Klasky-Csupo, Inc.

Logo used since 1996
Formerly	Klasky & Csupo (legal name until 1991)
Company type	Private
Industry	Animation
Founded	1982; 43 years ago (1982) (original) 2012; 13 years ago (2012) (current)
Founders	Arlene Klasky Gábor Csupó
Defunct	2008; 17 years ago (2008) (original)
Fate	Dormancy (original)
Headquarters	1238 North Highland Avenue Los Angeles,California 90038[1]
Key people	Terry Thoren (CEO, 1994–2006) Tracy Kramer Norton Virgien Brandon Scott (vice president)
Products	Animated series Music videos Animated shorts Animated commercials Comic books Live-action shows Animes
Owners	Arlene Klasky Gábor Csupó
Website	www.klaskycsupo.com

Klasky-Csupo, Inc. (/klæskiˈtʃuːpoʊ/KLAS-keeCHOO-poh) is an Americananimation studio located inLos Angeles,California.^[2] It was founded in 1982 by producerArlene Klasky and her then-husband, Hungarian animatorGábor Csupó^[3] in a spare room of their apartment and grew to 550 artists, creative workers and staff in an animation facility inHollywood.

During the 1990s and 2000s, they produced and animated era-defining shows for the children's network,Nickelodeon, such asRugrats (which was one of the channel's original animated series, known asNicktoons),Aaahh!!! Real Monsters,The Wild Thornberrys,Rocket Power,As Told by Ginger,All Grown Up!, and the American dub ofPoppy Cat. They also animated the first three seasons ofThe Simpsons for20th Century Fox Television andGracie Films, as well asDuckman onUSA Network. In 2008, Nickelodeon ended their long-running partnership with Klasky Csupo and its shows were canceled, resulting in the company becoming discontinued for four years. In 2012, the company reopened. In 2018, it began production ona CGI-animated reboot ofRugrats, which premiered in 2021 onParamount+, the streaming service of Nickelodeon and its parent companyParamount Global.

Klasky-Csupo, Inc., was established in 1982.^[4] It was founded in the spare bedroom of aHollywood apartment whereArlene Klasky andGábor Csupó were living during their marriage. One year later, Klasky-Csupo expanded and moved to a new location at 729 Seward Street (which wasBob Clampett's studio), opening its first facility in Hollywood.^[5][6][7]

Klasky Csupo was initially distinguished by its work on logo designs, commercials, feature film trailers, television show titles, promos and ident spots for a wide variety of clients, in the process earning a reputation as the industry's most imaginative and innovative studio. Building on its success, the studio left Seward Street to open its second facility in Hollywood in 1988, at the corner of Fountain and Highland Avenues. The studio soon grew to include six buildings that have become well known in Hollywood, in true Klasky Csupo style, the exterior walls of the buildings are decorated with large murals of its characters.

The studio's first big break came in 1987 whenJames L. Brooks ofGracie Films commissioned the studio to produce the title sequence for a comedy series titledThe Tracey Ullman Show. In addition to the main title, Klasky Csupo was given the opportunity to produce and animate a new series ofone-minute cartoons which featured a family calledthe Simpsons, created byMatt Groening. Klasky Csupo produced and animated all 48 shorts, and when it became one of the most popular segments on the show, Fox began airing a weekly half-hour series entitledThe Simpsons. Klasky Csupo oversaw and animated every episode of the first three seasons of the series, resulting in the studio sharing the 1989–1990 and 1990–1991Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program, with Gracie Films.

In addition, Klasky Csupo produced the music video for "Do the Bartman". Klasky Csupo animator and colorist "Georgie" Gyorgyi Kovacs Peluce (Kovács Györgyike)^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]} conceived the idea ofThe Simpsons characters having yellow skin, andMarge Simpson having blue hair, opting for something which "didn't look like anything that had come before."^[14][15][16] Klasky Csupo was also responsible for an error during the episode "Homer's Odyssey", in whichWaylon Smithers was colorized as black with blue hair.^[17]

In 1992, Gracie Films switched domestic production ofThe Simpsons toFilm Roman, which continued until 2016.^[18] Csupó was "asked [by Gracie Films] if they could bring in their own producer [to oversee the animation production]," but declined, stating "they wanted to tell me how to run my business."^[18] Sharon Bernstein ofThe Los Angeles Times wrote that "Gracie executives had been unhappy with the producer Csupo had assigned toThe Simpsons and said the company also hoped to obtain better wages and working conditions for animators at Film Roman."^[18] Of the 110 people he employed to animateThe Simpsons, Csupó fired 75.^[18]

In 1991, Klasky Csupo createdRugrats, one of the first animated shows forNickelodeon (known as "Nicktoons") which was inspired by the couple's two sons and the idea of what they would do if they could speak.^[19][20] Their next major series wasDuckman for theUSA Network, which revolved around the home life and adventures of a dim-witted and lascivious private detective duck named Eric Duckman. The series ran from 1994 to 1997. During the same time, Nickelodeon released Klasky Csupo's second Nicktoon series,Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. During this time, Klasky Csupo originally ended production onRugrats due to the network's since-outdated 65-episode rule.^[21] However, with continued success ofRugrats reruns, it exploded in popularity with high ratings and increasing advertising deals, prompted Nickelodeon and Klasky Csupo to resume production on the series. The show was cited as "a show likethe Simpsons, but for children".

In 1993, Klasky Csupo worked with comedianLily Tomlin and her partner Jane Wagner to bring the irascible little girl, Edith Ann, to television in two half-hour animated specials for ABC. The first,A Few Pieces of the Puzzle, aired in January 1994, and received critical acclaim, and the second,Homeless Go Home, aired in May 1994, and also had critical acclaim and ratings.

In 1995, the studio premieredSanto Bugito. Created by Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo forCBS,Santo Bugito tells the story of a small town of 64 million insects located on the border of Texas and Mexico. Music-driven and Latin-influenced, the series starsCheech Marin,Joan Van Ark,Tony Plana,William Sanderson,George Kennedy, Marabina Jaimes, andDavid Paymer, and is highlighted by a distinctive look and the music ofMark Mothersbaugh, theDevo keyboardist who also composed the music ofRugrats.

Also in 1995, Klasky Csupo established Klasky Csupo Commercials (rebranded as Class-Key Chew-Po Commercials in 1998), founded by John Andrews, in order to continue the successful commercial animation business that had grown from the company's initial work in main titles and graphics. Class-Key Chew-Po had been an immediate success, building an impressive client list with work for companies like1-800-COLLECT,Oscar Mayer,Taco Bell,Kraft, and Nickelodeon. In 2001, the company founded Ka-Chew!, a live-action commercial division.

The company was also active in producing recorded music with therecord labels Tone Casualties and Casual Tonalities. Gabor Csupo was a good friend ofFrank Zappa and occasionally collaborates with Mark Mothersbaugh. AfterDuckman andAaahh!!! Real Monsters were both cancelled in 1997, Klasky Csupo began producingThe Wild Thornberrys for Nickelodeon, which premiered the following year; the story revolved around a girl named Eliza Thornberry who could talk to animals.^[22][23]

In 1998, Klasky Csupo produced its first feature-length film,The Rugrats Movie, which was released in the United States on November 20, 1998 as the #1 film in the country and grossed $141 million worldwide, becoming the first non-Disney animated film to gross over $100 million in the United States. It was then followed by two sequels,Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000) andRugrats Go Wild (2003), the latter of which was acrossover withThe Wild Thornberrys.The Wild Thornberrys also had its ownfeature-length film in 2002.

Also in 1998, Klasky Csupo was commissioned byMcDonald's to developThe Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald, a series of six animated videos featuring the company's mascot,Ronald McDonald, which were distributed directly to consumers via participating McDonald's restaurants onVHS. On December 23, 1998, CEO Terry Thoren concluded an eleven-month negotiation with the car industryMercedes-Benz and moved the company into the state-of-the-art studio in Los Angeles.^[24]

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Klasky Csupo began producing two more shows for Nickelodeon:Rocket Power andAs Told by Ginger. They also produced the first series ofStressed Eric,BBC Two's first adult-oriented animated series.

In 2001, in honor of the tenth anniversary ofRugrats, Klasky Csupo released a two-parttelevision special entitledAll Growed Up, which featured all of the titular babies as tweens.^[25] It became the most-watched television broadcast on Nickelodeon; in response, the network commissioned a series based on that special, titledAll Grown Up!, which ran on the channel from 2003 to 2008. On September 29, 2001, Class-Key Chew-Po signed animation director Chris Prynoski and his companyTitmouse, Inc. for commercial representation.

In 2003, Klasky Csupo andTitmouse, Inc. were commissioned byCartoon Network to produce amusic video by the bandThey Might Be Giants for their song "Dee Dee and Dexter", which features characters fromDexter's Laboratory drawn by the studio inanime style. Class-Key Chew-Po Animated Commercials and Broadcast Design were then folded into Ka-Chew! the following year.

Also in 2003, the studio began work onThe Way the Dead Love, a theatrical film that was set to adapt seven short stories from German-American writerCharles Bukowski from a script penned by Bruce Wagner.^[26] The film was developed under the studio's Global Tantrum division, withWinchester Films joining to co-produce the film with the studio, as well as providing sales for the film.^[26] It was to be directed byIgor Kovalyov and Laslo Nosek, withRadiohead andPeter Gabriel set to compose the feature. Slated for a 2006 release, it was eventually postponed.^[27] The project was then revived that same year atWarner Independent Pictures,^[28] withJohnny Depp set to co-produce and serve as the voice of the film's main character.^[29] However, the project would be canceled. Had it been completed, the film would have been the first R-rated feature from the studio.^[27]

In 2005, the company again worked for Cartoon Network on the shortsOogloo + Anju,Food Court Diaries, andThe Topside Rag forSunday Pants under Ka-Chew!.

In the mid-2000s, Klasky Csupo's Nickelodeon shows were canceled and their long-running partnership soon ended. In 2006, the longtime CEO of the company, Terry Thoren, left the studio and they dissolved the remainder of their 401(k) program, leading them to a period of dormancy and inactivity.

In fall 2006, Klasky Csupo announced the development of 28 new animated cartoon pilots that were to be up for sale at a later date.^[30] Each pilot was animated in different designs, instead of the typical style the studio was famous for. Some of the cartoons were never ordered to series.^{[needs update?]} Gabor Csupo would later post the remains of the cartoons on hisYouTube channel. One of the pilots,Chicken Town, was announced as a series by French companyEllipsanime, though Klasky Csupo was not involved with it.^[31]

In 2007, Paul Demeyer left Klasky Csupo to foundWild Canary, taking some of Ka-Chew!'s clients with him. In 2008, Ka-Chew! celebrated its 10th anniversary by expanding its roster of directors,^[32] before being absorbed into6 Point Media in April 2011.^[33] In the same year, the studio released its final film to date,Immigrants, which was originally produced as an unaired animated series forSpike TV.

In 2012, Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupo reopened the company after nearly four years of dormancy. Along with Craig Singer, the studio created its first new project in four years,Ollie Mongo, a digital comic book about a teenage skateboardingzombie who lives 200 years in the future.^[34] In 2015, the company announced that they were working onRoboSplaat!, aweb series featuring the character with a robotic voice from their 1998 on-screen logo, given the name "Splaat" (voiced byGreg Cipes). The logo featuring him was discontinued in 2008, but was revived in 2021, along with the premiere of theRugrats revival; the logo continues to appear on productions from the company. The web series premiered on December 21, 2016,^[35] and an app based on the web series is also currently in development.^[36] That same year, Klasky Csupo also announced that they were working on some "top secret projects".^[37]

On September 2, 2015, it was announced that Nickelodeon may "seek to experiment with retooled versions of classics" that could includeRugrats.^[38] The following day,The Independent announced that Klasky Csupo were in talks of aRugrats revival.^[39] AtSan Diego Comic-Con in 2016, Arlene Klasky explained that she would be willing to work on a revival of the series along with co-creators Gábor Csupó and Paul Germain.^[40]

On July 16, 2018, Nickelodeon announced a revival ofRugrats consisting of a 26-episode order. Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó would return as executive producers for the revived series.^[41] Using CGI animation rather than traditional hand-drawn animation used in the original series, the newRugrats premiered onParamount+, the streaming service for Nickelodeon parentParamount Global, on May 27, 2021.^[42]

In April 2022, Gabor Csupo launched anNFT project titledCosa Monstra.^[43]

On September 17, 2024, the original Klasky Csupo building closed its doors after Arlene retired from working in the animation industry with plans to relocate under the management of her son, Brandon.^[44]

RoboSplaat! is an American animated web series created byArlene Klasky forYouTube. The series is about Splaat, an ink splat, who is voiced byGreg Cipes, who also voicedBeast Boy fromTeen Titans.

• Splaat (voiced byGreg Cipes) is the main character in the series. He is a purple ink splat with two weird yellow rectangles, the upper has blue eyes, while the lower has a mouth with red lips. He wears black long sleeves and red and white sneakers, each with a white shoelace tied. He also appeared in the Klasky Csupo logo, albeit with no limbs, a more realistic look, a robotic voice, and his ink splat is black on a blue background. Prior to 2012, he was commonly referred to as a robot, before it was revealed that he is a "splaat".

• Digital (voiced byDebi Derryberry) is Splaat's 12-year-old younger brother. Unlike Splaat, the rectangles are red instead of yellow, his lips are blue instead of red, and wears a black short-sleeved shirt with a white sound shape and grey and white shoes, each with a black shoelace tied.
• Sergei (voiced by Cooper Barnes) is the father of Splaat and Digital and the husband of Blossom. He is an ink bottle with sea-green eyes and pink lips. He wears purplish black armless sleeves and black shoes.
• Blossom (voiced byCandi Milo) is the mother of Splaat and Digital, the wife of Sergei, and the only female and legless member of Splaat's family. She is a pair of blue scissors with blue eyes and a weird yellow rectangle that has a mouth with red lips. She wears an orange skirt and gloves.
• Grandpa (voiced by Richard Tanner) is the grandfather of Splaat and Digital and the father of Sergei. He is a grey ink splat with blue eyes and black eyebrows and wears green glasses, a black suit with a green shirt and a purple necktie, and brown shoes.

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• Nickelodeon Animation Studio
• Film Roman

• Official website
• Klasky Csupo at theBig Cartoon DataBase
• Nick Animation Podcast, Episode 4: Arlene Klasky (Hector Navarro, moderator). Published June 3, 2016; listened June 4, 2016.

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