Yes Sir, I like it. (Ren & Stimpy)

Member Name: RussellC

Product:	Ren & Stimpy
Date:	04/09/00 (507 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sick, twisted and very funny.

Disadvantages: Loses something when Nickelodian took over.

Ren and Stimpy was the product of the warped minds at Spumco and in particular John Kricfalusi for Nickelodian. It was aimed at children, but there was just so much in it that was surreal, twisted or sick enough to be appreiciated by adults. At some point in the second series Nickelodian unsurprisingly became concerned about some of the shows content and sacked Kricfalusi. Unfortunately, from that point on an element of the twisted humour was gone and the show never quite lived up to its early episodes again. There was still enough bizareness for it to stand out from other cartoons though.

Ren is an overly aggresive chihuahua whose temper easily explodes and who longs for a bigger set of pecs; Stimpy on the other hand is a dumb cat who collects nose goblins and later has a son in the form of a fart (one of the funnier season 2 episodes). Shows generally took the ofrmat of two short stories along with a mix of other elements, such as the classic advert for log, a childs toy conisting of a log of wood and various clothing to dress it in (with a very memorable jingle). A number of cameo appearances are made by others, such as the bizarre pipe smoking trouser-less Mr. Pipe or in another classic episode Ren's dim brother Sven (who has a jar of spit). As you may be able to tell there was very little depth to the humour, it relied on its ability to disgust and often sat very close to the borders of taste.

Ren and Stimpy doesn't crop up on TV as much as it used to, but occasionally makes appearances on BBC 2 or Nickelodian. Episodes to watch out for include 'Big House Blues' which started it all ans Stimpy's Invention where Ren becaomes the guinea pig for a number of Stimpy's inventions and the 'Happy happy joy joy' song is introduced. From season 2 'Sven Hoek', for Ren's dim brother and the excellent board game "Don't whiz on the Electric Fence", 'Haunted house' and 'Son of Stimpy'
to see Stimpy search for his long lost fart (Nickeldoian has alledgedly banned this episode). There's lots of small skis in between these longer cartoons of varying quality, but with many moments of insanity amongst them.

If you like your humour insane and bordering on the sick then Ren and Stimpy is something you'll defintely enjoy. It's hard to believe it was aimed at children as some of the humour will fortunately go over their heads. Highly recommended, don't let some of the poorer later series episodes put you off looing out for the gems.

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