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John Kricfalusi (pron. "Kris-falusi")(born Michael John Kricfalusi on September 9, 1955 in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada) is an Emmy-nominated Canadian animator, better known as John K. He is 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. When Kricfalusi didn't completely approve^[1] of one his cartoons, he would credit himself as Raymond Spum.^[2]

For many years, Kricfalusi 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”^{[citation needed]}. 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^{[citation needed]}, 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, A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith 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 a new Ren & Stimpy show, entitled Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon 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. Most of the stories were based on fan ideas and original scripts that were rejected by Nickelodeon during the show's original run. After only three of six episodes aired, the show was also canceled because the network censors found it too much by even their own standards. Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon was released on DVD including three episodes that never aired. Kricfalusi hoped its success would guarantee a straight-to-DVD Ren and Stimpy series so he could avoid the problem of censors.

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. Typically, Kricfalusi does commentary on the Bob Clampett cartoons, whom Kricfalusi often praises for his fast-paced and nutty style. John refused to do any more commentaries after volume 3 because of artistic integrity. He disapproved of the method of restoration for the cartoons through DVNR (Digital Video Noise Reduction), which tends to erase parts of the artwork, and the over saturation of the colors.

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, sometimes provoking lengthy disputations with animation professionals and students alike.

In September 2006, his animated music video for “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “Close But No Cigar”^[3] 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, as well as music videos for their songs “Classico” and "Fuck Her Gently". Currently, he is doing flash animation for Raketu, an online instant messenger service. Also in 2006, he served as an art director for a segment for Class of 3000 entitled “Life Without Music.”

Kricfalusi claims his heroes are Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Frank Sinatra and Kirk Douglas[1]

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

1. ^ Interview with Chris Savino - X Magazine.
2. ^ John Kricfalusi. IMDB.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-28.
3. ^ Music Video

• John Kricfalusi at the Internet Movie Database
• All Kinds of Stuff: John K.’s Blog
• John K. on Myspace
• John K. Interview style promo for Ren and Stimpy on The New TNN

• Raketu Home Page

• 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
• 04/2007: John K's Guide to Surviving the End of Television
• 06/2007: The Onion AV Club
• John K’s blog, containing his "Animation School" lessons.[2]