The Ren and Stimpy Show was one of the earliest Nicktoons. It featured bizarre, scatological humor, and was known for its occasional adult-oriented humor. It starred the dimwitted cat Stimpy and a hyperactive chihuahua named Ren in an Odd Couple setting. The show debuted on MTV.
Characters[]
- Ren- a hyperactive chihuahua, kind of the brains of the two. He can be calm at times, but is often egotistical. He is lefthanded.
- Stimpy- a dimwitted cat who loves kitty litter, but can be logical and intelligent sometimes.
- Powdered Toast Man- a superhero type whose head is a literal slice of powdered toast. He is voiced by the late Gary Owens, who has done voice acting for various other roles, including The Tick. He appears in commercials for "Powdered Toast", the "only toast that comes in a can". He flies backwards.
- Mr. Horse- a horse who is asked how he felt about each of his unfortunate experiences. He simply responds by saying "No, sir. I didn't like it."
Video Games[]
Ren & Stimpy games were made for the NES, Game Gear, Genesis, and Super Nintendo.
Controversy[]
- In one episode, Ren and Stimpy go skinny dipping. Their genitals are never shown (Stimpy is censored with a leaf, a la David). One man joins them, also censored (although his posterior is only covered by a bandage). His wife is shown standing behind a bush, also naked. Her breasts are censored, however. As the man is running toward them, Ren & Stimpy stare at him, with the pupils of their eyes going up and down. This indicates they are staring at his genitals.
- The song "Happy Happy Joy Joy" includes the spoken line "I'll teach your grandmother to suck eggs". This could be interpreted as a reference to oral sex. It is sung by Stinky Whizzleteats. "Teats" is another name for a woman's breasts.
- Ren and Stimpy are sometimes seen encouraging children to do things that could cause harm to themselves or others.
- One episode has Ren & Stimpy as "rubber nipple salesmen". Stimpy claims that he "has a dream that one day everyone will know the wonders of his nipples". This mildly suggestive message mocks the famous Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have a Dream speech.
- One episode has Ren become the "fake dad" of a "child" (actually a giant, muscular, thug-type prisoner) for a weekend. At the end of the episode, Ren becomes so fed up he forces the prisoner to turn around and pull his pants down so he can be spanked. Only part of his posterior is shown, however.
- One episode takes place in the Old West. Two dimwitted sherrifs are depicted as loving hanging people so much they have hanged everyone in town and have to hire "villins" to hang. Ren & Stimpy take the job, bring back Mr. Horse in a "horse thieving" act, and are set up to be hanged. It is determined however that, because Ren is so small and Stimpy has no neck, they can't be hanged. This prompts the sherrifs to hang themselves. Ren, Stimpy, and the sherrifs then sing a song about how wonderful hanging people is. No one actually dies from the hanging, however.
- Powdered Toast Man appears using a strobe effect now controversial due to its association with photosensitive epilepsy.
- In one episode, Ren & Stimpy join the "Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen" (a parody of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police). They sing the official anthem of the RCKY, which is a parody of God Save the Queen or My Country Tis of Thee. In one instance of them repeating the song, singalong lyrics are placed on the screen. One line says they will surely go to hell, but with the word "hell" crossed off. The word is also replaced by a fart sound when sung.
DVD[]
The show is available on DVD.
iTunes[]
The show used to be available on iTunes
Trivia[]
- A parody of the classic Slinky commercial advertised a "toy" log simply known as "Log". It was sold by "Blammo", a parody of Whammo.
- "Log for Girls" is advertised in parody of Barbie commercials
- "G.I. Log" is a parody of the G.I. Joe line of action figures
- Ren & Stimpy do not observe Christmas, but instead "Yaksmas", in which Santa Claus is replaced by the "Wildeyak" or "Shaven Yak".
- Much of the show parodies classic cartoons from the fifties and sixties, especially Hanna-Barbera.
- One episode references the classic depiction of Mickey Mouse. It also uses the classical piece Night on Bald Mountain famously heard in the Disney film Fantasia. The episode is also based on the classic cartoon Tom and Jerry.
- One episode has Ren and Stimpy go into space. Ren keeps a "captain's log", a reference to Star Trek.
- Happy Happy Joy Joy is a parody of folk singer and actor Burl Ives. Part of the song features clips from his children's music, but most of the song is taken from his role in the film The Big Country. In contrast to the happy theme of the song, The Big Country is actually rather violent (expressed notably in the lines).
- One fake advertisement is named "My Little Brother", which is a pullstring doll designed to look and sound like a younger brother. The name is likely a parody of popular line of toy horses "My Little Pony".
- One episode takes place in the Old West, with two sherrifs being so dimwitted that the theme song to the game show Jeopardy! plays while they try to answer a question.
- Stimpy is the only character depicted wearing classic cartoon gloves. All other characters have normal hands, even depicted in explicit detail in closeup.
- One episode features the line "We have taken over your TV." from The Outer Limits
- On his Nicktoons episode, popular internet reviewer Nostalgia Critic commented on how insane the show is.