In retrospect: Ren and Stimpy

[Kiyosuki]

Just look at the madness the permeating evil of John K has driven you all to!

[jordan]

Ha well that's the thing, when I was little I related to Doug -- I was a sensitive shy little boy who doodled cartoons. And when things would go wrong for Doug and instantly get right at the end of every episode, even as a little kid I was like "GIVE ME A FUCKING COCKSUCKING BREAK, DOUG!"

Ren and Stimpy parodied Doug (John K unsurprisingly was not a fan) when he showed up as the Bloody Head Fairy in the haunted house episode.

Also -- I like cartoons that look crappy too. I mean, I like South Park for cryin' out loud.

But the originality, talent and hilarity behind how Ren and Stimpy looks pushes it a lot higher for me. That's all I'm saying. I would never say other styles shouldn't happen or writer driven cartoons (hello? Simpsons fan here!) shouldn't happen...but when it's all there at once, it's all the more special for me. And considering how rare art driven cartoons are these days...

[Kiyosuki]

Alright...Killer Tofu was pretty awesome.

[jordan]

Oh yeah I love the music in Doug. Best thing about the show.

[kupomog]

"Banging on a trash can" was the highlight of my childhood. Things like that are why I liked Doug. It didn't matter if things worked out for him in the end, just like it didn't matter whether or not the Rescue Rangers solved their case by the end of each ep...it was just entertaining stuff period.

[jordan]

I think I related more to Ren and Stimpy dying or failing at the end of every episode though. So much more satisfying.

And nothing was more relateable for a child than this moment:

[D4C]

I think I related more to Ren and Stimpy dying or failing at the end of every episode though. So much more satisfying.

I'm sure it was.

Tell me, is that you way of indicating that you're starving for attention? I won't ask you "What kind of logic is that?" because I know you'll just answer with some emo knee-jerk response.

Y'know, I wasn't a happy kid either. That doesn't mean I come up with retarded retroactive philisophical self-diagnoses by way of cartoons.

If Ren and Stimpy meant that much to you as a kid, then... sure. Whatever. That's your thing. But to throw yourself on the floor in a tantrum when someone lists reason why someone else doesn't like it shows you haven't moved on much from that state of mind.

This thread is called 'In retrospect" I grew up watching Nicktoons. All nicktoons, even stuff I couldn't relate to like Hey Arnold! Ren and Stimpy was among them.  As an aside, I will call you a moron for saying Ren and Stimpy was underrated. Did you see the ratings it got? Did you see how much nickelodeon funded it? Did you see all the VHS tapes? All the stuffed toys? All the shitty video games? Do you not see how it gets near-unanimous praise on the internet today? or are you just blind?  And IN RETROSPECT I can see why I would've liked it. It was gross, it got on parents' nerves, it was wild and colorful. And then I realized that all of those things were vapid excuses for originality in characterization, plot, music, and appealing art. Wild colors != Good art. The cast was also populated by STUPID, ANGRY, and SO RANDUMB as its characters. And I ate that shit up... as a kid.

And that's all I'm sayin' on it. I'm done.

Post-Scriptum: As far as John K lavishing "going off model" with glorious praise, there's a reason they have models. It's to prevent every few frames from looking like a 5 year old drew it (though PRNT SCRN capturing these instances in early Simpsons seasons is hilarious) What if suddenly Stimpy had a long, fluffy tail, and Ren was a Doberman? It's off model! That means its SO CREATIVE. No, it just means that the art directors and producers don't have anywhere to go with this show except "let's see how WACKY we can make it"

[jordan]

[cinco]

In defense of the adult party cartoons, this one is really a highlight.
I can see why people hate it (the saw-scene), but get over it.
The scene with the duck alone is already worth watching this one.



And for those who want to know what really inspired John K.'s style, watch Looney Tunes' "Gruesome Twosome".

[TheForbiddenDonut]

That's a shame. There's a lot of great psychodrama sequences you're missing.

psychodrama? seriously?

[cinco]

[kupomog]

I can see why people hate it (the saw-scene), but get over it.

We've been over it for years. There's nothing worth remembering or thinking about.

[Dark Homer]

the first one - haha they are gay. hilarious
firedogs 2 - i'm assuming this was just a big ralph baksi homage i didn't get
nude beach frenzy - hey let's throw a bunch of wacky drawings and sound effects against the wall and see what happens

[jordan]

Onward and Upward: One of the most creative cartoons I've ever seen. Some of the jokes fall flat but it's made up for by everything else. Also the guy pulling his face out of his bowl and going "THAT'S DISGUSTING", was one of the biggest laughs with me and my friend.

Nude Beach Party: I have no idea why I'd even need to defend this one.

Ren Seeks Help: Beautifully animated, acting, dark and hilariously fucked up story. I especially love the beginning where you don't even know what Ren did that was so horrible.

Firedogs 2: My favorite one. I've shown this to so many people and everybody has loved it. It IS an inside joke all about Ralph Bakshi, and maybe that's a bad thing, but even with me barely knowing anything about Ralph it's my favorite episode. The timing, the animation and drawings, Ralph's acting...so much there to take out.

Stimpy's Pregnant: Only one I didn't like.

Altruists: Again...one of the most creative cartoons I have EVER seen. This episode, EVERY SECOND is unique, something I've never seen before, weird as hell, funny, ballsy. John K was going for a classic 3 Stooges thing here, which is mostly completely warped and filtered through cartoon weirdness.

[cinco]

Altruists: Again...one of the most creative cartoons I have EVER seen. This episode, EVERY SECOND is unique, something I've never seen before, weird as hell, funny, ballsy. John K was going for a classic 3 Stooges thing here, which is mostly completely warped and filtered through cartoon weirdness.

Indeed, this could be the best thing John K. ever created.

[PreciousBodilyFluids]

APC tended to have a lot of weak drawings. I guess because so many youngsters were on the staff, plus the digital ink and paint, which is much less hospitable to mistakes than traditional coloring. Anyway, that's my only major complaint. I like all of them.

I think Firedogs 2 (or maybe Naked Beach Frenzy) has the weakest drawings of the bunch. But it's still solid. Great story and everything. If you're interested in Bakshi, check out Heavy Traffic.

Stimpy's Pregnant is actually my favorite along with Ren Seeks Help. It has the all around best animation.

[jordan]

Hmm I'm curious what you mean by weak drawings? I thought the drawings were funny, solid, well constructed, served the emotions/story....do you have any examples? I really can't think of another tv cartoon where I'm so impressed by the individual drawings than APC...Even if not everything works about the cartoons. I mean compared to most stuff is all I'm sayin'.

Some of the parts of Naked Beach Frenzy look oddly flat and amateurish but I figured it was on purpose or all part of the weird sense of humor of APC. If you check out his young (and cute as hell) animators various blogs they are all REALLY great artists.


Firedogs 2:

[cinco]

Merry Christmas

[Cartoonnetwork]

Well, of course I agree almost completely with Jordan.

Though I understand liking a cartoon with bad drawings if the concept and characters are great or funny. But still if everything is good, it's much better!

The original Ren and Stimpy Show had everything: good stories, two great main characters with subtle personalities and great interaction between each other, funny gags and fantastic drawings.

It also had gross gags, but to me it wasn't the most important part. The good thing about it was that they were mostly subtle or played out for laugh in a kind of clever way.

Brilliant and very influential cartoon. Without Ren and Stimpy it wouldn't have been a Spongebob. Now that's an overrated cartoon. And I do like Spongebob quite a bit, but Ren and Stimpy don't get enough credit for everything they introduced and Spongebob is now like everywhere.

APC, I don't like it so much. The gross gags go just too far they become disgusting. I mean, more disgusting than actually funny. However I think the show was ...interesting. I could see good things in most of the episodes, but it's sad at the same time cause you see the potential ruined cause John K took the wrong decissions. It seems to me that he tries to hard to be "edgy" and forgets what worked about his cartoon.

John K. is a weird guy. Sometimes you hate him, sometimes you love him. I think it's ok to be passionate about something, but perhaps he goes a little too far. And he has a strange sense of humor if he really finds these APC gross jokes all that hilarious. I don't think it was necessary to make them so gross to be "adult".

I did love "Ren Seeks Help", it's pretty violent, but violence is ok for adults, it's not so disgusting to me at least.

Naked Beach Frenzy... Ok, so you want to do an erotic cartoon, nothing bad about that I guess. I don't think showing beatiful girls in topless is so sexist. But anyway, a cartoon can be somewhat sexy but mainly it should be fun. If someone really wants to see erotic things he'd usually go for life-action. This cartoon is funny at times and very lame cliche at others (artificial respiration jokes when Ren expects to be kissed by a girl but instead he gets kissed by a man). The shampoo master thing is original but also a little gross and not the inspired old Ren and Stimpy style, more like National Lampoon/American Pie stuff. The drawings are sometimes ok, sometimes not so good. Like the girls, some of them are sexy, others look a little bit anorexic or just plain ugly.

Onward and Upward...Ok, the idea of Ren and Stimpy living inside of a homeless person is inspired, and then moving to a spittoon and thinking that's high class is also funny and ironic...but when it comes to them eating GIANT BOOGERS and PUKE, and not themselves' but other people's... UGH. Just UGH. Also Ren and Stimpy being SO gay it's pretty twisted.

Firedogs 2...I don't like that it's a sequel to Firedogs, that's a classic and shouldn't be touched. But well, I admit it. What I like about this one is how Ren and Stimpy are two losers that think they can get better if they follow the advice of this crazy Ralph Bakshi character. Also the girl in this cartoon is really hot, much better than the ones in NBF, but it's only in two scenes. However I seriously dislike that it spents most of the time showing Ren and Stimpy trying to get rid of a turd. Subtle, clever and good-taste humor, that's it!

Altruists...this has actually very good ideas, characters (the guy without a head) and drawings. Too bad the pacing is terrible except for the duck part.

Stimpy's pregnant...it's like Son of Stimpy, but a lot less funny.

[jordan]

Ugh why did you bring this thread back

[Cartoonnetwork]

I just looked for "Ren and Stimpy" cause I wanted to know if there was a topic about them in this board.

I mean, if the topic still exists it's not late to give my opinion, is it?

[jordan]

no it's just anytime it's brought up it results in debates (or "arguments"...see thread) and I get emotionally exhausted. I've never seen such an extreme "love it or hate it" show.

[Semaj]

You've never watched Family Guy.

[Diversity Pumpkin]

Jordan you sound like you have a lot of emotional problems. Because you're coming across the exact same way I did a few years ago, and I ended up with a psychiatrist. This isn't an insult or anything, you're seriously fucked in the head.

[jordan]

Again, thanks for bringing this thread back

[Diversity Pumpkin]

Again, thanks for bringing this thread back

Denial, sarcasm, and ignorance; the first three stages of a mental breakdown, all in one sentence.

[Cartoonnetwork]

Again, thanks for bringing this thread back

Sorry, it wasn't personal, just wanting to talk about Ren and Stimpy...And I defended your opinion, man!

[cinco]

Let's just erase all of this!

[Mt. Doom]

I don't like Ren and Stimpy