Hubley served as art director on Bambi before leaving Disney. © Walt Disney Pictures.

Kricfalusi, for his part, began as a Disney admirer but admitted that, "As I got older I rebelled against Disney -- I started realizing how insipid they were." He spent years working on various animated shows until the experience soured him. He attested that his resume included "some of the world’s crappiest cartoons," and when asked about those years in an interview Kricfalusi replied: "I hate even talking about the state that animation was in. We all know it, everyone’s written about it, it’s depressing." Kricfalusi, too, was stagnating and this dissatisfaction would lead him into a fruitful middle period, just as the move to UPA would for Hubley. (Both artists would not fully realize their talents and come into prominence until they were over the age of thirty-five.)

Meanwhile, both men had identified the individuals who would serve as their inspirations: For Hubley it would be the legendary Canadian animator Norman McLaren. Kricfalusi chose Bob Clampett, arguably one of the greatest animators and directors to come out of the Warner Bros. studio, as his mentor. Hubley’s "middle period" was spent at UPA where he spearheaded a stylistic revolution in animation that spread around the globe. Hubley turned to the conventions of modern art and graphics that he loved, and proved along with his colleagues that there was an alternative style to Disney.

Kricfalusi spent his "middle period" attempting to revitalize two series which had been out of production since his childhood. When Ralph Bakshi hired Kricfalusi to help bring Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures to CBS in 1987, Kricfalusi was allowed to start a revolution of his own -- an experiment in creator-driven animation. Basically, this meant that Kricfalusi was in creative control of virtually every aspect of his cartoon, free to style his own dialogue, gags and mise-en-scene just as Clampett had done decades before. It also meant that no scriptwriters were used; they were frequently the object of Kricfalusi’s contempt since few (if any) could actually animate or even draw. Kricfalusi continued this crusade into his next series, a 1988 revival of Bob Clampett’s own Beany and Cecil series...and of course, into The Ren and Stimpy Show (1991).

George Liquor’s appearance on Ren and Stimpy was one of the edgiest events in TV history. © Spumco.

These "middle periods" ended under eerily similar circumstances: Each man was ejected from a promising career just when things looked to be at their best. John Hubley was "released" by UPA during the Anti-Communist investigations of the 1950s; even though Hubley was still among the studio’s guiding forces and the allegations surrounding him were largely unproven, UPA simply did not want to deal with the controversy. John Kricfalusi created the highly successful series The Ren and Stimpy Show for Nickelodeon, then bitterly fought the network over deadlines, budget, censorship and creative direction; at the height of the show’s popularity Nickelodeon fired him. Yet another similarity: The downfall of each artist can be more or less traced to a single cartoon. In Hubley’s case the "culprit" was The Brotherhood of Man, a film about humanity in harmony that was somehow interpreted as Communist propaganda by his antagonists. For Kricfalusi the pivotal short was the Ren and Stimpy episode "Man’s Best Friend," axed by Nickelodeon due to the presence of the controversial character George Liquor and Ren’s trepanning of that character with an oar. This act of censorship marked the transition from strained relationship to all-out war.

John and Faith Hubley’s Everybody Rides the Carousel is considered an animation classic. © Pyramid Media.

A Chance At Freedom
John Hubley and John Kricfalusi both entered their next stages of growth as independents, each with their own studios. Hubley went into advertising and produced many famous TV commercials; he became a frequent fixture at awards ceremonies. At the same time, he and his wife Faith continued to create animated shorts as a personal passion. Many of their projects such as Moonbird, Adventures of an * and Everybody Rides the Carousel are acknowledged classics of independent animation. These shorts were generally not available to the public as standard cartoon fare; one had to attend showings or festivals to see them.

Kricfalusi went into advertising and soon took home an award for his snappy Old Navy commercials. At the same time, he continued to produce animated shorts as a personal passion. Many of his projects, such as The Goddamn George Liquor Show, are among the subversive classics of independent animation. These projects are generally not available to the public as standard cartoon fare; if one wants to follow the adventures of George Liquor, Jimmy the Idiot Boy and Sody Pop, one must have a personal computer, Internet access and a Shockwave plug-in to see them.