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Ralph Bakshi pulled himself away from his drawing desk in New Mexico to chat with Cartoon Brew about his legacy, his latest project "The Last Days of Coney Island," which he recently funded on Kickstarter, and what he really thinks about the computer’s role in animation these days.

After a relatively quiet stretch, John Kricfalusi ("Ren & Stimpy") is popping up everywhere nowadays: at the front "Simpsons" episodes, behind Miley Cyrus, and now, in your milkshake machine.

"Ren & Stimpy" creator John Kricfalusi attended the Dallas International Film Festival this weekend to accept the Texas Avery Award.

Whether it be for lack of budget or a desire to take center stage, series creators lending their own voices to their animated television shows has always been fairly commonplace – Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead, King of the Hill), John Kricfalusi (Ren and Stimpy), Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) and Trey Parker and Matt Stone (South Park) immediately spring to mind. However, in recent years, more and more feature directors have started getting in on the trend. From throwaway one-liners to continuous roles throughout entire franchises, here is a list of some animation directors and the characters they brought to life in their own films.

1. Eric Goldberg

As the animation director for Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Goldberg not only supervised the animation of the WB’s classic characters but he voiced some of them as well. Goldberg recorded the dialogue of Marvin the Martian, Tweety Bird and Speedy Gonzalez.

2. Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud

The distinctive sputters, spurts and high-speed mutterings of The Minions in Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013) belong to the films’ co-directors Pierre Coffin (above left) and Chris Renaud. And as the character’s popularity grows, so does their vocal commitment, as the two will reprise their roles in next year’s prequel Minions.

3. Ralph Bakshi

In his debut film Fritz the Cat (1972), director Ralph Bakshi voiced one of the boorish antagonist Pig Cops, who is also referred to as “Ralph” multiple times in his scenes.

4. Brad Bird

Agnes Gooch, Edith Head, Patricia Highsmith, Linda Hunt – when it comes to figuring out who inspired the character of Edna Mode, people love to toss out many names, but in the end, the cutthroat designer of superhero fashion was brought to life by The Incredibles (2004) director Brad Bird.

5. Rich Moore

Rich Moore, director of Wreck-It Ralph (2012) provided the dreary monotone of acidic jawbreaker Sour Bill, the henchman to the bombastic King Candy.

6. Richard Williams

Even to this day, the toon celebrity cameos in Who Framed Roger Rabbit(1988) remain some of the best nods to the golden age of cartoons, especially that of Droopy Dog, who gets his opportunity to best Eddie Valiant with some traditional ‘toon high-jinks as a tricky elevator operator, sluggishly voiced by the film’s animation director Richard Williams.

7. Chris Wedge

What began as the high-strung snivels and snarls of Scrat in Ice Age (2002) has become a second career for director Chris Wedge who has gone on to vocally personify the prehistoric rodent in 3 sequels, 6 short films, 2 video games and in a walk-on role in an episode of Family Guy.

8. Chris Miller

Royal messengers, tower guards, army commanders, friars and penguins, story artist Chris Miller has lent his voice-over skills to numerous animated films, most notably his returning roles as Geppetto and The Magic Mirror in the Shrek franchise, including Shrek the Third (2007), which he co-directed.

9. Mark Dindal

The often ignored and underrated animated film Cats Don’t Dance (1997) features some beautiful hand-drawn work and stellar vocal performances, including that of director Mark Dindal as the tight-lipped bodyguard/butler Max.

10. Joe Ranft

Pixar story artist, the late Joe Ranft, brought a handful of memorable animated characters to life, including Heimlich (A Bug’s Life), Wheezy the Penguin (Toy Story 2) and Jacques the Cleaner Shrimp (Finding Nemo). But it was in Cars (2006), which he co-directed, that he voiced three characters including the semi-truck Jerry Recycled Batteries.

11. Chris Sanders

In Lilo & Stitch (2002) co-director Chris Sanders takes on the nuanced role of Alien Experiment 626, aka “Stitch,” who escapes from an intergalactic prison only to find himself trapped on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

12. Nathan Greno and Byron Howard

Nathan Greno (above right) and Byron Howard not only paired up as co-directors of Tangled (2010) but also doubled as duos of Thugs and Guards in the animated picture.

13. John Lasseter

With five features under his belt, John Lasseter has had plenty of opportunity to throw himself behind the microphone, however upon review of his filmography, you’ll find he has chosen his roles very carefully, as the role of John Lassetire in Cars 2 (2011) and the hilariously bug-zapped Harry the Mosquito in A Bug’s Life (1998).

IDW Publishing and Yoe Books are set to release John K Presents: Spumco Comic Book in June. The 160-page book reprints the original run of four Spümco Comic Book issues from the mid-90s, which were published by Marvel and Dark Horse. In addition, the book will include an unpublished 25-page story called “Jimmy the Drooling Numbskull in Nutty the Friendly Dump,” which is dedicated to Chuck Jones “for the decades of warmth he’s brought to lovers of cute cartoons everywhere.” The book features the drawings of John Kricfalusi, Jim Smith, Vincent Waller, and Mike Fontanelli, inking by Shane Glines, and stories by Rich Pursel.

IDW provided Cartoon Brew with an exclusive preview of the book including a couple pages from the never-before-published “Nutty” story. Pre-order on Amazon for $22.98.

The 2012 CTN Expo in Burbank California is next week – and I’ll be there. Cartoon Brew will have a table on the exhibit floor and that’s here you’ll find me signing books and discussing animation with my friends (perhaps like the gang above, from last year’s CTNX: David Silverman, Craig Bartlett, Bill Plympton, Matt Groening… and me). If I’m not at the booth, I’ll be out and about introducing several panels and screenings… including these (in no particular order):

Meet the Talent Behind the Making of the Hotel Transylvania
Saturday: 11/17/2012
Time: 10:00 AM – 10:45 AM
Moderator: Jerry Beck
With: Genndy Tartakovsky | Director
Michelle Murdocca
William Haller
Karl Herbst
Location City Ballroom

Rise of the Guardian Artist Panel
Saturday: 11/17/2012
Time: 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM
MC: Jerry Beck
With: Hamish Grieve, Head of Story
Gabe Hordos, Head of Character Animation
Other Guests TBA

New Talent Spotlight and Showcase – Nacho Rodriguez, Jacob Wyatt, Faye Hsu
11/17/12 5:00 PM – 5:45 PM
City Ballroom
Moderators Jerry Beck, Kazu Kabushi, Robh Ruppel
Guests: Nacho Rodriguez, Jacob Wyatt, Faye Hsu

“Bottom of the Ninth” and the Game Plan to Succeed as a Creator
Sunday: 11/18/2012
Time: 11:00 AM – 11:45 AM
MC: Jerry Beck
With: Ryan Woodward

Team Prime: The Artists and Design of Transformers Prime
Friday: 11/16/2012
Time: 4:30 PM – 5:45 PM
Location City Ballroom
MC: Jerry Beck
With: Supervising Director Dave Hartman (Bubba Ho-Tep, Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles, Jackie Chan Adventures), Art Director Jose Lopez (Green Lantern: First Flight, The Batman, Jackie Chan Adventures), Production Designer Vince Toyama (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, The Boondocks, Godzilla: The Series) and Visual Effects Art Director Christophe Vacher (Enchanted, 9, Treasure Planet).
Panel moderated by Mathias Dougherty, Production Manager (The Mighty B, El Tigre, Invader ZIM).

I’ll be introducing these screenings of Gkids animated Oscar hopefuls:

The Rabbi’s Cat Wed 11/14 7:30PM

The Painting (Le Tableau) – 11/15 7:30pm

From Up On Poppy Hill 11/16 – 7:30 pm

Secret Surprise Screening – 11/17 7:30pm

Zarafa – 11/18 7:30pm

Another panel I plan to sit in on is this one:

Meet John K.’s Virtual Studio
John Kricfalusi is doing a workshop on his “Virtual Studio Model” sponsored by ToonBoom.
Saturday: 11/17/2012
Time: 2:30 PM – 3:15 PM
Location: Sunset A+B

Currently working on his new cartoon sitcom titled Cans Without Labels, John K. will share how he is using the internet to raise the funds to produce his project and find animators all around the world to work with remotely.

There are so many great exhibitors, panels and events associated with CTNX this year. I wouldn’t miss it. A complete list of guest speakers is posted here.More details and information about the event is posted on the CTN website.

Ren and Stimpy creator (and my former boss) John Kricfalusi made this 3-minute commercial for Stussy to advertise four new T-shirt designs he created for them. John talks production process on his blog.

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: John K, John Kricfalusi, Stussy, Toonboom

Some t-shirt art done for Stussy a while ago. Via Boing Boing
which has more recent art for a new Stussy project.

Last year, The Simpsons commissioned an opening couch gag from British street artist Banksy that contained a cockeyed look at the working conditions of overseas animators. This year, which marks the show’s remarkable 23rd season, the producers of the mustard-family went a step further and debuted a new couch gag last night by Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi.

Banksy mocked the idea of mass-produced corporate art, but his message was muddled because it was made using the same system he was satirizing. There’s no such confusion in John’s approach, which he produced on his own. John’s opening is, in fact, far more subversive because he focuses almost exclusively on making a pictorial statement, relegating the show’s dominant literary elements to the back seat. In 35 short and sweet seconds, he liberates the animation of The Simpsons from years of graphic banality. The visual look of the show, which has been so carefully controlled by its producers, becomes a giddy and unrestrained playground for graphic play, and the balance of creative authority is shifted from the writers’ room to the animators in one fell swoop. Now that’s revolutionary.

On a personal note, I worked on the revival of Ren and Stimpy nearly ten years ago, and artistically, this is not the same John Kricfalusi that I remember from that time. Like any painter or filmmaker worth their salt, John doesn’t stay still, constantly evolving, growing, experimenting, and challenging audiences with new graphic concepts. He continues to be, in my book, one of the most exciting and influential artists working in animation today. Whether everything works perfectly in this opening is besides the point. As John says in our interview, “The day I make a perfect cartoon is the day I’ve run out of creativity.”

In our interview, we talk about how the opening came about, Matt Groening’s reaction to it, how his style has evolved in recent years, and his switch from Flash to Toon Boom. (Note: This is an edited version of an interview that was conducted via email this past weekend. Click on any of the images for a larger version.)

Question: First things first, how did you end up animating an opening for The Simpsons?

John Kricfalusi: Matt Groening and Al Jean [executive producer] asked me to do it. They showed me an opening that Banksy did that satirized the animation production assembly line system in Korea and told me it was really popular, so they wanted to do something similar with me.

At first they just wanted me to do a storyboard and have their regular crew animate it. If we had done it that way, no one would even have known that I had anything to do with it because it would have ended up on model and all pose to pose. I showed them the Adult Swim shorts I had been doing and pointed out that the way things happened was even more important than what was happening in my work. You can’t write visual performance. You have to actually draw it.

This project was the most fun I’ve had in years. It has really hammered home (to me) the importance of animation in animation. I think it’s possible to bring animation back to this country and make the core of it fun again, not be a mere tertiary addition to some high concept or executive’s “vision.” The pure act of animating is the most fun part of animation. I am so grateful to Matt for letting me have some real fun this summer.

John Kricfalusi and Gary Panter speak about their collaboration with clothing line Stussy to create Marvel comic-related merchandise.

(Thanks, Jason Groh)

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Gary Panter, John K, John Kricfalusi, Marvel, Stussy

I don’t always agree with John K’s views on animation. He’s a formalist, and values a certain kind of drawing ability over style and ideas, which I think are just as important. But I can’t help but admire the guy for this — Letters of Note has posted a hand-written letter that the Ren and Stimpy creator sent to a young cartoonist in 1998. Then 14, Amir Avni is now finishing up his final year at Sheridan Animation.

Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Animation, John K