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| The beginning | 3>
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.[6] One of their ideas was Ren & Stimpy, but the show would be turned down by the three major television networks in the process.[6] The idea of original animated cartoons created by actual cartoonists, and not by TV network executives whose ideas were solely based on toy products and comic books, 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.[6] The company was officially founded in 1988 as a small office facility in the heart of Hollywood, by a small group of cartoonists, disappointed in the state of animation during the 1980s.[6] 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 willingly decided to quit.[6] A few short months later, Nickelodeon announced that they were looking for new cartoons created by cartoonists.[7] This would be a concept claimed to be "revived" by then-president of Nickelodeon, Geraldine Laybourne, that being the concept of "creator-driven cartoons."[7]
[edit] | Tags:Verification,Reliable Sources,Challenged,Former Type,Studio,Animation,John Kricfalusi,Jim Smith,Bob Camp,Lynne Naylor,Los Angeles, California,United States,Stephen W. Worth,The Ren & Stimpy Show,The Goddamn George Liquor Program,Weekend Pussy Hunt,The Ripping Friends,American,Los Angeles,California,Animated Series,Flash,Music Videos,Annie Award,Björk,Hollywood,Nickelodeon,Geraldine Laybourne,Golden Age Of American Animation,Bob Clampett,Tex Avery,Paramount Studios,The New York Times,Edit,Filmation,Doug,Rugrats,Censored,Bill Wray,Games Animation,George Liquor,Oar,Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon,Storyboards,I Miss You,Mtv,Canada's,Muchmusic,Best Animated Short Subject,International Animated Film Association,Asifa-hollywood,Jimmy The Idiot Boy,Cel Animation,Motion-capture Animation,Macromedia Flash,Tower Records,Robert Ryan,Yogi Bear,Tv Special,Boo Boo Runs Wild,Cartoon Network,Boo Boo Bear,A Day In The Life Of Ranger Smith,Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures,Spike,Pip Animation Services,Paramount Home Entertainment,Dvd,Greater Los Angeles Portal,Companies Portal,List Of Spümcø Works,Dead Link, 3>
Main article: The Ren & Stimpy Show
The Ren & Stimpy Show title card
After only a few months of the founding of Spümcø, John Kricfalusi decided to fly to Nickelodeon's headquarters 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 decided to sell Ren & Stimpy, which led to Spümcø's first animated series production, The Ren and Stimpy Show.[7]
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.[7] Kricfalusi had volunteered to give Nickelodeon executives an informative background of cartoonists using storyboards for storytelling in animated cartoons, rather than a script.[7] Vanessa Coffey, who became the executive for The Ren & Stimpy Show, listened to Kricfalusi's lessons and background briefing of the animation industry, and was pleased to learn about how the process works.[7] Coffey agreed with Kricfalusi that, "If storyboards were good enough for Bugs Bunny, they were good enough for her."[7]
Kricfalusi's animation company finished the pilot Big House Blues in October 1990, and the first episode of the show aired on August 11, 1991, premiering alongside Doug and Rugrats.[11] 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.[12]
Bill Wray, a production artist for the show, stated, "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."[13]
[edit] | Tags: After Nickelodeon | 3>
Nickelodeon fired John Kricfalusi in 1992, and Nickelodeon moved production from Spümcø to Games Animation.[14] Kricfalusi confirmed that the primary reason for the Nickelodeon executives' decision, seemed to be due to the level of violence in the show. 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.[15] Nickelodeon banned the episode from airing; the episode did not air in North America until Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" began in 2003.[15]
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 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".[16] According to Wray, Kricfalusi believed, "[E]very 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.[17]
In 1997, John Kricfalusi directed a music video for Björk titled "I Miss You", a single that was released the same year.[18] It was animated by the entire staff at Spümcø.[4] It premiered on MTV as well as Canada's MuchMusic channel.[4] "I Miss You" won an Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject in 1997, from the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood.[4]
Björk and Jimmy the Idiot Boy in the music video for "I Miss You".
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; and blue screen mattes brought in live-action into the mix.[4] The live-action sequences with Björk were shot in a Los Angeles studio in one day.[4] The entire music video took nine months to complete.[4]
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.[4] She was claimed to be very pleased when she first saw John's storyboard, and she apparently proclaimed, "It's just like Christmas!" and did not ask for any changes.[4]
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 audiences, without the censorship of television networks.[19] 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.[19] The series premiered on October 15, 1997.[20] The Goddamn George Liquor Program was the first cartoon series to be produced exclusively for the Internet.[21] 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.[22] In 1999, The Goddamn George Liquor Program won an Annie Award for "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Interactive Production".[23]
In 1999, Spümcø created its second Internet-only cartoon series, Weekend Pussy Hunt.[24] 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 made 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.[25]
”
—John Kricfalusi, TV Freak Feature, Interview
[edit] | Tags: Return to television | 3>
In 1999, Spümcø produced and animated a Yogi Bear TV special titled Boo Boo Runs Wild, which premiered September 24, 1999, on Cartoon Network.[26] 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.[26] 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.[27] The story focused on Ranger Smith in his daily life routine as a forest ranger.[27]
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".[28] 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, Indigestible Wad.[29] The Ripping Friends aired on September 22, 2001, and lasted until January 26, 2002.[30]
During 2002, after The Ripping Friends had been cancelled, John Kricfalusi received a phone call from the cable network TNN (now Spike).[31] TNN was struggling against other channels and decided to give Kricfalusi a new chance.[31] In June 2003, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" premiered with three episodes, ones which used plots developed for The Ren & Stimpy Show.[31] The entire show was produced by Spümcø, who also had complete creative control over the content of the series.[31] The animation for the series was produced by Carbunkle Cartoons and PiP Animation Services. The series also premiered along with formerly censored episodes from the first two seasons of The Ren and Stimpy Show.[31] The plot of Adult Party Cartoon focused on the adventures of the duo from the original cartoon series.[31] 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.[31] Spike TV planned to bring the show back with the final remaining episodes on August 20, 2004, but instead delayed the series once again, and cancelled the series in early July 2003.[31] On July 18, 2006, Paramount Home Entertainment 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.[32]
In 2005, Kricfalusi shut down Spümcø shortly thereafter, following a lawsuit by Carbunkle filed against Spümcø in the Canadian court system.
[edit] | Tags: References | 2>
^ Sinclair, Carla (1999 October 25). "That's Not All, Folks". The Industry Standard. Retrieved on 27 March 2010.
^ a b c "Spümcø (Spumco) Studio Directory (1988-2005)", Big Cartoon Database, 2011, webpage: BCDB.
^ Aditham, Kiran (2007 December 3). "John K. Joins Hoytyboy". Hoytyboy Pictures. Retrieved on 27 March 2010.
^ a b c d e f g h i I Miss You : It's Like Christmas!. Bjorkish.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
^ "So, What Happened to Cartoons Anyway?", Wild Cartoon Kingdom, June 1993: 20. Print.
^ a b c d e f "So, What Happened to Cartoons Anyway?", p. 20.
^ a b c d e f g h i j "So, What Happened to Cartoons Anyway?", p. 21.
^ "John Kricfalusi profile". Notable Names Database. http://www.nndb.com/people/574/000044442/. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ Kanfer, Stefan (1992-04-13). "Loonier Toon Tales". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975286,00.html. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
^ Harmon, Amy. "Cartoons On the Web, From an Iconoclast." The New York Times. October 6, 1997. Retrieved on April 8, 2010.
^ "The Ren & Stimpy Show". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101178/. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
^ Rogers, Troy (interviewer). "The Animated Adventures of John K.." UGO. Retrieved on 2010 March 28.
^ "Bill Wray." David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview #122. 1993. 5.
^ "'Season Three and a Half-ish' - DVD information". DVDTimes.co.uk. http://homecinema.thedigitalfix.co.uk/content.php?contentid=57648. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
^ a b "Dr. Toon interviews John Kricfalusi". Animation World Magazine. http://www.awn.com/articles/drtoon/when-cartoons-were-cartoony-john-kricfalusi-presents. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
^ "Bill Wray." David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview #122. 1993. 8.
^ "Bill Wray." David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview #122. 1993. 12.
^ Videography. Bjork.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
^ a b "In His Way, John K. Will Challenge the World". WIRED. http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1997/10/7566. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
^ "John K's Guide to Surviving the End of Television". Cold Hard Flash. April 23, 2007. http://www.coldhardflash.com/2007/04/john-ks-guide-to-surviving-end-of.html. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
^ "27th Annual Annie Award Nominee Showcase: Goddamn George Liquor Program". AWM.com. http://www.awn.com/annieawards/george.php3. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
^ "Flashimation: The Context and Culture of Web Animation" (PDF). http://old.siggraph.org/artdesign/gallery/S06/paper1.pdf. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
^ "ASIFA-Hollywood's 27th Annual Annie Awards". ASIFA Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2007-02-02. http://web.archive.org/web/20070202142621/http://www.asifa-hollywood.org/annies99.html. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
^ Weekend Pussy Hunt at the Big Cartoon Database. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
^ 'I think the web itself is going to be the medium for all entertainment - John K.'. TV Freak Feature. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
^ a b Boo Boo Runs Wild - Production information[dead link]. inBaseline. Retrieved on 1 April 2010.
^ a b A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith - Production information[dead link]. inBaseline. Retrieved on 1 April 2010.
^ "Ripping Friends," ABC
^ "Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures Story meeting," Youtube clip of an episode of The MacNeil / Lehrer NewsHour
^ The Ripping Friends - TV information. TV.com. Retrieved on 1 April 2010.
^ a b c d e f g h Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon - Show Information. TV.com. Retrieved on 1 April 2010.
^ Ren & Stimpy The Lost Episodes - Product Information. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 1 April 2010.
[edit] | Tags: External links | 2>
Spümcø's Wonderful World of Cartoons! at the Internet Archive
Spümcø at the Internet Movie Database
ASIFA-Hollywood: The International Animated Film Society
Spümcø at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive
v
t
e
John Kricfalusi
Animated TV series
The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991–1993) · The Ripping Friends (2001–2002) · Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" (2003)
Character voice work
Ren Höek · Mr. Horse · Stimpy
Animated web series
The Goddamn George Liquor Program (1997–1998) · Weekend Pussy Hunt (1999)
Cartoon Network
Boo Boo Runs Wild · A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith · The Jetsons: Father & Son Day · The Jetsons: The Best Son · Boo Boo and the Man
Music videos
"I Miss You" · "Fuck Her Gently" · "Close but No Cigar" · "Classico"
Video games
Go! Go! Hypergrind · Yoake no Mariko
Other work
"Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts" (The Simpsons, 2011, opening sequence guest director)
Production company
Spümcø
v
t
e
Spümcø
TV shows
The Ren & Stimpy Show
The Ripping Friends
Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"
Internet shorts
The Goddamn George Liquor Program
Weekend Pussy Hunt
Cartoon Network
Boo Boo Runs Wild
A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith
The Jetsons: Father & Son Day
The Jetsons: The Best Son
Boo Boo and the Man
Music videos
"I Miss You"
"Fuck Her Gently"
Video games
Go! Go! Hypergrind
Yoake no Mariko
Characters
Ren Höek
Stimpson "Stimpy" J. Cat
George Liquor
Jimmy The Idiot Boy
Mr. Horse
Powdered Toast Man
Sody Pop
Key people
John Kricfalusi
Jim Smith
Bob Camp
Lynne Naylor
List of The Ren and Stimpy Show episodes
List of characters in The Ren and Stimpy Show
v
t
e
The Ren & Stimpy Show
Television
Episodes • Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"
Characters
Ren and Stimpy • George Liquor
Albums
Crock O' Christmas • Radio Daze • You Eediot!
Video games
Buckaroo$! • Fire Dogs • Quest for the Shaven Yak • Stimpy's Invention • Veediots! • Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker • Nicktoons Racing • Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots • Nicktoons MLB
Other
Spümcø
Book · Category · Animation portal / Television portal / Nickelodeon portal
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spümcø&oldid=484828268"
Categories: SpümcøAmerican animation studiosCompanies established in 1988Companies disestablished in 2005The Ren & Stimpy ShowHidden categories: All articles with dead external linksArticles with dead external links from August 2010Articles needing additional references from August 2010All articles needing additional referencesArticles with attributed pull quotes
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