Jump to content

The Ren & Stimpy Show

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 70.67.37.88 (talk) at 09:47, 5 March 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Ren & Stimpy Show
File:Ren and Stimpy.jpg
Ren & Stimpy cast
Created byJohn Kricfalusi
StarringBilly West
John Kricfalusi
Country of originUSA
No. of episodes93 (52 shows)
Production
Running timeapprox. 0:22 (0:11 per episode)
Original release
NetworkNickelodeon
Release1991 –
1996

Ren and Stimpy are the eponymous characters of two American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Ren Höek, a neurotic "asthma-hound" Chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a fat simpleton (but occasionally intelligent) cat, wander around in nonsensical adventures reminiscent of the golden age of cartoons. Kricfalusi created the characters during the 1980s, while working for low-budget TV cartoons after moving to the USA.

Although a product of the children's cable network Nickelodeon, The Ren & Stimpy Show had a reputation for subversiveness (much like another cancelled Nicktoon, the much more recent Invader Zim). In fact, the show pushed the bounds of good taste further than any cartoon had to its day: its level of gross-out humor, particularly fixated on boogers and flatulence, was exceeded only by the antics of Beavis and Butt-head, The Demented Cartoon Movie or The Brothers Grunt. While sometimes seen as low-brow (and often visually repulsive), the series also lampooned western culture and made many viewers and studio executives uncomfortable. One episode in particular that was only made available on VHS implied that Ren and Stimpy might actually be gay lovers.

Many parents of young children were also particularly critical about the fact that the dimwitted but very polite Stimpy would be the subject of repeated violence by his supposed "friend" Ren, often in the form of a very powerful slap across the face. There were also notable scenes where Ren (or sometimes other minor characters) breaks down into fits of psychosis and gleefully plots to kill Stimpy or other ancillary characters. While conscience eventually prevents Ren from carrying out the deed, these disturbing scenes only added to the concerns of parents and other critics. Such scenes may indicate that Ren is particularly prone to paranoid schizophrenia.

Nickelodeon eventually fired Kricfalusi from his own creation and systematically censored the cartoon down to little more than a remnant of its former self. Eventually, several episodes were deemed unairable and have never been broadcast by Nickelodeon again. During the mid 90's, MTV began airing reruns as did VH1 network during a month long marathon series December of 2001. In July 30, 2005, the American version of the Nicktoons Network, Nickelodeon's counterpart channel, started to air reruns of Ren and Stimpy. The series has since been dubbed into several languages for foreign broadcast.

In 2005, Channel 4 ran a poll to find the 100 Greatest Cartoons. Ren & Stimpy was voted 18th.

Relationship of Ren and Stimpy

Ren and Stimpy are the stereotypical odd couple. Ren is sarcastic, cynical, and anal retentive. Stimpy is dimwitted (Ren is fond of the phrase, "Stimpy, you eedeeot!"), pleasant, and clumsy; his voice is based on that of Larry Fine of the Three Stooges. To showcase the mismatch, consider Stimpy's favorite song, "Happy Happy Joy Joy", a silly children's tune that drives Ren to convulsions when he hears it.

It is often debated as to whether Ren and Stimpy are homosexual. When approached with the question as to whether or not the characters are lovers, John Kricfalusi initally stated "In Ren's case, it's not completely by choice. He'd rather have a beautiful human woman if he could get away with it. Since he can't, Stimpy's easy. Stimpy's madly in love with Ren." [1] In a later interview, however, Kricfalusi stated that the characters are comedians much in the same way that the Three Stooges are [citation needed]. They play characters that have discernible personalities of their own, yet episodes do not directly correlate to one another, and thus the characters can be gay at certain times and straight at others, if it serves the comedy.

File:Ren-and-Stimpy-screaming.jpg
Ren and Stimpy's ear-pitched "scream/yell" from an episode of The Ren and Stimpy Show.

Main characters

  • Ren Höek: Ren is a "Asthma-Hound" Chihuahua who often calls Stimpy an "eeediot" and slaps him around, quite literally. Ren is vain, spiteful, abusive, and gets irritated (especially by Stimpy) very easily. His lifelong ambition is to have huge pectoral muscles (which, in real life, is uncommon). Ren's name is the real name of Kricfalusi's building manager. Originally read (in a voice homaging those of Peter Lorre and Kirk Douglas) by Kricfalusi, later by Billy West after Kricfalusi was fired, although Kricfalusi would return for the Spike TV episodes. Since Ren is a chihuahua, he is considered Mexican.
  • Stimpson J. Cat (Stimpy): A red, rotund cat, with a blue nose and no tail, Stimpson J. Cat is idiotically yet adorably cheerful and completely devoted to Ren, as he is, to him at least, a good friend. However, Ren abuses Stimpy constantly, both verbally and physically. His trademark facial expression is a blissfully ignorant smile with tongue flopping out. Stimpy is named after an art school classmate of Kricfalusi, whose nickname was "Stimpy Kadogan" ("Killer Kadoogan" was Stimpy's pseudonym in the wrestling episode "Mad Dog Höek"). Voiced by West (in a voice homaging that of Stooge Larry Fine) in the Nickelodeon series and later by Eric Bauza in the Spike TV episodes.

Supporting characters

In addition to Ren and Stimpy, there are a host of supporting characters in the show. However, Ren and Stimpy are the only characters to appear in every episode; the supporting characters may recur, or they may only appear in a single episode. Some supporting characters will factor directly into the storyline (such as George Liquor) while others make brief cameos. Some, such as Mr. Horse, are exclusively cameo-based, appearing in many episodes in bits that have little bearing on the plot.

  • George Liquor: A.k.a. George Liquor American, George is an ultra-patriotic American and is so conservative that he thinks Republicans are Communists. His last name was removed from being uttered in the episodes he appeared in by Nickelodeon. Instead, the scene would pause and a record-scratching sound effect would be played instead of George speaking the word "Liquor." It's been said that his last name was removed because it is one of the "six words you are never supposed to say." He was voiced by Michael Pataki, but Harris Peet voiced him in "The Boy Who Cried Rat," which was his first appearance. A picture of him can be found on the wall of Ren & Stimpy's quarters in "In The Army."
  • Powdered Toast Man: Melodramatic and oblivious superhero and spokesperson for Powdered Toast, the breakfast treat that "tastes just like sawdust." He can fly by launching himself from a toaster, or dispensing a healthy amount of flatulence; He flies backwards, or at an angle. Oddly, Powdered Toast doesn't taste right unless Powdered Toast Man passes gas while it is being consumed. His favourite phrase is "Leave Everything To Me!" Powdered Toast Man hides his true identity behind the guise of Pastor Toastman, a "cool" youth deacon. Voiced by Gary Owens.
  • Muddy Mudskipper: A mudskipper (a species of fish capable crawling out of water and breathing air directly) with the voice and personality of a grizzled vaudeville comedian who hosts an afternoon kids' show. Calls everyone he meets "a bum." Besides being a huge television star, Muddy dabbled in villainy, at one point kidnapping the Pope (voiced by Frank Zappa) before being foiled by Powdered Toast Man. Voiced by Harris Peet.
  • Mr. Horse: One of the original and classic characters, with his catch phrase "No sir, I don't like it." Mr. Horse has variously been a victim of a fall from a skyscraper, a GI returning from war in love with a sheep, a dog-show judge, a keeper of unwilling walruses, and a tester for Gritty Kitty Litter. During the cat litter commercial, Stimpy asks, "Are you a professional actor?" Mr. Horse replies "No sir, I am a real horse!". Mr. Horse has also been a doctor, and someone running from a dark past. Voiced by Kricfalusi.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Pipe: A pair of square, white suburban parents who are seen only from the waist down, similar to the appearances of Ms. Sara Bellum in The PowerPuff Girls and Cow and Chicken's mother and father in Cow and Chicken. Mr. Pipe (voiced by Billy West) is typically clad in a bathrobe, slippers, and black socks supported by sock-suspenders. He also loves to wear Rubber Nipples on his knees. Mrs. Pipe (voiced by Cheryl Chase) appears to wear a dress and nondescript women's shoes.
  • Abner and Ewalt: A pair of incredibly stupid hillbillies who are sheriff and deputy of a small Wild West town. They have a strong proclivity for hanging, so much so that they eventually hang themselves in absence of a suitable hangee.
  • Svën Hoëk: Ren's Swedish cousin who Ren has not seen since they were in the whelping box together. He longs to have an intellectual conversation with his cousin, but much to Ren's chagrin, Svën is even stupider than Stimpy, who forms an instant bond with him. Last seen in Hell.
  • Mrs. Buttloaves: An incredibly obese and homely woman dressed in a bulging pink night gown. Voiced by Kricfalusi.
  • The Gilded Yak: The shaven icon of Yak Shaving Day. Rides through the sky in a canoe; capable of emerging and disappearing into sink and tub drains. Although he is shaven, he is on a constant vigil against getting a five o'clock shadow.
  • Dr. Stupid: A "show within a show" context pitted Stimpy as the host of a question-and-answer medical/science talk show called "Ask Dr. Stupid." As the titular doctor, Stimpy would read a letter from a loyal viewer asking a question, and then activate his "patented Stuponitron helmet," which appeared to give him a stiff electrical shock to his brain. Afterwards, he would offer strange advice, which was often wrong or had little to do with the question.
  • Old Man Hunger: A strange, and always naked, skinny old man with a chicken drumstick leg on his head. He's also the father of Mr. Pipe, and a part-time Tooth Fairy. He can be found showing up randomly at inopportune moments for Ren and Stimpy. Often refers to people as "fellers", also has a tendency to say that he loves skinny-dipping, or skinny-stomping, or whatever he may be doing at the time. Voiced by West.
  • Kowalski: Serving a 32-year life sentence for crimes against humanity, Kowalski is an extremely large and burly hulk of a man with incredible strength — and the mind of a 7-year-old boy. In his first appearance, Kowalski is temporarily adopted by Ren. In subsequent appearances, he is mostly seen as a general multipurpose goon. Not to be confused with Bubba, Ren's Kowalski-like nephew who featured in only one episode. Both Kowalski and Bubba are of the race known as a lummox. Kowalski is possibly based on a similar character of the same name from Fredrick Forsyth's politcal thriller The Day of the Jackal.
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: "That Guy" serves as the multi-purpose loudmouth in the Ren and Stimpy show. Sometimes, he is a salesman ("Feud For Sale", "To Salve Or Not To Salve".) Other times, he is a narrator, an announcer, a dog-show judge, a real estate agent, etc. The character is never referred to by any name in the series, but the name of "Hey, It's That Guy" seems to be the official name given by West, who also voiced him. It's also rumored (although not confirmed) that this was how he was also referred to by the animators at Spumco.
  • Stinky Wizzleteats: A character whose design and voice characterization are based on the folk balladeer Burl Ives. He sings the recorded version of the "Happy Happy Joy Joy" song, occasionally digressing into furious rants (I TOLD you I'd shoot! But you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME?!) in between the chorus. Voiced by Kricfalusi.
  • Log: An inanimate piece of wood that appears in retro commercial inspired vignettes as a children's plaything, somewhat like a poor man's slinky. The jingle boasts, "It's better than bad, it's good!"
    • Slinky Jingle - It's Slinky, it's Slinky, for fun it's a wonderful toy/It's Slinky, it's Slinky, it's fun for a girl and a boy
    • Log parody Jingle - It's Log, Log, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood./It's Log, Log, it's better than bad, it's good!

History and Controversy

Spümcø 1990-1992

Ren and Stimpy was created by John Kricfalusi and produced by his animation team Spümcø. The pilot, "Big House Blues," was finished in October 1990 and the first episode, "Stimpy's Big Day," premiered August 1991 along with Rugrats and Doug. Unfortunately, Nick had harassed John K. many times because they disapproved of the show's grossness and violence and had tried many attempts to censor it. For example, in the episode Man's Best Friend George Liquor adopts Ren and Stimpy who later beat George with a boating oar. Nick thought this episode was too violent and banned it. Nick also censored certain episodes such as "Sven Hoek" and "Big House Blues." Nick grew tired of the creators' envelope-pushing humor and also their failed deadlines. In September 1992, Nick fired John K.

Games Animation 1993-1996

One of John's closest friends, Bob Camp, began writing and directing the episodes himself. Billy West took on John K.'s role as Ren. Spümcø artists were furious at John's firing. When they began to quit, the show went through drastic changes. Nickelodeon eventually ditched Spumco and formed Games Animation to take over production. The quality of the show began a steady decline as the years went on, and many fans felt that the show was suffering greatly with the loss of its creator and original animation studio. Nickelodeon eventually cancelled the show in 1995 due to low ratings and aired its final episodes in 1996.

Ren and Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon

In June 2003, the show returned to US television as Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" on Viacom's Spike TV (formerly the New TNN), with decidedly more adult content and Kricfalusi back in control. The network also aired digitally remastered episodes of the original series. The premier episode fulfilled a long-running ambition of Kricfalusi's, which he had wanted to do since first selling the original Ren and Stimpy in the early 1990s: An entire episode revolving around jokes that became progressively more disgusting as the episode went on. This episode also put to rest speculation that Ren and Stimpy are supposed to be gay lovers: In one scene, Ren informs Stimpy, "I'm the pitcher, you're the catcher." Then Ren (dressed like a baseball player) dives under the covers with Stimpy, and they supposedly have anal sex.

A few of the head storyboard artists, writers, and animators returned from the original Ren and Stimpy series, such as Vincent Waller and Jim Smith, but most of the new animation and writing team was a new team of artists, specifically instructed and headed by Kricfalusi himself. Some of the notable, new talent, that worked on Adult Party Cartoon (or "APC" for short) are Katie Rice and Nick Cross.

Despite the return of Kricfalusi, the series was not met well by some fans.

Advertisers were "freaked out" (in Kricfalusi's own words) by some of the new show's content, particularly that of the risque episode Naked Beach Frenzy (which was finished in 2003 but is unaired on American TV so far) and the show was taken off the air, partly due to the advertisers' fears, and partly due to Kricfalusi and company taking their time making new episodes. In the spring and summer 2004, Kricfalusi completed 2 new episodes (each an hour-long), and those episodes (along with Naked Beach Frenzy) were shown at film festivals and other such venues. Spike TV had planned to start APC's 2nd season in August 2004, but cancelled that plan at the next-to-last minute, allegedly due to John K. and the network working out an advertising campaign. Spike TV officially cancelled APC around November 2004 (and John K. shut down his studio in Canada shortly thereafter), but in 2005 John K. announced that the existing APC (both the ones that aired in 2003 and the unaired ones) were coming to DVD and that there is the possibility for new Ren and Stimpy episodes (Kricfalusi has stated to have great interest in making episodes direct-to-video) if Ren and Stimpy DVDs sell well enough (like how Family Guy came back into production partially due to phenomenal DVD sales).

Ren & Stimpy on DVD

Several episodes from Ren & Stimpy's first two seasons were released on DVD by Time-Life in late 2003. These DVDs sadly contained some of Nickelodeon's edits and before long went out-of-print.

A DVD set of seasons one and two of the original series was released October 12, 2004. Some fans were angered by the fact that the set, billed as "Ren & Stimpy Uncut," had a few missing scenes removed for time issues and fade outs where commercials had been inserted from the "remastered" versions played on Spike TV. Kricfalusi said in a statement that all of the cut footage he knew about had been returned. Additionally, another Spümcø member (Steven Worth) has also attributed the time-snipped footage and fade outs to the DVD encoders who could not obtain the original master tapes.

The "Seasons Three and A Half-ish" DVD box was released on June 28, 2005, while the "Season Five and Some More of Four" DVD box was released on September 20, 2005 and an Adult Party Cartoon set, aka "The Lost Episodes" is planned for release sometime around March of 2006. An "Ultimate Ren & Stimpy Collection" DVD is also in the works.

DVD contents
  • The Complete First and Second Seasons: All episodes from seasons one and two, "Ren and Stimpy: in the Beginning" featurette, "Sven Hoek" pencil test, Spumco sketch book, the banned episode "Man's Best Friend", the unedited pilot "Big House Blues", audio commentary on six episodes, uncut versions of four episodes.
  • Seasons Three and a Half-ish: All episodes from season three and six (half) from season four, audio commentary on twelve episodes, including commentary by Ren and Stimpy themselves on "Circus Midgets."
  • Season Five and Some More of Four: Second half of episodes from season four and all episodes from season five, audio commentaries on thirteen episodes, "Ren & Stimpy on Ren & Stimpy" featurette.
  • Ultimate Ren & Stimpy Collection: All episodes (uncut), the "Adult Party Cartoon," interviews with some of the Spümcø artists, animatics of the future Ren and Stimpy specials "Life Sucks" and "George Liquor's Wilderness Adventure,", John K's "He Hog the Atomic Pig" pilot, Spümcø commercials, a "magic fun booklet" with artist profiles, drawing info, games and activities.

See also this review with detailed discussion about the censored/missing parts of the DVD.

In late January 2006, classifications for Season 1 & 2 episodes appeared on the BBFC website under the title of "Ren & Stimpy Digitally remastered classics", indicating an imminent release of the Season 1 & 2 DVD in the UK, although it is not yet listed on any online DVD stores.

Ren & Stimpy on other home video formats

The Ren & Stimpy Show was previously released on VHS video tape in the USA and Canada by Sony Wonder. These tapes contain mainly the original Spumco episodes of the show.

The tapes contained the same edits as Nickelodeon's first screenings. However, "Ren & Stimpy: More Stinky Stories" contains an edited version of the short "The Big Baby Scam". The entire sequence where the family take a bath is very crudely deleted from the cartoon, meaning that it no longer makes sense.

Eventually, the rights for Nickelodeon's programming on home video were transferred to Paramount Home Video and taken away from Sony. Only one cassette was released under the Paramount label, "Have Yourself a Stinky Little Christmas". Like all of the other Paramount cassettes of Nickelodeon shows, they were recorded in the EP/SLP format which gives very poor image quality.

Several tapes, mainly containing episodes produced by Games Animation, were released in the United Kingdom in the PAL format (not playable on conventional US VCRs). These included: "Ren's Brain", which contained that particular cartoon as well as some others, "Space Madness", which includes that episode as well as four other space-themed episodes, and "For the Love of Stimpy". Bill Wray painted the covers for each of these UK-only cassettes. Each one is rated PG by the British Board of Film Classification, which contrasts to the earlier tapes consisting mainly of Spumco shorts that typically received U (all ages) ratings.

Ren & Stimpy was also released on LaserDisc in the USA by Sony Wonder. The disc is called "Ren & Stimpy: The Essential Collection" and has the same program content (but of course, in much higher quality) as the Ren & Stimpy Classics and Classics II VHS tapes. The disc is recorded in CLV mode, is double-sided, and has Digital Sound.

Video games

7 Ren & Stimpy-themed games have been produced on two Sega and three Nintendo systems. One for Sega Genesis, one for Game Gear, four for SNES, one for NES and two for Game Boy. Most of the games were produced by THQ. Like many licensed-based video games, these titles are of dubious quality.

Comic Books

Marvel Comics optioned the rights to produce comic books based on Nickelodeon properties in 1993. Their initial plan was to have an anthology comic featuring several Nicktoon characters, but Ren & Stimpy proved to be so popular the comic was instead dedicated entirely to them. Marvel produced 44 issues of the ongoing series, along with several specials. Most of these were written by then relatively unknown comic scribe Dan Slott, who would spend the next several years honing his comedy by writing comics based on cartoons. One Ren & Stimpy special, set up as a 'choose your own adventure' and with a time travel plot, took Dan 6 months to plot out in his spare time. It was designed so that it was possible to choose a path that would eventually be 20 pages longer than the comic itself.

Episode list

The Ren & Stimpy Show

Pilot Episode (1991)

Season 1 episodes (1991–1992)

Season 2 episodes (1992–1993)

¹(Originally, Man's Best Friend was to be aired instead of Big House Blues, but the episode was banned and would not be seen on television until 2003)

Season 3 episodes (1993–1994)

Season 4 episodes (1994–1995)

Season 5 episodes (1995–1996)

Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon

¹(Man's Best Friend was originally to be aired in the second season, but the episode was banned and had not been aired until Adult Party Cartoon. Spike TV's official episode lineup on their website seemed to suggest that they consider Man's Best Friend a part of the Adult Party Cartoon season.)

²(These have not yet been officially aired on television in the US but are known to be complete, and finished episodes. These will be released on the forthcoming Adult Party Cartoon (Lost Episodes) DVD set.)

Music

  • Dog Pound Hop (opening theme), written and performed by Jim Smith.
  • Big House Blues (closing theme), written and performed by Jim Smith.
  • The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen Anthem (from the episode "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen.")
  • Happy Happy Joy Joy (from the episode "Stimpy's Invention"), written and performed by Stinky Wizzleteats (Kricfalusi), sung by Bob Camp.
  • Lord Loves a Hangin (from the episode "Out West".)
  • The Nutcracker (often used as theme music.)
  • In the Hall of the Mountain King (often used as theme music.)

Ren & Stimpy's Christmas album, "Crock O' Christmas," was released in 1993. Tracks were:

  • Fleck the Walls
  • Cat Hairballs
  • We Wish you a Hairy Chestwig
  • It's A Wizzleteats Kind Of Christmas
  • We're Going Shopping
  • Yak Shaving Day
  • What Is Christmas?
  • Cobb To The World
  • Happy Holiday Hop
  • I Hate Christmas
  • The Twelve Days Of Yaksmas
  • Decorate Yourself

Ren & Stimpy was also referenced in the Primus song "Nature Boy."

Several Ren and Stimpy episodes featured the frenetic jazz of Raymond Scott [2]. He has been called the most well-know composer no one has heard of [need source]. Scott's music was used as theme music by many classic Warner Bros cartoons [3]. John K and Bob Camp's use of Scott's music is an example of their high regard for classic comedy/cartoons.

Some Raymond Scott compositions used in Ren and Stimpy include:

  • "Powerhouse"
  • "The Toy Trumpet"
  • "Twilight in Turkey"
  • "New Year's Eve in a Haunted House"

Similar articles



Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=The_Ren_%26_Stimpy_Show&oldid=42321726"