Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 8, 1993                   TAG: 9305080293
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                                LENGTH: Short

BOY'S LETTER GETS HIM JOB ON CARTOON

For Anthony Raspanti of Newport News, the trademark cry of cartoon characters Ren and Stimpy couldn't better describe his glee.

Not surprising, considering the 8-year-old will become a cartoon character himself in the latest episode featuring Nickelodeon's quirky critters.

Anthony nabbed the role by sending in the show's first fan letter shortly after its August 1991 premiere, said John Kricfalusi, the show's creator.

The letter, addressed to Ren - the bug-eyed Chihuahua - and Stimpy - his bumbling feline sidekick - asked the pair to "visit us in our country, the United States of America, and bring your costumes."

"I thought it was hilarious," said Kricfalusi. "So I ran to my writers and said, `Hell, let's have Ren and Stimpy visit Anthony in his country, the U.S.' " Actually, Anthony visited them - in Hollywood - courtesy of the series.

In Hollywood, an artist turned Anthony's grin and wide-eyed spunk into Ren and Stimpy's newest friend. Under Kricfalusi's direction, Anthony also recorded voice readings for his part.

In the show, titled "Visit to Anthony," the title characters get an admiring letter from a boy in Hollywood and decide to take him up on his invitation for a visit. The characters kiss their hairy wives goodbye and swim to America, where they visit Anthony and his family, dubbed "the happiest family in the land."

For his work on the cartoon, Anthony earned about $900. Does he hope to add to that account someday as an artist himself?

Well, sort of. "I want to be an architect," he said. "And the only thing I'll draw is ships, space shuttles, Ren and Stimpy - and myself!"