Jim Smith (animator)

For other people named Jim Smith, see Jim Smith (disambiguation).

James Carl Smith (né Jobb; October 8, 1954 – May 2, 2025) was an American animator and musician. He worked on Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures with his long-time working partner John Kricfalusi.^[2] Smith later briefly worked on Tiny Toon Adventures, and then along with Kricfalusi, Bob Camp and Lynne Naylor he founded Spümcø, where he co-developed The Ren & Stimpy Show (from which he departed in 1992 alongside Kricfalusi) in 1991 and The Ripping Friends in 2001. He was notable for remaining faithful to Kricfalusi, having refused to join Games Animation (though he worked on The X's after its rebranding to Nickelodeon Animation Studio), working with Kricfalusi on his projects amid other work until Cans Without Labels (2017).^[3][4]

Jim Smith
Smith in 2010
Born	James Carl Jobb (1954-10-08)October 8, 1954 Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
Died	May 2, 2025(2025-05-02) (aged 70)
Occupations	Animator writer storyboard artist musician
Years active	1984–2019
Known for	The Ren & Stimpy Show Samurai Jack The X's Tiny Toon Adventures The Ripping Friends Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures Batman: The Animated Series
Spouse	? (divorced)[1]

Life and career

Smith was born in Lubbock, Texas on October 8, 1954.^[5] He composed and played the guitar for the Ren & Stimpy music theme intro, performing alongside production assistant Scott Huml and co-worker Chris Reccardi.

Smith died of a heart attack on May 2, 2025, at the age of 70.^[6][7] His former Spümcø colleagues Bob Camp^[8] and Richard Pursel^[9] used their respective social media profiles to pay tribute to him.

Filmography