There is little joy found in this warts-and-all profile of troubled animator John Kricfalusi, which traces alleged abuse and dysfunction in his former studio
Here is a documentary whose title contains radioactive levels of irony: happiness and joy are very far from what is to be found within. It is a behind-the-scenes profile of the pioneering TV animation Ren and Stimpy, which for those not around in the early 90s, featured an angry chihuahua (Ren) and a dopey, good-natured cat (Stimpy); with its hyper-stylised visuals, bad-taste humour and eye-watering violence, it found a cult status as a mould-breaking kidult show – very much at the adult end of the scale.
The film is built around a profile of John Kricfalusi, Ren and Stimpy’s creator and mastermind; presumably it started out as a warts-and-all account of Kricfalusi’s eccentric (to say the least) management style, which culminated in his firing by...
Here is a documentary whose title contains radioactive levels of irony: happiness and joy are very far from what is to be found within. It is a behind-the-scenes profile of the pioneering TV animation Ren and Stimpy, which for those not around in the early 90s, featured an angry chihuahua (Ren) and a dopey, good-natured cat (Stimpy); with its hyper-stylised visuals, bad-taste humour and eye-watering violence, it found a cult status as a mould-breaking kidult show – very much at the adult end of the scale.
The film is built around a profile of John Kricfalusi, Ren and Stimpy’s creator and mastermind; presumably it started out as a warts-and-all account of Kricfalusi’s eccentric (to say the least) management style, which culminated in his firing by...
- 4/16/2021
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
As the headlines get darker and darker with almost every day, many are finding comfort in looking back on the TV shows and characters they enjoyed as kids. One of the most celebrated of those shows is the focus of this new feature documentary, which begins streaming just a few days after the big announcement of a revival. It’s deserving of the doc treatment because it was a landmark, becoming a real turning point for the medium. Historians often point to “touchstones” in cinema often making note of the first “talkie”, the first color film, and so on. The same can be done with theatrical animation via a timeline: 1928 first sound cartoon short, 1937 first feature-length cartoon, and into the rise of Pixar. And the same can be done for it’s “lowly cousin”, TV animation. This doc’s focus was neatly squeezed in, between the return of prime-time animation...
- 8/14/2020
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
You’ve got to love the entire movie premise of a recent film—“Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story,” a documentary that debuted at Sundance earlier this year—and that posit being completely ignored just a few short months later. In ‘Happy Happy Joy Joy,’ directed by Ron Cicero, and Kimo Easterwood, the central running idea of the doc, among other themes of rebellion and chaos, is that the transgressive brilliance of the 1990s “Ren & Stimpy” cartoon on Nickelodeon was the product of several mad geniuses and auteurs.
Continue reading New Adult Animated ‘Ren & Stimpy’ Series Being Developed At Comedy Central at The Playlist.
Continue reading New Adult Animated ‘Ren & Stimpy’ Series Being Developed At Comedy Central at The Playlist.
- 8/5/2020
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
As part of a major push into adult animation, Comedy Central has given a series green light to a reimagening of the cult Emmy-nominated The Ren & Stimpy Show.
Comedy Central has been tapping into IP across ViacomCBS to build an original animated slate around stalwart South Park. The Ren & Stimpy Show will join the recently announced Beavis and Butt-Head reboot from Mike Judge and Daria spin-off Jodie on Comedy Central.
“I want to thank our partners at Nick Animation as we re-imagine these iconic characters with a new creative team,” said Nina L. Diaz, President of Content and Chief Creative Officer for ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Group.”
Nickelodeon launched the original Ren & Stimpy alongside Rugrats and Doug in 1991, where it quickly catapulted into the pop culture zeitgeist with its dark humor, vivid imagination and critical acclaim. Often thought of as an adult series at the time, the iconic...
Comedy Central has been tapping into IP across ViacomCBS to build an original animated slate around stalwart South Park. The Ren & Stimpy Show will join the recently announced Beavis and Butt-Head reboot from Mike Judge and Daria spin-off Jodie on Comedy Central.
“I want to thank our partners at Nick Animation as we re-imagine these iconic characters with a new creative team,” said Nina L. Diaz, President of Content and Chief Creative Officer for ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Group.”
Nickelodeon launched the original Ren & Stimpy alongside Rugrats and Doug in 1991, where it quickly catapulted into the pop culture zeitgeist with its dark humor, vivid imagination and critical acclaim. Often thought of as an adult series at the time, the iconic...
- 8/5/2020
- by Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Gravitas Ventures has secured the North American distribution rights to Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story, a feature docu directed by Ron Cicero and Kimo Easterwood. It premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and will release in theaters and on-demand sometime in August. The doc offers a behind-the-scenes look at popular the 90’s cartoon which we to broke cable ratings and amassed an extensive fan base. Creator John Kricfalusi was celebrated as a visionary, but even though his personality suffused the show, dozens of artists and network executives were just as responsible for the show’s meteoric rise. As Kricfalusi’s worst impulses were let loose at the workplace and new allegations about even more disturbing behavior have surfaced, his reputation now threatens to taint the show forever. Tony Piantedosi, Vice President of Acquisitions at Gravitas, negotiated the deal with Matt Burke at Submarine.
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Erika Monroe-Williams and Sherry Kayne...
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Erika Monroe-Williams and Sherry Kayne...
- 5/15/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
For many the 1990s were the Age of Irony, with hipster cultural touchstones like Spy magazine and the TV show “Strangers With Candy” helping make snark the preferred flavor of the day. “The Simpsons” was also a big player in that area, yet arguably no cartoon series before had been quite so postmodern as “The Ren & Stimpy Show,” which premiered a couple years after it in 1991. While Matt Groening’s creation still chugs on decades later, way past its pop-phenomenon peak yet remaining a valuable Fox commodity, John Kricfalusi’s was short-lived — and his own control of it even shorter.
“Happy Happy Joy Joy” is both an homage to an inspired endeavor and a cautionary tale illustrating how even the greatest popular success can be brought down by unchecked ego, perfectionism and “artistic temperament” at the top. Feature debutants Ron Cicero and Kimo Easterwood’s documentary is a very...
“Happy Happy Joy Joy” is both an homage to an inspired endeavor and a cautionary tale illustrating how even the greatest popular success can be brought down by unchecked ego, perfectionism and “artistic temperament” at the top. Feature debutants Ron Cicero and Kimo Easterwood’s documentary is a very...
- 2/4/2020
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Don’t be fooled by the title: “Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story” may be the story of “Ren & Stimpy,” but it’s not a happy, happy story documentary, nor does it evoke joy or joy.
Ron Cicero and Kimo Easterwood’s film about the smash hit Nickelodeon animated series and its many artists, and series creator John Kricfalusi in particular, features interesting behind-the-scenes stories but pads the running time with redundancies. Worse, it never adequately engages with the most horrifying elements of this tale.
To watch cartoons in the early 1990s was to watch “Ren & Stimpy,” a trailblazing series about an emotionally abusive chihuahua named Ren, a good-natured doormat of a cat named Stimpy, and their gross, non-sensical, censorship-defying adventures. “Ren & Stimpy” was a critical and commercial success, crass in its subject matter but beautiful in its execution. It smashed expectations of TV animation,...
Ron Cicero and Kimo Easterwood’s film about the smash hit Nickelodeon animated series and its many artists, and series creator John Kricfalusi in particular, features interesting behind-the-scenes stories but pads the running time with redundancies. Worse, it never adequately engages with the most horrifying elements of this tale.
To watch cartoons in the early 1990s was to watch “Ren & Stimpy,” a trailblazing series about an emotionally abusive chihuahua named Ren, a good-natured doormat of a cat named Stimpy, and their gross, non-sensical, censorship-defying adventures. “Ren & Stimpy” was a critical and commercial success, crass in its subject matter but beautiful in its execution. It smashed expectations of TV animation,...
- 1/24/2020
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
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