THE UNKNOWN REN AND STIMPY

I'm so excited to see that John K's Kickstarter numbers are right where they should be, and that the new George Liquor cartoon may actually get made. Even so I'll be biting my nails til the final results come in. 

All this thinking about John has prompted me to share some Xeroxes of John drawings I saved from Spumco. Unfortunately most of that stuff is boxed up in the garage, but I have a few things near my desk that I can whip on the scanner right now. See what you think.

Hmmm...most of the folder pictures are from an episode of Adult Party Cartoon called "Onward and Upward." That was the first show of the series, and I just loved it.

Here's (above) some photos of John and me acting out Ren and Stimpy sitting at a table, about to eat soup. John plays Ren, who's very snooty and concerned that the rules of etiquette be observed. I play Stimpy who just wants to wolf everything down. Aaargh! My Stimpy looks pretty stiff here, but the photos were still useful, if only to point out that my acting needed more ooomph.

Amid Amidi took the pictures with John directing.

John had lots of ideas for how Stimpy (above) might reach for his soup spoon.

Here's (above) John trying out some Ren snooty poses.  Geez, the man can draw! It's a combination of classic volume combined with flat, and of strong lines and shapes combined with thin, graceful ones.

 Now (above) John tries out a Ren reaction pose. Ren is completely grossed out by Stimpy's coarseness. The cat is so uncouth!

Here (above) John experiments with how Stimpy might sip the final pea in the spoon. In this version Stimpy has difficulty getting the pea past his teeth. I love the way Ren leans in and does a slow burn as he watches.  He just can't believe how stupid his friend is.

BTW, how do you like that one-of-a-kind face on Ren? John was constantly coming up with expressions nobody'd ever seen before.

Finally Stimpy sucks in the pea...or tries too. The schtick that follows is some of the most innovative in the cartoon. John wisely gave the gags time to play out, rather than race ahead to the next plot point. It took courage to do that because the accepted wisdom in the industry was to never linger on a gag. For John the gags were the reason we do the cartoons in the first place.

BTW, how do you like the way Stimpy's drawn here?  It's crude, even a bit amateurish. Why, you might wonder, would one of the most skilled draftsman in the industry insert such a pulpy drawing here? The answer, I believe, is that the crude drawing underlines Stimpy's dimwittedness, which is what'll cause Ren to explode later on. That, and it also happens to be the best way to focus our attention on the pea.

Geez, this film was innovative on so many levels.

Anyway, here's  the link to John's Kickstarter site:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1056985656/john-ks-cans-without-labels

He added a bunch more prizes. Aaaargh! I MUST have that cereal box!!!!!!