Tooning in on The Classics

The other day, my butcher noticed the embroidered Daffy Duck on my shirt and remarked that while he always loved Daffy, he didn’t watch cartoons much these days. I assume he attributed this to the fact that he is now a grown-up. So far, I have avoided that fate.

I watch cartoons whenever I get a chance. The Simpsons, of course, and Spongebob now and then, but my real passion has always been Looney Tunes. These true classics are unequalled in terms of superior artistry, action, humor, writing, and supreme silliness. Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, and Friz Freleng are my heroes and major influences.

The true heir to these folks is, clearly, John Kricfalusi (John K), best known as the creator of Ren & Stimpy. Much as the denizens of Termite Terrace did in the 30s and 40s, John K fully inhabits his characters with outsize personalities and attitudes, illustrating their feelings with ridiculously exaggerated and elongated facial expressions. He has even been able to get past (or ignore) the censors with plenty of good old potty humor, nudity, sex, and misanthropy, especially with the recent Ren & Simpy revival on SpikeTV.

If you are similarly afflicted, you will flat out love John K’s blog, all kinds of stuff blog where he goes into fascinating detail on how he and others create cartoons, illustrating his points with scripts, sketches, notes, great still shots and clips not only from his own stuff, but also such classic cartoon sources as Looney Toons, Popeye, and Woody Woodpecker, and “live action” gems such as Soupy Sales, the Three Stooges, and the Honeymooners.

The reason I love cartoon is the way they communicate emotions, illuminate characters, and most especially tell stories in a funny, yet artful way. Thanks to my nephew Erik, I now have a set of classic Looney Tunes DVDs. Here’s hoping he also hook up his favorite uncle with some Ren & Stimpy and Spumko goodies.