Janiak was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended Lane Technical College Prep High School where he collaborated with Wayne Boyer and Ronald Larson to create animated cartoon shorts.
These high school films were recognized by the Chicago Tribune, Hollywood and the IIT Institute of Design.
[1] Janiak then attended the Institute of Design and learned under the influence of László Moholy-Nagy's principles of the "American Bauhaus".
When Larry was six, his family moved to a northwest neighborhood of Chicago, close to the Indian Boundary Forest Preserve, the Che-Che-Pin-Qua Woods and the Des Plaines River.
At Lane Tech High School, Larry created cartoon animations with Wayne Boyer and Ronald Larson, which would catch the attention of the Chicago Tribune, and even Hollywood.
The high school students found inspiration in nature, experimenting with stop motion photography in the nearby woods during their summers.
[9] Peter Gorner interviewed Larry Janiak for his article "Tempo A" in the Chicago Tribune, and discusses the tedious nature, and lengthy process that animation requires.
The film is silent, but the movement of the shapes is meant to resemble Tanmatra, a moving field of aggregates of atoms and cosmic motion called the dance of Shiva.
[3] Larry Janiak received recognition for his work starting in high school, winning awards such ash Gold Key awards from the National Scholastic magazine High School Contest, and was granted the opportunity to meet Walt Disney.