Template:Short description Template:BLP sources Template:Use dmy dates
Template:Not a typo Rae Naylor (born November 7, 1953) is a Canadian animator, artist, designer, director, and producer for television. She is best known for co-creating DreamWorks' The Mighty Ones, co-founding the animation studio Spümcø with John Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, and Jim Smith, and co-developing The Ren & Stimpy Show for Nickelodeon. She also worked on Batman: The Animated Series, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, My Life as a Teenage Robot, and Wander Over Yonder.[1]
Career
Naylor attended Sheridan College.[2] During her time at Sheridan College in the 1970s, she started dating John Kricfalusi and when Kricfalusi was expelled, she followed him to Hollywood.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Kricfalusi was a rebellious student who openly questioned the ability and competence of his professors, saying that none of the academics knew anything about animation, a stance that made him popular with his fellow students, all the more so as it was true, but led directly to his expulsion.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". In 1981, she worked on Kricfalusi's first short film, Ted Bakes One.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". In 1985, she went with Kricfalusi to Taiwan to supervise the revived version by the Hanna-Barbera studio of The Jetsons which was being drawn in Taiwan by the Cuckoo's Nest to save money.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". It was a standard practice in American animation to subcontract out the laborious and time-consuming task of drawing a cartoon frame by frame to Asian animation studios, whose cartoonists were paid lower wages than American cartoonists as a cost-saving measure. However, the Hanna-Barbera studio had doubts about the competence of the poorly paid Taiwanese animators and sent out Western animators such as Kricfalusi and Naylor to supervise their work.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
After Kricfalusi was fired in Taiwan for his practice of redrawing already finished cartoons, she followed him back to Hollywood.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". In 1986, Ralph Bakshi was hired to direct a music video for the Rolling Stones song "Harlem Shuffle".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Bakshi in turn assigned Kricfalusi to direct the animated portions of the video for "Harlem Shuffle", and he in turn assigned Naylor to do the design and much of the drawings for the video.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Naylor drew the buxom Afro-American girl featured in the video.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The cartoon for "Harlem Shuffle" featured a black girl in Harlem being avidly pursued by two tomcats, both of which display stereotypical behavior commonly associated with sexually aggressive black men.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The success of the "Harlem Shuffle" video led to Bakshi becoming interested in doing animated films again, and he decided to direct an animated sex comedy set in the 1960s titled Bobby's Girl.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Both Kricfalusi and Naylor were heavily involved in the drawings for Bobby's Girl, but the film was aborted in early 1987 when the Tri-Star studio decided not to cut its funding for the film.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". In 1987, Bakshi won the contract to draw Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures for the CBS network, and made Kricfalusi one of his directors.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Naylor was assigned by him to work as one of his cartoonists.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
She co-founded Spümcø along with her then-boyfriend John Kricfalusi, Jim Smith and Bob Camp in 1989.[2][3][4][5][6] She was involved in the development of Ren & Stimpy.[2][3][6] Kricfaulsi based the character of Ren on himself and Stimpy on Naylor.[7] About Kricfalusi's admission in the documentary Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren and Stimpy Story that he based Stimpy on Naylor, the American critic Gary Kramer wrote: "Stimpy seems to love Ren no matter how much he is slapped around and abused. Their codependent relationship is obviously steeped in painful truth."[8] In 1989, the Spümcø studio was commissioned by the producer Vanessa Coffey to do a pilot episode for what was then known Ren Höek & Stimpy.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Coffey stated if the pilot did well, she would commission a TV series.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Starting in December 1989, Naylor was heavily involved in drawing the pilot Big House Blues .Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". In the Big House Blues, Kricfalusi drew the "wild" scenes, Camp drew the comedic scenes, Smith drew the "manly" scenes and Naylor drew the "cute" scenes.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The success of Big House Blues, which was shown as a short film at various film festivals in 1990, led to a TV series being commissioned in September 1990.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Naylor played a key role in streamlining and simplifying the design of Ren and Stimpy from how the characters were shown in the Big House Blues to how they were portrayed in the TV show as the original design took too much time to draw in frame by frame.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Kricfalusi has expressed criticism of the simplified design of the characters that Naylor established as a degradation of quality.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Naylor was famed at the Spümcø studio for her drawings of "sexy girls" as her fellow Spümcø cartoonist and future husband Chris Reccardi praised her ability to "exude pure sensuality and innocence at the same time" in her drawings of female characters.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Ren & Stimpy was criticized for violence with adult,[9] bathroom,[9] dark and sexual humor that TV scarcely uses; it received critical acclaim[5] and inspired more innovative satirical cartoons such as Beavis and Butt-Head,[10][11] Rocko's Modern Life, South Park, Family Guy, and SpongeBob SquarePants.[12]
During the production of the episode Stimpy's Big Day, Naylor's relationship with Kricfalusi experienced serious strains as she accused him of not doing enough to meet the deadline for the premiere set for 11 August 1991.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". David Koenigsberg of the Spümcø studio recalled: "She was building up with all this tension because she felt the deadlines much more oppressively than John did."Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Koenigsberg recalled that the other animators would laugh and joke while working, but Naylor "was like the uptight librarian reminding everyone 'we have to go back to work now'. She was serious, it was not a joke. I remember talking to her one day about how we should laugh at this, and she really couldn't".Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". In March 1991, Nayor broke up with Kricfalusi and left The Ren & Stimpy Show.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Naylor had completed the layout drawings for Stimpy's Big Day at the time she left the show.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Kricfalusi spread rumors that Naylor "was just the girlfriend" who had done nothing for The Ren & Stimpy Show in an attempt to deprive her of employment in the animation industry.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". On 18 May 1993, Kricfaulsi's lawyer sent a letter to the Nickelodeon network threatening to sue if Chris Reccardi was credited as the co-director for The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Jim Ballantine stated that the letter was due to jealousy as Reccardi was dating Naylor.Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Ballantine stated: "Since Chris was in a serious relationship with Lynne Naylor, anything having to do with Chris made John extra nuts."Script error: No such module "Footnotes".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
She also produced and directed the film Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus. Her biggest roles in character designs were for The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, and more. Naylor and Sunil Hall created the DreamWorks series The Mighty Ones for Hulu and Peacock[13] in 2020.[14]
She co-created the failed Nickelodeon pilot The Modifyers with her late husband Chris Reccardi in 2007.[15]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | The Smurfs Christmas Special | Layout Artist |
| 1990 | Roller Coaster Rabbit | Story |
| 1992 | The Kingdom Chums: Original Top Ten | Layout Artist |
| 1993 | Nick and Noel | Model Designer |
| 1998 | Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus | Director, Art Director, & Producer |
| 2009 | Monsters vs. Aliens | Additional Character Designer |
| The Haunted World of El Superbeasto | Character Designer | |
| 2018 | Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation | Storyboard Artist |
| 2019 | The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part | Visual Development Artist |
| Lucky | Character Designer | |
| 2020 | Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren and Stimpy Story | Herself |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Heathcliff & the Catillac Cats | Assistant Character Designer | N/A |
| Snorks | Layout Artist | ||
| 1985 | The Jetsons | Layout Artist & Character Designer | |
| 1987 | Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures | Layout Artist | |
| 1988 | The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil | Character Designer & Layout Artist | |
| 1990–1996 | The Ren & Stimpy Show | Developer Voice Actress ("Big House Blues") Animator (1990; 1992) Layout Artist (1990–1991; 1994) Big-Shot (1991) Character Designer (1991–1992) Background Designer ("Ren's Retirement") Director (1994) Writer (1994) Storyboard Artist (1994) Story (1994) |
Mom |
| 1992 | Tiny Toon Adventures | Character Layout Artist | N/A |
| 1992–1993 | Batman: The Animated Series | Character Designer | |
| 1993 | Animaniacs | Model Designer | |
| 1995 | The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show | Art Director | |
| 1995–1996 | The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat | Writer (1995) Character Designer (uncredited) (1995) Layout Artist (uncredited) (1995–1996) Background Artist (uncredited) (1995–1996) Director (1995) | |
| 1996 | What A Cartoon! | Additional Layout Artist ("Buy One, Get One Free") | |
| 1998–2001 | The Powerpuff Girls | Modeler, Storyboard Artist Writer ("The Headsucker's Moxy/Equal Fights") | |
| 1998–1999 | Cow and Chicken | Storyboard Artist | |
| I Am Weasel | |||
| 2001 | The Cartoon Cartoon Show | Background Artist, Clean-Up Artist, Layout Artist, Modeling, & Art Director ("IMP Inc.") | |
| 2001 | The Ripping Friends | Layout Artist (Uncredited) | |
| 2001–2004; 2017 | Samurai Jack | Character Designer | |
| 2003 | Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" | Animator, Designer, & Layout Artist | |
| 2003–2005 | Star Wars: Clone Wars | Character Designer | |
| 2004-2005 | Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends | ||
| 2004–2006 | Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi | ||
| Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! | Art Director Character Designer ("The Stranded Seven") | ||
| 2005 | My Life as a Teenage Robot | Character Designer | |
| 2008–2009 | The Mighty B! | Storyboard Artist ("Season 1") | |
| 2008–2010 | Chowder | Art Director & Story writer ("The Garden") | |
| 2010 | Breaking the Mold: The Re-Making of Mighty Mouse | Herself & Special Thanks | |
| My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic | Character Designer | ||
| 2010–2013 | Fish Hooks | Production Designer (Seasons 1-2) | |
| 2014 | Wander Over Yonder | Character Designer ("The Bounty/The Ball") | |
| 2015–2016 | SpongeBob SquarePants | Storyboard Artist ("Season 9")Template:Efn | |
| 2020–2022 | The Mighty Ones | Co-creator Executive Producer (Seasons 1-2) Story (Seasons 1-3) Storyboard Artist ("Naked Mole Wrath") Creative Consultant (Seasons 3-4)Template:Efn |
Awards and nominations
| Award | YearTemplate:Efn | Category | Work(s) | Episode | Fellow Nominees | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 1994 | Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less)[16][17] | The Ren & Stimpy Show | Ren's Retirement | Bob Camp, Jim Gomez, Ron Hauge, Bill Wray, Vanessa Coffey, & Jim Ballantine | Template:Nom |
| Annie Awards | 2002 | Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production[18][19] | Samurai Jack | Jack and the Warrior Woman | N/A | Template:Won |
| 2004 | Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production[20][21] | Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends | House of Bloo's | Template:Nom |
Notes
Books
References
External links
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0623292/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm Template:Unreliable?
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