I didn't read the book although I'd like to. When I studied animation I bought a lot of books on animation about guys like Tex Avery, Jack Hannah, Irv Spence, and Ron Bluth. Most books like that are going to round to about 70% true biographical fact and the rest to bias. I'm the same, I've researched certain things to death but in writing it's going to be biased and I usually run against the grain when it comes to popular opinion (except on GAF). I'll take a look for it.
True, John K. loses most context after 12-minutes. If he had been a team player and didn't loathe screenwriters (he maimed them for not being storyboard artists); he would have been very successful. His strange bipolar-like personality would scare people. He'd have emotional break-downs and sometimes come off in interviews as out-of-touch. He belonged in the animation industry but he's not good with people or business. Over a decade ago, I got to chat with some of his fellow animators like Jim Smith and Vincent Waller. They recall him being obsessive but cool at the right times. Jim Smith the animator was also a great guitarist and played the Ren & Stimpy theme. I recall him saying he had would get it right but John would make him play it again 10 or 15-times. Most of these guys had a fun through the dark days of Hannah Barbera's 80's cartoons (when Ruby Spears wanted a low-budget cartoon on everything). I recall John K getting angry that he had to work on animations of Pac-man and Strawberry Shortcake.
www.darkhorizons.com
