Mental Floss

Ren & Stimpy Creator Sends Awesome Letter to Kid

By Chris Higgins

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Today, another awesome Letter of Note, this time from comic artist John Kricfalusi, best known for his work on Ren & Stimpy. Letters of Note writes:

In 1998, aged just 14, aspiring young cartoonist Amir Avni decided to get in touch with the creator of Ren & Stimpy, John Kricfalusi. Being a hardcore fan of Kricfalusi's work, Amir sent him an introductory letter along with a few cartoons he'd drawn, some of which contained relatively unknown characters of John's. To call Kricfalusi's response 'generous' would be an understatement, and when I asked Amir about the reply he said the following: 'I think John puts a lot of faith in the younger generation of cartoonists, and wants to make sure they are well educated. He sees the younger generation as the future of cartoons, and that's why he's so approachable and good willed.' 'I think John puts a lot of faith in the younger generation of cartoonists, and wants to make sure they are well educated. He sees the younger generation as the future of cartoons, and that's why he's so approachable and good willed.'

Kricfalusi responded to Avni's letter with an eight-page handwritten, illustrated letter, and also sent along an original illustration for Amir and a book on animation. Today, Avni is studying animation at Sheridan College, and has worked with Kricfalusi professionally. After the letter was published on Letters of Note, Kricfalusi began answering questions on Reddit, leading to a massive comment thread reaching 24 printed pages. Here are some snippets from the letter:

... Your comics are pretty good, especially your staging and continuity. You might have the makings of a good storyboard artist. I'm sending you a very good how to draw animation book by Preston Blair. Preston was one of Tex Avery's animators. He animated 'Red Hot Riding Hood' and many other characters. ... Good drawing is more important than anything else in animation. More than ideas, style, stories. Everything starts with good drawing. Learn to draw construction, perspective. Ok, now it's up to you. Oh, by the way - OLD cartoons (from the 1940's especially are better than new cartoons. If you copy the drawings in new cartoons you won't learn anything - except how to get bad habits. Look at Tom and Jerry from 1947 - 1954 or Elmer Fudd + Porky Pig from the 40's + early 50's.)

Read the rest for an inspiring letter from a successful animator to a young man who wanted to learn the craft. Follow the Letters of Note blog for tons more where this came from.

(Via Waxy.org.)