John Kricfalusi

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John K. making a speech on Ren and Stimpy

Michael John Kricfalusi, born on September 9, 1955, is an Emmy-nominated Canadian animator from Chicoutimi, Quebec, better known as John K., 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. Kricfalusi is sometimes credited as Raymond Spum.

Career

For many years, Kricfalusi (pronounced /kris-fa-lu-si/) 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" [1]. Kricfalusi's most famous project under Bakshi was the short-lived but highly influential series Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, based on the classic Terrytoons character. The Bakshi/Kricfalusi interpretation was in many ways more creative than the original, yet also considerably more bizarre. The series aired on CBS, but after two seasons complaints from viewers prompted the network to cancel it. John K. also worked on another cartoon series at the time called Galaxy High, providing character designs for some of the aliens in the series.

Kricfalusi went on to found his Spümcø International animation studio with partner Jim Smith, creating the controversial Ren & Stimpy Show. Spümcø sold the show to Nickelodeon in 1988, but after several years of battling with the network's executives over content and missed deadlines, Kricfalusi was ultimately fired from production of the series in 1992, leaving the production of the series in the hands of Nickelodeon and Games Animation.

In 1996 John Kricfalusi created the first internet cartoon series using Macromedia Flash, The Goddamn George Liquor Program. He followed this up 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 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. Most recently he has written, directed, and starred in new Ren & Stimpy adult cartoons 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. However, after only three of six episodes aired, the new Ren and Stimpy show was also cancelled.

Kricfalusi provides several audio commentaries in 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.

On February 13 2006 Kricfalusi started his own weblog, All kinds of stuff. His blog is known for his wealth of knowledge about animation history and for frequent criticisms of modern animated shows.

In September 2006, his animated music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Close But No Cigar" 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, and a music video for their song, "Classico." He also is doing flash animation for Raketu. He also directed a segment for Class Of 3000 entitled "Life Without Music"

See also

• George Liquor and Jimmy, The Hapless Idiot Boy
• Wild Cartoon Kingdom
• Sheridan College

External links

• John Kricfalusi at IMDb
• All Kinds of Stuff: John K.'s Blog
• John K. on Myspace
• The John Kricfalusi Archives (Fan Site)

Interviews and Articles

• 04/2000: Jason Chimera's interview with John K.
• 08/2003: Nick Digilio's interview (WGN Radio in Chicago) with John K.
• 08/2006: John K. Gets Cartoony at L.A. Gallery

John K's Animation School: Lessons

• Lesson 1: Construction Of the Head
• Lesson 2: Squash And Stretch On Heads
• Lesson 3: How To Check Your Copies, Proportion
• Lesson 4: Legged Characters
• Lesson 5: Line Of Action, Silhouettes
• Lesson 6: Construction Of the Head (Advanced)
• Lesson 7: When Generic Is a Good Thing
• Lesson 8: Proportions Affect Design, Contrasts
• Lesson 9: Hands, Simplifying Complicated Things

John K's Animation School: Color Theory

• Garish Versus Warm
• Pee and Poo Colors Versus Colorful Greys
• Look At the Sky Before You Paint a Sunset
• Good Color Without a Lot Of Money - Art Lozzi HB
• Does Cost Equal Quality?
• Eye Relief
• Steal From Anime If You Can't Think Of Anything Yourself
• Neutral Or Natural Colors
• Art Lozzi Interview - Early Days At Hanna Barbera
• Color and Background Painting Reference - Old Golden Books
• Art Lozzi on Bob Gentle - Skeeter Trouble
• Art Lozzi - Scooter Looter - Paint Technique and Background Painting
• Art Lozzi Explains Some Technique
• Color Isolated From Detailed Technique - Yogi Bear "High Fly Guy", 1958

John K's Animation School: Composition

• Part 1: Framing
• Part 2: Intersection
• Part 3: Clear Staging
• Part 4: Staging Groups Of Characters
• Part 5: Negative Vs. Positive Space
• Part 6: Avoid The Middle, Asymmetry Is More Natural And Interesting
• Part 7: Compose Your Poses Together
• Part 8: Form Over Detail, Lettering, Study Other Artists
• Part 9: For Layout & Backround Artist - Study Other Artists