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| The Ren & Stimpy Show, often simply Ren & Stimpy, is an American animated television series, created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. The series concerns the adventures of the titular characters: Ren Höek, a psychotic chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a good-natured, dimwitted cat. The show officially premiered on August 11, 1991, later the same day as the debut of Doug and Rugrats, the three of which comprised the original Nicktoons. The show ran for five seasons on Nickelodeon, ending its original run with the Christmas episode "A Scooter for Yaksmas." The show is animated in various styles reminiscent of the Golden Age of American animation. It is particularly memorable for its off-color humor, black comedy, and innuendo, all of which contributed to the production staff's altercations with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices department.
Ren Höek is a scrawny, violently psychotic "asthma-hound" Chihuahua.[1] Kricfalusi originally voiced Ren, styled as "a bad imitation of Peter Lorre".[2] 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"[3] for the rest of the Nickelodeon run. Stimpson "Stimpy" J. Cat is a three-year-old,[4] fat, stupid cat.[1] West voiced Stimpy for the Spümcø and Games Animation episodes, basing the voice on an "amped-up" Larry Fine.[3] 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.[5] While the characters are sometimes set in the present day, the show's crew tended to avoid "contemporary" jokes that reference current events.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8] Episodes Main article: List of The Ren & Stimpy Show episodes The series ran for five full seasons, spanning 52 episodes.[9] The show was produced by Kricfalusi's animation studio Spümcø for the first two seasons. Beginning in 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. History Conception Bill Wray recalls Kricfalusi created the Ren and Stimpy characters around 1978 for personal amusement during his time in Sheridan College in Canada.[6] 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.[10] In a call for new series by Nickelodeon, Kricfalusi assembled a presentation for a variety show titled Our Gang, with a live action host presenting different cartoons. Each cartoon parodied a genre, and Ren and Stimpy parodied the "cat and dog" genre. Vanessa Coffey, the producer of the show, did not like the general idea, but she did like Ren and Stimpy.[6] Spümcø (1991-1992) The show's pilot began production in 1989, after Kricfalusi pitched and sold The Ren & Stimpy Show to Nickelodeon.[2] The pilot was done by Kricfalusi's own animation house, Spümcø, and screened at film festivals for several months before the show was announced in Nickelodeon's schedule.[11] The first episode of the show debuted on August 11, 1991, premiering alongside Doug and Rugrats.[12] Spümcø continued to produce the show for the next two years while encountering issues with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices.[6] 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.[13] In his blog, Kricfalusi described 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.[14] Responses to the show were mixed.[15] 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".[16] Even as the show came to garner high ratings for Nickelodeon,[2][15][17] 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,[18][19][20][21] 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.[6] Another issue of contention was the direction of the show; Nickelodeon later asked the new studio to make it lighter and less frightening.[6] 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.[22] Games Animation (1993-1996) Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi in late September 1992.[21] Without Kricfalusi, Nickelodeon moved production from Spümcø to its newly-founded animation department, Games Animation, which later became Nickelodeon Animation Studios.[23] Bob Camp took the role of director, while West, having refused Kricfalusi's request to leave along with him,[18] now voiced Ren in addition to Stimpy.[6][20][24] 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.[23][25] Ted Drozdowski of The Boston Phoenix stated in a 1998 article that "the bloom faded on Ren & Stimpy."[26] 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."[27] 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.[28] It was later aired on Nickelodeon's sister network, MTV.[citation needed] Production Production system The Ren & Stimpy production system emulated those of Golden Age cartoons: a director would oversee all aspects of a cartoon from start to finish;[7][29] 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.[2][30] Bill Wray described 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.[6] Kricfalusi notes that Ren & Stimpy re-introduced the layouts stage, and re-emphasized the storyboard stage.[31][32][33] Eventually, larger storyboard panels were drawn, which allowed for the stories to be easily changed according to reactions from pitch meetings, and for new ideas to be integrated.[34] Animation style The show's aesthetics draw on Golden Age cartoons,[7][15][35] particularly those of Bob Clampett in the way the characters' emotions powerfully distort their bodies.[27] The show also emphasized specific acting and unique expressions.[36] 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".[37] This style was developed from Clampett's "Baby Bottleneck", which features several scenes with color-cards for backgrounds.[38] 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.[39] 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 couldn't be done with overseas animation studios.[36][40] 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."[41] 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."[42] Music The Ren & Stimpy Show features a wide variety of music, ranging from folk to pop to jazz. The opening and closing themes are performed by a group of Spümcø employees under the name "Der Screamin' Lederhosen".[43] 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,[44] Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Alexander Borodin, Antonín Dvořák, Rossini (particularly The Thieving Magpie), and a host of "production music" by composers such as Fredric Bayco, which fans later compiled into several albums.[45][46] Stimpy's rousing anthem titled "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy", was composed by Christopher Reccardi[7] 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" was first used in episode 3 during the series; the song was first played during episode 6. It is sung by a character introduced as "Stinky Whizzleteats",[47] who is named in the episode's script as Burl Ives.[48] Several references to Burl Ives's songs and movie quotes are sprinkled through the song, giving it its surreal air.[citation needed][talk] Controversy and censorship The creators of Ren and Stimpy did not want to create an "educational" series. This stance bothered Nickelodeon.[6] As the show grew in popularity, parent groups complained that Stimpy was subject to repeated violence from Ren.[citation needed] Other sources for complaint were the toilet humor and harsh language.[49][50] Despite these sentiments by Nickelodeon and parental groups, UK CIC Video home releases of the Spümcø episodes received U (all ages) ratings from the BBFC, while the "lighter" Games episodes received PG ratings.[51] 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 or gruesome 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.[22][52][53][54][55] Adult Party Cartoon (2003-2004) Main article: Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" In 2003, Kricfalusi relaunched the series as Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon". The new version was aired during a late night programming 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,[56] and an episode filled with female nudity.[57] 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.[58] 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,[11] which featured the consumption of bodily fluids such as nasal mucus, saliva and vomit.[56] 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.[59] VHS, LaserDisc, UMD Sony Wonder initially distributed various collections of episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show on VHS. These collections did not group episodes by air dates or season.[63] Eventually, the rights for Nickelodeon's programming on home video were 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 one of Sony's videos that had been released 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.[original research?] 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", featuring the same episodes as the VHS release, in higher fidelity. On September 25, 2005, a compilation entitled The Ren & Stimpy Show: Volume 1 was released in the United States on UMD, the proprietary media for the PlayStation Portable. DVD See also: List of The Ren & Stimpy Show episodes#DVD releases Time-Life released several episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show in a "Best of" set in September 2003.[64] This set is now out of print.[65] 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.[66] 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.[67] 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.[25][68] Season Five and Some More of Four completed the DVD release of the Nickelodeon series on July 20.[69] Like the previous DVDs, some scenes were removed in these releases.[citation needed] 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.[70] Ren and Stimpy in other media | | This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2010) | Video games Ren & Stimpy-themed games have been produced for Sega Genesis, 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. - Ren and Stimpy: Space Cadet Adventures released on Game Boy - 1992
- Ren & Stimpy Show: Buckaroo$ released on the NES and Super NES - 1993
- The Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots! released on the Super NES and Game Boy - 1993
- Ren Hoek and Stimpy: Quest for the Shaven Yak on Sega Game Gear and Sega Master System - 1993, 1995
- Ren & Stimpy: Stimpy's Invention released on Sega Genesis - 1993
- Ren & Stimpy Show Part II: Fire Dogs released on the Super NES - 1994
- Ren & Stimpy Show Part III: Time Warp released on the Super NES - 1994
- Nicktoons Racing on PC, PlayStation, and Game Boy Advance
- Ren & Stimpy Pinball on mobile phones.
- Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots on Wii and PlayStation 2 (Stimpy is not playable in the GBA and DS versions of the game)
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. Comic books Marvel Comics optioned the rights to produce comic books 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.[71] Nick-Fox film deal Nickelodeon and Twentieth Century Fox 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.[72][73] The deal expired with no movies produced. Parodies | | This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2010) | - In 1993, Parody Press Comics produced a one-shot comic book entitled Rank & Stinky № 1;[74] it starred a rabbit named Rank Hoax and a rat named Stinky who looked almost identical to Ren and Stimpy, and the three stories in the book lampooned Kricfalusi & Nickelodeon's falling-out, The Simpsons, and consumer culture.
- The Tiny Toon Adventures "Spring Break Special" features a scene in which parody versions of Ren and Stimpy (a rooster and squirrel 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-head (Beaver and Big-head). John Kassir voiced Rank and Jess Harnell voiced Stinky.
- Ren and Stimpy was parodied on The Simpsons twice in its fourth season. In the episode "Brother from the Same Planet", 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 Castellaneta. In the episode "The Front", The Ren & Stimpy Show was nominated for an animation award against The Itchy & Scratchy Show. 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 Show", 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-Factor comic book, written by Peter David, has Wolfsbane describing to the group's therapist (Doc Samson) a dream in which she was part of the Rahne and Simpy show (Stimpy being the mutant Feral).[75]
- In an episode of the Japanese Anime series Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt 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.
- The anime Shaman King has fox and raccoon demons named Konchi and Ponchi who act like and resemble the duo.
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