Michael John Kricfalusi (/ˌkrɪsfəˈluːsi/ krihs-fuh-LOO-see; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, voice actor and former animator.
He is the creator of the animated television series The Ren & Stimpy Show, which was highly influential on televised animation during the 1990s.
From 1989 to 1992, he was heavily involved with the first two seasons of the show in virtually every aspect of its production, including providing the voice of Ren Höek and other characters.
Born in Quebec, Kricfalusi spent his early childhood in Germany and Belgium before returning to Canada at age seven.
He acquired his skills largely by copying cartoons from newspapers and comic books as a child, and by studying cartoons and their production systems from the 1940s and 1950s.
His main influence is Bob Clampett. After moving to Los Angeles in 1978, he collaborated with Ralph Bakshi and worked for Filmation, Hanna-Barbera, and DIC Entertainment on various shows.
In 1989, Kricfalusi co-founded the animation studio Spümcø, with which he remained until its dissolution in 2005.
Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi from Ren & Stimpy due to creative differences and his failure to meet production deadlines; the show continued for three additional seasons without his involvement.
Following this, he directed and produced animated television commercials and music videos for entertainers such as Björk and Tenacious D.
In the late 1990s, he created the first cartoons made exclusively for the Internet: The Goddamn George Liquor Program and Weekend Pussy Hunt.
He returned to television with The Ripping Friends and the adult animation spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon".
Since 2006, Kricfalusi has maintained a personal blog dedicated to cartoons and animation.
There, he coined "CalArts style", a pejorative used for a widespread 2010s cartoon aesthetic.
In 2018, Kricfalusi was accused by two former Spümcø artists of grooming and sexually abusing them in the late 1990s, when they were teenagers.
Byrd told the website that she was in a sexual relationship with Kricfalusi in 1997 at age 16, and flew to California to live with him when she was 17.
Rice said that Kricfalusi had flirted with her and made overt sexual comments towards her starting when she was 14, and sexually harassed her when she turned 18 and began working at his animation studio, Spümcø.
Kricfalusi released an apology for his behavior, blaming his mental health and "poor impulse control".
He has since declared his withdrawal from the professional animation industry.
Kricfalusi released an apology to the women and his fans for his behavior, which he said was motivated by undiagnosed bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as "poor impulse control".
Byrd and Rice criticized Kricfalusi's statement as a non-apology and an attempt to deflect the blame.
Due to the allegations, Kricfalusi will not be involved in Comedy Central's upcoming revival of The Ren & Stimpy Show, nor will he receive any financial compensation from it.
Kricfalusi says he is mostly self-taught, having only spent a year in Sheridan College, barely attending class.
He acquired his skills largely by copying cartoons from newspapers and comic books as a child, and by studying cartoons and their production systems from the 1940s and 1950s.
His main influence is Bob Clampett, and he also names Chuck Jones, Frank Sinatra, Kirk Douglas, Milt Gross, Tex Avery, Peter Lorre, The Three Stooges, Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, Don Martin and Robert Ryan.
Michael Barrier, an animation historian, said that Kricfalusi's works "testify to his intense admiration for Bob Clampett's Warner Bros. cartoons" and that no cartoonist since Clampett created cartoons in which the emotions of the characters "distort their bodies so powerfully
THE FULL PAGE is 8 1/2 x 11 and has a three hole punch