George Liquor (often taking his epithet as George Liquor, American) is a cartoon character created by John Kricfalusi. Liquor is most famous for his appearances on The Ren & Stimpy Show. He is considered Kricfalusi's signature character and was a mascot for Kricfalusi's defunct animation studio, Spümcø. Kricfalusi portrayed George Liquor as a patriotic, outspoken, politically conservative blowhard. Kricfalusi described Liquor as his favorite character to animate.

George Liquor was voiced by Harris Peet in his first starring episode of The Ren & Stimpy Show. Liquor was voiced by Michael Pataki until the latter's death in 2010 with his last voice work for the character posthumously featured in Cans Without Labels. Kricfalusi has voiced the character himself subsequently. George Liquor appeared in episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show, the episodes of The Goddamn George Liquor Program, comic books, webcomics, internet cartoons, and advertisements. According to Kricfalusi's blog, a new webtoon starring George was in development and to be sponsored by Pontiac Vibe, but the series remained unreleased when the Pontiac Vibe was discontinued in 2009.

Personality

Kricfalusi described George Liquor as "the greatest American" George harbors a deep antipathy for the political left; in one issue of Spümcø's Comic Book, George Liquor becomes enraged after a fish calls him a Democrat. According to Kricfalusi's "George Liquor Story Bible", George is a middle-aged, crass, religious, ultra-patriotic American who favors his nephew, Jimmy the Idiot Boy, George has a hillbilly relative, Corn Liquor, who was intended to be introduced in an episode in the second season named "Hillbilly Ren", but never got past the outline stage before Kricfalusi was fired.

Liquor lives in the fictional city of Decentville, USA. George strongly believes in discipline and corporal punishment; his motto is "it's discipline that begets love". In an issue of Comic Book, Liquor questions how parents can love their children without spanking them. Kricfalusi intended for George Liquor to be an integral character in The Ren & Stimpy Show; Kricfalusi created Ren and Stimpy as Liquor's and Jimmy's pets.

On The Ren & Stimpy Show

George Liquor's first official appearances were in episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show, a cartoon series that Kricfalusi created, sold to the television channel Nickelodeon, and directed at his studio Spümcø. Liquor starred in the episodes "Dog Show" and "Man's Best Friend", and made brief cameos in the episodes "The Boy Who Cried Rat!" and "Robin Höek". Wray said that Nickelodeon disapproved of George but did not forbid Kricfalusi from using the character. According to Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America, Nickelodeon has not officially explained why the name "Liquor" was cut from broadcasting. Kricfalusi said that the episode "Man's Best Friend" was the episode of The Ren & Stimpy Show that got him and the Spümcø staff fired from the series. The series was launched at Marvel Comics, but Kricfalusi decided to move the series to Dark Horse Comics, as "Marvel wanted to maintain its corporate image, so we moved to Dark Horse, where they have no social conscience". The series was written and drawn by Spümcø co-founders Kricfalusi and Jim Smith and other members of the original Spümcø staff.

On The Goddamn George Liquor Program

thumb|right|George Liquor being used in [[Adobe Flash|Macromedia Flash in a commercial for Tower Records.]]

George Liquor starred in the Flash Internet cartoon series The Goddamn George Liquor Program, created by Kricfalusi. Premiering on October 15, 1997, The Goddamn George Liquor Program was the first cartoon series to be produced exclusively for the Internet. George appeared on the series with his nephew, Jimmy the Idiot Boy; Jimmy's cousins, Slab and Ernie; Jimmy's love interest, Sody Pop; and George and Jimmy's pet dog, Dirty Dog. Without the control of a network, the series could be made as Kricfalusi wanted. In 1999, The Goddamn George Liquor Program won an Annie Award for "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Interactive Production". The series spawned an online short called A George Liquor Christmas, also starring him, Jimmy and Pop.

In advertisements

After being fired from The Ren & Stimpy Show, John Kricfalusi used George Liquor in Macromedia Flash advertisements in hopes of creating a series with direct sponsorship without a network. Kricfalusi began with free advertisements that he made for Tower Records in 1997. the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and the internet communication service Raketu. A series of cartoon commercials was developed by Kricfalusi in 2008 for Pontiac Vibe starring him, but the series remained unreleased after General Motors discontinued the Pontiac Vibe auto line in 2009.

George Liquor has consistently appeared in promos for Adult Swim during the final years of John Kricfalusi's career, as he had managed to secure a stable relationship with Williams Street, having worked for Hanna-Barbera in his early years and contributed specials to Cartoon Network. In 2016, George Liquor has appeared in promos airing on Adult Swim advertising upcoming UFC fights along with other characters such as Slab N' Ernie and Hank Hill. despite technical difficulties of the DVD mastering. On May 27, 2019, John Kricfalusi announced the DVD masterings' completion Based on Kricfalusi's childhood experience, the short details George purchasing unlabeled silver cans for a cheap price, and his attempts to feed them to his younger nephews, Slab and Ernie (voiced by Eric Bauza and Gabe Swarr). Despite believing that the can would contain beef stew, he opens it to find out that there was a face inside instead. In spite of Slab and Ernie's disgust, he still insists on feeding it to them. After some hesitation from the boys, George gives the two by the time he finishes using the bathroom to eat the entire face. Towards the end of the short, George appears with a belt, preparing to punish them, but notices the empty can (as a result of the two feeding the face to surprise guest Donald Bastard, a parody of Donald Duck) and congratulates them. To reward them, he offers to open another can, but Slab and Ernie run away at the last minute.

This short marked Michael Pataki's final role due to his death on April 15, 2010, with the short being dedicated to his memory. Because he was unable to complete his voice work before his death, Kricfalusi voiced the character for select scenes.

Books and articles

References

  • Creator John Kricfalusi's blog
  • George Liquor Bible part 1
  • George Liquor Bible part 2