didyaknowanimation:Our next Jewish Heritage Month post is on the cartoon duo of Arlene Klasky and Ga
didyaknowanimation:Our next Jewish Heritage Month post is on the cartoon duo of Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo. You may know them better from their famous entertainment group, Clasky-Ksupo (which is pronounced class-ke choo-poh, for the record). If you’re still not familiar with them, maybe this will refresh your memory. Gabor was born in Hungary in 1952, and immigrated in the seventies. Arlene, born a few years earlier, attended the California Institute of the Arts, studying animation. While Gabor had background working at the Hungarian animation studio Pannónia Filmstúdió, Arlene worked early on designing logos and signage, and eventually moved into film. They met in Stockholm, were married in 1979, and formed Clasky-Ksupo in 1982. They got their start animated The Simpsons shorts for their origins on the Tracy Ullman Show. Animators from the studio helped develop major ideas for the show, including Marge’s blue hair and the cast’s yellow skin. The group is known for making a number of series, particularly for Nickelodeon. This includes Rugrats, As Told by Ginger, The Wild Thornberries, AAAHH!! Real Monsters, and Rocket Power. Just about all of these shows were big hits for the network, going on to become some of their famous “nicktoons.” Rugrats alone led to a number of highly successful films and spin-offs. The Wild Thornberries gained its own feature film release as well, becoming a box office success and getting nominated for an Academy Award. The group was partially founded with their nephew Atilla Csupo, and has its headquarters in Los Angeles. The two helped make some of the first big-name Jewish holiday specials in animation. The Rugrats spawned specials for Hanukkah and Passover, after the duo were approached by Nickelodeon to consider developing the ideas. Klasky considered the inclusion of Judaism essential, and made Didi Jewish while Stu was a Christian based on her own upbringing with one Jewish and one non-Jewish parent. In 2006, KC made almost 30 pilots that eventually went up online years later. This includes the likes of Eggheads, Junkyard Teddies, El Maximo, Immigrants, and Sugarless. They also animated a series of direct-to-video cartoons to sell at McDonalds franchises, known as The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald. The episodes told stories of the franchise’s cartoon mascots on various adventures, and featured a mix of animation and live action. The last feature length animated film they did was Immigrants in 2008, directed by Gabor.Arlene and Gabor divorced in 1995, and they have two children. The appearance of Rugrats protagonist Tommy Pickles is actually based on one of their sons, Brandon. Arlene now lives in Omaha, and Gabor has remarried. The two both continue to work in the industry, and Klasky-Csupo is still going, with over 500 employees. The duo did a revival of the company around 2012, and are working on a webseries called Splaat alongside other projects that they help oversee.Their website is here -- source link
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