WesternAnimation A cultural milestone, in more ways than one
It is commonly accepted in this day and age that the main contribution of Ren and Stimpy to culture is that it popularized the Gross Out Show. This is about as accurate as saying that The Beatles' main contribution to culture is that they inspired millions of shitty bands to write their own shitty songs.
What people do not realize is that Ren and Stimpy is, with The Simpsons and Batman: The Animated Series, one of the most influential shows of the 90s. Without it, a huge chunk of animation today might not exist. It was not only the first kid cartoon in decades to gather an adult audience, but it popularized the creator-driven cartoon, giving us some of the most beloved programs of the past 25 years - not only on Nick, but Cartoon Network and Disney, who decided to do their own creator-driven toons to get in on the action Nick had with R&S.
Is it any accident that two of CN's biggest hits were created by fans of Ren and Stimpy, and staffed with former R&S writers and animators? (Nick also seemed to get the show's popularity - the next two Nicktoons were Rocko's Modern Life and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, which were in the spirit of R&S.)
But why was this? Why did it gain such a devoted audience? Why did it have such a wide ranging influence? Simple - it was a terrific show, surely one of the best programs Nick ever produced.
Its first two seasons are masterpieces of animation. I don't mince my words. Such episodes as "Stimpy's Invention," "Space Madness," "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen" and "Son of Stimpy" are up there with "What's Opera, Doc?", "Duck Amuck" and "One Froggy Evening" in terms of genius. "Stimpy's Invention" in particular ought to go up there in The 50 Greatest Cartoons list, it's that good.
The Games Animation episodes are polarizing, yes. It is my opinion that they're perfectly good on their own terms. Despite that, though, there is something missing - John K.'s input. Still, episodes like "Stimpy's Cartoon Show," "House of Next Tuesday" and "Reverend Jack" prove that the show could still be entertainingly funny even if the creator was gone.
The less said about Adult Party Cartoon the better.
Thus you can see why Ren and Stimpy deserves its status as one of the most influential cartoons ever made.
WesternAnimation One of the best shows
I love Ren and Stimpy a lot. It is very well written. Everything is well written. Even the characters are lovable. Ren Hoek in particular for being a maniac. Stimpy is also great. Although I like the entire Ren and Stimpy series, Seasons 1 and 2 of the Ren and Stimpy show are the best. Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon is also good, even though it's seriously hated, like the series worsened over time. I don't know why it was cancelled within extremely short notice. Bonus for wonderful animation. Another bonus for subtly adult humor, which there is a handful of. It's a serious shame it's not running any longer and John Kricfalusi can't make more of this show. This show is so good it made an impact on animation, whether for good or for worse.
WesternAnimation One of the greatest achievements in animation, truly one of the all-time best (Spumco)
It goes without saying: John K. is an oddball. We all know this by now.
But there's one thing that cannot be denied.... he made a DAMN good cartoon!
In 1991, cartoons were in a sorry place (The Simpsons notwithstanding of course). Most were just made for toylines, with flat and lifeless characters and morals so cheesy that you could smell the rotting cheddar from your screen.
But then, John K and his crew CAME to the rescue with Ren & Stimpy!
Delightfully disgusting, twisted, sick, hilarious, and with a dash of BRUTAL satire, THE REN & STIMPY SHOW pretty much singlehandedly SAVED cartoons!
Each week, kids were glued to their TV screens with sheer awe and amazement (and grown-ups with horror and disgust), with masterpieces like ROBIN HOEK! FIRE DOGS! STIMPY'S INVENTION! POWDERED TOAST MAAAAAAN! STIMPY'S FIRST FART! STIMPY'S FAN CLUB! THE ROYAL CANADIAN KILTED YAKSMEN! And of course.... SPACE MADNESS!
Ren & Stimpy was a show that managed to turn a story about a missing fart into a heartbreaking tale of loss and reunion. And a story about a fan club into our favorite psychotic chihuahua planning to STRANGLE Stimpy to death in his sleep!
The bigwigs over at Nickelodeon HATED Ren & Stimpy. HAAAAAATED it! They just couldn't handle the sick-n-twistedness, and kept trying to make changes to the show. Basically sticking their feet in John. K's cartoon gumbo, and HE wasn't having any of it.
John and co. responded to Nick's nasty efforts to ruin their show with admirable defiance and sass, continuing to produce masterpiece after masterpiece, even amidst the network's onslaught.
After some time though, it was out the door with John Kricfalusi and the other talented artists of Spumco.
Of course, since Ren & Stimpy (inevitably) was such a HUGE success, they couldn't just CANCEL it! The show must go on....
Now, with all due respect to the Games Animation team, I'm one of many Ren & Stimpy nuts who feel that their run just wasn't as good as Spumco's.
The absolute genius and heart of the Spumco era was, for the most part, sadly lacking. Gone was the happy marriage between gross-out humor, and biting satire on modern society.
That said, it wasn't all bad — there were still sparkles of genius in the Games era.
But so many of the episodes were bland, uninspired, and lacking what made Ren & Stimpy so good to begin with.
By the time the show entered its final season, it was becoming downright unwatchable because the well had run so dry.
Thus, in 1995, after two years of Games Animations' tedium, the show got the axe.
At the end of the day, when I refer to Ren & Stimpy, I almost exclusively mean the Spumco episodes, with a select handful of the Games shows.
The Spumco era is easily in my top five cartoons of ALL TIME, while the Games seasons (the occasional gem aside) are an interesting yet sad example of the soul slowly leaving a show, like a terminal disease slowly killing its victim.
Oh hey, and a new revival is in the works! Long live Ren & Stimpy!
(Just hope it's more in the spirit of the originals than Adult Party Cartoon, which you can my review of on here too, by the way.)