Robert Jaques (born 1956) is a Canadian-American animator and animation director. He is best known for the television series ''

The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...

'', ''

The Baby Huey Show ''The Baby Huey Show'' is an animated television series that ran in syndication during the 1994–95 and 1995–96 TV seasons. The show featured the Harvey Comics character Baby Huey. 26 episodes were produced by combining old theatrical Famous S ...

'' and ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

''.Twitter
/ref> He also was nominated for two

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

in 1992 and 1993 for his contributions to ''The Ren & Stimpy Show''.

Early life and career

Jaques' fascination with animation began by watching the Fleischer ''Popeye'' cartoons as a kid, and he never thought of animating as a profession. He also did some stop motion animations since he was a fan of

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of both fields. In a career spanning more than 40 ...

films. One day, he got sick with

mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adu ...

and did nothing but watch cartoons. Jaques didn't "draw religiously" like other children his age but he was basically self-taught. He got curious in traditional animation when he was older and applied for an animation course in

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology, is a public polytechnic institute partnered with private Canadian College of Technology and Trades operating campuses ...

which didn't work the first time but when he drew with more effort it worked the second time. At Sheridan, he met with

John Kricfalusi Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, and former animator and voice actor. He is the creator of the animated television series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', which ...

and Jaques showed

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ...

prints during lunch hours of shorts from the

Golden age of American animation The golden age of American animation was a period that began with the popularization of Sound film, sound synchronized cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended in the 1960s when theatrical animated shorts started to lose popularity to the newer medi ...

, which a crowd of people would come in and John would be one of the regulars. Kricfalusi saw one of Jaques animated shorts, which was based on a

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American c ...

comic called ''Tales from the Land of Genitalia'', in which Jaques animated a

penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...

with arms and legs jerking itself off, and Kricfalusi, when he saw the short, immediately thought he could animate. Eventually, Kricfalusi and Jaques became great friends because they both had an interest in golden age cartoons. Jaques animation career started at

Nelvana Nelvana Limited (; also known as Nelvana Enterprises, Nelvana International or Nelvana Digital; commonly known as Nelvana; stylized as "nelvana") is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment production company owned by Corus Entertainment s ...

in the 1970s as an assistant animator for Jeff Short, an employee for the Richard Williams Studio. It didn't last long since Short got frustrated at the Nelvana animation process, so Jaques switched over the Nelvana commercial department with Mark Mayerson. He headed to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1981, and his first job there was working for the show '' Laverne & Shirley in the Army''. His first work with Kricfalusi was an animation director for the "Harlem Shuffle" music video, which was animated at Bagdasarian Productions and was part of a pitch piece presented by

Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (; born October 29, 1938) is a Mandatory Palestine-born American retired animator and filmmaker, known for his fantastical animated films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent anim ...

and drawn by Kricfalusi. Ralph made a deal with

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

to make the video for the single. In 1989, Kricfalusi called Jaques and recruited him to animate on the pilot short for ''Ren and Stimpy'', based on two characters Kricfalusi originally pitched as pets within an ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

'' parody, ''Your Gang''. Jaques and Kelly Armstrong worked on the pilot in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, and Jaques sent pencil tests to

Spümcø Spümcø, Inc. ( ; stylized as SPÜMCØ) was an American animation studio that was active from 1989 to 2005 and based in Los Angeles, California. The studio was best known for working on the first two seasons of ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' for N ...

for approval. Jaques and his animation company, Carbunkle Cartoons, went on to supply animation for the show in its first two seasons, animating notable episodes such as '' Stimpy's Invention'', '' Son of Stimpy'' and '' Space Madness''. He is currently the host of the ''Cartoon Logic'' podcast with Thad Komorowski.

Filmography

Film

Television

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaques, Bob Animation directors Canadian animators Living people Sheridan College animation program alumni 1956 births Historians of animation