Ren and Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi is not happy with YouTube. The Spumco founder has been using his blog as a kind of "online classroom" to discuss the history of animation, as well as techniques and craft that were a major part of the "Golden Age" of animation. As a visual aid, he's been posting a lot of clips from YouTube of old Warner Bros. cartoons, but recently received an e-mail from YouTube telling him many of those clips have been taken down due to copyright infringement.
Now, I don't know enough about copyright law to take any definite stance on this, but Kricfalusi's assessment is that he's actually helping to promote these cartoons, and that people who see the crappy versions on YouTube will want to go out and actually purchase the higher quality DVDs. He writes: "While Warner Bros. stops promoting their own great properties by taking the cartoons off of the TV networks, the only way left for young fans to discover these classic films is through YouTube and our fan blogs."
The most interesting thing about this, though I'm not one hundred percent sure of its veracity, is that the cartoon mentioned in YouTube's letter to Kricfalusi, "Eatin' on the Cuff," is actually in the public domain, or so some commenters on his blog claim. Then again, so was Popeye until just recently.
All bromides about "copyright" and "fair use" aside, I do agree that YouTube has been a great source for fans of these old cartoons, because they sure as heck aren't seen on television much anymore. About a month ago I found a veritable treasure trove of Tex Avery shorts on YouTube, but by the next day, all of them had disappeared. Perhaps they were removed for perfectly legitimate reasons, but if people are posting them, and other people are watching them, it only proves there's an audience for these cartoons. My fantasy: high quality DVD releases of these classic cartoons, promoted via YouTube clips. Maybe that's just a pipe dream for animation fans like myself, but hey, NBC figured it out eventually, didn't they?
Comic-Con Countdown: You ask Sci Fi the questions, we deliver
Giveaway Monday: ER - Season Nine DVD
Giveaways reminder: Stargate: Atlantis, X-Files, Fastlane
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-07-2006 @ 5:21PM
Brody said...
Will he just chill out? He creates a vulgar cartoon show and suddenly he has a huge ego.
Reply
7-07-2006 @ 6:30PM
jason said...
i don't get why he's focusing his complaints to youtube. unless he's willing to cover the legal costs of the inevitable lawsuit from continued hosting of the clips, then his sniping should solely be directed towards warner brothers. even better, he should put the clips on his own site & deal with warners directly.
Reply
7-07-2006 @ 6:42PM
Mike Canfield said...
I agree Stimpy-boy should chill out. Going after South Park because the animation hasn't improved in ten years. Like that is the point of South Park. If Kricfalusi were are costume designer he'd probably be praising Star Trek: Enterprise as a masterpiece because the costumes are so much more detailed than in the original 1960's series.
Reply
7-10-2006 @ 12:57PM
dvddesign said...
John K is happy just being a reclusive snipe nowdays.
I don't quite get him. He's obviously happy with the concept of celebrity, but disgusted at the fact that in order to continue one's fame and build on that fame, you have to water down your act for the masses.
So, all celebrities should be content with just being mediocre talents tied to just one outlet?
Reply