Klasky Csupo

## Background

In 1982, **Klasky-Csupo** (pronounced "CLASS-key CHEW-po") was formed in a bedroom apartment in Los Angeles, California. The name of the company derives from the last names of the two producers, Omaha native Arlene **Klasky** and Hungarian-born animator Gábor **Csupó**. During *The Tracey Ullman Show*'s days, Klasky-Csupo produced the animated *Simpsons* shorts, consisting of 48, before *The Simpsons* became a full-time network series in 1989. After those initial skits, Klasky-Csupo worked with 20th Century Fox Television and Matt Groening to produce the first 3 seasons of the animated sitcom until 1992, when Film Roman took over production. In 1990, the duo cut a production deal with Nickelodeon, and there they made *Rugrats*, one of the first three Nicktoons, and one of the network's successful animated series. After that, Klasky-Csupo made other successful animated shows such as *The Wild Thornberrys*, *AAAHH!!! Real Monsters*, *As Told By Ginger*, *Duckman* (for USA Network and Paramount Network Television, distribution currently held by CBS), and *The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald* (a promoted cartoon available exclusively at McDonald's restaurants from 1998 to early 2001), among others. The company also produced *Spy vs. Spy* cartoons for Cartoon Network's *MAD*. However, shortly after *The Rugrats Movie* came out in 1998, Nickelodeon and Klasky-Csupo started to get into contract disagreements combined with the rising popularity of the then-new *SpongeBob SquarePants*. But the straw that broke the camel's back was with the 2003 release of *Rugrats Go Wild!*, which was a financial disappointment. As a result, many shows from the company were canceled in the following year, and *All Grown Up* was put on hiatus in 2006 before officially being canceled in 2008. The company went dormant for a while, but Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó officially revived the company in 2012 and announced that they were working on some "top secret projects". On July 16, 2018, then Paramount Players and current Nickelodeon CEO Brian Robbins revealed that the pair, along with co-creator Paul Germain, officially confirmed that a revival of *Rugrats* was in the works, which would include 26 new episodes, and a new live-action movie, both featuring the babies re-imagined in CGI form, until the latter was pulled from the release plan. The revival debuted on the Paramount+ streaming service in 2021.

## Logos

### 1st Logo (1991-1999, 2001-2002)

Nicknames: "The Graffiti", "Avant-Garde Scribbles", "The Storyboard", "Clapping", "Weird Stuff"

On a white background with shapes that change frequently, we pan past a row of box outlines. Each box has a drawing of an object turning into a letter. Here they are:

* 1st Box: Blue cubic shapes forming a green "K" in the Arial Bold Font, which is placed at the left of its box.
* 2nd Box: A dark blue hat that is originally depicted as a top hat before it stretches into a peaked hat, then turns into a boot, which then turns into an "L" in the Baskerville font that is centered properly.
* 3rd Box: An orange pattern that shrinks and turns into a choppy, lowercase "a" in the Shatter font that is positioned in the upper right corner of its box.
* 4th Box: A light blue cone with rings surrounding it that turns into a crayon with a layer on it, then turns into a silhouette of a lizard, then turns into a silhouette of a snake, which turns into an "S" in the Futura Light font that sits in the bottom left of its box.
* 5th Box: A pink silhouette of a cow that turns into a butterfly, then quickly turns back into a cow, but from a different point of view, then turns into an alligator, and finally a "K" in the Letraset Process font, and is properly centered.
* 6th Box: An acrobatic performer forming a tan "Y", which hangs a little off the bottom right corner of its box.

The next five squares have a scribble write the stenciled "CSUPO" on them (in Helvetica); the first three letters are blue, the "P" is teal when it is being drawn but it becomes orange once it's complete, and the "O" is purple. Everything described up to this point happens in a very fast pace. After this, we zoom out, during which "INC." appears letter-by-letter in red. Then we see the complete logo arranged with "KLaSKY" on top of "CSUPO". In "CSUPO" , the "C" is now red, the "S" is now yellow, and the "U" is now blue. The logo then turns black and while the "Y" turns purple a second later.

#### Variants

* A still version of the logo (with graffiti still dancing and the logo already black and white with "**Y**" purple) was spotted on *Stressed Eric*.
* An abridged version with higher-pitched music was used on *Duckman* with the music somewhat resembling the next logo.
* An in-credit variation was on *Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day* on *HBO Storybook Musicals* and on the credits for the music video of "Shadrach" by Beastie Boys.
* A version exists on the first two seasons of *AAAHH!!! Real Monsters* where the logo fades out early and the music trails off into the Nickelodeon "Scribble" logo.
* On prints of *The Wild Thornberrys* season one episodes "Matadi or Bust", "Valley Girls", "Lost and Foundation", and "Born to be Wild", and on at least the first season *Aaahh!!! Real Monsters* episode, "Cold Hard Toenails/Attack of the Blobs", on the Shout! Factory DVD releases of the two series, the logo itself is slowed down, while the music plays at its normal speed while also being accompanied by a quote from each episode that would've played on the Nickelodeon Animation Studios "Haypile" logo (on *Real Monsters*, it was slowed down to accompany the trail-off into the NAS logo). This is due to the fact that said logo is strangely omitted from these prints of the episodes.

### 2nd Logo (1998-2008, 2012, 2021-)

Nicknames: "Splaat", "The Face", "Super Scary Face", "(The) SSF", "Robot"

Over a static purple background, a black ink stain on a blue background with a liquid effect appears by splattering all over the screen. A hand passes by and drops magazine clippings of eyes and a mouth in yellow-orange bars onto the liquid background (the eyes seem to wiggle like Jell-O) to make a face. The face then says the company name as white blocks fly out from his mouth. The blocks arrange themselves to form the K-C logo (like before, but refined to match the print logo, with the "K" in a font like Futura, "L" in Permian Serif, "a" in Linux Libertine, "S" in Futura Book, The second "K" in a zig-zaggy font made possibly to match with the Letraset Process in the first logo, The "Y" in GogoPoster Punch, and "CSUPO set in Bambino Black ☞︎ . I guess…). During the face's screen time, there are holes in the liquid background which reveal some of the purple background that emerge from the center and slide off-screen from many different directions. After that, the background and the face disappear like a CRT television turning off, and the "**Y**" in "**K**L***a***S**K**Y" turns purple and flashes faintly.

#### Variants

* Video games from the company have a still, slightly bigger logo which completely skips Splaat. All of the boxes and letters in "**K**L***a***S**K**Y" (except for the "Y", which is smaller) are medium gray, the letters in "**CSUPO**" are white, and "**INC.**" (like in the first logo) is on the right of "CSUPO". The background can be either black or white.
* There is an alternate variant where the animation was cheaper (e.g. the liquid just waves like a flag, there's no static purple background [which explains very few holes emerging from the center once the liquid background has splattered onto the screen], the eyes of Splaat are flipped vertically instead of being animated to look down/up,) as a consequence of this, Splaats eyes are noticeably farther away from his mouth than usual when he speaks). There is a black background instead of a static purple background (since the logo transitions from black at the end of the credits); the logo blurs and cross-fades to the KC logo rather than disappearing like the TV turning off (along with the the the purple "**Y**" in "**K**L***a***S**K**Y" zooming in over the regular "Y") and, to top it all off, Splaat constantly looks at the viewer (in the normal logo, Splaat stares at the blocks, but the blocks are placed directly in the center of the screen, so it appears that Splaat is looking at the viewer) throughout his screen time and smiles as if he accomplished something before the logo wipes to black. On the studio's reopening video, (Which can be seen here) the variant is in 16:9 full screen at 1080p high definition, it is cut to where the hand drops the magazine clippings, the background of the clippings is in a lighter shade of yellow, and after we hear the duck quacking twice, the logo flies off to the right of the screen. The "boing" sound effect is not heard. This variant would later be remastered for 2021, which uses the same animation, but with glitchy computer screen effects placed over it. The Klasky-Csupo logo then zooms in at the last half-second and phases off the screen via a blue laser.
* This logo comes in 3 versions: a standard 4:3 version (for TV shows and full-frame versions of their film output, though some films have slight letterboxing), a 1.55:1 widescreen version (matted to 1.85:1 for theatrical features released in the US (1.66:1 in Europe) and to 1.78:1 for both home video releases of those films), a 16:9 HD version (for the studio's reopening video and the remastered version) and a 2.35:1 scope version (seen at the end of *The Wild Thornberrys Movie*).
* A filmed variant exists on *The Rugrats Movie* and *Rugrats in Paris: The Movie*. The animation is choppier and in a more washed-out color scheme, and moves at a much faster pace.
* On the first two *The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald* tapes and airings of their Nicktoons with split-screen credits, the logo cuts to black just as the "Boing" sound effect plays.
* On NickSplat's airings of their shows, the logo starts when Splaat is on-screen, silent due to the credits being superimposed, and it's in warp speed. The logo also seems to glitch out, kind of like a TV screen. It is also worth noting that the filmed version logo is used, considering how grainy it is at the end of the logo.
* On some Nickelodeon split-screen airings of shows from the company, Splaat's mouth movement comes in late.
* On a Region 4 DVD release of *Rugrats in Paris: The Movie*, the logo is cut off after the lip-flapping sound (presumably due to a manufacturing error).

### 3rd Logo (2003, 2007, 2008, 2018)

Nicknames: "The Rooster", "Crazy Rooster", "Wake Up!", "Splaat the Rooster"

We see a city silhouette, with a rooster on one of the buildings and a few palm trees on the right. The sun rises, revealing the city (which is green) and the rooster. The rooster wakes up and opens its eyes (from the previous logo, as evidenced by yellow edges around them). It crows loudly as its eyes bulge and the blocks in the K-C logo float around.

* The "KLaSKY" blocks, close to the screen, fade in. They flicker as they scroll to the right.
* "LaS", tilted, glides to the right.
* Some blocks fly in from the top-right corner.
* "LaS" appears from the top-left corner and spins around.
* A "K" spins in and out from the bottom-right corner.
* Another "K", mirrored, zooms in and takes up part of the screen.

When the rooster is finished screaming, the sun brightens, as the rooster mysteriously disappears, and the K-C logo appears in the center. It looks "grungier" than the one in the past three logos, With the word "CSUPO" being set in Keedy Sans. The logo rumbles and flickers for the remainder as the sun's rays spin.

#### Variant

The logo comes in two formats, a 4:3 fullscreen version and a 2.35:1 scope version.

### 4th Logo (2016-)

Nicknames: "Splaat II", "The Face II", "Super Scary Face II", "(The) SSF II", "Splaat's Return", "Robot II"

On a white background, we see the Klasky-Csupo logo in the same grungy font as the previous logo. Suddenly, Splaat comes in from the left side of the screen, and pushes the logo off the screen.

### Variant

On *Splaationary* episodes, instead of the normal variant, there is a new variant that has the text "Splaa-tion-ary" in a typewriter font (with the dashes being red-colored dots) on a white background with blue ink stains (taken from the background of the show). Below it is a green audio wave that plays the audio waves of the sound effects.

## Music/Sounds

### 1st Logo (1991-1999, 2001-2002)

A bit complicated, but here it goes:
Throughout the entire logo, a 24-note synth-cello line (sounding much like an old portable Casio keyboard) plays that adds vibrato to its last two notes. A catchy drum-machine loop (time signature possibly 5/4) and a strange film projector-like sound (sounding much like a bingo machine) play as well; the former stops once the logo zooms out, while the latter stops when the transition to black and white starts. Like the second Cartoon Network Productions logo, there are also corresponding sound effects with the actions of the letters as they pan:

* First K: No effect since the music hasn’t started yet.
* L: A rather abrupt “blocky” sound (possibly meant for the first letter).
* a: Two notes of a rock guitar.
* s: A fast-paced “twirling” sound.
* Second K: A beep, followed by a rising, choppy cowbell sound.
* Y: A boing sound which fits with the acrobat jumping.

During the formation of “CSUPO”, a scribbling sound is heard (which was omitted in 1992) along with two old-timey car honks (abridged to one in 1992), soon followed by a dog “yipping” six times in a high-pitched fashion, similar to a Chihuahua’s barking. As the logo zooms out, a warm synth gradually glissandos to G-5 (on a piano scale) along with a bass note playing in the same key, albeit four octaves lower, the latter of which sustains for the remaining time. An elephant trumpets twice as the logo nearly finishes its transformation to B&W.

It is rumored that Mark Mothersbaugh (the frontman of Devo and composer for *Rugrats*) did this logo's music.

#### Music/Sounds Variants

* In exceptional cases, it uses the closing theme, like *Stressed Eric* and the *Rugrats* episode "I Remember Melville/No More Cookies".
* For the abridged variant, the music is higher pitched, sped-up, and out-of-sync as it starts at where the second K should form.
* On *Bird in the Window*, the logo is silent.
* A version exists on the 1998 pilot of *The Wild Thornberrys* where the logo plays as usual, but with the 1998 "Robot" logo audio instead. The pilot aired on September 1, 1998, and the "Robot" logo was introduced on October 8, 1998, so the "Robot" logo might had been intended to debut on this pilot, but for unknown reasons, was changed back to the "Graffiti" logo, but keeping the "Robot" audio intact. Interesting, but still very strange, not to mention that all other episodes with this logo use the normal music/sound variant.
* On *Santo Bugito*, a slightly shortened version of the music is heard.
* On PAL prints, the music is high-pitched.

### 2nd Logo (1998-2008, 2012, 2021-2022)

A "splattering" sound when the ink appears, and a bouncy "beeping" version of the 24-note bass jingle from the 1989 logo plays during Splaat's screen time, except the first measure of the jingle has been cut, meaning that only 18 notes are played. Another "beepy" instrument plays the same jingle in the background, only it comes in a quarter measure late. The company name is stated in a robotic voice (hence the "Robot" nickname. The voice was supplied by the "Boing" novelty voice in the text-to-speech program used on a PowerMac G3 workstation). After Splaat finishes talking and the company logo appears, we hear several cartoon sound effects: a tiny doing, a lip-flapping sound, a duck quacking twice, and the classic Hanna-Barbera/Hoyt Curtin boing.

#### Music/Sounds Variants

* Sometimes the music is in warp speed (most likely on PAL television or media due to speedup).
* On the still video game variants, it's silent.
* On *The Rugrats Movie* and *Rugrats in Paris*, the audio is out-of-sync. To accommodate this, the ending sound effects are closer together and the quacking sound is sped-up (this also occurs on the alternate variant).
* On early television airings of *Rugrats* episodes with this logo, the logo theme is low-pitched.
* 2010-2013 Nickelodeon USA airings of *Rugrats* with the split-screen credits omit the boing sound at the end.
* On the first season of *The* *Wild Thornberrys,* the episode, "Nigel Knows Best" (the only season one episode from the show to have this logo), the boing sound gets cut-off before it fully finishes and in between the transition from this logo to the Nickelodeon Animation Studios "Haypile", you can hear the last note from the last logo play.
* On *Rocket Power,* the last note of the end theme of said show trails off into the logo (a rock chord before the jingle plays). Some *Rugrats* episodes also had the last note of the end theme echo into the logo.
* On 2000-2009 airings of the K-C shows, the boing sound trails off and cuts off into the kids laughing sound (or before August 2001, an airplane-like sound with 7 xylophone notes heard over it) in the Nickelodeon logo of the time.
* From September 2000 until August 2001, on some split-screen credit airings of their shows, the audio of the promo from the split-screen credits sometimes played over this logo's audio (including Splaat's voiceover).
* When CBS aired *The Rugrats Movie* and *Rugrats in Paris: The Movie*, a generic theme played over this logo.
* On DVD and VHS releases of their Nicktoons as well as the pilot episode of *As Told by Ginger*, the ending sound effects have a reverb trailing into the Nickelodeon "haypile". This can also be found on the VHS releases of *The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald* beginning with the third tape, “The Visitors From Outer Space”.
* There is a bizarre audio variant found on Russian airings of *As Told by Ginger* which has a grouchy-sounding male voice-over speaking over the logo's music: "Klasky-Csupo (pronounced like "zupa"). Blblbllblblblbllblbl. (possibly trying to imitate the lip flapping sound)" The timing varies depending on the episode, as does the tone, as different voice-overs were seemingly recorded for every episode this version appeared on. (you can tell because in some episodes the voice sounds somewhat exhausted) On later episodes, the voice-over has a weird echo/reverb effect.
* Another audio variant found on a Russian airing of *The Wild Thornberrys* features a male voice-over (different from the one above) saying, "Film Klasky-Csupo Incorporated" after Splaat speaks.
* On a Nickelodeon USA airing of *Rugrats* on March 4, 2000, the logo has the audio from the previous logo. Oddly enough, the audio itself was shortened down significantly causing the logo to be silent a little after the final product is formed.
* On the 2021 remastered version, the logo's audio is sped up. However, the final boing is replaced with a whoosh sound, which goes in sync with the logo disappearing.
* A high-toned version exists usually for PAL prints.

### 3rd Logo (2003, 2007, 2008, 2018)

A very loud techno theme, made using samples from Zero-G's *Chemical Beats* sample library. it appears to be yet another remix of the 1989 logo's music. A camera shutter sound can be heard when the sun brightens. Before the rooster wakes up, a voice says, "Wake up". Also, there's a "POP!" sound when the rooster opens its eyes. Like the first logo, there's a projector-like sound heard as the blocks fly around. A faint robotic whisper of the company name can be heard at the end.

#### Music/Sounds Variants

* On a special "sizzle reel" Klasky-Csupo made for their 25th anniversary, the 2.35:1 scope version is used at the beginning. However, the faint robotic whisper can barely be heard and we hear techno-like music that starts the video.
* On *Immigrants*, the faint robotic whisper is not heard.

### 4th Logo (2016-)

The same cartoon sound effects from the end of the 3rd logo, as well as some different sound effects when Splaat appears, such as a bonk sound, and a crash sound.

#### Music/Sounds Variants

* On *Splaationary*, the bonk and crash is absent.
* At the end of episode 1 of *Scraatch-O-Rama*, "I'm RoboSplaat", before the logo appears, the DJ playing the turntable presses a hot cue on it that plays what seems to be a prototype version of the logo's audio. the cartoon sound effects of the 3rd logo start at the twang, the duck only quacks once, and the crashing sound is different. the glass shattering is absent, and instead is more like a bell twanging combined with a boing, and. to top it all off, all of the logo's sounds play at a lower pitch. (which is most likely the fault of the DJ playing the sounds slower than normal, but still interesting.)

## Scare Factor

### 1st Logo (1991-1999, 2001-2002)

Depending on the variant:

* Original and abridged versions: Low to medium. The cut from the credits to the logo is jarring, the random sound effects, animations, and styles may catch you off guard, and the fast pace of the abridged may really suck you up, but nevertheless, it's a memorable logo and a favorite for those who remember seeing it.
* *The Wild Thornberrys* pilot variant: Medium to high. The sounds from the next logo are pretty creepy, combined with the jarring cut and random animations. It can be jarring if you expect the regular audio and wind up with this. In addition, it's highly unlikely people would expect this due to this version being only a one time occurrence, it will also bring back bad memories to the people scared of the next logo.
* With the closing theme: Minimal to low, as it does not stop the cut from the credits nor the effects.
* In-credit and "still" variants: None to minimal.

Of course, this is nothing compared to the follow-up...

### 2nd Logo (1998-2008, 2012, 2021-)

Depending on the logo variant:

* Standard version: Depends on how you feel about the whole logo, it can be ranged from low to nightmare, or from nightmare to off the scale for first-time and unexpected viewers. Splaat's unnerving design looks like something that really came right out of a child's nightmare, the ink splatter is sudden and jarring, and the entire thing has a random and disjointed feel to it. Children will probably gain nightmares from this, though others can find it funny or annoying. Nevertheless, it's one of the most infamous children's logos ever made. It's not unusual to call this probably the most infamous "scary" logo of all time, thanks to Splaat's design as well as the "in-your-face" nature of the animation. It is very popular among and outside the logo community due to its "scary" status.
* Alternate and 2021 variants: Medium to nightmare; the added bonus of Splaat smiling can be even more scary and unsettling, especially to first-time and unexpected viewers. The black background and unexpected transition from the credits to the logo really don't help. It can be decreased to low to medium for those who expected this (although it would be unlikely expected due to only appearing once and only once). The scare factor can also be decreased to none to low if you think the added bonus of Splaat smiling is actually cute or funny, or if you didn't find the standard logo scary as a kid. The 2021 variant will most likely scare a new generation of children, and the addition of glitches used throughout in the variant could also scare a few, since it was used on a children's program.
* Still variant: None to minimal, as it skips Splaat altogether.
* Superimposed variant: Minimal to medium, as you can barely see the logo.

Nevertheless, it is a favorite of those who grew up with *Rugrats* and other Klasky Csupo productions.

### 3rd Logo (2003, 2007, 2008, 2018)

None to medium. The rooster screaming, its eyes bulging out and the loud music can bother a couple of viewers, but it's otherwise an improvement over the previous logo. It is nightmare for those who have misophonia to rooster crows. We're still not done with the scary logos, however...

### 4th Logo (2016-)

Like the 2nd logo, it can range from low to nightmare. The cartoon sound effects may get to more than a few, and Splaat coming in may really scare those who were scared of the 2nd logo. Splaat staring at the viewer can be quite unsettling too. Even if you're scared of Splaat, it's still nice to see him make a comeback.

## Trivia

* Strangely, the KC Splaat logo appeared on early airings of the *SpongeBob SquarePants* episode, "Wet Painters/Krusty Krab Training Video". This was an editing mistake made by Nickelodeon when they first started using split-screen credits; normally, Nick makes custom credits for each of its series and its producers. K-C was the only company at the time, besides Frederator, that produced multiple Nicktoons, and Nick created a generic one for these shows [which mentioned Klasky and Csupo as producers and included Splaat], but, on the said episode of *SpongeBob*, Nick accidentally used the K-C split-screen credits for that episode. This was fixed in 2006 and the United Plankton Pictures logo has been seen on the episode ever since, but it's still one of the oddest editing mistakes ever made.
* On the VHS releases of *Rugrats in Paris*, the "computer voice" uttering the Klasky-Csupo name is actually closed captioned. The same happens in *The Wild Thornberrys Movie*, but Splaat's voice is referred to as a "computerized voice". Additionally, the sound effects after Splaat's disappearance are also closed captioned (including the lip-flapping sound being referred to s a "voice blubbering" and the duck quacking sound labeled as "novelty horn honks").
* On October 2015 to May 2017 airings of *Hey Arnold!* on The Splat, this logo appeared instead of the Snee-Oosh logo for the same reason stated above. This was fixed by the time the programming block was rebranded into "NickSplat". Strangely, only TeenNick SD was affected by this error, as TeenNick HD had the correct logos.
* At the July 2012 Comic-Con venue in San Diego, California, the day before Klasky-Csupo was relaunched, Arlene Klasky mentioned that she found, as claimed, "a bunch of fan mashups" of their production logo, in which she also added that the mashups might have been created in part with how many people explained their experience with the logo as kids, and how it "scared" them, so she later decided to give the "robot" character a name: Splaat. Splaat was also given arms, legs, and a more noticeable ability to speak; his voice is done by Greg Cipes. The character was originally intended to be in an animated PSA, with Splaat explaining his confusion about why these mashups exist, and then adding that he is, in fact, *not* a robot, but rather an ink splat, which is how his name originated. He stars in his own web series, which you can see here. You can see Splaat's PSA here, or the full Comic-Con event here. It is also worth mentioning that, according to Klasky, this logo was *not* intended to be scary.
* On a February 12, 2016 airing of the *Rocko's Modern Life* episode "Fish-N-Chumps/Camera Shy" on The Splat, this logo appeared instead of the Games Animation logo for, again, the same reasons stated above.
* Continuing on these Strange Events, the KC Splaat logo is also appearing after the credits of Hey Arnold! instead of the Snee-oosh logo on TeenNick's The Splat night events. It got replaced in May 2017.
* In 2012, the face was given the name "Splaat" and was also given arms and legs. He stars in his own web-series called "RoboSplaat!", voiced by Greg Cipes.
* If you look closely at the Rooster logo, you may notice he has the same eyes as the Splaat logo.
* This logo is popularly used to make Klasky Csupo Effects, YTPs and many more.

## Gallery

Splaat.The finished product.Filmed version.Scope version.Version used on video games (with white background).Version used on video games (with black background).Splaat in the 2021 remastered version.Finished product in the 2021 remastered version.