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February 19, 2006 1:11 PM   Subscribe

John Kricfalusi GHOFB -- "I make cartoons and play in a band. I like playing in a band because it's actually fun and no one tells you to be lousy on purpose."
posted by LinusMines (30 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Happy Happy Joy Joy!
posted by Marianne at 1:14 PM on February 19, 2006


Wonderful.
posted by brundlefly at 1:17 PM on February 19, 2006


I was wondering whether to post this or try to keep it all to my self! I also just discovered the wonders of PussyCow, from former Spumco-ites Eric Pringle and Matt Danner
posted by dgaicun at 1:25 PM on February 19, 2006


Best to post in that case dqaicum, it's making the rounds all over the rest of blogspace anyway. I'm not complaining -- is great, actually!
posted by JHarris at 1:46 PM on February 19, 2006


Yeah, guaranteed it woulda been up here sooner or later since it was on BoingBoing. Great site.
posted by antifuse at 1:51 PM on February 19, 2006


i love him : >

(EW should pick up his celeb caricatures, and i'd love to see his take on the Flintstones, like he did with Yogi--i'd love to see his take on every single other animated thing on earth, actually)
posted by amberglow at 1:51 PM on February 19, 2006


AWESOME AND A HALF! this rocks.

here's the thing about kricfalusi: like many pre-teens and teens of the time, my life and sense of humor was profoundly affected by ren and stimpy. loony tunes, simpsons, ren and stimpy, those are the cartoons that changed my life. i still, to this day, adore that show. I loved his bjork video for I Miss You, too. I've loved his old mtv spots.

but then...

ripping friends? not so much. boo boo runs wild? hated it. a day in the life of ranger smith? wanted to hurt someone. I haven't seen the new ren and stimpy, yet.

so what's the deal? Is it me? I can't figure it out, but nothing he's done in the past 4 years has made me laugh. Maybe I'm broken or something. The pacing just seems completely fucked, to me. Am I alone in this? Has anyone else felt this way? Meh. I really want to like his new stuff. I do.
posted by shmegegge at 2:01 PM on February 19, 2006


hell, I even liked that old mighty mouse remake he did on saturday mornings years and years ago.
posted by shmegegge at 2:02 PM on February 19, 2006


shmegegge, wasn't he more restricted when he was doing Ren and Stimpy to placate the network?

I think he had to really conform (as much as possible) for that in ways he hasn't had to for the newer stuff...the whole gay thing, for just one example you can see made much more explicit in the newer Ren and Stimpys (i'm the pitcher, you're the catcher!), and the closeup grossness stuff.
posted by amberglow at 2:07 PM on February 19, 2006


(via ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project, to which support by John K. includes the donation of Spümcø's archives)
posted by LinusMines at 2:26 PM on February 19, 2006


the understanding I had was that he was more restricted after the first season or two. I don't know for certain, though.

but it's not that the new stuff is too weird for me or anything, it's just that when I watch these pilots on adult swim, I honestly can't find any good jokes in them, and when I think I've found one, it's ruined by poor pacing or delivery.
posted by shmegegge at 3:53 PM on February 19, 2006


see, i love it because the expected doesn't happen. the setup doesn't always end in a punchline, etc...it's like he's playing with the entire form, not just the look and actions and stories.
posted by amberglow at 4:12 PM on February 19, 2006


and i'd love to see his take on the Flintstones, like he did with Yogi

Grrr! They have been playing that freaking Yogi cartoon every Sunday night for 2-3 months on Cartoon Network. I mean, it's just that one episode! It's like, ok midnight's here, time to turn off [as] now. It's the sort of perverse torture those folks like to engage in with their viewers, though, down to the tongue-in-cheek ads they run for it: "This week...on a Very Special Episode of 'Boo Boo Runs Wild'..."

Gah! Make it stop. I am trying not to build up any residual resentment toward John K for this :)
posted by First Post at 4:53 PM on February 19, 2006


That's a terrible depiction of the prophet. Fatwah!
posted by iamck at 5:13 PM on February 19, 2006


The celebrity caricatures are simply wonderful. His Barbara Bush (the elder) will stay with me until death.
posted by maryh at 7:15 PM on February 19, 2006


He did an appearance here in Austin at the Alamo Drafthouse Theater, when they were showing a collection of various Spumco and Ren & Stimpy shorts. He came off as really bitter and paranoid, and with a much higher opinion of his own talent and relevance than he deserves (IMHO). He's talented, no question, but he's not the savior of cartooning or anything, which is how he postured himself.
posted by RylandDotNet at 7:50 PM on February 19, 2006


I think adult swim desperately wants him to make a regular show for them, but will have difficulty justifying it to the network without some sort of viewership stats to support the cost. I think they're trying to force support for a terrible show by showing it over and over and over again.

What they should have learned from Tom Goes To The Mayor, 12 oz Mouse and Perfect Hair Forever is that you don't need to justify it. If you just air an entire season, regardless of how unbearable the show is, then people will watch it just because a show they DO like is on before and after.
posted by shmegegge at 8:04 PM on February 19, 2006


i actually love 12 oz. mouse, but i couldn't tell you why for the life of me--maybe that woman who speaks in automated phone voice, repeating everything over and over? : >

I wish they would stop showing the boo-boo thing so much too, First--each time i see it tho, i notice something new about it.
posted by amberglow at 9:51 PM on February 19, 2006


In all my years watching Cartoon Network, I have never seen the John K. Yogi. Not once.
posted by dgaicun at 10:05 PM on February 19, 2006


dgaicun--you should have turned the TV on immediately rather than posting. Because it was on at 1 am, like it has been all year.

I sort of like what they've been doing with Boo Boo Runs Wild, though . . . it's acknowledging that the pilot episode of a show is infinitely better than anything that comes after it. The first episode of Robot Chicken? Frickin' brilliant. The first episode of Perfect Hair Forever? Untouchable. But the episodes that follow are usually lacking, whether it be from the script (PHF) or the timing.

So yeah, keep airing the pilot episode week after week. I'm for it.
posted by thecaddy at 10:27 PM on February 19, 2006


shmegegge, that's very interesting. I thought it was just one of those things that they owned free and clear through the Turner Library that they ran a few times and then kept going as a running joke thing until they revamp the Sunday night lineup again. If they are really trying to pave the way for a John K project, it wouldn't appear to be working. Their msgboards crackle with electric hate over the whole thing.

And yes, one great thing about [as] is that the shows are short; if you don't like something, just wait 15 minutes and it'll be something else :) The thing about sticking with something for at least a season makes sense too; it's weird how I find myself initially disliking a lot of their shows, but then over time they grow on me and I enjoy them. I dunno how much of that is the show finding its stride, or me just getting used to the show, like hit songs on the radio.

amberglow the voices in Ozmo are awesome; I especially enjoy the improv-sounding mumbly stoner dialogue. On most of these shows the animation is fairly crude anyway, so it's the voice work that truly makes them funny...like PHF's "Coiffio" with his Brak-meets-Inspector-Clouseau accent, Master Shake, the squids on "Squidbillies", etc.

OK, "Boo Boo" just got through its nightly airing, so I can go back to the tv now ;)
posted by First Post at 10:28 PM on February 19, 2006


dgaicun--you should have turned the TV on immediately rather than posting. Because it was on at 1 am

Well, in my time zone 1 am is in 2 more minutes, so let's see what happens.
posted by dgaicun at 10:58 PM on February 19, 2006


Nope, Futurama, so I'm going to return to my original theory that you're all a bunch of filthy liars, because I've watched my fair share of Adult Swim over the years.
posted by dgaicun at 11:03 PM on February 19, 2006


That's midnight CST. It'll be on again next Sunday.
posted by First Post at 11:26 PM on February 19, 2006


Well in my time zone that's in 166 1/2 more hours, so let's see what happens.
posted by dgaicun at 11:32 PM on February 19, 2006


He gave an interview with The Onion AV club which is where I officially started hating him.

First he talks about how the "Ripping Friends" is going to fix what he sees as a problem with effeminate men. Ripping friends of course turned out to be anti-funny. After watching an episode of that show I became physically incapable of laughter for several hours.

Then he takes credit for the rise in animation quality, the success of "South Park" and proceeds to shit on everyone else working in animation who isn't him.

I think it's telling that the only thing I ever enjoyed of his apart from Ren and Stimpy were the music videos he did for Bjork. He could just let his visual imagination run riot, and the results were spectacular. He can't tell a story to save his life though. So he pretends that storytelling is secondary to the medium, when in fact the ability to keep someone engaged and entertained is the absolute fundamental task of a cartoon.
posted by Grimgrin at 11:34 PM on February 19, 2006


Does anyone have a torrent of Boo Boo Runs Wild?
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:29 AM on February 20, 2006


"These are images from The George Liquor Program that I have been trying to get to you for years. It's my best prime-time show."

I'm a fan of John K, but the George Liquor web cartoons he put up awhile back were complete shite. Who does he blame for that?
posted by 2sheets at 10:42 AM on February 20, 2006


Oh and in case anyone's checking in late, it's on again tonight, but 30 minutes later (12:30 CST). They are mercifully altering the Sunday lineup a bit. From the tone of the bumper about it, this might be one of the last chances to catch the show, if you haven't already.
posted by First Post at 9:38 PM on February 26, 2006


That's midnight CST. It'll be on again next Sunday.

Nope, Mission Hill, so I'm going to return to my original theory that you're all a bunch of filthy liars.

Oh and in case anyone's checking in late, it's on again tonight, but 30 minutes later (12:30 CST)

Nope, Squidbillies/12oz mouse, so I'm going to return to my original theory that you're all a bunch of filthy liars.
posted by dgaicun at 11:07 PM on February 26, 2006


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