John K is retiring....

Plenty of animators can draw good. Most people can't draw like Hayao Miyazaki, and Milt Gross was above most people with his designs. Many people can draw at the same level as John K, just in different styles. But they don't criticize other people's work and know how to compromise with the "business" aspect of animation. John K, unfortunately, doesn't.

Granted, John K lives in an age where, sadly, the originality in cartoons is becoming less and less. CGI features with recycled designs are pushing out traditionally animated features, and more and more television cartoons are either poorly flash animated or just plain unappealing (not all, mind you, not all). It's enough to make any veteran animator who was around when cartoons like The Flintstones and Looney Tunes were made to be frustrated. Many other people are frustrated just like John K, but John K just ends up putting his ideas into rant form some time. Maybe it just means he's passionate about cartoons.

I find myself agreeing with John K more and more on a wider array of topics, but I still disagree with a lot of what he says. I don't like how he completely loathes all and any anime, and the Disney animated features from the 90's aren't as horrible as he says. But on most topics- design, animation, and what animators should know- John K knows what he's talking about. His whole life is animation. What John K did made a wider impact on cartoons in the 90's than most of us probably realize. He did more than just Ren and Stimpy. Many of the people who he brought into animation with Ren and Stimpy went on to work on shows like Dexter's Lab, Powerpuff Girls, and Samurai Jack. He revitalized creator-driven cartoons outside of sitcom cartoons like The Simpsons.

Also, I have yet to hear any major animator, or anyone in the animation industry, criticize John K the way most people do. Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCracken, Joe Murray, Fred Seibert, all respect John K. The man is definitely passionate about cartoons and never hesitates to express his opinion, but the man definitely knows what he's talking about most of the time.
 
Frankly, I now have a rule of thumb with those kinds of animators. If they can't animate the Wing Zero Custom, I can't take them seriously. I mean, really, they brought in some Disney animators to give them pointers on how to animate the wings, and they were pretty much "You draw this stuff by hand? Crazy!". And that says nothing for all the detail on the machine itself and how fluidly it moved through all of it.
 
It baffles me how John K. is so quick to defend The Flintstones and most of Hanna Barbera cartoons because HB was one of the biggest offenders of 'recycled animation and walk cycles'. Practically all of The Flintstones consisted of recycled animation as many of their other projects did.

It must be the nostalgic aspect of him growing up watching Yogi Bear because the animation on Hanna Barbera shows left much to be desired.
 
Well, I think John does have a problem with the limited animation aspect of the early H-B stuff. I think he loves them so much more because of their designs. He's always citing Ed Benedict as one of his biggest heroes.
 
The guy is a bit of a jerk but he is also by far one of the greatest cartoonists alive. I've recently re-watched some episodes of Ren and Stimpy and it really is both awesome and completely unique. If i am to try to liken it to any other cartoons, i guess the best i can come up with is that it's kinda like the old Fleischer cartoons meets Salad Fingers.

When it comes to his constant criticisms of other cartoons, i tend to think that it is at least a bit less pathetic when he dictates about what sucks and what doesn't than when most people does it, since he actually is talented himself in the field. Kinda like how Walt Disney could (and did) look at other peoples cartoons and said "this sucks"; like, if anyone should be allowed to make such judgements, it's a great cartoonist like him.
 
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