North Springs

North Springs is an American adult animated comedy television series created by Don Foster and Rob Farlane for. It is set in the fictional town North Springs,, and centers on the lives of Kris Baggs, Philly Lyndon, Cole Makowski, and Ben Emery, four 8-year-old boys.

The series premiere, "Philly Writes", was originally broadcast on June 2, 1996. It became the first weekly TV-MA television program in America. In 1997, it became the second most-watched television series on pay television in the U.S., reaching first place in 1999.

Setting and characters
North Springs takes place during present time in North Springs, a fictional city in the U.S. state of. According to a map shown in the season 10 episode "Put Your Money Where Your Ass Is", it is located near the West Coast.

Kris Baggs, Philly Lyndon, Cole Makowski, and Ben Emery are the protagonists of the show. They all first appeared in the pilot episode, Supporting characters include Donnie Dee, Robert Manabrovski, and Park Footlong.

Style and themes
Don Foster and Rob Farlane credited  and the works of Freddy Madakama as inspiration for the style of North Springs. Their idea was to have the show look like a "kiddie" cartoon while retaining its adult themes. As a result, they created the show's simplistic art style, often excluding necks, noses, and fingers.

Child characters curse frequently, which Foster said was because he and Farlane know that children use strong language when grownups are not around. The duo also included the realistic element of young characters being interested in adult topics (namely topics related sex and alcohol).

Development
In 1993, Don Foster and Rob Farlane were making comics together, calling them Adult Kid Comics. Each strip was about two boys who resembled Kris and Philly, respectively. Foster and Farlane pitched an idea for a series based on the comics to the TNT television channel in 1994, who said they would come back to it "in a little bit."

Production
In 1994, work on the show began. The production team given a 5-day production deadline. This was done so that the writers could catch up to recent events.

The first season took about two months to complete. The characters were designed solely by Foster and Farlane. The writers of the season alternated between Foster, Farlane, Josh Kimm, Stephen Kessman, Kay Utolo, Nic Kawl, and Daniel A. Salisbury; after season one, each season had one writer, rotating between Foster and Farlane. The same applied to the directors, the first season's team consisting of Foster, Farlane, Kevin Bankum, and Neil Arisma.

Animation
The series' animation begins with the characters. The art of a scene's characters is put into Toonwash. The art is changed for each frame to mimic movement. When the motion is complete, a background is placed.

The first two seasons were animated by Sequitur Studios. The seasons from 1998 to 1999 were animated by Eye Identity Studios, the seasons from 2000 to 2008 were produced and Paintcup Productions, and the seasons since 2009 have been North Springs Studios productions.