• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

RTTP: Ren & Stimpy

Status
Not open for further replies.
E

ElTopo

Banned
The_Ren_and_Stimpy_Show_Title_Card.jpg


Greatest fucked up moment in kids show history.

6 year old me was a total couch potato and would watch anything on Nickelodeon (which at the time was the only channel dedicated to kids shows) and I vaguely remember that period before the Nicktoons aired where reruns of Heath the Cat, You Can't Do that on Television, and Bosco cartoons were on. But when the 3 Nicktoons came out the one that I instantly loved and watched repeatedly was Ren & Stimpy. I didn't know it at the time but the show totally matched my fucked up sense of humor.

Brilliant show. Aged extremely well aside from some very occasional janky animation in season 1. Season 2 is easily my favorite. Just consistently amazing episodes and the last season that involved John K.

Speaking of which John K. is hardcore traditionalist when it comes to creating cartoons and strives to emulate how cartoons were done in the 30's and 40's. That and the profane sense of humor of the show rubbed the Nickelodeon higher ups the wrong way. Eventually leading to John being ousted, Billy West taking over the voice of Ren, and Games Animation handling the show. For more info, read the show's wiki page or this great book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1593932340/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Now, I like season 3-5 even though they weren't as great. I guess because the show became even more fucked up and experimental and I respect that a lot. My top 10 episodes:

Man's Best Friend
Rubble Nipple Salesmen
Stimpy's Invention
Marooned
In the Army
Fake Dad
Stimpy's Cartoon Show
Hermit Ren
Insomniac Ren
I was a Teenage Stimpy

Honorable mention to Stimpy's Fanclub, Sven Hoek, Lair of the Lummox, House of Next Tuesday, Aloha Hoek, and Scotsman in Space.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Ren & stimpy only works well when there is a good balance of John k and Nickelodeon. Remove John k and you get the bizarre seasons 3-5. Remove Nickelodeon and you get the disgusting and homophobic "adult party show" season.

Seasons 1 and 2 are the perfect blend of John k being insane and Nickelodeon preventing him from being insulting.
 
R

RP912

Banned
Don't wiz on the electric fence should have been an actual board game.

But seriously, I love Ren and Stimpy. The biggest mindfuck of a cartoon I have ever seen. I'm surprised Nickelodeon allowed some of the episodes to even air on their network during the time because holy shit that show was raunchy and awesome.
 
D

Dishwalla

Banned
I could never dig this show. Like, I've watched it, I've studied it, I've admired what it has done for the field of animation, but there has always been something about it that that has prevented me from being a fan of it. I love the animation of the show, I love the drawings, the art, the expressions, even the music, but I was never wild about the stories or any of the characters. It's perhaps the one show I have the most conflict with, because it's great to look at it and analyze the production of it, but it was never fun to actually sit down and watch it.
 
Hale-XF11

Hale-XF11

Member
I first discovered this show sometime around '94, back when I first started getting stoned. Instantly fell in love with it because of how bizarre and hilarious it was. I used to fill up VHS tapes with as many episodes as I could and watch them over and over again.
 
G

-Gozer-

Member
I'd say Ren and Stimpy is in my top 3 animated shows of all time.

It's terrible John K. got booted from the show and now there's bad blood between him and Billy West.

One of my favorite post Spumco episodes is Hermit Ren. Ren's reaction to seeing himself as the bog man is so perfect.
 
B

B.K.

Member
RP912 said:
But seriously, I love Ren and Stimpy. The biggest mindfuck of a cartoon I have ever seen. I'm surprised Nickelodeon allowed some of the episodes to even air on their network during the time because holy shit that show was raunchy and awesome.
Click to expand...

My parents wouldn't let me watch The Simpsons because it was a cartoon that had characters, especially Bart, swearing, but they'd let me watch Ren & Stimpy. Looking back, it's funny because it could be argued that Ren & Stimpy's content was worse than The Simpsons.
 
K

kess

Member
Krejlooc said:
Ren & stimpy only works well when there is a good balance of John k and Nickelodeon. Remove John k and you get the bizarre seasons 3-5. Remove Nickelodeon and you get the disgusting and homophobic "adult party show" season.

Seasons 1 and 2 are the perfect blend of John k being insane and Nickelodeon preventing him from being insulting.
Click to expand...

People who liked the first couple of season of Ren and Stimpy should check out the New Adventures of Mighty Mouse, which had some of the same crew. I think Bakshi is kind of meandering on his own, and John K can be abrasive but they balanced out great. Well, until the fundamentalists at the American Family Association moaned, but that's another story.
 
D

Dai101

Banned
Krejlooc said:
Ren & stimpy only works well when there is a good balance of John k and Nickelodeon. Remove John k and you get the bizarre seasons 3-5. Remove Nickelodeon and you get the disgusting and homophobic "adult party show" season.
Click to expand...
Is more the fault of the spike people that demanded the content to be more "edgy" than John K's fault. He only delivered what they wanted.
 
A

Aaron Strife

Banned
Krejlooc said:
Ren & stimpy only works well when there is a good balance of John k and Nickelodeon. Remove John k and you get the bizarre seasons 3-5. Remove Nickelodeon and you get the disgusting and homophobic "adult party show" season.

Seasons 1 and 2 are the perfect blend of John k being insane and Nickelodeon preventing him from being insulting.
Click to expand...
This. John K is an incredibly talented asshole.
 
terrisus

terrisus

Member
Frankly, I didn't like the show back then, and I don't like it now either.
Basically just a bunch of cheap gags and gross-out shots.

qOQ2ver.gif


That said, back when I bought my original Gameboy from a friend, one of the two games I got from him with it was Ren & Stimpy: Space Cadet Adventures.
Unfortunately, it's rather average to mediocre.
On the bright side, the other game I got was Balloon Kid, which is awesome.
 
terrisus

terrisus

Member
B.K. said:
My parents wouldn't let me watch The Simpsons because it was a cartoon that had characters, especially Bart, swearing, but they'd let me watch Ren & Stimpy. Looking back, it's funny because it could be argued that Ren & Stimpy's content was worse than The Simpsons.
Click to expand...

Ren & Stimpy was not only worse, but had less redeeming qualities, unlike The Simpsons, which has a bunch of good stuff mixed in with what one might consider questionable.
 
N

Nokterian

Member
Most weird and obscure cartoon i have ever seen in my childhood also a huge fan of this show. Because everybody loves log right? Just every episode just pure insane with the teeth grinding the close ups etc and boy did i laughed my ass off.
 
Q

Qasiel

Member
Brilliant show, and I loved it as a kid.

I will say that the only time I felt it got too disturbing for me was the Jerry the Bellybutton Elf episode, when Jerry freaks out over the lint loaf. That got real dark and scary real quick!
 
L

Leynos

Member
Happy Happy Joy Joy! was a parody of Burl Ives' songs from John K.'s youth. Burl Ives was actually upset that they didn't ask him to sing the song! John K. didn't think that Burl would be up for it, and didn't even ask him. What could have been...
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Blasian Persuasion said:
Didn't this show eventually move to MTV?
Click to expand...

It was broadcast on mtv alongside the original run because both Nickelodeon and mtv were owned by Viacom.

There was a block on mtv where they'd show liquid television, speed racer, the very early beavis & butthead, and ren & stimpy late at night.
 
P

Piston Hyundai

Member
If there ever was a show made by animators, this was it. I remember listening to one of the commentaries on the first DVD and it was just one of the animators just losing his mind laughing at all of the great animation.

Bonus points for being the the show that'd introduce me to Ralph Bakshi.
 
N

nintendork666

Member
I really want them to revive Ren & Stimpy. I don't give a flying f*ck if John K. is involved are not. Give us a CGI movie or something.

I even loved seasons 3 - 5, and enjoyed the Adult Party Cartoon quite a bit.
 
N

nintendork666

Member
John K. is also proven to be extremely difficult to work with, and is known for not being able to keep up with deadlines due to his perfectionist nature. Remember the 'Cans Without Labels' Kickstarter fiasco? Dude still hasn't delivered what he promised the backers.
 
N

Novocaine

Member
I love the Shaven Yak.

Also I didn't know until a couple of years ago that Billy West was the voices of both Ren and Stimpy. That means he has been doing voices in shows I loved from my childhood up to adulthood (Futurama). Thought that was pretty cool.
 
D

Dishwalla

Banned
Novocaine said:
I love the Shaven Yak.

Also I didn't know until a couple of years ago that Billy West was the voices of both Ren and Stimpy. That means he has been doing voices in shows I loved from my childhood up to adulthood (Futurama). Thought that was pretty cool.
Click to expand...
John K originally voiced Ren, until Nickelodeon fired him.

Also Billy West voiced other characters from your childhood, including Doug Funnie, Roger Klotz, the Red M&M, and Buzz the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee. He even voiced Bugs Bunny in Space Jam!
 
ptuck874

ptuck874

Member
i remember getting wasted and calling the cable company (now comcast, back then, maybe att cable? idk) and depending them air episodes of ren and stimpy, such good times....
 
G

-Gozer-

Member
Dishwalla said:
John K originally voiced Ren, until Nickelodeon fired him.

Also Billy West voiced other characters from your childhood, including Doug Funnie, Roger Klotz, the Red M&M, and Buzz the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee. He even voiced Bugs Bunny in Space Jam!
Click to expand...

He even did voices for a Bomberman game.
NSFW
 
S

seat

Member
-Gozer- said:
I'd say Ren and Stimpy is in my top 3 animated shows of all time.

It's terrible John K. got booted from the show and now there's bad blood between him and Billy West.

One of my favorite post Spumco episodes is Hermit Ren. Ren's reaction to seeing himself as the bog man is so perfect.
Click to expand...

That Stern interview is fascinating. I say "interview", but it's pretty much just Howard trying to goad both of them into an heated argument with each other. I always wondered how bad the blood was between Billy and John. In that video it seemed John was so upset with Billy that he couldn't even acknowledge that he was upset with him, and then out of nowhere he compares him to Hitler in the guise of a joke. I can't say I blame Billy. I don't think Nickelodeon would have kept John on staff if Billy had left with him.
 
N

Novocaine

Member
Dishwalla said:
John K originally voiced Ren, until Nickelodeon fired him.

Also Billy West voiced other characters from your childhood, including Doug Funnie, Roger Klotz, the Red M&M, and Buzz the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee. He even voiced Bugs Bunny in Space Jam!
Click to expand...

Oh yeah Space Jam, I remember hearing that too. It's crazy, that guy has been everywhere.
 
Vampire On Titus

Vampire On Titus

Member
Krejlooc said:
Ren & stimpy only works well when there is a good balance of John k and Nickelodeon. Remove John k and you get the bizarre seasons 3-5. Remove Nickelodeon and you get the disgusting and homophobic "adult party show" season.

Seasons 1 and 2 are the perfect blend of John k being insane and Nickelodeon preventing him from being insulting.
Click to expand...

Its not even so much them preventing him as just the consideration that "this is a kids show" in the back of his head. Nickelodean didnt often step in and lay down the law. Or at least didnt often get their way. Sometimes due to john intentionally delivering shows last minute to deter potential censorship... but yeah.

Ill just say that he has made stuff worth watching post Nick.

On Ren and Stimpy itself. John wanted the creative freedom to make cartoons on par with the warner bros greats he admired. Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng and the like. I say he did that. He never turned out to be as prolific as those guys but "Rubber Nipple Salesmen" is one of the greatest cartoons ever made and deserves that consideration.

John can sure come off like a bitter old fuck. But hes got some great insight and made some classic cartoons.

Edit:

nintendork666 said:
I really want them to revive Ren & Stimpy. I don't give a flying f*ck if John K. is involved are not. Give us a CGI movie or something.
Click to expand...

Dude... a CGI movie of Ren and Stimpy might be the worst idea for anything Ive ever heard.
 
K

kess

Member
EchosMyron1 said:
Its not even so much them preventing him as just the consideration that "this is a kids show" in the back of his head. Nickelodean didnt often step in and lay down the law. Or at least didnt often get their way. Sometimes due to john intentionally delivering shows last minute to deter potential censorship... but yeah.
...

John can sure come off like a bitter old fuck. But hes got some great insight and made some classic cartoons.
Click to expand...

Negotiating with the censors over which joke to insert was a classic Clampett tactic, the difference being that Clampett had a relatively supportive producer in Schlesinger for most of his career and, honestly, a better sense of comic restraint.

John K was a catalyst for a great moment. A lot of the big names on that show have gone on to great things but for most of them R&S was a defining point in their career.
 
A

AniHawk

Member
it really really really doesn't hold up.

and i mean that, even ignoring seasons 3-5, there's not much going on. for me, the best is sven hoek, stimpy's fan club, space madness, and stimpy's cartoon show. other episodes have their moments, but it's not that they're gross and weird. they're just kind of boring. i can't just watch a handful of episodes and get a couple good ones out of it.

i kinda wish john k wasn't so uh, passionate. he seems to hate writers, but damn could he ever use one.
 
F

Ferrio

Banned
It brought us the greatest commercial ever.

Also as much as I love Ren & Stimpy, Rocko's modern was way more consistent in quality.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Discovery Kids - So.... This was a thing
1
3K
OmegaSpirit32X replied
Valve and Gabe Newell: When innovation keeps time with silence (a quick analysis of the studio)
Analysis Game Dev
23
1K
Sebastian1295 replied
Cartoon Network - The original animation fans channel
8
1K
Doom85 replied
SpongeBob SquarePants The Cosmic Shake ] Review Thread
Analysis Review
9
2K
diffusionx replied
The Rise and Fall of Fox Kids Network
35
6K
Happosai replied
Top Bottom