Creator / Klasky-Csupo

Klasky-Csupo, Inc.^note (pronounced "class-key-chew-poe") is an American animation company founded in 1982 by artist and producer Arlene Klasky and her then-husband, animator Gábor Csupó. Starting off as an independent animation company in the couple's Hollywood apartment, the studio has become famous for its Nicktoons from The Renaissance Age of Animation, such as Rugrats, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, The Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power, and As Told by Ginger. Besides their work for Nickelodeon, the studio also produced the animated shorts and 61 episodes of The Simpsons in addition to the character design of Dr. Nick Riviera, based somewhat on Csupo. Similarly, bits of Arlene Klasky's life had made it into their shows. She lost her mother at a young age the way Chuckie Finster lost his in Rugrats, and Tommy Pickles is based on her and Csupo's own son.

The studio then disappeared from the production scene. In 2004, Klasky-Csupo shut down production on most of its shows, including Rugrats, and in 2006, shut down production on all of its shows except the new pilots the couple created. After 20 years since The Simpsons animation changed over to Film Roman, Klasky-Csupo started to have its animation credit in the ending credits of a Dexter's Laboratory music video ("Dee Dee and Dexter" by They Might Be Giants). In fall 2006, Klasky-Csupo announced development of 14 new animated pilots, which will be up for sale at a later date; however, all of these projects disappeared for a while. In 2011, their commercial and titling branch, ka-chew!, was sold to 6 Point Harness.

In 2012, 6 years later, Klasky Csupo finally announced its big comeback, appearing for the first time at Comic Con to announce that its pilots will finally show up on the company's new YouTube channel, seen here. Around this time, they began producing the comic book series Ollie Mongo. Gabor Csupo also directed the 2007 live-action film Bridge to Terabithia for Disney and Walden Media. The most significant work the revived company has been able to make has been a revival of Rugrats commissioned by Paramount+ which is 3D animated at Technicolor Animation.

The company's mascot of sorts is Splaat, a character first featured in their infamous 1998 Vanity Plate.

---

Shows and segments produced by the company:

• Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (1990 special)
• As Told by Ginger
• Citizen Tony pilot
• Duckman
• Edith Ann TV specials
• MADtv (the Spy vs. Spy segments only)
• Psyko Ferret pilot
• RoboSplaat webtoon
• Rocket Power
• Rugrats franchise
  • Rugrats (1991)
  • All Grown Up!
  • Rugrats Pre-School Daze
  • Rugrats (2021)
• Santo Bugito
• Sesame Street (some animated segments, such as these ones)
• The Simpsons (first 61 episodes only; succeeded by Film Roman)
• Stinky Pierre pilot
• Stressed Eric (first season only; season two, a U.K. exclusive, was produced by Varga Studio)
• The Tracey Ullman Show (animated shorts)
• The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald
• The Wild Thornberrys
• You Animal pilot

Films produced by the company:

• Immigrants (L.A. Dolce Vita)
• Rugrats Go Wild!
• Rugrats in Paris
• The Rugrats Movie
• The Wild Thornberrys Movie

Other credits by Klasky-Csupo:

• 21 Jump Street (main titles)
• Brotherhood of the Rose (main titles)
• Cartoon Sushi (commercials)
• Clueless (main titles)
• Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (main titles)
• Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (title sequence)
• In Living Color! (title animation for seasons 3 and 4)
• Kelly Kelly (main titles)
• The Le Brons (recording studio)
• Legend Quest (recording studio)
• Man Trouble (main titles)
• Max Headroom (visual consultants)
• Mortuary Academy (main titles)
• Nip/Tuck (main titles, "Daimen Sands" animation; through ka-chew!)
• Quantum Leap (main titles)
• Recycle Rex (animation)
• Roc (main titles)
• Shadrach (animation)
• Shocker (main titles)
• Technological Threat (test camera provider)
• Whatzupwithu (Production)

Associated tropes

• He Also Did: While the studio was getting off the ground, Gábor Csupó did the artwork for Frank Zappa's The Lost Episodes. Csupo is a professed Zappa fan, his records being one of his few possessions he could smuggle out of Hungary and how he was able to teach himself English.
• Meme Acknowledgment: The Klasky-Csupo panel during San Diego Comic Con 2012 included a short animation of Splat (the character from the infamous "scary logo") complaining about his unfortunate reputation. This later became the pilot episode to RoboSplaat.
• No Budget: Many of their recent pitch pilots were clearly made on much smaller budgets than their Nickelodeon work. RoboSplaat in particular was noted for its crude production values.
• Production Posse: Frequently used Sunwoo Entertainment and its' divisions (Anivision and Grimsaem) to outsource their animation for their shows and films.

---