words // Brennan Hiro Williams
Stussy continues its Guest Artist Series this month with a new collection in collaboration with John Kricfalusi, creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show.
Canadian-born animator John K. (John Kricfalusi) has a definitively warped visual style and sense of humor that matches the intensity of his opinions against most modern animation techniques. Though his main influences are classic animators like Bob Clampett and Tex Avery, his visual style is more in keeping with Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. In the early ’80s, he worked as a hack animator drawing remakes of cartoons like The Jetsons for Filmation studios. Ralph Bakshi took him under his wing to work on The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, where he got to inject a little of his trademark sick humor. The next year he founded the production company Spumco and began work his magnum opus: Ren & Stimpy. Using strange still images, jarring character inconsistencies, and ridiculously rude sound effects, Ren & Stimpy became an early ’90s cartoon phenomenon. In 2003, Spike TV (the new TNN) broadcast a Ren & Stimpy revival series.
For our Summer 2012 collection, we collaborated with John K. for a series of t-shirts. In celebration of the release, he created an animated commercial reminiscent of the retro-style in-show commercials that were a vital part of Ren & Stimpy back in 1991. Featuring voice talent from John K. and Eddie Cruz as The Stussy Rat.
The Stussy x John K. collection is available now at Stussy chapter stores and online at Stussy.com.
