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The Ren & Stimpy Show

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Ren and Stimpy is the crowning achievement of Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Ren Hoek, a neurotic Hispanic chihuahua, and Stimpy, a fat simpleton cat wander around in nonsensical adventures reminiscent of the golden age of cartoons.

While a product of the children's cable network Nickelodeon, the cartoon had a reputation for subversiveness. In fact, the show pushed the bounds of good taste further than any cartoon had to its day; its level of gross-out humor was only exceeded by the antics of South Park after it. And though sometimes seen as low-brow, the series also cleverly lampooned culture and made many viewers and studio executives uncomfortable. Nickelodeon eventually fired Kricfalusi from his own creation and systematically censored the cartoon down to little more than a remnant of its former self. Eventually, several episodes were deemed unairable and have never been broadcast by Nickelodeon again.

Recurring characters:

  • Ren Hoek
    • Original voice by John Kricfalusi, later by Billy_West after the Nickelodeon split. Ren's name is the real name of creator John Kricfalusi's building manager
  • Stimpy
    • His full name is Stimpson J. Cat, the stupid cat is named after an art school classmate in Canada, whose nickname was Stimpy Kadogan (Stimpy appeared in one episode as a wrestler named Kadogan). Voiced by Billy_West)
  • George American
    • Originally written as George Liquor, changed at Nickelodeon's insistence
  • Powdered Toast Man
  • Muddy Mudskipper
  • Haggis McHaggis
  • Mr Horse
    • One of the original and classic characters with his catch phrase "No sir I don't like it", he brings to mind many Wikipedians.

Ren and Stimpy are the stereotypical odd couple. Ren is sarcastic, cynical, and anal. Stimpy is dimwitted (Ren is fond of the phrase, "Stimpy, you eee-diot!"), pleasant, and clumsy. To showcase the mismatch, consider Stimpy's favorite song, "Happy Happy Joy Joy", a silly children's tune that drives Ren to convulsions when he hears it.

Are Ren and Stimpy lovers? "Totally," says John K. proudly. "In Ren's case, it's not completely by choice. He'd rather have a beautiful human woman if he could get away with it. Since he can't, Stimpy's easy. Stimpy's madly in love with Ren."

After his separation from Nickelodeon, Kricfalusi retained ownership of George Liquor and has used him extensively in projects by Spümcø, his animation studio. Of note: One of the conditions of retaining ownership of George Liquor was that he couldn't become "a child molestor or mass murderer." Kricfalusi responded with something like "how many murders consist of mass murder?"

In June, 2003, the show returned to U.S. television as "The Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon" on Viacom's Spike TV (formerly TNN - The National Network), which bills itself as "the first network for men," with decidedly more adult content.

Episode list

The original episodes

Nick episodes

External link