The Ren and Stimpy Show
Encyclopedia
The Ren & Stimpy Show, often simply referred to as Ren & Stimpy, is an American animated television series, created by Canadian animator
John Kricfalusi
for Nickelodeon
. The series focuses on the titular characters: Ren Höek, a psychotic
chihuahua
, and Stimpson J. Cat, a good-natured, dimwitted cat
. The show premiered on August 11, 1991, on the same day as the debut of Rugrats
and Doug
, the three of which comprised the original Nicktoons
. The show ran for five seasons on the network, ending its original run with the Christmas episode "A Scooter for Yaksmas". The show was rated TV-Y7 on Nickelodeon/Nicktoons, and TV-PG on the Spike TV
repeats.
Throughout its run, The Ren & Stimpy Show was controversial for its off-color humor
, black comedy
, toilet humour, sexual innuendo, and violence
, all of which contributed to the production staff's altercations with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices department. The show has received much critical acclaim and became a large cult classic
during and after its run, while some critics credit it for leading the way for satirical animated shows like Beavis and Butt-head
and South Park
, and playing a significant role in television animation. A spin-off
for adult audiences, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", aired in 2003 on Spike, but was poorly received and was cancelled soon after its debut.
"asthma
-hound" Chihuahua
. Kricfalusi originally voiced Ren, styled as a demented Peter Lorre
. When Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi, Billy West
, already the voice of Stimpy, took the role using a combination of Burl Ives
, Kirk Douglas
, and a slight "south of the border
accent" for the rest of the Nickelodeon run.
Stimpson "Stimpy" J. Cat is a three-year-old, fat, stupid cat
. West voiced Stimpy for the Spümcø and Games Animation episodes, basing the voice on an "amped-up" Larry Fine
.
The show features a host of supporting characters; some only appear in a single episode, while others are recurring characters, who occasionally appear in different roles. Ren and Stimpy play various roles themselves, from outer-space explorers to Old West
horse thieves to nature-show hosts. While the characters are sometimes set in the present day, the show's crew tended to avoid "contemporary" jokes that reference current events. Some of the supporting characters factor directly into the storyline, while others make brief cameos
. Other characters, such as Mr. Horse, are exclusively cameo-based, appearing in many episodes in scenes that have little bearing on the plot, as a running gag. Some notable artists and performers who voiced incidental characters on the show are Frank Zappa
, Randy Quaid
, Gilbert Gottfried
, Rosie O'Donnell
, Dom DeLuise
, Phil Hartman
, Mark Hamill
, Frank Gorshin
, and Tommy Davidson
.
for the first two seasons. Beginning with season three (1993–1994), the show was produced by Nickelodeon's Games Animation. The episode "Man's Best Friend" was produced for season two, but never aired as part of the Nickelodeon series, debuting later in the show's adult spin-off. Another episode, "Sammy and Me / The Last Temptation", aired only once the original Nickelodeon run ended.
recalls Kricfalusi created the Ren and Stimpy characters around 1978 for personal amusement during his time in Sheridan College
in Canada. According to commentary in the DVD box set of the show's first two seasons, Kricfalusi was inspired to create Ren by an Elliott Erwitt
photograph, printed on a postcard, called "New York City, 1946", showing a sweatered chihuahua at a woman's feet. Stimpy's design was inspired by a tweety bird cartoon called "Gruesome Twosome" where the cats in the animation had big noses. In a call for new series by Nickelodeon
, Kricfalusi assembled a presentation for three shows, among them a variety show titled Our Gang or Your Gang, with a live action host presenting different cartoons, each cartoon parodying a different genre. Ren and Stimpy were pets of one of the children in Your Gang, serving as a parody of the "cat and dog genre". Vice president of animation production Vanessa Coffey did not like the other projects but did like Ren and Stimpy, singling them out for their own show.
, and screened at film festivals for several months before the show was announced in Nickelodeon's schedule. The first episode of the show debuted on August 11, 1991, premiering alongside Doug
and Rugrats
. Spümcø continued to produce the show for the next two years while encountering issues with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices.
Kricfalusi describes his early period with Nickelodeon as being "simple", as there was only one executive, Coffey, with whom he got along; when another executive was added, he moved to alter or discard some of the Ren and Stimpy episodes produced, but Kricfalusi says the episodes stayed intact since he did a "trade" with Coffey: he would have some "really crazy" episodes in exchange for some "heart-warming" episodes. In his blog, Kricfalusi describes The Ren & Stimpy Show as the "safest project I ever worked on" while explaining the meaning of "safe" as "spend a third of what they spend now per picture, hire proven creative talent, and let them entertain". He estimates The Ren & Stimpy Show cost around six million United States dollars to produce.
Responses to the show were mixed. Terry Thoren, then the CEO and president of Klasky Csupo
, said that Kricfalusi "tapped into an audience that was a lot hipper than anybody thought. He went where no man wanted to go before – the caca, booger humor". Even as the show came to garner high ratings for Nickelodeon, tensions between Kricfalusi and Nickelodeon rose. Many of the people involved in the show attribute Kricfalusi's friction with Nickelodeon to episodes not being produced in a timely manner, though who is at fault is contested by Kricfalusi, who attributed the delays to Nickelodeon, withdrawing their approval to scenes and episodes that they had previously approved. Another issue of contention was the direction of the show; Nickelodeon later asked the new studio to make it lighter and less frightening. Kricfalusi points specifically to the episode Man's Best Friend, which features a violent climax where Ren brutally assaults the character George Liquor
with an oar
, as leading to his firing.
took the role of director, while West, having refused Kricfalusi's request to leave along with him, now voiced Ren in addition to Stimpy. Fans and critics felt this was a turning point in the show, with the new episodes being a considerable step down from the standard of those that preceded them. Ted Drozdowski of The Boston Phoenix
stated in a 1998 article that "the bloom faded on Ren & Stimpy." Michael Barrier
, an animation historian, writes that while the creators of the Games episodes used bathroom humor jokes that were similar to those used by Kricfalusi, they did not "find the material particularly funny; they were merely doing what was expected." The show ended its original run around Christmas 1995 with A Scooter for Yaksmas, although one episode from the final season, Sammy and Me / The Last Temptation, remained unaired. Almost a year later, the episode aired on Nickelodeon's sister network, MTV
on October 20, 1996.
in the way the characters' emotions powerfully distort their bodies. The show's style emphasizes unique expressions, intense and specific acting, and strong character poses. One of the show's most notable visual trademarks is the detailed paintings of gruesome close-ups, along with the blotchy ink stains that on occasion replace the standard backgrounds, "reminiscent of holes in reality or the vision of a person in a deep state of dementia". This style was developed from Clampett's "Baby Bottleneck
", which features several scenes with color-cards for backgrounds. The show incorporated norms from "the old system in TV and radio" where the animation would feature sponsored products to tie in with the cartoon, however in lieu of real advertisements, it featured fake commercial breaks advertising nonexistent products, most notably Log.
Carbunkle Cartoons, headed by Bob Jacques and Kelly Armstrong, is credited by Kricfalusi for beautifully animating the show's best episodes, improving the acting with subtle nuances and wild animation that could not be done with overseas animation studios. Some of the show's earlier episodes were rough to the point that Kricfalusi felt the need to patch up the animation with sound effects and "music bandaids," helping the segments "play better, even though much of the animation and timing weren't working on their own." KJ Dell'Antonia, a reviewer for Common Sense Media, describes the show's style as changing "from intentionally rough to much more polished and plushie-toy
ready."
, pop
, jazz
, classical music
, jingles, and more. The opening and closing themes are performed by a group of Spümcø employees under the name "Die Screaming Leiderhôsens". Three Ren & Stimpy albums have been released: Crock O' Christmas
, You Eediot!
, and Radio Daze
. In addition to music written specifically for the show, a number of episodes utilized existing works by composers such as jazz musician Raymond Scott
, Debussy
, Tchaikovsky
, Beethoven
, Alexander Borodin
, Antonín Dvořák
, Rossini (particularly The Thieving Magpie
), and a host of "production music
" by composers such as Frederic Bayco
, which fans later compiled into several albums. In 1993
a compilation album, "You Eediot!", was released as a soundtrack album. The album's front cover is a parody of The Beatles
' 11th studio album Abbey Road.
Stimpy's rousing anthem titled "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" was composed by Christopher Reccardi and written by Charlie Brissette and John Kricfalusi. A cover of this song, performed by Wax
, is included on the 1995 tribute album
Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall
for MCA Records
. The line "happy, happy, joy, joy" is first used in episode three of the series; the song is first played in episode six. It is sung by a character introduced as "Stinky Whizzleteats", who is named in the episode's script as Burl Ives
. Several references to Burl Ives's songs and movie quotes are sprinkled through the song, giving it its surreal air.[ talk]
CIC Video
home releases of the Spümcø episodes received U (all ages) ratings from the BBFC, while the "lighter" Games episodes received PG ratings. However the subsequent DVD releases the Spümcø episodes were re-rated PG.
Some segments of the show were altered to exclude references to religion, politics and alcohol. The episode "Powdered Toast Man" was stripped of references to the Pope
and the burning of the United States constitution
and bill of rights
, while in another episode, the character George Liquor's last name was erased. Several episodes had violent, gruesome, or suggestive scenes shortened or removed, including a sequence involving a severed head, a close-up of Ren's face being grated by a man's stubble
, and a scene where Ren receives multiple punches to the stomach from an angry baby. One episode, "Man's Best Friend", never aired in the show's original run for its violent content. The show's spin-off, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", debuted with this "banned" episode.
block on Spike TV and was rated TV-MA. The series, as the title implies, explores more adult themes, including an explicitly homosexual
relationship between the main characters, and an episode filled with female nudity. Billy West declined to reprise his role as the voice of Stimpy, saying that the show was "not funny" and that joining it would have damaged his career. Eric Bauza
voiced Stimpy, while Kricfalusi reprised the role of Ren. The show began with the "banned" Nickelodeon episode "Man's Best Friend" before debuting new episodes. Fans and critics alike were unsettled by the show from the first episode, which featured the consumption of bodily fluids such as nasal mucus, saliva
and vomit. Only three of the ordered nine episodes were produced on time. After three episodes, the entire animation block was removed from Spike TV's programming schedule.
's 2 Stupid Dogs
(in which Spümcø employees, including Kricfalusi, had some limited involvement after their departure from Ren & Stimpy) and Disney
's The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show. However, the show had a wider impact on the future of animation. Writer Larry Brody
credits Ren & Stimpy for leading a new golden age of animation, as other networks followed Nickelodeon and invested in new cartoons, opening the way for satirical shows like Beavis and Butt-head
and South Park
. Writer/animator Allan Neuwirth writes that Ren & Stimpy "broke the mold" and started several trends in TV animation, chiefly the revival of credits at the head of each episode, the use of grotesque close-ups, and a shift in cartoon color palettes to richer, more harmonious colors. A direct influence can be seen in the series SpongeBob SquarePants
, with physically extreme drawings that contrast against the characters' usual appearance, the "grotesque close-ups".
The Ren & Stimpy Show appears in several "best of" lists, notably in such a lists by IGN
and Wizard magazine
.
initially distributed collections of episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show on VHS
, which were not grouped by air dates or season. Eventually, the rights for Nickelodeon's programming on home video transferred from Sony to Paramount Home Video. Paramount only released one video of The Ren & Stimpy Show, "Have Yourself a Stinky Little Christmas," which was actually a rerelease of a Sony video from several years earlier. Like all of the other Paramount cassettes of Nickelodeon shows, they were recorded in the EP
/SLP format. Tapes released by Sony were recorded in SP format.
During the mid and late 1990s,a themed selection of The Ren and Stimpy Show episodes were released in a number of VHS releases in Australia by Nickelodeon and Paramount Home Entertainment. Most of the videos were G-classified due to some scenes that were cut but other certain videos were classified PG.
The Ren & Stimpy Show was also released on LaserDisc
in the United States by Sony Wonder. There was only one release, "Ren and Stimpy: The Essential Collection," which featured the same episodes as the VHS release.
On September 25, 2005, a compilation entitled The Ren & Stimpy Show: Volume 1 was released in the U.S. on UMD
, the proprietary media for the PlayStation Portable
.
. On October 12, 2004, Paramount Home Entertainment
released the first two complete seasons in a three-disc box set. Although the cover art and press materials claimed the episodes were "uncut", a handful of episodes were, in fact, edited, due to the use of Spike TV masters. One of the episodes from the second season, "Svën Höek", did have footage reinserted from a work in progress VHS tape, but with an editing machine time code
visible on-screen; the scene was later restored by fans. A set for Seasons Three and a Half-ish, containing all of season three and the first half of season four up to "It's A Dog's Life/Egg Yolkeo", followed on June 28, 2005. Season Five and Some More of Four completed the DVD release of the Nickelodeon series on July 20. Like the previous DVDs, some scenes were removed in these releases.
A two-disc set dubbed The Lost Episodes was released on July 17, 2006, featuring both the aired and unaired episodes from Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon, as well as clips from unfinished cartoons.
In October 2006, Paramount UK released The Ren & Stimpy Show – Unleashed: The First and Second Seasons on DVD. The distributors heavily edited some episodes; most notably the episode "Out West" has the entire song "The Lord Loves a Hangin'" removed and cuts directly to the end of the episode after Ren and Stimpy steal Mr. Horse. In addition, all commentaries and the "banned" episode "Man's Best Friend" are completely absent, even though they are mentioned as present on the DVD packaging.
The Australian DVD similarly excised the episode "Man's Best Friend", but also removed all mentions of it from the packaging. Like the UK release, it was also brandished "Unleashed", rather than the American title of "Uncut".
, Sega Game Gear
, Sega Master System
, SNES
, NES
, Game Boy
, the PC
, PlayStation
, and Game Boy Advance
. Most of the games were produced by THQ
.
Additionally, Ren and Stimpy were included in several Nickelodeon-themed activity and crafts software for computers.
Ren and Stimpy were also created in full 3D
for Microsoft
's Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker
.
optioned the rights to produce comic book
s based on Nickelodeon properties in 1992. The initial plan was to have an anthology comic featuring several Nicktoons properties. Marvel produced 44 issues of the ongoing series, along with several specials. Most of these were written by comic scribe Dan Slott
. One Ren & Stimpy special #3, Masters of Time and Space, was set up as a 'Choose Your Own Adventure
' and with a time travel plot, took Slott six 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. Issue #6 of the series starred Spider-Man
battling Powdered Toast Man.
The editors named the "Letters to the Editor" section "Ask Dr. Stupid", and at least one letter in every column would be a direct question for Dr. Stupid to answer.
signed a two-year production deal in May 1993 for the development and production of animated and live-action family films, based on new or existing properties. Ren & Stimpy was mentioned as a possible property for development, along with Rugrats and Doug, however the show's "cynical and gross humor" was a poor fit for a conventional, "warm and fuzzy" family film. The deal expired with no movies produced.
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
John Kricfalusi
John Kricfalusi
Michael John Kricfalusi , better known as John K., is a Canadian animator. He is creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show, its adults-only spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", The Ripping Friends animated series, and Weekend Pussy Hunt, which was billed as "the world's first interactive web-based...
for Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon is a US cable TV channel.Nickelodeon may also refer to:-In television:*Spinoffs of the Nickelodeon channel:** Nickelodeon Magazine, a children's magazine.** Nickelodeon Universe, an amusement park....
. The series focuses on the titular characters: Ren Höek, a psychotic
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
chihuahua
Chihuahua (dog)
The ' is the smallest breed of dog and is so named for the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. Chihuahuas come in a wide variety of sizes, head shapes, colors and coat lengths.-History:...
, and Stimpson J. Cat, a good-natured, dimwitted cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
. The show premiered on August 11, 1991, on the same day as the debut of Rugrats
Rugrats
Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, and aired its last episode on June 8, 2004....
and Doug
Doug
Doug is an American animated sitcom created by Jim Jinkins and co-produced by his studio, Jumbo Pictures . Doug centers on the surreal and imaginative exploits of its title character, Douglas "Doug" Funnie, who experiences common predicaments while attending middle school. The series lampoons...
, the three of which comprised the original Nicktoons
Nicktoons
Nicktoons are animated television shows that are produced by and aired on the children's television channel Nickelodeon. Prior to 1991, Nickelodeon aired mostly foreign made animated series. The idea for Nicktoons was formed in 1989 and on Sunday, August 11, 1991, the first Nicktoon, Doug, was...
. The show ran for five seasons on the network, ending its original run with the Christmas episode "A Scooter for Yaksmas". The show was rated TV-Y7 on Nickelodeon/Nicktoons, and TV-PG on the Spike TV
Spike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
repeats.
Throughout its run, The Ren & Stimpy Show was controversial for its off-color humor
Off-color humor
The term off-color humor is an Americanism used to describe jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy, insult comedy, cringe comedy and skits that deal with topics that are considered to be in poor taste or overly vulgar by the prevailing morality of a culture...
, black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
, toilet humour, sexual innuendo, and violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
, all of which contributed to the production staff's altercations with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices department. The show has received much critical acclaim and became a large cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
during and after its run, while some critics credit it for leading the way for satirical animated shows like Beavis and Butt-head
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
and South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
, and playing a significant role in television animation. A spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
for adult audiences, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", aired in 2003 on Spike, but was poorly received and was cancelled soon after its debut.
Characters
Ren Höek is a hot tempered, scrawny, violently psychoticPsychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
"asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
-hound" Chihuahua
Chihuahua (dog)
The ' is the smallest breed of dog and is so named for the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. Chihuahuas come in a wide variety of sizes, head shapes, colors and coat lengths.-History:...
. Kricfalusi originally voiced Ren, styled as a demented Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre was an Austrian-American actor frequently typecast as a sinister foreigner.He caused an international sensation in 1931 with his portrayal of a serial killer who preys on little girls in the German film M...
. When Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi, Billy West
Billy West
William Richard "Billy" West is an American voice actor. Born in Detroit but raised in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Billy launched his career in the early 1980s performing daily comedic routines on Boston's WBCN. He left the radio station to work on the short-lived revival...
, already the voice of Stimpy, took the role using a combination of Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
, Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
, and a slight "south of the border
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
accent" for the rest of the Nickelodeon run.
Stimpson "Stimpy" J. Cat is a three-year-old, fat, stupid cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
. West voiced Stimpy for the Spümcø and Games Animation episodes, basing the voice on an "amped-up" Larry Fine
Larry Fine
Louis Feinberg , known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American comedian and actor, who is best known as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges.-Early life:...
.
The show features a host of supporting characters; some only appear in a single episode, while others are recurring characters, who occasionally appear in different roles. Ren and Stimpy play various roles themselves, from outer-space explorers to Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
horse thieves to nature-show hosts. While the characters are sometimes set in the present day, the show's crew tended to avoid "contemporary" jokes that reference current events. Some of the supporting characters factor directly into the storyline, while others make brief cameos
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
. Other characters, such as Mr. Horse, are exclusively cameo-based, appearing in many episodes in scenes that have little bearing on the plot, as a running gag. Some notable artists and performers who voiced incidental characters on the show are Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Randy Quaid
Randy Quaid
Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, as well as his numerous supporting roles in films, including his Oscar nominated performance in The Last Detail, Independence Day, Kingpin and Brokeback Mountain...
, Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his trademark comedic persona of speaking in a loud, grating tone of voice. He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin , and...
, Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...
, Dom DeLuise
Dom DeLuise
Dominick "Dom" DeLuise was an American actor, comedian, film director, television producer, chef, and author. He was the husband of actress Carol Arthur from 1965 until his death and the father of: actor, director, pianist, and writer Peter DeLuise; actor David DeLuise; and actor Michael DeLuise...
, Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...
, Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
, Frank Gorshin
Frank Gorshin
Frank John Gorshin, Jr. was an American actor and comedian. He was perhaps best known as an impressionist, with many guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show...
, and Tommy Davidson
Tommy Davidson
Tommy Davidson is an American comedian, film and television actor.Born in Washington, D.C., Davidson was adopted when he was 2-years-old. He was a child of an interracial adoption, with his parents being Caucasian and he being African-American. He attended high school at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High...
.
Episodes
The series ran for five seasons, spanning 52 episodes. The show was produced by Kricfalusi's animation studio SpümcøSpümcø
Spümcø, Inc. was an American animation production company based in Los Angeles, California. The studio produced three traditionally animated series, two Flash-animated cartoon series, two music videos, five animated shorts, and a comic book. The company also went on to produce content for a few...
for the first two seasons. Beginning with season three (1993–1994), the show was produced by Nickelodeon's Games Animation. The episode "Man's Best Friend" was produced for season two, but never aired as part of the Nickelodeon series, debuting later in the show's adult spin-off. Another episode, "Sammy and Me / The Last Temptation", aired only once the original Nickelodeon run ended.
Conception
Bill WrayBill Wray
William York Wray is an American cartoonist and landscape painter, notable for his Urban Landscape series of paintings, his many pages for Mad and his contributions to The Ren & Stimpy Show...
recalls Kricfalusi created the Ren and Stimpy characters around 1978 for personal amusement during his time in Sheridan College
Sheridan College
Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a diploma and degree granting Canadian polytechnic institute with approximately 15,000 full time students and 35,000 continuing education students...
in Canada. According to commentary in the DVD box set of the show's first two seasons, Kricfalusi was inspired to create Ren by an Elliott Erwitt
Elliott Erwitt
Elliott Erwitt is an advertising and documentary photographer known for his black and white candid shots of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings— a master of Henri Cartier-Bresson's "decisive moment"....
photograph, printed on a postcard, called "New York City, 1946", showing a sweatered chihuahua at a woman's feet. Stimpy's design was inspired by a tweety bird cartoon called "Gruesome Twosome" where the cats in the animation had big noses. In a call for new series by Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
, Kricfalusi assembled a presentation for three shows, among them a variety show titled Our Gang or Your Gang, with a live action host presenting different cartoons, each cartoon parodying a different genre. Ren and Stimpy were pets of one of the children in Your Gang, serving as a parody of the "cat and dog genre". Vice president of animation production Vanessa Coffey did not like the other projects but did like Ren and Stimpy, singling them out for their own show.
Spümcø (1991–1993)
The show's pilot began production in 1989, after Kricfalusi pitched and sold The Ren & Stimpy Show to Nickelodeon. The pilot was done by Kricfalusi's own animation house, SpümcøSpümcø
Spümcø, Inc. was an American animation production company based in Los Angeles, California. The studio produced three traditionally animated series, two Flash-animated cartoon series, two music videos, five animated shorts, and a comic book. The company also went on to produce content for a few...
, and screened at film festivals for several months before the show was announced in Nickelodeon's schedule. The first episode of the show debuted on August 11, 1991, premiering alongside Doug
Doug
Doug is an American animated sitcom created by Jim Jinkins and co-produced by his studio, Jumbo Pictures . Doug centers on the surreal and imaginative exploits of its title character, Douglas "Doug" Funnie, who experiences common predicaments while attending middle school. The series lampoons...
and Rugrats
Rugrats
Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, and aired its last episode on June 8, 2004....
. Spümcø continued to produce the show for the next two years while encountering issues with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices.
Kricfalusi describes his early period with Nickelodeon as being "simple", as there was only one executive, Coffey, with whom he got along; when another executive was added, he moved to alter or discard some of the Ren and Stimpy episodes produced, but Kricfalusi says the episodes stayed intact since he did a "trade" with Coffey: he would have some "really crazy" episodes in exchange for some "heart-warming" episodes. In his blog, Kricfalusi describes The Ren & Stimpy Show as the "safest project I ever worked on" while explaining the meaning of "safe" as "spend a third of what they spend now per picture, hire proven creative talent, and let them entertain". He estimates The Ren & Stimpy Show cost around six million United States dollars to produce.
Responses to the show were mixed. Terry Thoren, then the CEO and president of Klasky Csupo
Klasky Csupo
Klasky Csupo, Inc. is a multimedia entertainment production company located in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, founded by artist/producer, Arlene Klasky and animator, Gábor Csupó.- History :...
, said that Kricfalusi "tapped into an audience that was a lot hipper than anybody thought. He went where no man wanted to go before – the caca, booger humor". Even as the show came to garner high ratings for Nickelodeon, tensions between Kricfalusi and Nickelodeon rose. Many of the people involved in the show attribute Kricfalusi's friction with Nickelodeon to episodes not being produced in a timely manner, though who is at fault is contested by Kricfalusi, who attributed the delays to Nickelodeon, withdrawing their approval to scenes and episodes that they had previously approved. Another issue of contention was the direction of the show; Nickelodeon later asked the new studio to make it lighter and less frightening. Kricfalusi points specifically to the episode Man's Best Friend, which features a violent climax where Ren brutally assaults the character George Liquor
George Liquor
George Liquor , most famous for his appearances on The Ren and Stimpy Show, is a cartoon character created by John Kricfalusi and is a mascot for Kricfalusi's defunct animation studio, Spümcø. Kricfalusi portrayed George Liquor as a patriotic, outspoken, politically conservative blowhard...
with an oar
Oar
An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Oarsmen grasp the oar at the other end. The difference between oars and paddles are that paddles are held by the paddler, and are not connected with the vessel. Oars generally are connected to the vessel by...
, as leading to his firing.
Games Animation (1993–1996)
Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi in late September 1992. Without Kricfalusi, Nickelodeon moved production from Spümcø to its newly-founded animation department, Games Animation, which later became Nickelodeon Animation Studios. Bob CampBob Camp
Bob Camp is a cartoonist, comic book artist, director, and producer. Camp has been nominated for two Emmys, a CableACE Award, and an Annie Award for his work on The Ren & Stimpy Show.-Career:...
took the role of director, while West, having refused Kricfalusi's request to leave along with him, now voiced Ren in addition to Stimpy. Fans and critics felt this was a turning point in the show, with the new episodes being a considerable step down from the standard of those that preceded them. Ted Drozdowski of The Boston Phoenix
The Phoenix (newspaper)
The Phoenix is the name of several alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts including the Boston Phoenix, the Providence Phoenix, the Portland Phoenix and the now-defunct Worcester Phoenix...
stated in a 1998 article that "the bloom faded on Ren & Stimpy." Michael Barrier
Michael Barrier (historian)
Michael Barrier is an American animation historian. Barrier was the founder and editor of Funnyworld, the first magazine exclusively devoted to comics and animation. It began as a contribution to the CAPA-Alpha amateur press association...
, an animation historian, writes that while the creators of the Games episodes used bathroom humor jokes that were similar to those used by Kricfalusi, they did not "find the material particularly funny; they were merely doing what was expected." The show ended its original run around Christmas 1995 with A Scooter for Yaksmas, although one episode from the final season, Sammy and Me / The Last Temptation, remained unaired. Almost a year later, the episode aired on Nickelodeon's sister network, MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
on October 20, 1996.
Production system
The Ren & Stimpy production system emulated those of Golden Age cartoons: a director would supervise the entire production process from beginning to end; this is in contrast to cartoon production methods in the 1980s, where there was a different director for voice actors, and cartoons were created with a "top-down" approach to tie in with toy lines. Bill Wray describes the initial lack of merchandise as "the unique and radical thing" about The Ren & Stimpy Show, as no toy company pre-planned any merchandise for the show, and Nickelodeon did not want to use "over-exploitive" merchandising. Kricfalusi notes that Ren & Stimpy re-introduced the layouts stage, and re-emphasized the storyboard stage. Eventually, artists drew larger storyboard panels, which allowed for the stories to be easily changed according to reactions from pitch meetings, and for new ideas to be integrated.Animation style
The show's aesthetics draw on Golden Age cartoons, particularly those of Bob ClampettBob Clampett
Robert Emerson "Bob" Clampett was an American animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros., and the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecil...
in the way the characters' emotions powerfully distort their bodies. The show's style emphasizes unique expressions, intense and specific acting, and strong character poses. One of the show's most notable visual trademarks is the detailed paintings of gruesome close-ups, along with the blotchy ink stains that on occasion replace the standard backgrounds, "reminiscent of holes in reality or the vision of a person in a deep state of dementia". This style was developed from Clampett's "Baby Bottleneck
Baby Bottleneck
Baby Bottleneck is a 1945 Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in 1946 and directed by Robert Clampett and written by Warren Foster.-Plot:...
", which features several scenes with color-cards for backgrounds. The show incorporated norms from "the old system in TV and radio" where the animation would feature sponsored products to tie in with the cartoon, however in lieu of real advertisements, it featured fake commercial breaks advertising nonexistent products, most notably Log.
Carbunkle Cartoons, headed by Bob Jacques and Kelly Armstrong, is credited by Kricfalusi for beautifully animating the show's best episodes, improving the acting with subtle nuances and wild animation that could not be done with overseas animation studios. Some of the show's earlier episodes were rough to the point that Kricfalusi felt the need to patch up the animation with sound effects and "music bandaids," helping the segments "play better, even though much of the animation and timing weren't working on their own." KJ Dell'Antonia, a reviewer for Common Sense Media, describes the show's style as changing "from intentionally rough to much more polished and plushie-toy
Stuffed animal
A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw, beans, plastic pellets, cotton, synthetic fibres, or other similar materials. Stuffed toys are also known as plush toys A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw,...
ready."
Music
The Ren & Stimpy Show features a wide variety of music, spanning folkFolk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, jingles, and more. The opening and closing themes are performed by a group of Spümcø employees under the name "Die Screaming Leiderhôsens". Three Ren & Stimpy albums have been released: Crock O' Christmas
Crock O' Christmas
Ren & Stimpy's Crock O' Christmas is a humorous music/story Christmas album featuring characters from the Nickelodeon animated series, The Ren and Stimpy Show....
, You Eediot!
You Eediot!
You Eediot! is a compilation of music featured in the landmark Nickelodeon cartoon series The Ren and Stimpy Show that was released on August 31, 1993. The album featured several popular songs from the series, including the single "Kilted Yaksmen Anthem" and "Happy Happy Joy Joy"...
, and Radio Daze
Radio Daze (album)
Radio Daze is an album by cartoon characters Ren & Stimpy, released in 1995 through Sony Wonder and Nick Records. Basically it is a concept album where Ren and Stimpy are featured on the radio....
. In addition to music written specifically for the show, a number of episodes utilized existing works by composers such as jazz musician Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor....
, Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Alexander Borodin
Alexander Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five , who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music...
, Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
, Rossini (particularly The Thieving Magpie
La gazza ladra
La gazza ladra is a melodramma or opera semiseria in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was by Giovanni Gherardini after La pie voleuse by JMT Badouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez....
), and a host of "production music
Production music
Production music is the name given to recorded music produced and owned by production music libraries and licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media.-Introduction:...
" by composers such as Frederic Bayco
Frederic Bayco
Frederic Bayco, sometimes spelt Fredric Bayco was an English organist and composer of light music, best known for his Tudor pastiche "Elizabethan Masque". Born in London, he attended Brighton School of Music, where he attained an ARCO. He was later made a fellow of the Royal College of Organists...
, which fans later compiled into several albums. In 1993
1993 in music
This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....
a compilation album, "You Eediot!", was released as a soundtrack album. The album's front cover is a parody of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' 11th studio album Abbey Road.
Stimpy's rousing anthem titled "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" was composed by Christopher Reccardi and written by Charlie Brissette and John Kricfalusi. A cover of this song, performed by Wax
Wax (rock band)
Wax is a Los Angeles, California based punk rock band that emerged during the pop punk resurgence of the early 1990s, and includes Joe Sib, Tom "Soda" Gardocki, Dave Georgeff, and Loomis Fall. The band is best known for their MTV buzz clip video "California," directed by Spike Jonze.-History:Wax...
, is included on the 1995 tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall
Ralph Sall
Ralph Sall is a record producer, music supervisor, composer, songwriter, and screenwriter. He is the president of Bulletproof Entertainment, a company involved in several facets of the entertainment industry, including film, television, comic books and graphic novels, music, internet and live...
for MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
. The line "happy, happy, joy, joy" is first used in episode three of the series; the song is first played in episode six. It is sung by a character introduced as "Stinky Whizzleteats", who is named in the episode's script as Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
. Several references to Burl Ives's songs and movie quotes are sprinkled through the song, giving it its surreal air.
Controversy and censorship
The creators of Ren & Stimpy did not want to create an "educational" series, a stance which bothered Nickelodeon. As the show grew in popularity, parent groups complained that Stimpy was subject to repeated violence from Ren. Other sources for complaint were the toilet humor and harsh language. Despite these sentiments by Nickelodeon and parental groups, UKUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
CIC Video
CIC Video
CIC Video was a home video distributor, owned by Cinema International Corporation , and operated in some countries by local operators...
home releases of the Spümcø episodes received U (all ages) ratings from the BBFC, while the "lighter" Games episodes received PG ratings. However the subsequent DVD releases the Spümcø episodes were re-rated PG.
Some segments of the show were altered to exclude references to religion, politics and alcohol. The episode "Powdered Toast Man" was stripped of references to the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
and the burning of the United States constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
and bill of rights
United States Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property. They guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and...
, while in another episode, the character George Liquor's last name was erased. Several episodes had violent, gruesome, or suggestive scenes shortened or removed, including a sequence involving a severed head, a close-up of Ren's face being grated by a man's stubble
Stubble
Stubble is the regrowth of shaven hair, when it is short and has a rough, abrasive texture.-Facial:During the 1980s, facial stubble on men became fashionable, partly due to being popularized by the singer George Michael, as well as Miami Vice. This was also known as designer stubble and was...
, and a scene where Ren receives multiple punches to the stomach from an angry baby. One episode, "Man's Best Friend", never aired in the show's original run for its violent content. The show's spin-off, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", debuted with this "banned" episode.
Adult Party Cartoon (2003–2004)
In 2003, Kricfalusi relaunched the series as Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon". The new version was aired during a late night programmingLate night television
Late night television in the United States is the block of television programming airing after 11:00 pm and usually through 2:00 am. Traditionally, this type of programming airs after the late local news and is most notable for being the daypart used for a particular genre of programming that falls...
block on Spike TV and was rated TV-MA. The series, as the title implies, explores more adult themes, including an explicitly homosexual
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
relationship between the main characters, and an episode filled with female nudity. Billy West declined to reprise his role as the voice of Stimpy, saying that the show was "not funny" and that joining it would have damaged his career. Eric Bauza
Eric Bauza
Eric Adrian Bauza is a Canadian-American voice actor and artist. His notable roles include Stimpy of Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon and Slip & Slide D'Peel of Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island. He also voices Rodolfo/White Pantera for El Tigre on Nickelodeon, Storm Shadow, Destro, and Tunnel...
voiced Stimpy, while Kricfalusi reprised the role of Ren. The show began with the "banned" Nickelodeon episode "Man's Best Friend" before debuting new episodes. Fans and critics alike were unsettled by the show from the first episode, which featured the consumption of bodily fluids such as nasal mucus, saliva
Saliva
Saliva , referred to in various contexts as spit, spittle, drivel, drool, or slobber, is the watery substance produced in the mouths of humans and most other animals. Saliva is a component of oral fluid. In mammals, saliva is produced in and secreted from the three pairs of major salivary glands,...
and vomit. Only three of the ordered nine episodes were produced on time. After three episodes, the entire animation block was removed from Spike TV's programming schedule.
Legacy
Today, the show is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential TV series of the 1990s. The immediate influence of the show was the spawning of two "clones", Hanna-BarberaHanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
's 2 Stupid Dogs
2 Stupid Dogs
2 Stupid Dogs was an American animated television series created by Donovan Cook and produced by Hanna-Barbera and Turner Program Services that originally ran from September 5, 1993 to February 13, 1995 on TBS. The main segments of the show featured two dogs, "Big Dog" and "Little Dog". The Big Dog...
(in which Spümcø employees, including Kricfalusi, had some limited involvement after their departure from Ren & Stimpy) and Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
's The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show. However, the show had a wider impact on the future of animation. Writer Larry Brody
Larry Brody
-Early life:At Northwestern University, Larry Brody majored in English and wrote dozens of short stories, poetry and essays. As an avid science fiction fan, he started writing in the genre, and by the time he graduated he was selling stories to The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction...
credits Ren & Stimpy for leading a new golden age of animation, as other networks followed Nickelodeon and invested in new cartoons, opening the way for satirical shows like Beavis and Butt-head
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
and South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
. Writer/animator Allan Neuwirth writes that Ren & Stimpy "broke the mold" and started several trends in TV animation, chiefly the revival of credits at the head of each episode, the use of grotesque close-ups, and a shift in cartoon color palettes to richer, more harmonious colors. A direct influence can be seen in the series SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants
SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series, created by marine biologist and animator Stephen Hillenburg. Much of the series centers on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his various friends in the underwater city of "Bikini Bottom"...
, with physically extreme drawings that contrast against the characters' usual appearance, the "grotesque close-ups".
The Ren & Stimpy Show appears in several "best of" lists, notably in such a lists by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
and Wizard magazine
Wizard (magazine)
Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment from July 1991 to January 2011...
.
VHS, LaserDisc, UMD
Sony WonderSony Pictures Home Entertainment
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. It was established in November 1979 as Columbia Pictures Home Entertainment, releasing 20 titles: The Anderson Tapes, Bell, Book and Candle, Born Free, Breakout,...
initially distributed collections of episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
, which were not grouped by air dates or season. Eventually, the rights for Nickelodeon's programming on home video transferred from Sony to Paramount Home Video. Paramount only released one video of The Ren & Stimpy Show, "Have Yourself a Stinky Little Christmas," which was actually a rerelease of a Sony video from several years earlier. Like all of the other Paramount cassettes of Nickelodeon shows, they were recorded in the EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
/SLP format. Tapes released by Sony were recorded in SP format.
During the mid and late 1990s,a themed selection of The Ren and Stimpy Show episodes were released in a number of VHS releases in Australia by Nickelodeon and Paramount Home Entertainment. Most of the videos were G-classified due to some scenes that were cut but other certain videos were classified PG.
The Ren & Stimpy Show was also released on LaserDisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
in the United States by Sony Wonder. There was only one release, "Ren and Stimpy: The Essential Collection," which featured the same episodes as the VHS release.
On September 25, 2005, a compilation entitled The Ren & Stimpy Show: Volume 1 was released in the U.S. on UMD
Universal Media Disc
The Universal Media Disc is an optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on their PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform...
, the proprietary media for the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
.
DVD
Time–Life released several episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show in a "Best of" set in September 2003. This set is now out of printOut of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
. On October 12, 2004, Paramount Home Entertainment
Paramount Home Entertainment
Paramount Home Entertainment is the division of Paramount Pictures dealing with home video founded in late 1975.-History:...
released the first two complete seasons in a three-disc box set. Although the cover art and press materials claimed the episodes were "uncut", a handful of episodes were, in fact, edited, due to the use of Spike TV masters. One of the episodes from the second season, "Svën Höek", did have footage reinserted from a work in progress VHS tape, but with an editing machine time code
Time code
A timecode is a sequence of numeric codes generated at regular intervals by a timing system.- Video and film timecode :...
visible on-screen; the scene was later restored by fans. A set for Seasons Three and a Half-ish, containing all of season three and the first half of season four up to "It's A Dog's Life/Egg Yolkeo", followed on June 28, 2005. Season Five and Some More of Four completed the DVD release of the Nickelodeon series on July 20. Like the previous DVDs, some scenes were removed in these releases.
A two-disc set dubbed The Lost Episodes was released on July 17, 2006, featuring both the aired and unaired episodes from Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon, as well as clips from unfinished cartoons.
In October 2006, Paramount UK released The Ren & Stimpy Show – Unleashed: The First and Second Seasons on DVD. The distributors heavily edited some episodes; most notably the episode "Out West" has the entire song "The Lord Loves a Hangin'" removed and cuts directly to the end of the episode after Ren and Stimpy steal Mr. Horse. In addition, all commentaries and the "banned" episode "Man's Best Friend" are completely absent, even though they are mentioned as present on the DVD packaging.
The Australian DVD similarly excised the episode "Man's Best Friend", but also removed all mentions of it from the packaging. Like the UK release, it was also brandished "Unleashed", rather than the American title of "Uncut".
Video games
Ren & Stimpy-themed games have been produced for Sega GenesisSega Mega Drive
The Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
, Sega Game Gear
Sega Game Gear
The was Sega's first handheld game console. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
, Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
, SNES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, the PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, and Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
. Most of the games were produced by THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
.
- Ren and Stimpy: Space Cadet Adventures released on Game BoyGame BoyThe , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
– 1992 - Ren & Stimpy Show: Buckeroo$ released on the NESNintendo Entertainment SystemThe Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
and Super NES – 1993 - The Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots! released on the Super NESSuper Nintendo Entertainment SystemThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
and Game Boy – 1993 - Ren Hoek and Stimpy: Quest for the Shaven Yak on Sega Game GearSega Game GearThe was Sega's first handheld game console. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
and Sega Master SystemSega Master SystemThe is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
– 1993, 1995 - Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy's InventionRen & Stimpy: Stimpy's InventionRen & Stimpy: Stimpy's Invention is a Sega Mega Drive/Genesis video game based on the Nickelodeon cartoon for which the game is named....
released on Sega GenesisSega Mega DriveThe Sega Genesis is a fourth-generation video game console developed and produced by Sega. It was originally released in Japan in 1988 as , then in North America in 1989 as Sega Genesis, and in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions in 1990 as Mega Drive. The reason for the two names is that...
– 1993 - Ren & Stimpy Show Part II: Fire DogsRen & Stimpy Show Part II: Fire DogsThe Ren & Stimpy Show: Fire Dogs is a Ren and Stimpy video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in 1994 for an exclusively North American audience.-Summary:...
released on the Super NES – 1994 - Ren & Stimpy Show Part III: Time Warp released on the Super NES – 1994
- Nicktoons RacingNicktoons RacingNicktoons Racing is a Nickelodeon racing game for the PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, Windows, and arcade.- Teams :From Rugrats:...
on PCPersonal computerA personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, PlayStationPlayStationThe is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, and Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy AdvanceThe is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China... - Ren & Stimpy Pinball on mobile phones.
- Nicktoons: Attack of the ToybotsNicktoons: Attack of the ToybotsNicktoons: Attack of the Toybots is the 2007 sequel to the 2005 game Nicktoons Unite! and 2006 game Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island. It is also the prequel to the game Nicktoons: Globs of Doom, which was released in 2008...
on WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and PlayStation 2PlayStation 2The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
(Stimpy is not playable in the GBA and DS versions of the game) - Nicktoons MLBNicktoons MLBNicktoons MLB is a baseball game released for the Nintendo DS, Wii, and Xbox 360. The game was developed by High Voltage Software and published by 2K Play...
on Nintendo DSNintendo DSThe is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, WiiWiiThe Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
, and Xbox 360Xbox 360The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
Additionally, Ren and Stimpy were included in several Nickelodeon-themed activity and crafts software for computers.
Ren and Stimpy were also created in full 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
for Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker
3D Movie Maker
3D Movie Maker is a program created by Microsoft's "Microsoft Kids" subsidiary in 1995. Using this program, directors are able to place 3D characters in pre-made or custom-made environments, add actions, sound effects, music, text, and speech, and then show these movies off to friends, family,...
.
Comic books
Marvel ComicsMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
optioned the rights to produce comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s based on Nickelodeon properties in 1992. The initial plan was to have an anthology comic featuring several Nicktoons properties. Marvel produced 44 issues of the ongoing series, along with several specials. Most of these were written by comic scribe Dan Slott
Dan Slott
Dan Slott is an American comic book writer best known for The Amazing Spider-Man, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell and She-Hulk. He is the current writer of the twice monthly The Amazing Spider-Man.-Early writing:...
. One Ren & Stimpy special #3, Masters of Time and Space, was set up as a 'Choose Your Own Adventure
Choose Your Own Adventure
Choose Your Own Adventure is a series of children's gamebooks where each story is written from a second-person point of view, with the reader assuming the role of the protagonist and making choices that determine the main character's actions and the plot's outcome. The series was based on a...
' and with a time travel plot, took Slott six 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. Issue #6 of the series starred Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
battling Powdered Toast Man.
The editors named the "Letters to the Editor" section "Ask Dr. Stupid", and at least one letter in every column would be a direct question for Dr. Stupid to answer.
Nick–Fox film deal
Nickelodeon and Twentieth Century Fox20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
signed a two-year production deal in May 1993 for the development and production of animated and live-action family films, based on new or existing properties. Ren & Stimpy was mentioned as a possible property for development, along with Rugrats and Doug, however the show's "cynical and gross humor" was a poor fit for a conventional, "warm and fuzzy" family film. The deal expired with no movies produced.
Parodies
- In 1993, Parody Press Comics produced a one-shot comic bookComic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
entitled Rank & Stinky № 1; it starred a rabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
named Rank Hoax and a ratRatRats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
named Stinky who looked almost identical to Ren and Stimpy, and the three stories in the book lampooned Kricfalusi & Nickelodeon's falling-out, The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, and consumer culture.
- The Tiny Toon AdventuresTiny Toon AdventuresSteven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, usually referred to as Tiny Toon Adventures or simply Tiny Toons, is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. It began production as a result of Warner Bros....
"Spring Break Special" features a scene in which parody versions of Ren and Stimpy (a RoosterRoosterA rooster, also known as a cockerel, cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels...
and SquirrelSquirrelSquirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
also coincidentally named Rank and Stinky) try to hitch a ride with the Tiny Toons. The same episode also featured parodies of Beavis and Butt-headBeavis and Butt-HeadBeavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
(Beaver and Big-head). John KassirJohn KassirJohn Kassir is an American actor, voice artist, and comedian who is best known as the voice of the Crypt Keeper in HBO's, Tales from the Crypt franchise...
voiced Rank and Jess HarnellJess HarnellJess Q. Harnell is an American voice actor and singer, best known for voicing Wakko Warner on Animaniacs. Harnell has been the announcer for America's Funniest Home Videos since 1998.-Life and acting career:...
voiced Stinky.
- Ren and Stimpy was parodied on The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
twice in its fourth seasonThe Simpsons (season 4)The Simpsons fourth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 24, 1992 and May 13, 1993, beginning with "Kamp Krusty." The show runners for the fourth production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss. The aired season contained two episodes which were hold-over episodes from season...
. In the episode "Brother from the Same PlanetBrother from the Same Planet"Brother from the Same Planet" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons fourth season. After Homer is late to pick up Bart from soccer practice, Bart turns to the program The Bigger Brothers, and is assigned a man named Tom. Homer gets himself a little brother named Pepe. Homer and Tom fight, and...
", a 15 second clip is shown where Ren starts sampling some of Stimpy's soup, which turns out to be hairballs and stomach acid. After, Ren yells at Stimpy, saying that he is trying to "kill" him, Ren's eyeballs pop out, spin a few times, and explode goo. Their voices were provided by Dan CastellanetaDan CastellanetaDaniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...
. In the episode "The FrontThe Front (The Simpsons)"The Front" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons fourth season, and originally aired in the United States on the Fox network on April 15, 1993. In the episode, Bart and Lisa decide to write an episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show; after their script is rejected, they resubmit it under the name...
", The Ren & Stimpy Show was nominated for an animation award against The Itchy & Scratchy ShowThe Itchy & Scratchy ShowThe Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show in the animated television series The Simpsons. It usually appears as a part of The Krusty the Clown Show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson...
. The viewing at the awards ceremony simply read "Clip not done yet", a comment on the slow production time of the show. The show was mentioned again in the episode "Another Simpsons Clip ShowAnother Simpsons Clip Show"Another Simpsons Clip Show" is the third episode of The Simpsons sixth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 25, 1994...
", while referencing Itchy & Scratchy's habit of recycling animation to make new episodes; when Bart claims that Ren & Stimpy also did that, Marge replies "When was the last time you heard anyone talk about Ren & Stimpy?".
- Issue #87 of the X-FactorX-Factor (comics)X-Factor is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics. It is a spin-off of the popular X-Men franchise, featuring characters from X-Men stories. The series has been relaunched several times with different team rosters, most recently as X-Factor Investigations.X-Factor launched in...
comic book, written by Peter DavidPeter DavidPeter Allen David , often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, movies and video games...
, has WolfsbaneWolfsbane (comics)Wolfsbane is a Marvel Comics superheroine, associated with the X-Men.A Scottish mutant, Wolfsbane possesses the ability to transform into a wolf or into a transitional state somewhere between human and wolf...
describing to the group's therapist (Doc SamsonDoc SamsonDoc Samson is a fictional character, a superhero and psychiatrist in the Marvel Comics universe, known as a supporting character in stories featuring the Hulk.-Publication history:...
) a dream in which she was part of the Rahne and Simpy show (Stimpy being the mutant FeralFeral (comics)Feral is a fictional character that appears in the Marvel Universe. She has been both a superhero and a supervillain and most recognizably associated as a member of X-Force.-Fictional character biography:...
).
- In an episode of the Japanese Anime series Panty & Stocking with GarterbeltPanty & Stocking with Garterbeltis a Japanese anime television series produced by Gainax. It aired nationwide between October 1, 2010 and December 24, 2010 on BS NTV and was also simulcast on Nico Nico Douga and Crunchyroll...
there are two ghosts that closely resemble Ren & Stimpy in appearance. In the episode the ghosts get married and then the one resembling Stimpy gets killed. The ghost that resembles Ren is even depicted having an accent similar to Ren's.