John Kricfalusi

Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, and retired 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 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 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; 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 the adult animation spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon". Since 2006, Kricfalusi has maintained a personal blog dedicated to cartoons, animation, and art tips. There, he popularized the term "CalArts style", a pejorative which was later used by others to criticize a perceived widespread 2010s cartoon aesthetic, though he originally used it to refer to a completely different art style.

In 2018, Kricfalusi was accused by two former Spümcø artists of grooming and sexually abusing them in 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 .

Early life and education Michael John Kricfalusi was born on September 9, 1955, in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada who was of Ukrainian descent, and Mary Lou Kricfalusi (née MacDonell), who was of Scottish and English descent. He has one sister named Elizabeth. After he was expelled from Sheridan College at the end of 1978, Kricfalusi moved to Los Angeles, California, intending to become an animator.

Career Entering the animation industry 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 the shows Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle, The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show, and Gilligan's Planet. His first independent cartoon 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 on the aforementioned shows and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and later Hanna-Barbera on Super Friends, Trollkins, Richie Rich, The Little Rascals, Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, Pac-Man, The Gary Coleman Show, Snorks, The Smurfs, The Jetsons and The Flintstone Kids, and DIC Entertainment on Heathcliff; he once described these shows 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 a team of Taiwanese animators at Cuckoo's Nest Studio 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 the animation for The Rolling Stones' 1986 music video "Harlem Shuffle". In 1981, Kricfalusi applied to work on The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie. Virgil Ross liked his drawings, but Friz Freleng rejected the application, feeling that Kricfalusi's Bob Clampett-inspired style did not fit the film. Angered, Kricfalusi wrote post-it notes criticizing Freleng, pasting them on one of his cels from 1991, "The Squirt".

Mighty Mouse

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. Kricfalusi noted that working for Bakshi was challenging because he set high expectations for his crew. He described Bakshi as an intimidating presence who motivated staff to please him. During production, Bakshi reportedly rejected about two-thirds of story pitches presented to him.

Mighty Mouse was cancelled amidst controversy for allegedly depicting the main character snorting cocaine in the episode "The Littlest Tramp". 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. He expressed disappointment with Kricfalusi's work, criticizing him for attempting to slip inappropriate or "cool" material into the series. 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 the idea.

Beany and Cecil

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. 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 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.

The Ripping Friends

Fox Kids started airing 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.

Ren and Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"

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. 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 the episode remains unproduced.

Other projects

Collaborations with Fred Seibert 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 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.

Music videos Kricfalusi directed Icelandic singer Björk's animated music video for the song "I Miss You" in 1997, which features Björk and the character Jimmy 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 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. on the DVD side of the DualDisc album Straight Outta Lynwood, which features Kricfalusi's character Cigarettes the Cat. The second music video was for Classico by Tenacious D, starring the band members as cartoon characters. He re-animated the characters 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.

Internet cartoons and Hanna-Barbera shorts Venturing into Internet cartoons, Kricfalusi created Weekend Pussy Hunt in 1996 for MSN, which 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 Runs Wild, A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith and Boo Boo and the Man, Kricfalusi appears in several bonus featurettes and provides audio commentaries for 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.

Commercials and freelance work

Kricfalusi directed commercials for Comcast and Voice over IP company Raketu in 2007. He 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 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 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.

Cans Without Labels

In 2012, Kricfalusi funded through Kickstarter 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), 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.

Retirement 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". though he has also cited 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 as lesser inspirations.

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 the emotions of the characters "distort their bodies so powerfully".

Sexual abuse of minors

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 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 the police, they could neither arrest nor investigate Kricfalusi because the statute of limitations had passed.

Due to the allegations, Kricfalusi would not be involved in Comedy Central's upcoming revival of The Ren & Stimpy Show, nor would he receive any financial compensation from it.

Filmography Film Year Title Director ProducerWriterAnimationdepartment Notes 1981 Ted Bakes One 1982 Mighty Mouse in the Great Space Chase 1988 The Thing What Lurked in the Tub 1989 Troop Beverly Hills 2006 Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny 2009 Al's Brain 2020 Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren and Stimpy Story 2020 Utopia Means Nowhere

Television Year Title Director ProducerWriterAnimationdepartment Voice actor/actor Role Notes 1979 Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Storyboard artist 1979 The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle Storyboard artist 1979 The New Adventures of Flash Gordon Storyboard artist 1980 The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show Layout artist 1981 Super Friends Layout artist 1981 Trollkins Layout artist 1982 Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour Layout artist 1982 Pac-Man Layout artist 1984 Heathcliff Character designer 1984 Snorks Layout artist 1984 The Smurfs Character designer 1985 The Jetsons 1986 Galaxy High School Graphics designer 1987 Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures 1988 The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil 1990 Tiny Toon Adventures 1991–1993 The Ren & Stimpy Show Ren Höek, Mr. Horse, additional voices 1993 2 Stupid Dogs Consultant only 1999 He-Hog the Atomic Pig Professor Mole 1999 Boo Boo Runs Wild Boo-Boo Bear, Tree 1999 A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith Boo-Boo Bear, Squirrel Boy 2001–2002 The Ripping Friends Citracett, Jimmy the Idiot Boy, additional voices 2001 The Jetsons: Father & Son Day 2002 The Jetsons: The Best Son 2002 Boo Boo and the Man Boo-Boo Bear 2003, 2006 Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" Ren Höek, additional voices 2006 The X's Bowling Alley Guy Guest voice actorEpisode: "Pinheads" 2006 Class of 3000 2011, 2015 The Simpsons 2012The Eric André Show Himself Guest, episode: "The Eric André New Year's Eve Spooktacular"

Online Year Title Director ProducerWriterAnimationdepartment Voice actor Role Notes 1997 The Goddamn George Liquor Program Jimmy the Idiot Boy 1998 What Pee Boners Are For Web short 1998 A George Liquor Christmas Web short 1999 Rice Patooties Web short 1999–2000 Weekend Pussy Hunt Dirty Dog 2019 Cans Without Labels George Liquor (additional dialogue)

Music video Year Title Director Producer Animationdepartment Notes 1986 "Harlem Shuffle" by The Rolling Stones Animation segment only 1997 "I Miss You" by Björk 2001 "Fuck Her Gently" by Tenacious D 2006 "Close but No Cigar" by "Weird Al" Yankovic 2006 "Classico" by Tenacious D 2013 "SMS (Bangerz)" by Miley Cyrus

Commercials

Video games Year Title Notes 2001 Yoake no Mariko Producer 2003 Go! Go! Hypergrind Producer