Mr. Cranky, a satirical film critic, was created in 1995 by Jason Katzman and Hans Bjordahl.
Mr. Smiley is a mirror opposite of the Mr. Cranky personae: all reviews are hyperbolically positive.
Katzman, the primary writer, and Bjordahl, his editor, purchased the rights to the feature in 1998 and established Cranky's website, which includes an archive of reviews, editorials, and message boards.
They can be found in print in both the Tribune's free publication RedEye[1] and in the self-published trade paperback book Shadowculture's Mr. Cranky Presents: The 100 Crankiest Movie Reviews Ever (Author House, 2004; ISBN 1-4184-4812-5) Jason Katzman is employed at the University of Colorado and contributes articles to MSNBC.
On July 3, 2008, the homepage announced the character's retirement, but the site came back with a redesign and guest writers.