John K.

Let me talk about John Krisfaluci (or John K. for short). John K. is best known for creating Ren and Stimpy. DIG IT!! LOVE IT!! Those two crack me up. If you don't like Ren and Stimpy chances are you and I won't get along. I've read and continue to read John’s blog everyday and am disappointed whenever there's no new post.
I've read a lot of comments on the web from fans and John's colleagues suggesting that many of today’s artists and animators rip off his unique style. Ralph Bakshi, with whom John worked early in his career agrees (you might know him best for his films Fritz the Cat, Coonskin and Heavy Traffic).

"Don't do what so many animators did and just plagiarize someone else. Look what they did to John Kricfalusi. So much of contemporary animation is just ripped off from John's style. It'd be okay if he had a studio and was making a million dollars. But he's not, and I get angry."

Read it for yourself in the Bakshi interview.

John’s influence is clearly evident in such cartoons as Dexter’s Lab, The Flinstones: On the rocks (2001) and Cow and Chicken to name a few. There is no doubt in my mind that the man had a huge impact on the animation community in his hay day and years after.



Be that as it may, golden age animators, particularly Robert Clampett, heavily influenced John himself as he openly discusses in his blog. I myself, being the obsessive type, have found such an instance in the “Nurse Stimpy” episode where Ren is administered his medicine in a similar manner to the young duckling with a sucker here animated by Richard Bickenbach.
This is not a finding out of John's ripping off the Looney Toons style of animation by any means. It is only an observation and a reminder that even the greats still stand on the shoulders of their forerunners.