From: af245@yfn.ysu.edu (Bucky Whaley)
Subject: John K. Speaks: 9/28 L.A. Times Article (long)
Reply-To: af245@yfn.ysu.edu (Bucky Whaley)
Organization: The Lutefisk Watch 
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 01:53:22 GMT


Forwarded from alt.tv.ren-n-stimpy:

In an article on alt.tv.ren-n-stimpy, zuckerma@phakt.usc.edu (David Zuckerman)
 says:

>Here's the front-page story of Monday's _Los Angeles Times_ Calendar section.
>It's a bit long, but it's chock full of info.  Copied without permission.
>
>--begin included article
>
>"REN & STIMPY" AND THEIR CREATOR: PARTING OF WAYS
>
>Animation: John Kricfalusi fought with Nickelodeon over deadlines,
>finances, and the ribald nature of the cartoon.
>
>By Daniel Cerone
>Times Staff Writer
>
>
>When the cable TV channel Nickelodeon set out three years ago to build
>an original library of children's cartoons, it did so by breaking from
>tradition and hiring single animators with a personal vision rather than
>large studios where cartoons are factory produced.
>
>But one animator's vision, independent attitude and exacting work habits
>wound up being a little more than Nickelodeon bargained for.
>
>Nickelodeon is expected to formally announce today the removal of director
>and producer John Kricfalusi from his own creation, "The Ren & Stimpy Show,"
>Nickelodeon's most successful original cable program, because the program's
>delivery deadlines were not being met.  Nickelodeon confirmed Friday that
>it was firing the animator.
>
>Kricfalusi said on Sunday that the demands of jointly producing a cartoon
>series with a cable network were too great.  Kricfalusi wanted to stretch
>the walls of animation into forbidden regions, while Nickelodeon wanted to
>stay within the boundaries of good taste for its young viewers.
>
>"Nickelodeon wants something for the show.  I want something for the show,"
>Kricfalusi said, expressing relief that he was now free to pursue other
>projects.  "They're both very strong visions, and together they made for
>a really great show.  But in pure reality, when you mix two really strong
>visions, it's going to take a long, long time to do the work."
>
>One of Kricfalusi's former partners, Bob Camp, has been named the new master
>of Ren and Stimpy.  Nickelodeon executives were in Los Angeles Friday
>searching for floor space to start their own animation studio, where Camp
>will continue working on nine 22-minute episodes that are now in various
>stages of production.  The network was unable to say when new episodes
>will be ready.
>
>"They have all my creative work," said Kricfalusi, who relinquished the
>rights to Ren and Stimpy two years ago to establish his young production
>company.  Kricfalusi would not say what his future involvement with "Ren &
>Stimpy" will be, because his attorneys are still involved in negotiations,
>but he suggested that it will be minimal at best.
>
>"In the long run, this will be a good thing for everyone," Camp said on
>Friday.  "John is like a not-ready-for-prime-time player.  The idea of him
>doing children's programming -- it was good children's programming, great
>stuff, but he was not in his element."
>
>Three years ago, Kricfalusi, Camp, Jim Smith, and Lynn Naylor could no longer
>stomach the strict standards of the Saturday-morning cartoon Establishment.
>They broke away to form Spumco, a renegate studio where animation would be
>free to run as wild as their imaginations.  Led by Kricfalusi, their ticket
>to independence was "Ren & Stimpy," a really twisted dog and cat version
>of Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton, with Ren an irascible Chihuahua and Stimpy
>a bloated cat.
>
>"Ren & Stimpy" premiered last season on Nickelodeon with six endlessly rerun
>episodes and became an instant cult hit, spawning college fan clubs, national
>media attention and loads of merchandising.
>
>But in many ways, Spumco was a high-pressure creative boiler waiting to
>explode.  Kricfalusi, who proudly claims to have been fired by almost every
>animation studio in town, was constantly fighting with Nickelodeon over
>deadlines, finances and the ribald nature of his cartoon.
>
>"'Ren & Stimpy' is a highly choreographed performer, where the drawings,
>the backgrounds, the color, the music are all like actors working together,"
>Kricfalusi said.  He believes that modern animation is devoid of real
>motion and visual humor because the stories are written in script form by
>writers, rather than on storyboards by cartoonists -- the time-consuming
>method he employed on "Ren & Stimpy."
>
>"We were doing what they did in the 1940s at Warner Bros., but we're not in
>the 1940s anymore," Kricfalusi said.  "There's no training ground for this.
>We were reinventing the wheel."
>
>"There are three shows that are in the offing here that were going to be
>our 'magnum opus,'" said story editor Eddie Fitzgerald.  "John just needed
>more time.  John feels that traditional animation lacks acting.  A little
>boy crying over his dead puppy is not acting; acting is what Kirk Douglas
>did in 'Detective Story.'  The reliance the industry has had in cliched
>story lines doesn't require acting.  So John tailored the stories around
>the need to act."
>
>Kricfalusi, who has been known to submit storyboards for network approval
>and then animate something quite different, also bumped heads with
>Nickelodeon over content.  Nickelodeon recently shelved two completed
>cartoons, starring a new character named George Liquor, because they were
>too offensive.  One of the episodes, "Man's Best Friend," shows Ren
>bashing in Liquor's head with a wooden oar -- in black-and-white slow
>motion a la "Raging Bull."  Several sources in the animation community
>who have seen the episode say it's Kricfalusi's best work.
>
>That's because his animation system was finally hitting stride, Kricfalusi
>said.  One of the most discouraging parts of his break with Nickelodeon
>will be letting go of his employees.  "You're talking about a production
>process that hasn't been done in 50 years," he said.  "It's gone.  It
>exploded in one day.  It's torn apart, and now I have to put it back
>together.  That's a huge waste."
>
>Nickelodeon originally ordered 26 episodes of "Ren & Stimpy" for this
>season, and reduced that number to 13 to accommodate Kricfalusi's
>timetables.  But since the new season began on August 15, only 2 1/2
>episodes have run (each episode contains two separate 11-minute cartoons).
>
>In his defense, Kricfalusi says he simply needed more money, given the
>complexity of the product.  Nickelodeon wouldn't raise the reported $400,000
>budget per episode this season, as he requested, Kricfalusi said, so he
>sank his own cash into the completion of some episodes.
>
>Another independent animation producer who has tangled with management
>suggested that the entertainment industry is not really clued into the
>demands of animation.  "John can get excessive, but that comes with the
>package," said animation producer Ralph Bakshi, who recently had troubles
>with Paramount Pictures, which forced him to cut 50 minutes out of his
>summer animated film, "Cool World."
>
>"Understanding the kind of creator John is -- that he has nowhere to go
>financially, yet he still wants to make the shows quality-oriented while
>building a solid crew of animators -- they should have allowed him to
>miss this season," Bakshi said.  "It's like a ball team: you go with the
>talent you have.  Each player requires different handling."
>
>Executives at Nickelodeon would not comment on this story.  But one
>animation story editor offered his view of Nickelodeon's decision to can
>Kricfalusi: "Nickelodeon realized they have one of the hottest shows in
>the country right now, and a potential merchandizing bonanza if they can
>get new shows to the public.  And John is sitting on the shows.  That's
>something he's always done, and it makes him brilliant.  It makes his
>shows fine art.  But Nickelodeon wants product."
>
>What would "The Howard Stern Show" be like without Howard Stern?  That's
>the type of question now being asked in the wake of Kricfalusi's removal.
>
>"You can be guaranteed by firing Kricfalusi, the cartoon will fail 
>eventually," said one animator at a major studio.  "They're not seeing the
>long run.  Kricfalusi is the only reason why Ren and Stimpy exist.  So to
>take them away from him would mean anyone else who would replace him would
>be trying to imitate him.  You can't do that successfully."
>
>"It won't be the same in a lot of ways," Camp responded.  "John always
>pushes the envelope, constantly.  One way it will be different, there will
>be a lot less conflict.  The shows aren't as likely to be as weird or
>insane.  But I think those are things Nick doesn't want."
>
>Friends of Kricfalusi suggest that his firing is a blessing in disguise.
>They say he will now have time to explore other characters he can own and
>control.  He has been developing "The Ripping Friends" for some time, a
>movie about "the world's most manly men, who fight to make the Earth a
>safe place in which to be manly."
>
>"John is the progressive, creative artist," said animation historian Jerry
>Beck.  "He's going to move on to his next plateau, create new characters,
>new ideas.  The people who are doing 'Ren & Stimpy' will be stuck in a
>time warp for the next few years, not moving forward.  In that way, I
>think this is good for John."
>
>--end included article
>
>
>-Dave
>-- 
>David Zuckerman             zuckerma@aludra.usc.edu         Univ of Southern CA
>              "Time and distance are out of place here" -- R.E.M.              
>

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 Bucky Whaley       | "Bart, don't use the Touch of Death on
 af245@yfn.ysu.edu  |  your sister."         - Marge Simpson
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