentary Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren and Stimpy Story , Kricfalusi stated in an interview that he was "officially retired" from the animation industry, "though not by choice". Kricfalusi says he is mostly self-taught, having only spent a year in Sheridan College , barely attending class. He acquired his skills largely by copying cartoons from newspapers and comic books as

12470-509: The show continued for three additional seasons without his involvement. Following this, he directed and produced animated television commercials and music videos for entertainers such as Björk and Tenacious D . In the late 1990s, he created the first cartoons made exclusively for the Internet: The Goddamn George Liquor Program and Weekend Pussy Hunt . He returned to television with The Ripping Friends and

12615-526: The show for the next two years while encountering issues with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices department. The show was known for its lack of early merchandising; according to Wray, the initial lack of merchandise was "the unique and radical thing" about The Ren & Stimpy Show , as no toy company planned for any merchandise for the show, and Nickelodeon did not want to use "over-exploitive" merchandising. Kricfalusi described his early period with Nickelodeon as being "simple", as he got along with Coffey,

12760-454: The show was directing the voice-actors, which he "really worked-out" so much that he was afraid he'd give one of them a heart attack. In 2003, Spike TV produced a new show featuring Ren & Stimpy, which was written and directed by Kricfalusi. The first three episodes were based on fan ideas and scripts that were rejected by Nickelodeon during the original show's run. According to Kricfalusi, Spike pushed for more South Park -like themes in

12905-488: The show was sometimes set in the present day, the show's crew tended to avoid "contemporary" jokes about current events. The show extensively features off-color and absurdist humor , as well as slapstick akin to animated shorts of the 1950s. The show features a host of supporting characters. Due to the nature of the show, they do not have consistent appearances or even designs; those who do appear repeatedly have different roles in each appearance. They may either be part of

13050-439: The show were Frank Zappa (in his final public performance before his death), Jack Carter , Stan Freberg , Tommy Davidson , Randy Quaid , Gilbert Gottfried , Rosie O'Donnell , Dom DeLuise , Phil Hartman , Mark Hamill and Soleil Moon Frye . The Ren & Stimpy Show features a wide variety of music, spanning rockabilly , folk , pop , jazz , classical music , jingles , and more. The opening theme, "Dog Pound Hop",

13195-514: The show were altered to exclude references to religion, politics, alcohol, violence, and tobacco. The episode "Powdered Toast Man" had a cross removed from the Pope 's hat and the credit was changed to "the man with the pointy hat". The same episode had a segment featuring the burning of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights that was removed, while in "Dog Show", the last name of

13340-460: The show's earlier episodes were rough to the point Kricfalusi felt the need to patch up the animation with sound effects and "music bandaids", helping the segments "play better, even though much of the animation and timing weren't working on their own". KJ Dell'Antonia of Common Sense Media describes the show's style as changing "from intentionally rough to much more polished and plushie-toy ready." Kricfalusi originally voiced Ren, styled after

13485-510: The show's most notable visual trademarks is the detailed paintings of gruesome close-ups, along with the blotchy ink stains that on occasion replace the standard backgrounds, reminiscent of "holes in reality or the vision of a person in a deep state of dementia". This style was developed from Clampett's Baby Bottleneck , which features several scenes with color-cards for backgrounds. The show incorporated norms from "the old system in TV and radio" where

13630-428: The show, went on to create Cartoon Network 's Cow and Chicken . John Kricfalusi became a teacher of sorts for Fred Seibert , and was the first person Seibert called while looking for new talent for the project What A Cartoon! . Writer/animator Allan Neuwirth writes that Ren & Stimpy "broke the mold" and started several trends in TV animation, chiefly the revival of credits at the beginning of each episode,

13775-415: The sole executive of the program. When another executive was added, they wanted to alter or discard some of the Ren & Stimpy episodes, but Kricfalusi says the episodes stayed intact since he did a "trade" with Coffey: he would have some "really crazy" episodes in exchange for some "heart-warming" episodes. Kricfalusi also said that the program was the "safest project [he] ever worked on" while explaining

13920-408: The start of production to mid-July, causing much of the animation to be rushed in order to meet the September deadline. Tensions rose between Kricfalusi and ABC over the tone of the show, leading to an uncomfortable atmosphere for the show's crew. The more ABC strove to soften the show, the more Kricfalusi pushed for shocking and offensive material. The Clampett family were ultimately not very happy with

14065-447: The stomach from a baby. In the second-season episode " Sven Höek ", during the scene where Ren fantasizes about Stimpy and his cousin Sven's deaths after they break all of his prized possessions, his line "Then...I'm going to gouge your eyes out...yeah..." was cut. One infamous episode, " Man's Best Friend ", was banned by Nickelodeon for its violent content. Neither Nickelodeon nor MTV would air

14210-572: The storyline or make cameo appearances with little bearing on the plot. Some, such as Mr. Horse , are exclusively cameo-based, spontaneously appearing as a running gag. George Liquor makes his first appearances in the show through cameos or as a supporting character, as demonstrated in " Dog Show " and " Man's Best Friend ". According to animator William Wray , John Kricfalusi created the characters Ren and Stimpy in 1978 for "personal amusement" while studying at Sheridan College in Ontario , Canada. He

14355-452: The studio at night, looking at other directors' storyboards for ideas he could steal for his own cartoons." Jones wrote a letter of accusations in 1975 and, according to Gray, distributed copies to every fan he met—seemingly the genesis of the growing controversy. Gray asserts that Clampett was a "kind, generous man [who was] deeply hurt and saddened by Jones's accusations. […] I feel that Bob Clampett deserves tremendous respect and gratitude for

14500-491: The studio in May 1945, leaving a handful of shorts unfinished before they were picked up again by other studio directors. The generally accepted story was that Clampett left over matters of artistic freedom, despite some people claimed that he left the studio on his own. Clampett's style was becoming increasingly divergent from those of Freleng and Jones. In any event, Clampett was fired by Leon Schlesinger's successor, Edward Selzer , who

14645-439: The summer of 1989 after Kricfalusi pitched and sold The Ren & Stimpy Show to Nickelodeon. The pilot was produced by Kricfalusi's Los Angeles-based animation company, Spümcø , and screened at film festivals for several months before the show was announced in Nickelodeon's 1991 cartoons line-up. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, alongside Doug and Rugrats as the original Nicktoons . Spümcø continued to produce

14790-818: The surreal movement, as it incorporated film as well as static media. It was largely Clampett's influence that would impel the Warners directors to shed the final vestiges of all Disney influence. Clampett was also known for creating some brief voices or sound effects in some of the cartoons. One of these became a personal trademark: a vocal sound accompanying the iris-out closing of every Clampett cartoon (" Bay-woop! ") Clampett liked to bring contemporary cultural movements into his cartoons, especially jazz ; film, magazines, comics, novels, and popular music are referenced in Clampett shorts, most visible in Book Revue (1946), where performers are drawn onto various celebrated books. Clampett

14935-572: The talents of voice artists Stan Freberg and Daws Butler , would earn Clampett three Emmys . Groucho Marx and Albert Einstein were both fans of the series. In 1952, he created the Thunderbolt the Wondercolt television series and the 3D prologue to Bwana Devil featuring Beany and Cecil. In 1954, he directed Willy the Wolf (the first puppet variety show on television), as well as creating and voicing

15080-445: The television series The Ripping Friends in 2001, created by Kricfalusi and Jim Smith. Kricfalusi had previously tried pitching the show in the late 1980s, but networks considered it "too extreme" so did not pick it up. Kricfalusi felt the show's supervisors were doing away with the Spümcø style and was displeased with the direction of the show. He considers the episodes he was involved in to be experimental. One of his contributions to

15225-545: The television series were released between 1992 and 1995. Aside from these dedicated titles, Ren, Stimpy, and other characters from the series make appearances in the Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker , Nicktoons Racing , Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots , Nicktoons MLB , Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix , Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl , Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway , and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 . A Ren & Stimpy game by Acclaim Entertainment

15370-514: The turning point in his relationship with Nickelodeon. One of the episodes, "Nurse Stimpy", did not meet Kricfalusi's approval because of the low quality of the rough cut of the episode that they received from the overseas studio, leading him to use the alias Raymond Spum in its credits. Nickelodeon terminated Kricfalusi's contract late September 1992, leaving it to Nickelodeon's Games Animation studio, which continued producing it for three more seasons before its cancellation. Fox Kids started airing

15515-403: The use of grotesque close-ups, and a shift in cartoon color palettes to richer, more harmonious colors. A direct influence can be seen in the series SpongeBob SquarePants with the physically extreme drawings that contrast with the characters' usual appearance, the "grotesque close-ups". Series veteran Vincent Waller currently serves as a showrunner on SpongeBob . The characters became

15660-512: The video to be placed on Tenacious D's website and instead placed it on the record label Grand Royal 's website, but later relented. In 2006, Kricfalusi directed two music videos, and served as art director for an animated musical segment. The first music video, for Close but No Cigar by "Weird Al" Yankovic , was released in September, on the DVD side of the DualDisc album Straight Outta Lynwood , which features Kricfalusi's character Cigarettes

15805-402: The voice of Stimpy in the series, while Kricfalusi reprised his roles as both Ren and Mr. Horse. The series premiered with the banned Nickelodeon episode " Man's Best Friend ", before debuting new episodes thereafter. From the first episode, fans and critics alike were put off by this revival, which featured the consumption of bodily fluids such as nasal mucus , saliva and vomit . Much like

15950-478: The wonderful work that he left us." Other Warner Bros. peers, such as musical coordinator Carl Stalling and animator Tex Avery , stood by Clampett during his talks on the animation industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Clampett died of a heart attack on May 2, 1984, in Detroit, Michigan , six days before his 71st birthday, while touring the country to promote the home video release of Beany & Cecil cartoons. He

16095-711: The word 'looney' in Looney Tunes ." Clampett was born on May 8, 1913 in San Diego, California to Robert Caleb Clampett and Mildred Joan Merrifield. His father was born in Nenagh , County Tipperary , Ireland in 1882, and immigrated to the United States with his parents at age two in 1884. Clampett showed art skills by the age of five. From the beginning, he was intrigued with and influenced by Douglas Fairbanks , Lon Chaney , Charlie Chaplin , Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd , and began making film short-subjects in his garage when he

16240-546: The wrath of his former Warner's colleagues in later years for allegedly claiming credit for ideas that were not his." Chuck Jones particularly disliked Clampett and deliberately avoided making any mention of his association with him in his 1979 compilation film The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (compiled by Jones, in which Jones lists himself and other Warners directors), though he did briefly mention working with Clampett in his 1989 autobiography Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of An Animated Cartoonist and his 1998 interview for

16385-619: Was 12. Living in Hollywood as a young boy, he and his mother Joan lived next door to Charlie Chaplin and his brother Sydney Chaplin . Clampett also recalled watching his father play handball at the Los Angeles Athletic Club with another of the great silent comedians, Harold Lloyd. From his teens on, Clampett showed an interest in animation . He had made hand puppets as a child and, before adolescence, completed what animation historian Milt Gray describes as "a sort of prototype,

16530-436: Was 14, and sexually harassed her when she turned 18 and began working at his animation studio, Spümcø. Documents Rice and Byrd had saved from those years corroborate their stories, and several people who worked with Kricfalusi referred to his sexual harassment as an open secret in the animation industry. Kricfalusi was also reported to possess child pornography on his computer. Though the allegations were eventually reported to

16675-496: Was a good source for censorship stories, though the accuracy of his recollections has been disputed. According to an interview published in Funnyworld #12 (1971), Clampett had a method for ensuring that certain elements of his films would escape the censors' cuts. He added extremely suggestive or objectionable gags aimed just at the censors; they would focus on cutting those and thus leave in the ones he actually wanted. Clampett left

16820-400: Was a lot hipper than anybody thought. He went where no man wanted to go before – the caca, booger humor ". Jonathan Valania of The Morning Call called it "high voltage yuks and industrial-strength weirdness", John Lyttle of The Independent described it as "a gooey media meltdown, absolutely grotesque and instantly recognisable" and did not consider it a children's cartoon. As of 2024,

16965-401: Was a short called Ted Bakes One , which he produced with Bill Wray in 1981 for a cable channel. From 1979 to the mid-1980s, Kricfalusi worked for Filmation and later Hanna-Barbera and DIC Entertainment on various shows that he once described as "the worst animation of all time". However, he did enjoy his work as a layout artist on the 1985 series of The Jetsons as he was able to train

17110-469: Was a turning point in the show, with the new episodes being a considerable step down from the standard of those that preceded them. Ted Drozdowski, resident critic of The Boston Phoenix , stated that "the bloom faded" on Ren & Stimpy . Animation historian Michael Barrier writes that while the creators of the Games episodes used crude jokes that were similar to those used by Kricfalusi, they did not "find

17255-511: Was a wild place with an almost college fraternity -like atmosphere. Animators would frequently pull pranks such as gluing paper streamers to the wings of flies. Leon Schlesinger , who rarely ventured there, was reputed on one visit to have remarked in his lisping voice, "Pew, let me out of here! The only thing missing is the sound of a flushing toilet!!" On the side, Clampett directed a sales film, co-animated by Chuck Jones and in-betweened by Robert Cannon. Clampett filmed Cannon in live action as

17400-465: Was also granted a LaserDisc set (the only ever LaserDisc release from Sony Wonder, and the only LaserDisc of a Nickelodeon original series), The Ren & Stimpy Show -- The Essential Collection: Classics I & II , was released in 1995. This included all the episodes previously released on VHS from the Classics I and Classics II volumes, as well as the shorts included on said VHS releases. Eventually,

17545-426: Was animating secondary characters in the first Merrie Melodie , Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (1931). The same year, Clampett began attending story meetings after submitting an idea eventually used for Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! . The two series were produced at Harman-Ising until mid-1933 when Harman and Ising left Schlesinger, who went on to found Leon Schlesinger Productions . Clampett left Harman and Ising and joined

17690-530: Was announced that it was not ready. However, on August 6, 2017, the Kickstarter was updated, announcing the film's completion. On May 27, 2019, Kricfalusi announced the DVD masterings' completion and released it on his MyShopify store within a week or two, with backers receiving first priority. The short received negative reviews for its animation, humor, sound design, storyline and repeatedly delayed production, as well as Kricfalusi's decision to release it following

17835-527: Was at 729 Seward Street in Hollywood, later a Klasky Csupo studio. In his later years, Bob Clampett toured college campuses and animation festivals as a lecturer on the history of animation . In 1974, he was awarded an Inkpot Award at the San Diego Comic Convention . In 1975, he was the focus of a documentary entitled Bugs Bunny: Superstar , the first documentary to examine the history of

17980-571: Was billed as "the world's first interactive web-based cartoon". The cartoon, which was released in segments, was scheduled to be completed in June 1997, but production under MSN stopped before it was finished. Production later resumed under Icebox.com after the release of Spümcø's own web-based Flash cartoon, The Goddamn George Liquor Program . Between 1998 and 2001, Kricfalusi worked on several Hanna-Barbera cartoons for Cartoon Network: three Yogi Bear parody cartoons he directed and animated, Boo Boo and

18125-442: Was composed by Chris Reccardi and written by Charlie Brissette and John Kricfalusi. A cover of this song, performed by Wax , is included on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits , produced by Ralph Sall for MCA Records . The program's staff did not want to create an "educational" series, a stance that bothered Nickelodeon , leading to the series being criticized by parent groups. Some segments of

18270-461: Was developing a new Ren & Stimpy short that would be shown in theaters with the third SpongeBob SquarePants film , and later said that they were "not invited to that party" and would not be involved with the short's production. However, Kricfalusi later denied making such a cartoon on Twitter . Despite this, an animatic of the short that was originally made as a promotion for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water before being cancelled

18415-499: Was developing a series of cartoon commercials in 2008 for Pontiac Vibe starring George Liquor and Jimmy The Idiot Boy , but the series remained unreleased after General Motors discontinued the Pontiac Vibe auto line in 2009. He developed and animated a series of bumpers using Toon Boom Harmony for Adult Swim in 2011 and again in 2015. He animated the opening couch gags of two episodes of The Simpsons , " Bart Stops to Smell

18560-453: Was far less tolerant of him than Schlesinger had been. The Warner style that he was so instrumental in developing was leaving him behind. Warner Bros. had recently bought the rights to the entire Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies studio from Schlesinger and, while his cartoons of 1946 are today considered on the cutting edge of the art for that period, at the time, Clampett was ready to seek new challenges. Clampett left at what some considered

18705-567: Was heavily involved with the first two seasons of the show in virtually every aspect of its production, including providing the voice of Ren Höek and other characters. In 2009, he won the Inkpot Award . Born in Quebec, Kricfalusi spent his early childhood in Germany and Belgium before returning to Canada at age seven. He acquired his skills largely by copying cartoons from newspapers and comic books as

18850-429: Was inspired to create Ren by an Elliott Erwitt photograph, printed on a postcard, called "New York City, 1946", showing a sweatered chihuahua at a woman's feet. Stimpy's design was inspired by a Tweety cartoon called A Gruesome Twosome , where the cats in the animation had big noses. When Nickelodeon approached Kricfalusi, he presented three shows, among them a variety show titled Your Gang or Our Gang with

18995-504: Was involved in the early development of many Reel FX projects such as the 2013 film Free Birds , a pitch for a film adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book Happy Birthday to You! and a pitch for a film he created with Jim Smith. He posted the concepts for these projects on his blog. He partnered with animator Mike Judge to produce a series of shorts for UFC that aired on Adult Swim throughout 2016. In 2012, Kricfalusi funded through Kickstarter

19140-679: Was motivated by then-undiagnosed bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as "poor impulse control". Byrd and Rice criticized Kricfalusi's statement as a non-apology and an attempt to deflect the blame. Due to the allegations, Kricfalusi will not be involved in Comedy Central 's upcoming revival of The Ren & Stimpy Show , nor will he receive any financial compensation from it. [REDACTED] Quotations related to John Kricfalusi at Wikiquote The Ren %26 Stimpy Show The Ren & Stimpy Show , commonly referred to as simply Ren & Stimpy ,

19285-495: Was of Scottish and English descent. He has one sister named Elizabeth. He spent his early childhood in Germany and Belgium while his father was serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force . He would watch weekend screenings of European feature-length cartoons such as The Snow Queen at Air Force cinemas. At age seven he returned with his family to Canada . After their return they moved from Montreal to Ottawa in

19430-552: Was only given $ 3,000 and four weeks to complete each short). During production of Porky's Duck Hunt in 1937, Avery created a character that would become Daffy Duck and Clampett animated the character for the first time. Clampett was so popular in theaters that Schlesinger told the other directors to imitate him, emphasizing gags and action. When Tex Avery departed in 1941, his unit was taken over by Clampett while Norman McCabe took over Clampett's old unit. Clampett finished Avery's remaining unfinished cartoons. When McCabe joined

19575-469: Was performed by a group of Spümcø employees under the name "Die Screaming Leiderhôsens"; they include developer Jim Smith , animator Chris Reccardi and production assistant Scott Huml. Three Ren & Stimpy albums have been released. In 1993 a compilation album, You Eediot! , was released as a soundtrack album. The album's front cover is a parody of The Beatles ' 11th studio album Abbey Road . Stimpy's rousing anthem titled "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy"

19720-555: Was planned for the Atari Lynx but never released. Marvel Comics optioned the rights to produce comic books based on Nickelodeon properties in 1992. The initial plan was to have an anthology comic featuring several Nicktoons properties. Marvel produced 44 issues of the ongoing series, along with several specials under the Marvel Absurd imprint. Most of these were written by comic scribe Dan Slott . Bob Clampett Clampett

19865-437: Was produced by Kricfalusi and Spümcø and aired in 2003 on Spike TV . Only three episodes were aired before the series was canceled due to both production delays and negative critical reception from both critics and fans of the original series, with three additional episodes (all incomplete at the time of the cancellation) being released straight to DVD in 2006. On August 5, 2020, Comedy Central announced that they had ordered

20010-404: Was produced by Kricfalusi's animation studio Spümcø for the first two seasons. Beginning with season three (1993–94), the show was produced by Nickelodeon's Games Animation. The episode "Man's Best Friend" was produced for season two, but the episode was shelved and debuted with the show's 2003 reboot . Another episode, "Sammy and Me / The Last Temptation", aired on MTV on October 20, 1996, almost

20155-433: Was promoted to a directorial position in 1937. During his 15 years at the studio, he directed 84 cartoons later deemed classic, and designed some of the studio's most famous characters, including Porky Pig , Daffy Duck and Tweety . Among his most acclaimed films are Porky in Wackyland (1938) and The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946). He left Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1946 and turned his attention to television, creating

20300-559: Was released as a bonus feature on the Cans Without Labels DVD in May 2019. On August 5, 2020, it was announced that a new Ren & Stimpy reboot has been greenlit by Comedy Central , along with Daria and Beavis and Butt-Head . Though a new creative staff has been employed, Billy West was expected to return along with a few of the original series' writers. Due to the sexual abuse allegations surrounding him , it has been confirmed that Kricfalusi will not be involved in

20445-456: Was released in 1993 and included three episodes from Season 1 ("Space Madness", "Untamed World" and "Stimpy's Invention"), as well as the short segment "Breakfast Tips" and a "Log" commercial. Other Nickelodeon compilation tapes, including two themed after the SNICK programming block, were also released containing individual Ren and Stimpy cartoons. Perhaps because of the show's adult following, it

20590-492: Was released on July 17, 2006, featuring both the aired and unaired episodes from "Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon". Paramount released "The Almost Complete Series" 9-disc set that combines the individual season discs into a single package, on February 6, 2018, and was re-released on January 11, 2022. The original series was released entirely as a 9-disc set in Germany on October 4, 2013. After people said that two episodes on

20735-793: Was the direction of the series. Kricfalusi cites the episode " Man's Best Friend " as the primary reason for his dismissal; the character George Liquor is depicted in the episode as an abusive father figure, and Nickelodeon did not want the show to be so frightening and dramatic. Nickelodeon terminated Kricfalusi's contract in late September 1992 and offered him the position of consultant for Ren & Stimpy , but he refused to " sell out ". The network moved production from Spümcø to its newly founded animation studio, Games Animation , which later became Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Bob Camp replaced Kricfalusi as director, while West, having refused Kricfalusi's request to leave along with him, voiced Ren in addition to Stimpy. Fans and critics felt this

20880-547: Was the greatest thing I'd ever seen, and I still think it is." Animation historian Leonard Maltin has called Clampett's cartoons "unmistakable". Milton Gray believes that Schlesinger put Clampett in charge of the black and white cartoon division in order to save it, and many historians have singled out a scene in Porky's Duck Hunt , in which Daffy exits, as a defining Clampett moment. Maltin called it "a level of wackiness few moviegoers had ever seen". Historian Charles Solomon noted

21025-538: Was very similar. They're both storyboard-driven shows, which means they give us an outline from a premise after the premise has been approved. We take the outline and expand on it, writing the dialogue and gags. That was very familiar." The show's aesthetics draw on Golden Age cartoons, particularly those of animator Bob Clampett from the 1940s in the way the characters' emotions powerfully distort their bodies. The show's style emphasizes unique expressions, intense and specific acting and strong character poses. One of

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