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Spümcø, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Los Angeles, California. The studio produced three traditionally animated series, two flash animated cartoon series, two music videos, five animated shorts, and a comic book. The company also went on to produce content for several animated spots and commercials.[1] It has won several awards, including an Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject, for the Björk music video, "I Miss You".[2]
On August 11, 1991, The Ren and Stimpy Show premiered on Nickelodeon, serving as the company's flagship property.[3] After the company was fired by Nickelodeon in September 1992, Games Animation took over production, hired most of the company's employees and continued producing the series for three seasons.[3] In 2001, 10 years after The Ren and Stimpy Show had premiered, Kricfalusi then created an animated series for Fox Kids in the United States and Teletoon in Canada, The Ripping Friends.[4] The series premiered on September 22, 2001, and would last for only one season.[4] In 2002, when Kricfalusi received a phone call from Spike (now Paramount Network), he decided to revive Ren & Stimpy in the more adult-oriented series, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon".[5] The series premiered on June 1, 2003, with the banned Nickelodeon series' episode, "Man's Best Friend", and a total of three original episodes aired on Spike.[5] The show was cancelled in July 2003, one month after it premiered.[5]
During 1997, John Kricfalusi and his staff at Spümcø launched their web site, which aimed to deliver cartoons to audiences without television networks' censorship.[6] Kricfalusi decided to use George Liquor, a cartoon character he created, to star in the Flash Internet cartoon series, The Goddamn George Liquor Program, which Kricfalusi created.[6] The series premiered on October 15, 1997,[7] and was the first cartoon series to be produced exclusively for the Internet.[8] In 1999, Spümcø created their second Internet-only cartoon series, Weekend Pussy Hunt.[9] The series would last for 12 episodes, with 4 unfinished cartoons due to budget problems.
In 1999, Spümcø produced and animated a Yogi Bear TV special titled Boo Boo Runs Wild, which premiered on September 24, 1999, on Cartoon Network.[10] The animated short focused on Yogi Bear's sidekick, Boo Boo Bear, who becomes fed up with the rules of man and decides to return to his natural bear roots.[10] Though it focused primarily on Yogi and Boo Boo, it was titled as a "Ranger Smith cartoon." Alongside Boo Boo Runs Wild, a second "Ranger Smith" cartoon aired, titled A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith.[11] Between 2001 and 2002, two Flash-animated Jetsons cartoons were created exclusively for Cartoon Network's official web site: The Jetsons: Father & Son Day and The Jetsons: The Best Son. A third Yogi Bear cartoon, titled Boo Boo and the Man, premiered in 2002 on Cartoon Network's official web site. It was animated in Macromedia Flash.
In 1997, John Kricfalusi directed a music video for Björk titled "I Miss You", a single that was released the same year.[12] It was animated by the entire staff at Spümcø.[2] It premiered on MTV, as well as Canada's MuchMusic channel.[2] In 2001, Spümcø produced their second music video production for Tenacious D, "Fuck Her Gently".[13] The video was produced in Macromedia Flash, and was directed by Gabe Swarr, who was also a producer for The Goddamn George Liquor Program and Weekend Pussy Hunt.[13]
Although the company originally closed down in 2005 due to a lawsuit with (one of the animators on Ren & Stimpy), it was revealed in 2016 on Tumblr that Kricfalusi and Cartoon Network storyboard artist Gabe Del Valle are reopening the company, under the name Spümtwø, to produce bigger projects and are now looking for employees.[14] The new studio's first project was stated to be a Ren and Stimpy short film slated to appear in front of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run,[15] with the possibility of reviving the series.[16] John Kricfalusi denied it in a February 2017 Twitter post.[17] However, an animatic of the short was released as an Easter egg on the Cans without Labels DVD in May 2019.[18]
Televised animated series
| Title | Date of Premiere | Seasons | Co-production with | Original broadcasting station | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Ren & Stimpy Show | August 11, 1991[3] | 5 | Games Animation | Nickelodeon | Seasons 1-2 only; remaining seasons were produced by Games Animation (now known as Nickelodeon Animation Studio). |
| The Ripping Friends | September 22, 2001 | 1 | Cambium Animagic |
Fox Kids (United States), Teletoon (Canada) | |
| Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" | 26 June 2003[5] | 1 | Spike Animation Studios | Spike | An adult-oriented revival of The Ren & Stimpy Show. |
Internet-exclusive series and shorts
| Title | Date of Premiere | Co-production with | Broadcasting method (Web site) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Goddamn George Liquor Program | October 15, 1997[19] | N/A | Spumco.com (now defunct) |
| What Pee Boners Are For | 1998 | ||
| A George Liquor Christmas | |||
| Weekend Pussy Hunt | 1999 | MSN[20] | Spumco.com (now defunct) IceBox.com |
Cartoon Network short films
| Title | Date of Premiere | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Boo Boo Runs Wild | September 24, 1999[21] | John Kricfalusi |
| A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith | September 24, 1999[22] | |
| The Jetsons: Father & Son Day | March 19, 2001[23] | Gabe Swarr |
| The Jetsons: The Best Son | March 10, 2002[24] | |
| Boo Boo and the Man | April 25, 2002 | John Kricfalusi |
Feature films
| Title | Release date | Director | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Troop Beverly Hills | March 24, 1989 | Jeff Kanew | Design the opening titles and credits with Kroyer Films. |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Artist | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | "I Miss You"[2] | Björk | John Kricfalusi |
| 2001 | "Fuck Her Gently"[13] | Tenacious D | Gabe Swarr |
Television and online commercials
| Year | Title | Client(s) | Summary and notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | "Peacock Project" | NBC | Two 10-second idents. The first ident was originally produced as a 17-second one, and later cut in 10-second and 4-second versions. At the end of the first one, a speaker says "You're watching NBC." | [25][26] |
| 1995 | "Fanta Cave" | The Coca-Cola Company | Never-materialized commercial starring Jimmy the Idiot Boy, a character created by John Kricfalusi. Produced in association with Will Vinton Productions. | [27] |
| 1996 | "Lick" | Aoki's Pizza | Commercial starring characters Jimmy the Idiot Boy and Sody Pop, created by John Kricfalusi. | [25] |
| "You Want Some?" | Barq's Root Beer | Commercial starring characters George Liquor and Jimmy the Idiot Boy, created by John Kricfalusi. | [28] | |
| 1997 | "Big Bad Wolf" | Nike | Inspired by the fairy tales Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs. Named by Animation Magazine, as one of the best animated spots of 1997. A commercial similarly based on the latter one in which the wolf is trying to blow down the Pigs' house, was storyboarded by John Kricfalusi upon request by ADT,[29] but was later materialized by Red Rover Studios.[30] | [31] |
| "Rooster" | Village Pantry | [32] | ||
| 1998 | "Cadbury Land" | Cadbury | [33] | |
| "Boys Big Pockets" "Boys Hooded Fleece" "Girls Flare Jeans" "Girls Curly Fleece" |
Old Navy | "Boys Big Pockets" and "Boys Hooded Fleece" won a 1998 Annie Award for Best Animated Television Commercial. "Girls Curly Fleece" was also nominated for a 1999 Annie Award in the same category. | [34] | |
| 1999 | "Treat Your Dog Right" | Wagwells Dog Treats | [35] | |
| "Rice Patooties" | Commercial starring Wally Whimsy, a character created by John Kricfalusi.[36] Animated in Flash. | [37] | ||
| "Quisp" | Quaker Oats | Animated in Flash. | [38] | |
| 2000 | "Tony Mora Pizza" | The RequestLines System | Starring Stephen Worth as Mr. DJ. Animated in Flash by Tony Mora. | [39][40] |
Video games
| Title | Release | Developer | Publisher | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yoake no Mariko | December 6, 2001[41] | Sony Computer Entertainment Japan | Sony Computer Entertainment | Character designs and animation |
| Yoake no Mariko 2nd Act | January 24, 2002[42] | |||
| Go! Go! Hypergrind | November 18, 2003[43] | Atlus | Atlus | Character designs |
Unrealized projects
| Title | Announcement date | Creator | Medium | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Untitled Film About The World's Manliest Men | 1993 | John K. | Animated feature film | The film wasn't picked up, but the characters were used in The Ripping Friends [44] |
| Nutty the Friendly Dump | Animated series | Pitched to Comedy Central, which turned it down.[45] | ||
| Ren and Stimpy untitled film | 1994 | Animated feature film | Nickelodeon and 20th Century Fox made an agreement to produce original movies and ones based on Nickelodeon products, with Ren & Stimpy a potential idea.[46][47] | |
| He-Hog the Atomic Pig | 1999 | Animated series | Unsold pilot for MTV and co-produced with MTV Animation;[citation needed] concept previously pitched to USA Network and developed for a 1995 release.[48][49] | |
| Harvey Entertainment online shorts | Animated shorts | Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost, Little Audrey, Little Dot and Herman and Katnip would make appearances.[50][51][52] | ||
| The Heart Aches | Animated series | Pilot sold to Fox Family, following the adventures surrounding a girl band. It was slated for a September 2000 date alongside The Ripping Friends on Fox Kids.[52] | ||
| Green Monkeys | Betty Paraskevas Michael Paraskevas |
Animated series | Co-produced with Disney Television Animation.[53] | |
| Flintstones animated shorts | 2001 | John K. | Animated shorts | Co-produced with Cartoon Network Studios[54] |
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