About

The Ren & Stimpy Show, often only called Ren & Stimpy, is an American animated television series which was created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. The show has gained a cult since its run and has received critical acclaim, most of it's soundtrack has also been used for Spongebob Squarepants. The series returned as Ren & Stimpy's Adult Party Cartoon, an spin-off and sequel to the original series for mature audiences. in 2003 for six episodes.

History

The main characters were created at around 1978 by the show's creator for his own amusement while he was in Sheridan College. Ren was inspired by an Elliott Erwitt photograph of a sweatered chihuahua at a woman's feet.^[1]

Stimpy's design was inspired by the Tweety Bird cartoon called A Gruesome Twosome, in which the cats had a big nose in much of the cartoon (shown below).

In 1989, production began on the pilot for The Ren & Stimpy Show by Kricfalusi's animation studio, Spümcø. On August 11th, 1991, the series premiered. It ran for five seasons and was canceled in 1995.

On June 26th, 2003, Ren & Stimpy's Adult Party Cartoon premiered on the Spike television network. It was canceled after six episodes. Three never-aired episodes were released on the DVD release of the series.

Reception

The show has received a 7.6 rating on IMDB^[2] and has gained a cult following after it was cancelled.

Influence

The show had influenced two "clones," 2 Stupid Dogs from Hannah Barbera, which lasted two seasons and 26 episodes, and The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show from Disney, which only lasted a season and 13 episodes before cancellation

Controversy

The show had bothered Nickelodeon since the creators said they did not want to make an educational series. Complaints of the show often were about the toilet humor and harsh language in the show. Some segments of the show had also been altered to remove any references to religion, politics, and alcohol. The episode "Man's Best Friend" was shelved off by Nickelodeon due to its violent content, but had later aired on Adult Party Cartoon.

John Kricfalusi Sexual Misconduct Allegations

On March 29th, 2018, BuzzFeed reported that John Kricfalusi had been accused of "preying upon" underage girls throughout his career.^[3] The first, Robyn Byrd, met Kricfalusi in 1994, when she was 13 and he was 39, after she sent him a letter about wanting to work in animation (photo of Kricfalusi and Byrd, 15, below, left). Three years later, in 1997, just before her senior year of high school, he flew her to Los Angeles to his intern and live-in girlfriend.

The second, Katie Rice (shown below, right, with Krucfalusi at her 15th birthday part), met Kricfalusi at age 14, after sending him letters about working in animation. She began working for him at age 18, which she alleges that he sexually harassed her. Time^[4] magazine writes, "In work emails, the 49-year-old begged her to be in a relationship, she said, adding that he would wait naked for her in the studio. Rice eventually quit, she said, after he allegedly threatened to rape her and she discovered child pornography on his computer, an accusation his lawyer denied."

Kricfalusi's lawyer released a statement on their client's behalf. They wrote:

The 1990s were a time of mental and emotional fragility for Mr. Kricfalusi, especially after losing Ren and Stimpy, his most prized creation. For a brief time, 25 years ago, he had a 16-year-old girlfriend. Over the years John struggled with what were eventually diagnosed mental illnesses in 2008. To that point, for nearly three decades he had relied primarily on alcohol to self-medicate. Since that time he has worked feverishly on his mental health issues, and has been successful in stabilizing his life over the last decade. This achievement has allowed John the opportunity to grow and mature in ways he’d never had a chance at before."

The article states that these types of relationships had been an "open secret." BuzzFeed writes, "Kricfualsi made his fixation on teenage girls plainly obvious in his art, even as he worked on animated projects for the likes of Cartoon Network, Fox Kids, and Adult Swim. In an interview with Howard Stern in the mid-’90s, the radio host asked him about a character in the comic book anthology the cartoonist was then promoting. Stern called Sody Pop 'a hot chick with big cans and nice legs.' Kricfalusi responded with a smile: 'She’s underage, too.'"

Related Memes

Ren Snaps / You Dare Not Agree with X

Ren Snaps (also known as: You Dare Not Agree with X) is a YTP remix fad based on a clip from the episode called “Stimpy’s Fan Club” (shown above). In each instance, a person or thing replaces the spot of the main character Ren. Occasionally, the pitch of the voice is changed and/or the video is edited in some different way.

Search Interest

External References