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" who is so conservative "that he thinks the Republicans are commies". 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, and tries to teach Jimmy how to be a "real man".
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 the two episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show in which he starred, George treats Ren and Stimpy strictly and tries to make them as disciplined as possible. In an issue of Comic Book, Liquor questions how parents can love their children without spanking them.
Creation
George was created by Kricfalusi in 1979 immediately after Kricfalusi saw a building with a sign that read "George Liquor". Kricfalusi said that the name "George Liquor" was "the coolest name [he] ever heard". According to Kricfalusi's blog, Kricfalusi's father greatly influenced the character's personality. He said that both Liquor and his father are similar in that "George and my Dad believe strongly in discipline and order and rules. (Especially their own!)" 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 and 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". According to Kricfalusi, Liquor only appeared in a few episodes because those in charge of Nickelodeon at the time hated the character. Ren & Stimpy animator Bill Wray described Liquor as a character that Nickelodeon "never liked" because the name "Liquor" both was a reference to alcohol and sounded like the words "lick her". Wray said that Nickelodeon disapproved of George but did not forbid Kricfalusi from using the character.