Note to John Kricfalusi: Enough already
There was a time when I saw the name John K. and knew I was about to witness high-quality entertainment. For those who don’t know him (or have forgotten), John K. introduced the world to the world of The Ren & Stimpy Show in August 1991. The first season of R&S is still revered by many animation fans as one of the finest ever for any cartoon. When it debuted it was seen by fans (if not by critics) as imaginative, frenetic, and the perfect antidote to a world of bland, predictable animation.
But that magic didn’t last long. By the time the decent (albeit uneven) second season started there were already huge delays (as long as one month between new episodes) and reports of friction between John K. and his bosses at Nickelodeon. Prior to the start of the third season in 1993, Kricfalusi was unceremoniously dumped from his own creation. The show continued for three more seasons, but without John K.’s unique vision (not to mention his irreplaceable voicing of Ren) it became just another banal cartoon – toothless and rarely entertaining.
Since then Kricfalusi has been involved in a number of projects, but none of them nearly as successful or enduring as the original Ren & Stimpy. Most notably, his studio produced the video for the Björk single “I Miss You”, as well as a few bizarre one-off shorts featuring classic Hanna-Barbera characters like Yogi Bear and The Jetsons. There was also a failed series called The Ripping Friends, and the dismally unwatchable Ren & Stimpy Adult Cartoon Party (mercifully killed after a handful of episodes).
These days, what I’m learning is that when I now see the name John K., it’s probably going to be attached to yet another bitter screed about the sorry state of the animation world. In the most recent one, Kricfalusi once again takes potshots at successful shows like South Park and Family Guy, while continuing to bemoan his brutal repression at the hands of myopic network overlords. OK John, we get it. If left to your own devices, you could create the most groundbreaking and innovative cartoon ever. Except that when you did get a freer hand, we got shit like Ren & Stimpy Adult Cartoon Party, where you somehow got the idea that making them gay (literally, not in the pejorative sense) would be good for yuks.
Happier days
Having seen most of John K.’s post-R&S work I can now safely conclude that for once, network censorship is a good thing. Because if it were up to him, all his mass market cartoons would be full of boogers and breasts. I wasn’t all that amused by that stuff when I was 15, and I am certainly not amused now. It wasn’t what made the original R&S great (it was clever writing and surreal animation to name a few reasons).
Kricfalusi loves to attack major studios like Disney as the height of blandness and mediocrity on his blog, and while a lot of his issues are valid it’s clear he misses a major point — Disney’s cartoons are supposed to entertain the audience, not to make them relive your own pre-pubescent fantasies. Would The Little Mermaid be more cutting edge if she had a huge chest and we got some closeups of her armpits? Possibly. Would it be pointless and juvenile? Yeah, pretty much. Likewise, shows like South Park, The Simpsons, and Family Guy are not about the animation. They are delivery systems for stories and jokes, pure and simple. The animation quality (such as it is) is incidental.
Look, it’s obvious John K. loves his craft and has the kind of talent most of us slobs can only dream of. He clocks countless hours on his own blog trying to educate other aspiring cartoonists for free. But seriously, enough already with the bitterness. Yes it sucks that you got fired from your own show. But the thing is, most people who watch cartoons don’t give a crap about the inherent quality of the animation – they just want to be entertained. Yes, there will always be a small group of devotees who will pause episodes of Dexter’s Laboratory to critique the animation on a frame-by-frame basis, and compare it unfavorably to the glories of Chuck Jones-era Looney Tunes.
But the thing is John, those glories are over and they aren’t coming back. So perhaps instead of blasting successful cartoons every chance you get, how about you just keep making the type of stuff you want to and enjoy the fact that there is still a fanbase for it? Maybe if you tone down the venom people might be inclined to listen a little more closely to you. Oh yeah, and you might want to consider focusing on your stories a little more instead of trying to ramp up the sex factor. Just a thought.
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Shane Elitas
Hi I love your blog and your YT channel. I know this post is about 10 years old but the subject is as fresh as the spring morning dew. the paradox of this subject has intrigued me for years being a occasion viewer of said subjects blog, as a leopard cant change his spots, Michael John Kricsfaluci will never ever change his tune of being the grouchy curmudgeon amongst animation living legends. like you I grew up watching the genius work of John K from his days working on the New Adventures of Mighty Mouse (Bakshi) and of course Ren and Stimpy (my personal favorite ep was the Muddy Mudskipper one) No doubt the man had/has pure talent, but like another creative legend, comedian Jerry Lewis, he is also a stubborn man with a strong opinion and demands everything done HIS way or no way! and that has ruffled feathers for many that he has worked for and with: Lou (Filmation) Scheimer, Billy West (Stimpy), even the family of his legendary mentor Bob Clampett, while even today he’s got a point about the formulaic stylings of cartoons around the world. whether its for example Disney fairytales, the humor of some of Seth McFarlane’s product or some of the stylings of certain Japanese anime, he brings passion to the table, however his sin is that he makes it too much a major part of who he is, he wastes amounts of his time and talent on being a hater slandering and lamenting on whats wrong with his “competition/rivals/peers” rather than emphasizing on making the best “John K” product he can make and sadly as you have mentioned it has shown in the quality of content. he seems to be more part animator, part political pundit, part “nutty professor” yearning for the “good old days” of ‘creator driven animation’, respected by many however viewed more as a has-been to all but a limited tiny group of peers and the small but vocal and loyal following of fanboys/girls that obey his every command as if His opinion was the one true Animation Gospel, the only opinion that counted in a community of many talented creators when many that followed in his style Genndy Tartakovsky, Steve Hillenburg, Dave Feiss, Craig McCracken/Lauren Faust, Pendleton Ward, even his friend Mike Judge enjoyed MUCH bigger success and often turned (IMO) out much BETTER product than he did. Had he showed a little humility he could have made R&S bigger than it was, he could have created things bigger than South Park or Family Guy. sure he’s done design work for NBC, Miley Cyrus, and the UFC, but with his talent he could have done bigger things. He could have achieved the animation supergod- superlegend tier status that he believes he deserves. its sad that although he continues to be respected for the great work he did in the past his bitterness, his venom and “narccicistic grumpy old man persona” that is manifested in his blogs and his interviews gets squarely in the way of his ability to be the best he can be and create future works that are worthy of his sermons of what “animation is supposed to be” and shows a man, once one of the greatest of his generation in his field, in a declining Nora Desmond like state, nearly devoid of humanity, jealously and angrily seeing new generations of animators suddenly rise above him while pining for his unattainable heyday.