The Ren & Stimpy Show

The series centers on Ren Höek (voiced by John Kricfalusi in seasons 1–2; Billy West in seasons 2–5), a hot-tempered, psychotic, "asthma-hound" chihuahua, and Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat (also voiced by Billy West), a dimwitted and happy-go-lucky Manx cat. and are usually at odds with each other in these situations. While the show was sometimes set in the present day, the show's crew tended to avoid "contemporary" jokes about current events. The show features a host of supporting characters. Due to the nature of the show, they do not have consistent appearances or even designs; those who do appear repeatedly have different roles in each appearance, being either a part of the storyline or making cameo appearances with little bearing on the plot. Some, such as Mr. Horse, are exclusively cameo-based, spontaneously appearing as a running gag. George Liquor makes his first appearances in the show through cameos or as a supporting character, as demonstrated in "Dog Show" and "Man's Best Friend". ==Development and history==

Conception According to animator Bill Wray, John Kricfalusi created the characters Ren and Stimpy in 1978 for "personal amusement" while studying at Sheridan College. He was inspired to create Ren by an Elliott Erwitt photograph, printed on a postcard, titled "New York City, Circa 1950", showing a sweatered chihuahua at a woman's feet. Stimpy's design was inspired by the cat duo from the 1945 Merrie Melodies cartoon A Gruesome Twosome, who had big noses. or Our Gang and it was conducted by Spümcø, Kricfalusi's Los Angeles-based animation company. A few months later, after the pilot had been screened at film festivals, it was announced that the show would be one of the channel's first Nicktoons. Kricfalusi mainly credited Bob Clampett for his series as well as other animators such as Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Jay Ward and Max Fleischer. He additionally liked the comic artists such as Frank Frazetta, Johnny Hart, Jack Kirby and Charles M. Schulz as well as Hanna-Barbera and Mad Magazine. Spümcø (1991–1993) The series premiered on August 11, 1991, alongside two other Nicktoons, Doug and Rugrats. Spümcø continued to produce the show for the next two years while encountering issues with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices department. 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. 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. The relationship between Kricfalusi and Nickelodeon deteriorated to the point where Kricfalusi would communicate with Nickelodeon only through his lawyer. 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." 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; 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. and offered him the position of consultant for Ren & Stimpy, but he refused to "sell out". Bob Camp replaced Kricfalusi as director, 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, resident critic of The Boston Phoenix, stated that "the bloom faded" on Ren & Stimpy. 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". In late January 1995, Mary Harrington came to Games from New York to tell the studio that the show was "ceased indefinitely" rather than "cancelled"; production would wrap up by August 1995. By the end of the series, each segment was produced at around $500,000 each. 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. Almost a year later, the episode aired on Nickelodeon's sister network, MTV, on October 20, 1996. ==Production==

Process 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. 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. 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." Animation The show's aesthetics draw on Golden Age cartoons, particularly those of animator Bob Clampett from the 1940s in the way the characters' emotions powerfully distort their bodies. This style was developed from Clampett's Baby Bottleneck, which features several scenes with color-cards for backgrounds. Kricfalusi cited Carbunkle Cartoons, an animation studio headed by Bob Jaques and Kelly Armstrong, for their work on the show's best episodes, improving the acting with subtle nuances and wild animation that could not be done with overseas animation studios. 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." Voice acting Kricfalusi originally voiced Ren, styled after a demented Peter Lorre from the film The Maltese Falcon. West voiced Stimpy for the Spümcø and Games Animation episodes, basing the voice on an "amped-up" Larry Fine. Music 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"; they include developer Jim Smith, animator Chris Reccardi and production assistant Scott Huml. Three Ren & Stimpy albums have been released. In 1993, a compilation album,You Eediot!, was released as a soundtrack album. Stimpy's rousing anthem titled "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy" was composed by Chris Reccardi and written by Charlie Brissette and Kricfalusi. A cover 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==

The program's staff did not want to create an "educational" series, a stance that bothered Nickelodeon, 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 simply "George, American". 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 about brutally murdering Stimpy and his cousin Sven 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, receiving a TV-MA rating. Games Animation, however, was allowed to include more risqué content and occasional graphic violence. ==Episodes==

The series ran for five seasons, spanning 52 episodes. The show was produced by Kricfalusi's animation studio Spümcø for the first two seasons. Beginning with season three (1993–94), the show was produced by Nickelodeon's Games Animation. The episode "Man's Best Friend" was produced for season two, but the episode was shelved and debuted with the show's 2003 reboot. Another episode, "Sammy and Me / The Last Temptation", aired on MTV on October 20, 1996, nearly a year after the original Nickelodeon run ended. ==Reception==

" which is praised for the song's catchiness, the characters' antics, and satirization of mental health.|thumbtime=17 The Ren & Stimpy Show received widespread critical acclaim. and called it "the only good cartoon on TV" other than The Simpsons; he was later critical of Kricfalusi's firing. 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". Jonathan Valania of The Morning Call called it "high voltage yuks and industrial-strength weirdness", 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. As of 2026, the first season of the show holds a rare 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews from critics, though the remaining seasons have not been rated. The critics consensus reads: "Dark and Dadaist, The Ren & Stimpy Show pioneered an animation aesthetic that was undeniably disturbing for all ages." The show came to garner high ratings for Nickelodeon, having double the viewership of the other Nickelodeon cartoons for its first season 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. The show for a time was the most popular cable TV show, with several airings being the most-watched scripted cable TV show in 1993 in the United States. The show quickly developed a cult following in college campuses, ==Legacy and influence==

The immediate influence of the show was the spawning of two "clones". Kricfalusi's previous employer Hanna-Barbera produced 2 Stupid Dogs, to which Kricfalusi contributed jokes. Walt Disney Television Animation produced The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show to mimic the show's success. The Disney series failed to gain any recognition and remained obscure. 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. David Feiss, an animation director on the first season of the show, went on to create Cartoon Network's Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel. 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. 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). Ren & Stimpy placed 31st in TV Guide's list of "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time" in 2002. 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. Other entertainment journals similarly hold Ren & Stimpy as one of the best cartoons of the '90s and cartoons for adults. ==Revivals==

Spike TV spin-off In 2003, a reboot of the series helmed by John Kricfalusi, titled Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", was launched on a late night programming block on Spike TV and was rated TV-MA. As its name suggests, the new series is more adult-oriented than the original, and features an explicitly homosexual relationship between the main characters, strong profanity, graphic violence and nudity. Billy West refused to participate in Adult Party Cartoon, because he did not find the show funny and felt that it would've damaged his career. Eric Bauza subsequently replaced West as the voice of Stimpy in the series, while Kricfalusi reprised his roles as both Ren and Mr. Horse. The series premiered with the banned Nickelodeon episode "Man's Best Friend", before debuting new episodes thereafter. Much like the original series, Kricfalusi showed apparent disregard for meeting production deadlines, with only three out of the ordered nine episodes being completed on time. After the first three episodes aired, Spike's entire animation block was removed from its programming schedule. However, three more episodes, already in production and completed by the time Adult Party Cartoon was canceled, were subsequently released three years later in 2006 on the Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes DVD. Canceled Nickelodeon-related projects In February 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that characters from Ren & Stimpy were scheduled to appear in a scrapped Nicktoons feature-length film. Three months later, Variety reported that Nickelodeon was in negotiations with Kricfalusi about another revival of the characters. Bob Camp and William Wray revealed in an April 2016 panel discussion that Kricfalusi was developing a new Ren & Stimpy short that would be shown in theaters with the third SpongeBob SquarePants film, but stated that they were "not invited to that party" and would not be involved with the short's production. However, Kricfalusi later denied making such a cartoon on Twitter. Despite this, an animatic of the short that was originally made as a promotion for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water before being cancelled was released as a bonus feature on the Cans Without Labels DVD in May 2019. Comedy Central reboot 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. 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 has 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, while Snipple Animation announced their involvement in September 2022. 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. 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. Other returning crew members from the original series include Bob Jaques, Chris Sauvé and former Spümcø alumni Robyn Byrd, who previously advocated to get the reboot canceled. ==Home media==

VHS, LaserDisc and UMD Sony Wonder initially distributed collections of episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show on VHS, which were not grouped by air dates or season. For instance, The Classics Volume 1 VHS was released in 1993 and included three episodes from Season 1 ("Space Madness", "Untamed World" and "Stimpy's Invention"), as well as the short segment "Breakfast Tips" and a "Log" commercial. Other Nickelodeon compilation tapes, including two themed after the SNICK programming block, were also released containing individual Ren and Stimpy cartoons. Perhaps because of the show's adult following, it was also granted a LaserDisc set (the only ever LaserDisc release from Sony Wonder, and one of the only few LaserDiscs of a Nickelodeon original series), The Ren & Stimpy Show -- The Essential Collection: Classics I & II, was released in 1995. This included all the episodes previously released on VHS from the Classics I and Classics II volumes, as well as the shorts included on said VHS releases. 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 a re-release of a Sony video from 1993. In 2005, Paramount released The First Ten Cartoons on UMD, only for playback on Sony's PSP portable video game system. Presumably due to poor sales of UMD movies and shows, no further episodes were released on the format. DVD United States Time Life released several episodes of The Ren & Stimpy Show in a "Best of" set in September 2003. This set is now out of print. 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 said the episodes were "uncut", a handful of episodes were edited, due to the use of Spike TV masters where Spike TV would cut some scenes from episodes to make room for longer commercial breaks. 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 timecode visible on-screen; the scene was later restored by fans. Three other episodes ("Powdered Toast Man", "Dog Show", and "Big House Blues") contain extra footage that was not originally broadcast on Nickelodeon. The DVD set even includes the banned episode "Man's Best Friend" as a bonus feature. 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 Yölkeo", followed on June 28, 2005. Season Five and Some More of Four completed the DVD release of the Nickelodeon series on September 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". Paramount released "The Almost Complete Series" 9-disc set that combines the individual season discs into a single package, on February 6, 2018, and was re-released on January 11, 2022. Europe The original series was released entirely as a 9-disc set in Germany on October 4, 2013. After people said that two episodes on the second disc were not completely uncensored, Turbine Classics offered to send everybody proof of purchase of an uncensored disc. The set comprises a mix of the known US airings and the German TV airings which included some exclusive scenes of various episodes. Since the set is the first to include all scenes ever broadcast worldwide, it is considered the first truly uncensored DVD release of the series. ==Other media==

Video games Seven action games based directly on the television series were released between 1992 and 1995. • The Ren & Stimpy Show: Space Cadet Adventures was developed by Imagineering, published by THQ and released for the Game Boy in November 1992. The game's premise centers on Stimpy attempting to rescue a stranded Ren, who is simultaneously traversing alien worlds attempting to return to their ship. The game received middling reviews and was praised for its faithful humor and visuals but was criticized for its repetitive and unimaginative gameplay. • The Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots! was developed by Gray Matter, published by THQ and released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy in October 1993. The game is composed of four stages based on episodes from the television series. Both versions of the game received middling reviews. The SNES version was praised for its faithful visuals and audio but was criticized for its repetitive stages, standard gameplay and sluggish controls. Nintendo Power commented that the Game Boy version had good graphics but poor controls and challenge. • Quest for the Shaven Yak Starring Ren Hoëk & Stimpy was developed by Realtime Associates, published by Sega and released for the Game Gear in November 1993. It was also released for the Master System in Brazil in 1995. The game's premise centers on Ren and Stimpy's mission to return the hooves of the Great Shaven Yak. Scary Larry of GamePro praised the music as "worth the price of admission" and the graphics as "very good by Game Gear standards". • The Ren & Stimpy Show: Buckeroo$! was developed by Imagineering, published by THQ, and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in November 1993, and for the SNES in April 1995. The game features twelve levels based on the television episodes "Space Madness", "Out West", and "Robin Höek". Nintendo Power's review noted that the NES version's graphics "capture the artistic flavor of the cartoon series" but criticized the poor controls and unengaging game elements. Conversely, the SNES version was commended for having more gameplay variety than previous Ren & Stimpy titles, but the graphics were described as "[not] very Ren & Stimpyish". • '''''The Ren & Stimpy Show Presents: Stimpy's Invention''''' was developed by BlueSky Software, published by Sega and released for the Sega Genesis in December 1993. The game's premise follows Ren and Stimpy as they travel through their neighborhood and collect scattered pieces of Stimpy's latest invention, the Mutate-O-Matic. The game features a two-player mode in which each player controls one of the two titular characters. The reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the game's faithful and humorous visuals and audio but derided the two-player mode as "more aggravating than fun" and "twice as hard as a one-player [game]". • The Ren & Stimpy Show: Fire Dogs was developed by Argonaut Software, published by THQ, and released for the SNES in March 1994. The game is split into two distinct parts; in the first part, the player controls Stimpy, who must traverse through a firehouse and gather all the equipment for a firetruck in a limited time while avoiding the Fire Chief, while the second part puts the player in control of both Ren and Stimpy, who must catch items that are thrown out of a burning building. Nintendo Power commended the game's graphics, humor, audio, and inclusion of a password feature but criticized the lack of variety, limited time allotted for collecting items, and repetition of the two levels. • The Ren & Stimpy Show: Time Warp was developed by Sculptured Software, published by THQ, and released for the SNES in October 1994. The game's premise centers on Ren and Stimpy's efforts to navigate through time and stop Muddy Mudskipper from ruining history. The reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the game's animations and various attacks but stated that the controls "could be tweaked up a little more". Next Generation reviewed the game, rating it one star out of five, and stated that "When Nickelodeon fired creator John Kricfalusi, the heart, and soul were sucked out of the pair. This game puts the final nail in the coffin." Aside from these dedicated titles, Ren, Stimpy, and other characters from the series make appearances in the Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker, Nicktoons Racing, Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots, Nicktoons MLB, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2. In a February 1993 article, a Ren & Stimpy game developed by Acclaim Entertainment was planned for the Atari Lynx but never released. 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 under the Marvel Absurd imprint. 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 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. This comic series lasted from December 1992 – July 1996. Issues Cancelled film adaptation In May 1993, Nickelodeon and 20th Century Fox signed a two-year production deal for the development and production of both animated and live-action feature-length films based on their new or existing properties; Ren & Stimpy was mentioned as a possible property for development, alongside Rugrats and Doug. However, the show's "cynical and gross humor" was a poor fit for a conventional, "warm and fuzzy" family film. After the deal expired with no films produced, Nickelodeon later started its own film studio after parent company Viacom purchased Paramount Pictures, which would distribute Nickelodeon's films instead of Fox, with only Rugrats and Doug having their films made (Rugrats released its own film in 1998, while Doug, already moved to Disney with its own show on ABC, having a separate film of its own under the Walt Disney Pictures banner in 1999, leaving Ren & Stimpy to have no film adaptation of its own at all). ==Notes==