Happy, Happy, Joy Joy!!! Ohh, the animation Gods are smiling on us this week!! As you know I love animation with a passion that sometimes falls into the category of obsessive. Not all animation mind you, but most of it. Certain styles kind of annoy me, while other can take my breath away with the simplest of brush strokes. What is generally hard to find is animation that might not appeal to me aesthetically, but the writing is so inspired and hysterically funny as to forgive the limitations of the artists. Such is the case with the Original “Ren & Stimpy Show.” If there ever was an animated series that could hold the terms ‘irreverent’ and ‘creative’ on the same level as ‘disgusting’ and ‘offensive’ is would have to be “The Ren & Stimpy Show.” (A similar case could be made for “South Park”, but that’s not the subject of this review.) 1991 marked the beginnings of a little show about a Chihuahua named Ren Hoek and his feline best friend (and perhaps more…) Stimpson J. Cat.

The animation was rudimentary at best, but it was a wonderful throwback to the old Tex Avery cartoons that creator John Kricfalusi watched growing up. The pair often got themselves into all sorts of trouble, which is pretty much a staple of any good ‘buddy’ show, but I guarantee many of the situations were far removed from anything anyone had ever seen in an animated TV series before.

The series started out on Nickelodeon, and for two years Kricfalusi, along with his team of animators churned out cartoon short after cartoon short. The show was insanely popular, but that really didn’t matter to the ‘powers that be’ of the network who often butted heads with Kricfalusi over the show’s content. They held the upper hand as well because they owned the rights to the series (it was the only way Kricfalusi was able to get them to agree to air it). Fights over editing continued until Nickelodeon finally decided they didn’t need Kricfalusi in order to keep producing the show. He left, along with a good portion of his animation team and the series just went into the toilet from there. Fans could immediately tell the difference in the quality of “The Ren & Stimpy Show”, and the series was eventually cancelled.

I always considered it an incredible shame to see such a stifling of talent. Left to his own devices, Kricfalusi has the ability to stretch and skew the world with his animation in ways that have only been copied since. If you watch newer shows like “Spongebob Squarepants”, you’ll see some of his influence in the way close-ups of extremely gross items or situations are drawn. (On a side note, if you’ve never watched “Spongebob Squarepants”, I recommend you do. I refused to watch it for several years, only to catch a couple of episodes one night by accident. Now I’m hooked!)

For the most part, it was nearly impossible to see any of the original 32 “The Ren & Stimpy Show” episodes. Some were released on home video in little ‘Best of…’ packages, but that’s about it. Now, however last year Paramount made it possible to own every single stinking episode from the first four seasons on 2 DVD sets!! Even better, the first set included “Man’s Best Friend” which was originally banned by the network for its over-the-top scenes of violence.

That set promoted the episodes as being ‘uncut’, which came under fire by hardcore “Ren & Stimpy Show” fans. They claimed that the episodes were not being released totally uncut. They were able to point out specific scenes that was missing (whether this was based on their collective photographic memories or really old homemade video tapes, I have no idea) and were raising all kinds of ruckus. As it turned out, it looks like they were correct. However Kricfalusi addressed the situation directly, via the Internet, and responded that if the episodes in question did have scenes missing, he was not aware of them. He worked with Paramount to put them back together to the best of his memory utilizing all the materials they had, and yes it may be possible that some parts may be missing. (I say, “Get over it…) The simple fact that the DVD set had some great extra features more than made up for any frames that may have been lost to the black hole of the cutting room floor.

This month, Paramount is going to release the fifth season (and part of the fourth), which marked the final episodes produced for Nickelodeon. Actually these episodes were made after the ‘takeover’ by Nickelodeon, but some were already at least written and storyboarded by the original creative team. While you can tell the quality is starting to diminish on some of the episodes, there are still a few funny ones in the mix. Having this set would complete your collection of episodes created for Nick. There were a few other episodes that were made in 2003 – 2004 for Spike TV, and I’m of the understanding that these will be available on DVD eventually.

I was glad to see that Kricfalusi and Company opted to still throw their two cents in with commentaries on 13 of the episodes. They are quite candid in their opinions and have a lot of… uhh… interesting comments. However, I found the commentary on “Big Flakes” to be the most eye-opening. The commentary is delivered by Ren & Stimpy and they are certainly the most opinionated of the lot.

I was as a fan of the series as it was created under Kricfalusi’s watch, more for the writing than the animation itself. It often mocked the conventions of the time, and the send-ups of familiar styles of TV commercials were often my favorite part of the show. Make no mistake about it, “The Ren & Stimpy Show” is rude, crude and can be considered offensive at times. It won’t appeal to everyone, but a lack of a sense of humor really isn’t anyone’s fault, I believe it’s genetic.

Episodes:
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The Scotsman in Space
Aloha Hoek
Insomniac Ren
My Shiny Friend
Cheese Rush Days
Wiener Barons
Galoot Wranglers
Ren Needs Help!
Ol’ Blue Nose
Stupid Sidekick Union
Superstitious Stimpy
Travelogue
Space Dogged
Feud For Sale
Hair of the Cat
City Hicks
Stimpy’s Pet
Ren’s Brain
Bellhops
Dog Tags
I Was a Teenage Stimpy
Who’s Stupid Now?
School Mates
Dinner Party
Pen Pals
Big Flakes
Terminal Stimpy
Reverend Jack Cheese
A Scooter for Yaksmas
Sammy and Me
The Last Temptation of Ren

Extras: Audio Commentaries on 13 Episodes From Both the Spumco and Games Animation Teams, Ren & Stimpy on Ren & Stimpy
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 9/20/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Ren & Stimpy: Season 5 and Some More of 4 a B.