Spümcø

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Spümcø International
Company typeStudio
IndustryAnimation
Founded1988[1]
FounderJohn Kricfalusi
Jim Smith
Bob Camp
Lynne Naylor
Defunct2005
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
,
United States
Key people
John Kricfalusi, president and co-founder
Stephen W. Worth, producer and animation historian
WebsiteSpumco.com (Internet Archive)
Spümcø at ASIFA Animation Archive

Spümcø International was an American animation production company based in Los Angeles, California, United States. The studio had produced three traditionally-animated series, two Flash-animated cartoon series, two music videos, five animated shorts, and a comic book. The company also went on to produce for a few animated spots and commercials.[2]

Spümcø was founded in 1988 as a small office facility in the heart of Hollywood, California.[3] The company name was claimed to derive from the name of animation pioneer, Raymond Spum.[4] It would only be after a few short months when Nickelodeon had announced that they (Nickelodeon) were looking for new cartoons created by cartoonists.[5] A concept claimed to be "revived" by then-President of Nickelodeon, Geraldine Laybourne, the concept of "creator-driven cartoons."[5]

Spümcø co-founder and then-president John Kricfalusi sold The Ren & Stimpy Show to Nickelodeon in 1988, and would become Spümcø's first original animated series production.[5] The Golden Age of American animation, like the 1940s cartoons by Bob Clampett and Tex Avery to name a few, served for inspiration for the bizarre expressions and artwork the company became well known for.[6][7]

History

The Beginning

Prior to the founding of Spümcø, two animators: John Kricfalusi and Lynne Naylor, would spend their time attempting to sell original cartoon ideas throughout the 1980s, while working for various animation studios like Filmation.[4] One of their ideas being Ren and Stimpy, the show would be turned down by the three major television networks in the process.[4] The idea of cartoons created by cartoonists would not happen again for some 25 years until Spümcø was founded and would eventually make history as the first animation studio of its kind.[4] The company would officially be founded in 1988 as a small office facility in the heart of Hollywood, California by a small group of cartoonists, disappointed of the state of animation during the 1980s.[4] John Kricfalusi, Lynne Naylor, Bob Camp and Jim Smith, who all co-founded the company, were cartoonists who were either laid off by animation companies or willing decided to quit.[4] It would only be after a few short months when Nickelodeon had announced that they (Nickelodeon) were looking for new cartoons created by cartoonists.[5] A concept claimed to be "revived" by then-President of Nickelodeon, Geraldine Laybourne, the concept of "creator-driven cartoons."[5]

The Ren & Stimpy Show

Main article: The Ren and Stimpy Show
The Ren and Stimpy Show title card

After only a few months of the founding of Spümcø, John Kricfalusi had decided to fly to Nickelodeon's headquarters based in New York, where he would pitch five ideas for cartoons. Geraldine Laybourne, the president of Nickelodeon at the time, picked two of the five ideas: Ren & Stimpy and Jimmy the Idiot Boy. Ultimately, Kricfalusi had decided to sell Ren & Stimpy, which led to Spümcø's first animated series production, The Ren and Stimpy Show.[5]

Because Nickelodeon had no original cartoon material prior to the hiring of John Kricfalusi, the company was unaware of the basic process of an animated cartoon.[5] Kricfalusi had volunteered to give the Nickelodeon executives an informative background of cartoonists using storyboards for storytelling in animated cartoons rather than a script.[5] Vanessa Coffey, who became the executive for The Ren and Stimpy Show, listened to Kricfalusi's lessons and background in the animation industry, and was pleased to learn about how the process works.[5] Coffey agreed with Kricfalusi that "if storyboards were good enough for Bugs Bunny, they were good enough for her.[5]

Kricfalusi's animation company finished the pilot, Big House Blues, in October 1990 and the first episode of the show properly aired on August 11, 1991, premiering alongside Doug and Rugrats.[8] Spümcø continued to produce the show for the next two years while encountering issues with Nickelodeon standards and practices. Over the next couple of years, a number of episodes were censored.

Kricfalusi described Nickelodeon in the earliest period as being "simple" as there was one executive, Vanessa Coffey, whom Kricfalusi said that he got along with. Kricfalusi said that another executive, who came during a later period in the show, tried to prevent some of the Ren and Stimpy episodes from being produced. According to Kricfalusi, the episodes continued production since he did a "trade" with Coffey, which would be the exchange of having "really crazy" episodes for some "heart-warming" episodes.[9]

Bill Wray, a production artist for the show, stated that "on some occasions Kricfalusi completed an episode in eight months. Other occasions, he completed an episode in two or three months." Wray described Kricfalusi's ideal production period per episode as four half-hour cartoons per year and added that the arrangement would not "jibe with our production schedule."[10]

After Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon fired John Kricfalusi in 1992, and Nickelodeon moved production from Spümcø to Games Animation.[11] Kricfalusi confirmed that the primary reason for the Nickelodeon executives seemed to be the level of violence in the show, and Kricfalusi made remarks specifically to the episode "Man's Best Friend", which features Ren beating the character George Liquor with an oar, which may be the cause for his firing.[12] Nickelodeon banned the episode from airing; the episode did not air in North America until Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" began in 2003.[12]

Bill Wray, a production artist for Ren and Stimpy, described the main issues regarding Kricfalusi's conflict with Nickelodeon as not being able to meet deadlines for production. Wray stated that Kricfalusi attributed the delays to Nickelodeon "not approving things fast enough" and the Nickelodeon staff members "changing their minds" over what can or cannot be produced. Wray said that Kricfalusi believed that the product's quality holds more importance than meeting deadlines, and that he perceived Nickelodeon as "slowing him down."[13] According to Wray, Kricfalusi believed that "every step after the storyboards weakens the process" and that he "fought for the integrity of the storyboards" and lengthened production time because he wished to salvage the quality of the series.[14]

File:BjorkScrnSht2.jpg
Björk and Jimmy the Idiot Boy in the music video for "I Miss You".

In 1997, John Kricfalusi directed a music video for Björk titled "I Miss You", a single that was released the same year.[15] It was animated by the entire staff at Spümcø.[16] It had premiered on MTV, as well as Canada's MuchMusic channel.[16] "I Miss You" won an Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject in 1997 from the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood.[16]

A variety of techniques were used for the production of the video: traditional 2-D cel animation by Spümcø and Colorkey Productions, 3-D computer animation supervised by Charlie Gibson at Rhythm & Hues, real-time motion-capture animation by House of Moves, plus blue screen mattes bringing in live-action into the mix.[16] The live-action sequences with Björk were shot in a Los Angeles studio in one day.[16] The entire music video took nine months to complete.[16]

Björk, who confirmed to be a long-time fan of Kricfalusi's work, insisted that he do a video for her when they met at one of her concerts.[16] She was claimed to be very pleased when she first saw John's storyboard that she apparently proclaimed, "It's just like Christmas!" and did not ask for any changes.[16]

File:GeorgeLiquorTowerRecords.png
George Liquor being used in Macromedia Flash in a commercial for Tower Records.

During 1997, John Kricfalusi and his staff at Spümcø launched their web site, whose goal was to provide cartoons for audience without the censorship of television networks.[17] Kricfalusi decided to use George Liquor, a cartoon character he created, to star in the Flash Internet cartoon series, The Goddamn George Liquor Program, created by Kricfalusi himself.[17] The series premiered on October 15, 1997.[18] The Goddamn George Liquor Program was the first cartoon series to be produced exclusively for the Internet.[19] George appeared on the series with his nephew, Jimmy The Idiot Boy; Jimmy's cousins, Slab and Ernie; Jimmy's love interest, Sody Pop; and George and Jimmy's pet dog, Dirty Dog. Spümcø produced eight one-minute shorts.[20] In 1999, The Goddamn George Liquor Program won an Annie Award for "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Interactive Production".[21]

In 1999, Spümcø created its second Internet-only cartoon series, Weekend Pussy Hunt.[22] The series would last for 12 episodes, with 4 unfinished cartoons due to budget problems. The series starred characters "Dirty Dog", who also made an appearance on The Goddamn George Liquor Program, and "Cigarettes the Cat." When asked about the style of the cartoon series, creator John Kricfalusi said the following statement:

Its style was a 1940s live action film-noir movie and we based one of the characters "Dirty Dog", on one of my favourite movie actors Robert Ryan. "WPH (Weekend Pussy Hunt)" was basically a chase movie; a really dark hardboiled thriller."[23]

— John Kricfalusi, TV Freak Feature, Interview

Return to television

In 1999, Spümcø produced and animated a Yogi Bear TV special titled Boo Boo Runs Wild, and premiered on September 24, 1999 on Cartoon Network.[24] The animated short focused on Yogi Bear's sidekick, Boo Boo Bear, who becomes fed up with the rules of man and decides to return to his natural bear roots.[24] Though it focused primarily on Yogi and Boo Boo, it was titled as a "Ranger Smith cartoon." Alongside Boo Boo Runs Wild, a second "Ranger Smith" cartoon aired, titled A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith.[25] The story focused on Ranger Smith in his daily life routine as a forest ranger.[25]

After Nickelodeon fired John Kricfalusi from The Ren and Stimpy Show in September 1992, he had plans to make a feature film starring the world’s "manliest men."[26] The feature film plan was scrapped, but the characters were then used in the 2001 animated series The Ripping Friends. As early as a 1987 story session for the Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures, Kricfalusi had proposed using a wad of gum as a character, an idea which was used to create the first villain for the new series, the Indigestible Wad.[27] The Ripping Friends aired on September 22, 2001 and lasted until January 26, 2002.[28]

During 2002 after The Ripping Friends had cancelled, John Kricfalusi received a phone call from the cable network TNN (now Spike).[29] TNN was struggling against other channels and decided to give Kricfalusi a new chance.[29] In June of 2003, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" premiered with 3 episodes, ones which used plots developed for The Ren & Stimpy Show.[29] The entire show was produced by Spümcø, who also had complete creative control over the content of the series.[29] The animation for the series was produced by Carbunkle Cartoons and PiP Animation Services. The series also premiered along with uncensored episodes from the first two seasons of The Ren and Stimpy Show.[29] The plot of Adult Party Cartoon focused on the adventures of the duo from the original cartoon series.[29] Six episodes were originally meant to air during the summer of 2003, but were delayed for a year along with the rest of Spike TV's "Strip", mainly because of the risque "Naked Beach Frenzy" episode.[29] Spike TV planned to bring the show back with the final remaining episodes on August 20th, 2004, but instead delayed the series once again and canceled the series in early July of 2003.[29] On July 18, 2006, Paramount and Viacom released a DVD collection titled Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes, which contained the entire Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" episodes, all of which were uncensored.[30]

Works by Spümcø

Television programs

On August 11, 1991, The Ren and Stimpy Show premiered on Nickelodeon, and the show would be produced and animated by Spümcø International.[31] After creator John Kricfalusi was fired in September of 1992, Games Animation took over production after season two had ended, and would continue production for the next three seasons.[31] In 2001, ten years after The Ren and Stimpy Show had premiered, Kricfalusi then created an animated series for FOX Kids in the United States and Teletoon in Canada, The Ripping Friends.[32] The series premiered on September 22, 2001, and would last for only one season.[32] In 2002, when Kricfalusi received a phone call from TNN (now Spike), he decided to revive Ren & Stimpy in the more adult-oriented series, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon".[33] The series premiered on June 1, 2003 with the banned Nickelodeon series' episode, "Man's Best Friend", and a total of three original episodes aired on TNN.[33] The show was cancelled in July of 2003, one month after it premiered.[33]

Title Date of Premiere Seasons Creator(s) Original broadcasting station
The Ren and Stimpy Show 11 August 1991[31] 5 John Kricfalusi Nickelodeon (U.S.)
The Ripping Friends 22 September 2001 1 John Kricfalusi & Jim Smith FOX Kids (U.S.), Teletoon (Canada)
Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" 1 June 2003[33] 1 John Kricfalusi TNN (now Spike) (U.S.)

Macromedia Flash cartoon series

During 1997, John Kricfalusi and his staff at Spümcø launched their web site, whose goal was to provide cartoons for audience without the censorship of television networks.[17] Kricfalusi decided to use George Liquor, a cartoon character he created, to star in the Flash Internet cartoon series, The Goddamn George Liquor Program, created by Kricfalusi himself.[17] The series premiered on October 15, 1997,[18] and was the first cartoon series to be produced exclusively for the Internet.[19] In 1999, Spümcø created their second Internet-only cartoon series, Weekend Pussy Hunt.[22] The series would last for 12 episodes, with 4 unfinished cartoons due to budget problems.

Title Date of Premiere Seasons Creator(s) Broadcasting method (Web site)
The Goddamn George Liquor Program 15 October 1997[34] 1 John Kricfalusi Spumco.com (now defunct)
Weekend Pussy Hunt 15 August 2000[35] 1 John Kricfalusi Spumco.com (now defunct)
IceBox.com

Cartoon Network shorts

In 1999, Spümcø produced and animated a Yogi Bear TV special titled Boo Boo Runs Wild, and premiered on September 24, 1999 on Cartoon Network.[24] The animated short focused on Yogi Bear's sidekick, Boo Boo Bear, who becomes fed up with the rules of man and decides to return to his natural bear roots.[24] Though it focused primarily on Yogi and Boo Boo, it was titled as a "Ranger Smith cartoon." Alongside Boo Boo Runs Wild, a second "Ranger Smith" cartoon aired, titled A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith.[25] Between 2001 and 2002, two Flash-animated Jetsons cartoons were created exclusively for Cartoon Network's official web site: The Jetsons: Father & Son Day and The Jetsons: The Best Son. A third Yogi Bear cartoon, titled Boo Boo and the Man, premiered in 2002 on Cartoon Network's official web site. It was animated in Macromedia Flash.

Title Date of Premiere Director(s) Original broadcasting station
Boo Boo Runs Wild 24 September 1999[36] John Kricfalusi Cartoon Network (U.S.)
A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith 24 September 1999[37] John Kricfalusi Cartoon Network (U.S.)
The Jetsons: Father & Son Day 2001[38] Gabe Swarr Cartoon Network (U.S.)
CartoonNetwork.com
The Jetsons: The Best Son 2002[39] Gabe Swarr Cartoon Network (U.S.)
CartoonNetwork.com
Boo Boo and the Man 2002 John Kricfalusi Cartoon Network (U.S.)
CartoonNetwork.com

Music videos

In 1997, John Kricfalusi directed a music video for Björk titled "I Miss You", a single that was released the same year.[15] It was animated by the entire staff at Spümcø.[16] It had premiered on MTV, as well as Canada's MuchMusic channel.[16] In 2001, Spümcø produced their second music video production for Tenacious D, "Fuck Her Gently".[40] The video was produced in Macromedia Flash, and was directed by Gabe Swarr, who was also a producer for The Goddamn George Liquor Program and Weekend Pussy Hunt.[40]

Year Title Director(s)
1997 "I Miss You"[16] John Kricfalusi
2001 "Fuck Her Gently"[40] Gabe Swarr

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Sinclair, Carla (1999 October 25). "That's Not All, Folks". The Industry Standard. Retrieved on 27 March 2010.
  2. ^ Aditham, Kiran (2007 December 3). "John K. Joins Hoytyboy". Hoytyboy Pictures. Retrieved on 27 March 2010.
  3. ^ "So, What Happened to Cartoons Anyway?" Wild Cartoon Kingdom June 1993: 20. Print.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "So, What Happened to Cartoons Anyway?", p. 20.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "So, What Happened to Cartoons Anyway?", p. 21.
  6. ^ "John Kricfalusi profile". Notable Names Database. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  7. ^ Kanfer, Stefan (1992 April 13). "Loonier Toon Tales". Time Magazine. Retrieved 27 March 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "The Ren & Stimpy Show". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  9. ^ Rogers, Troy (interviewer). "The Animated Adventures of John K.." UGO. Retrieved on 2010 March 28.
  10. ^ "Bill Wray." David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview #122. 1993. 5.
  11. ^ "'Season Three and a Half-ish' - DVD information". DVDTimes.co.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  12. ^ a b "Dr. Toon interviews John Kricfalusi". Animation World Magazine. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  13. ^ "Bill Wray." David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview #122. 1993. 8.
  14. ^ "Bill Wray." David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview #122. 1993. 12.
  15. ^ a b Videography. Bjork.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k I Miss You : It's Like Christmas!. Bjorkish.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  17. ^ a b c d "In His Way, John K. Will Challenge the World". WIRED. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  18. ^ a b "John K's Guide to Surviving the End of Television". Cold Hard Flash. April 23, 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  19. ^ a b "27th Annual Annie Award Nominee Showcase: Goddamn George Liquor Program". AWM.com. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  20. ^ "Flashimation: The Context and Culture of Web Animation" (PDF). Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  21. ^ "ASIFA-Hollywood's 27th Annual Annie Awards". ASIFA Hollywood. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  22. ^ a b Weekend Pussy Hunt at the Big Cartoon Database. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  23. ^ 'I think the web itself is going to be the medium for all entertainment - John K.'. TV Freak Feature. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  24. ^ a b c d Boo Boo Runs Wild - Production information. inBaseline. Retrieved on 1 April 2010.
  25. ^ a b c A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith - Production information. inBaseline. Retrieved on 1 April 2010.
  26. ^ "Ripping Friends," ABC
  27. ^ "Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures Story meeting," Youtube clip of an episode of The MacNeil / Lehrer NewsHour
  28. ^ The Ripping Friends - TV information. TV.com. Retrieved on 1 April 2010.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon - Show Information. TV.com. Retrieved on 1 April 2010.
  30. ^ Ren & Stimpy The Lost Episodes - Product Information. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 1 April 2010.
  31. ^ a b c The Ren and Stimpy Show - Show Information. TV.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  32. ^ a b The Ripping Friends - Show Information. TV.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  33. ^ a b c d Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon - Show Information. TV.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  34. ^ John K’s Guide to Surviving the End of Television. Cold Hard Flash. 23 April 2007. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  35. ^ Spumco.com - Entertainment Page. Spumco.com (Archive). 15 August 2000. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  36. ^ Boo Boo Runs Wild at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  37. ^ A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  38. ^ The Jetsons: Father & Son Day at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  39. ^ The Jetsons: The Best Son at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
  40. ^ a b c Tenacious D: The Complete Masterworks at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spümcø&oldid=353819495"