The Ren & Stimpy Show
The Ren & Stimpy Show, commonly referred to as simply Ren & Stimpy, is an American comedy animated television series created and developed by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi, and animators Bob Camp, Jim Smith and Lynne Naylor for Nickelodeon. Originally produced by Spümcø, the series aired on Nickelodeon from August 11, 1991, to December 16, 1995, with its last episode airing on MTV on October 20, 1996, spanning for a total of five seasons and 52 episodes. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotionally unstable and psychotic chihuahua dog; and Stimpy, a good-natured and dimwitted Manx cat. It is the third cartoon to be aired of the original three Nickelodeon animated series known as "Nicktoons", alongside Doug and Rugrats, and is considered to be one of the progenitor series of the brand.
The Ren & Stimpy Show
- John Kricfalusi
- Bob Camp
- Jim Smith
- Lynne Naylor
- John Kricfalusi[a]
- Billy West
- John Kricfalusi
- Chris Reccardi
- Jim Smith
- Scott Huml
United States
English
5
52 (93 segments)[1] (list of episodes)
- Vanessa Coffey
- Mary Harrington
22 minutes
- Nickelodeon (1991–1995)
- MTV (1996)
August 11, 1991 –
October 20, 1996
The Ren & Stimpy Show has received widespread critical acclaim from critics and audiences, with praise going to its visuals, animation, and surreal nature. However, it has also generated significant controversy for its dark humor, sexual innuendos, adult humor, violence, and shock value. This controversy contributed to the production staff's altercations with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices department, in addition to Spümcø's failure to deliver episodes on time, all of which led to Kricfalusi's termination from the show in 1992. Games Animation would produce the remaining three seasons of the series.[2] One episode was initially left unaired in America until it was broadcast on MTV on October 20, 1996.
The Ren & Stimpy Show received highly positive reviews during its original run and has since developed a cult following. It is considered by many to have had a long-lasting influence on television animation.
A revival for adult audiences, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", was produced by Kricfalusi and Spümcø and aired in 2003 on Spike TV. Only three episodes were aired before the series was canceled due to both production delays and negative critical reception from both critics and fans of the original series, with three additional episodes (all incomplete at the time of the cancellation) being released straight to DVD in 2006.
On August 5, 2020, Comedy Central announced that they had ordered a second revival of the series to be produced without the involvement of Kricfalusi.[3]
Development and history[edit]
Conception[edit]
According to animator William Wray, John Kricfalusi created the characters Ren and Stimpy in 1978 for "personal amusement" while studying at Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada.[6] He 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 cartoon called A Gruesome Twosome, where the cats in the animation had big noses.[10]
When Nickelodeon approached Kricfalusi, he presented three shows, among them a variety show titled Your Gang[11] or Our Gang[6] 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". The network's vice president of animation production Vanessa Coffey was dissatisfied with the other projects but liked Ren and Stimpy, singling them out for their own series.[6][11] Production of the series' pilot episode began in the summer of 1989 after Kricfalusi pitched and sold The Ren & Stimpy Show to Nickelodeon.[12] The pilot was produced by Kricfalusi's Los Angeles-based animation company, Spümcø, and screened at film festivals for several months before the show was announced in Nickelodeon's 1991 cartoons line-up.[13]
Spümcø (1991–1993)[edit]
The series premiered on August 11, 1991, alongside Doug and Rugrats as the original Nicktoons. Spümcø continued to produce the show for the next two years while encountering issues with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices department.[6] The show was known for its lack of early merchandising;[14] according to Wray, the initial lack of merchandise was "the unique and radical thing" about The Ren & Stimpy Show, as no toy company planned for any merchandise for the show, and Nickelodeon did not want to use "over-exploitive" merchandising.[6]
Kricfalusi described his early period with Nickelodeon as being "simple", as he got along with Coffey, the sole executive of the program. When another executive was added, they wanted to alter or discard some of the Ren & Stimpy episodes, 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.[15] Kricfalusi also said that the program was the "safest project [he] 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 estimated Spümcø's run of The Ren & Stimpy Show cost around $6 million to produce.[16]
The relationship between Kricfalusi and Nickelodeon deteriorated to the point where Kricfalusi would communicate with Nickelodeon only through his lawyer.[17] News outlets and several of the series' staff ascribe the tension to episodes not being delivered promptly.[18][19][20][21][22] Author Andy Mangels, writing for Wizard magazine, commented that "Kricfalusi's lax treatment of deadlines angered not only the networks, but his loyal viewers as well."[23] However, some of the delays were attributed to Nickelodeon's prolonged approval process[17] and withdrawal of approval from scenes and episodes that had been previously approved.[6][23][24] Another point of contention was the direction of the series. Kricfalusi cites the episode "Man's Best Friend" as the primary reason for his dismissal;[25] the character George Liquor is depicted in the episode as an abusive father figure, and Nickelodeon did not want the show to be so frightening and dramatic.[6]: 15
Games Animation (1993–1996)[edit]
Nickelodeon terminated Kricfalusi's contract in late September 1992[22][26] and offered him the position of consultant for Ren & Stimpy, but he refused to "sell out".[24] The network moved production from Spümcø to its newly founded animation studio, Games Animation, which later became Nickelodeon Animation Studio.[27] Bob Camp replaced Kricfalusi as director,[28] while West, having refused Kricfalusi's request to leave along with him,[19] voiced Ren in addition to Stimpy.[6][21][29][30]
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.[27][31] Ted Drozdowski, resident critic of The Boston Phoenix, stated that "the bloom faded" on Ren & Stimpy.[32] Animation historian Michael Barrier writes that while the creators of the Games episodes used crude jokes that were similar to those used by Kricfalusi, they did not "find the material particularly funny; they were merely doing what was expected".[7]
The series ended its original run on Nickelodeon on December 16, 1995, with "A Scooter for Yaksmas", and had a total of five seasons and 51 episodes, although one episode from the final season, "Sammy and Me/The Last Temptation", remained unaired.[33] Almost a year later, the episode aired on Nickelodeon's sister network, MTV, on October 20, 1996.[2]
Production[edit]
Process[edit]
The animation production methods used in The Ren & Stimpy Show were similar to those found in Golden Age cartoons of the early 20th century, where a director supervised the entire process.[9][34][35] These methods are in contrast with animation production methods in the 1980s, where there was one director for animation and a different director for voice actors, and the cartoons were created with a "top-down" approach to tie in with toy production.[12][36]
Animator Vincent Waller compared working on Ren & Stimpy and SpongeBob SquarePants in an interview: "Working on Ren and Stimpy and SpongeBob was very similar. They're both storyboard-driven shows, which means they give us an outline from a premise after the premise has been approved. We take the outline and expand on it, writing the dialogue and gags. That was very familiar."[37]
Animation[edit]
The show's aesthetics draw on Golden Age cartoons,[9][38][39] particularly those of animator Bob Clampett from the 1940s in the way the characters' emotions powerfully distort their bodies.[7] The show's style emphasizes unique expressions, intense and specific acting and strong character poses.[11][10] One of the show's most notable visual trademarks is the detailed paintings of gruesome close-ups,[11] 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".[40] This style was developed from Clampett's Baby Bottleneck, which features several scenes with color-cards for backgrounds.[25] 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, but in lieu of real advertisements, it featured fake commercial breaks advertising nonexistent products, most notably "Log".[41]
Kricfalusi cited Carbunkle Cartoons, an animation studio headed by Bob Jaques and Kelly Armstrong, 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.[10][42] Some of the show's earlier episodes were rough to the point 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 of Common Sense Media describes the show's style as changing "from intentionally rough to much more polished and plushie-toy ready."[43]
Voice acting[edit]
Kricfalusi originally voiced Ren, styled after a demented Peter Lorre from the film The Maltese Falcon.[11][12] When Nickelodeon terminated Kricfalusi's contract, 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.[28] West voiced Stimpy for the Spümcø and Games Animation episodes, basing the voice on an "amped-up" Larry Fine.[11] Some notable artists and performers who voiced incidental characters on the show were Frank Zappa (in his final public performance before his death), Jack Carter, Stan Freberg, Tommy Davidson, Randy Quaid, Gilbert Gottfried, Rosie O'Donnell, Dom DeLuise, Phil Hartman, Mark Hamill and Soleil Moon Frye.[44]
Music[edit]
The Ren & Stimpy Show features a wide variety of music, spanning rockabilly, folk, pop, jazz, classical music, jingles, and more. The opening theme, "Dog Pound Hop", was performed by a group of Spümcø employees under the name "Die Screaming Leiderhôsens".[45] Three Ren & Stimpy albums have been released. 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[9] 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.
Controversy and censorship[edit]
The program's staff did not want to create an "educational" series, a stance that bothered Nickelodeon,[6]: 21 leading to the series being criticized by parent groups.[46][47] Some segments of the show were altered to exclude references to religion, politics, alcohol, violence, and tobacco. The episode "Powdered Toast Man" had a cross removed from the Pope's hat and the credit was changed to "the man with the pointy hat". The same episode had a segment featuring the burning of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights that was removed, while in "Dog Show", the last name of the character George Liquor was removed, being changed to "George American".[2] Many other episodes included someone smoking a cigar, pipe, or a cigarette.
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 against a man's stubble,[48] and a scene that was shortened where Ren receives multiple punches to the stomach from a baby. In the second-season episode "Sven Höek", during the scene where Ren fantasizes Stimpy and his cousin Sven's deaths after they break all of his prized possessions, his line "Then...I'm going to gouge your eyes out...yeah..." was cut. One infamous episode, "Man's Best Friend", was banned by Nickelodeon for its violent content. Neither Nickelodeon nor MTV would air the episode. Years later on Spike TV, the show's revival, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", debuted with this banned episode as their unofficial pilot, even receiving a TV-MA rating.[2]
Reception[edit]
The Ren & Stimpy Show received widespread critical acclaim.[38] Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, praised the show for its outrageousness[49] and called it "the only good cartoon on TV" other than The Simpsons.[50] Terry Thoren, former 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".[51] Jonathan Valania of The Morning Call called it "high voltage yuks and industrial-strength weirdness",[17] John Lyttle of The Independent described it as "a gooey media meltdown, absolutely grotesque and instantly recognisable" and did not consider it a children's cartoon.[52]
As of 2024, the first season of the show holds a rare 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews from critics,[53] though the remaining seasons have not been rated.
The show came to garner high ratings for Nickelodeon,[12][17][18][38][54] having double the viewership of the other Nickelodeon cartoons for its first season[50] and later averaging three times their viewership.[55] Due to the first season's high ratings, Nickelodeon renewed the series for twenty additional episodes in November 1991, alongside the second season of Rugrats and the second and third season of Doug.[56] The show for a time was the most popular cable TV show,[57] with several airings being the most-watched scripted cable TV show in 1993 in the United States.[58] The show quickly developed a cult following in college campuses,[23][52][55] and was included in the launch of Nickelodeon's Snick, a late-night block for shows that appeal to both children and adults.[59]
Legacy and influence[edit]
The immediate influence of the show was the spawning of two "clones": Hanna-Barbera'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.[4] However, The Ren & Stimpy Show had a wider influence on the future of animation.[11][40]
Mike Judge credits MTV's willingness to commission Beavis and Butt-Head to the success of Ren & Stimpy on the network.[60] 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 more adult-oriented satirical shows like Beavis and Butt-Head.[61]
David Feiss, an animation director of the show, went on to create Cartoon Network's Cow and Chicken. John Kricfalusi became a teacher of sorts for Fred Seibert, and was the first person Seibert called while looking for new talent for the project What A Cartoon!. 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 beginning of each episode, the use of grotesque close-ups, and a shift in cartoon color palettes to richer, more harmonious colors.[11]
A direct influence can be seen in the series SpongeBob SquarePants with the physically extreme drawings that contrast with the characters' usual appearance, the "grotesque close-ups".[62]
The characters became a cultural touchstone in the mid-1990s, and were featured in works such as the films Clueless (1995), The Cable Guy, and Jack (both 1996).[63] Ren & Stimpy placed 31st in TV Guide's list of "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time" in 2002.[64] The cover story of the October 2001 issue of Wizard, a magazine for comic book fans, listed the 100 Greatest Toons ever as selected by their readers, with Ren & Stimpy ranked at number 12.[65] Other entertainment journals similarly hold Ren & Stimpy as one of the best cartoons of the '90s and cartoons for adults.[66][67][68][69]
Reboot[edit]
On August 5, 2020, it was announced that a new Ren & Stimpy reboot has been greenlit by Comedy Central, along with Daria and Beavis and Butt-Head.[80] Though a new creative staff has been employed, Billy West was expected to return along with a few of the original series' writers. Due to the sexual abuse allegations surrounding him, it had been confirmed that Kricfalusi will not be involved in the production of the new reboot nor will he receive any compensation from it. Originally set to be produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, production on the reboot has been moved to Awesome Inc in October 2021,[81][82] while Snipple Animation announced their involvement in September 2022.[83] According to West, development was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, contrary to earlier rumors that the project had been canceled.[84] Paramount Global (at the time operating as ViacomCBS), the parent company of Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, has not responded to requests for a comment about the status of the show, though West reiterated that it was still in production.[3] On September 14, 2021, West confirmed that he was reprising his roles as Ren and Stimpy.[85][86]
Other returning crew members from the original series include Bob Jaques, Chris Sauve, and former Spümcø alumni Robyn Byrd, who previously advocated to get the reboot canceled.[87][88]
Other media[edit]
Video games[edit]
Seven action games based directly on the television series were released between 1992 and 1995.
Media related to Ren and Stimpy at Wikimedia Commons