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Anonymous asked:

Bob Camp and other Spumco artists have fairly publicly spoken about John K's behavior in the past. Vincent Waller once referred to him as a "jackass." Robertryan Cory said on his Tumblr that John K was "pretty mean" to him. I just think that we should appreciate John K's artwork and influence without revering him as some sort of god-like figure, because he's not. There are plenty of incredible artists in the industry who are much kinder than him. Including aforementioned Camp and Waller.

animationfan69 answered:

i’d like to see the source for Waller calling John K a “jackass”. He’s one of the more supportive Spumco artists, he’s more loyal to John K than Bob Camp. he didn’t go to Games to work on Ren & Stimpy. he worked on R&S APC, and look at these links;

http://xtracrsp.blogspot.com/2008/05/present-for-johnk_16.html

http://incoherent-thought.blogspot.com/2008/02/there-are-days.html

Waller’s defending John K pretty strongly. if you can find a source of him calling John a “jackass” i’d be happy to look at it. but for now i have to look at the evidence i know.

i think some people (including myself) really look up to John K because he’s this beacon of hope for cartoons. he’s pushing for cartoons to be made like the classics, especially Warner Brothers style cartoons. there are other figures who’ll defend 2d animation like Don Bluth, but he’s more concerned with studios like Disney. there’s no one in the animation industry i can think of that advocates so strongly for wacky, humorous cartoons like John K.

collectsart

I don’t have a deep history of John K, but of course as an animation major I respect his conviction. There was one post for me that always sat wrong and I could never shake the sourness it gave me, and it was that old “Are These Politically Correct?” blog from 2009. I remember at the time we were watching song of the south in the “forbidden animation” portion of our history of animation class, and as the only black kid in my program at the time, a lot runs through your head about the industry and the history of it.

What soured me about the post is it seemed to have no indication of thought, a sort of “talk among yourselves” posts that only seems to say “Well I only care about animation and DESIGN, so I don’t actually have to discuss the dubious topic of race.” But then, at the end of the post was a picture with two teens with their paints hanging down, as if the period on a sentence about….? I’m not sure. I know that at that point, I also looked at his female characters a lot more critically.

You may have a view point, or context, since you seemed pretty well versed in his history. Was there some context I missed?

My stance on the old cartoons is to view them and to understand their context, and ultimately enjoy them for what they are. But I still need guys like John K to take the conversation on sexism and race seriously in the modern age if they are going to contribute to the medium. A criticism that hes always seemed pretty defensive and deaf to (from my limited experience). Its sad, because I would love to see more variety between the total rainbow of races and gender and body type, and an unyielding death grip on old aesthetics with problematic depictions.

nubbsgalore

for over a thousand years, the indigenous nenets have moved seasonally with their reindeer along ancient migration routes in the yamal peninsula. but this remote region of northwest siberia, a vast tundra wilderness that stretches deep into the arctic ocean, is now under threat from global warming.

traditionally, the nenets cross the frozen ob river in november and set up camp in the southern forests around nadym, where their reindeer graze on moss and lichen pastures. in recent years, however, this annual winter pilgrimage has been delayed until late december when the river is thick enough to cross.

“our reindeer were hungry. there wasn’t enough pasture,” notes jakov japtik, a nenets reindeer herder. “the snow is melting sooner, quicker and faster than before. in spring it’s difficult for the reindeer to pull the sledges. they get tired.” added sergie hudi, “the reindeer for us are everything — our home, our food, our warmth and our transportation.”

last year the nenets arrived at a regular summer camping spot only to discover that half of the lake had drained away after a landslide. while landslides do occur naturally, scientists say there is unmistakable evidence that yamal’s ancient permafrost is melting. winter temperatures, for example, have gone up ten degrees celsius in the last hundred years.

”it’s an indication of the global warming process,” says vladimir tchouprov for greenpeace russia. “the melting of russia’s permafrost could have catastrophic results for the world by releasing billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and methane that was previously trapped in the frozen soil.” he adds that if temperatures continue to climb, much of russia’s northern region will be turned into impenetrable swamp.

the yamal peninsula also contains the biggest gas reserves on the planet, and gazprom, russia’s state energy giant, is building several ambitious infrastructure projects across the tundra which threaten the peninsula’s delicate arctic ecology and disrupt the nenets’ migration routes.

photos by bryan and cherry alexander. story adapted from luke harding for the guardian and joanna eede for survival international

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.