Before the early ‘90s, Nickelodeon was primarily known for game shows and a few live-action television series. In 1991, all of that would change with the introduction of three landmark animated series produced specifically for the network, or as Nickelodeon calls them, Nicktoons: Doug, Rugrats, and The Ren and Stimpy Show. While Doug and Rugrats are much more family-centric and what you might expect from an animated series on a childrens’ network, The Ren and Stimpy Show was something altogether different. Dark, shocking, full of innuendos only adults would understand — it’s amazing this show ever existed. So how did it come to be anyway?
In the late ‘80s, Nickelodeon wanted to develop its own animated series’, and one creator they heard some pitches from was John Kricfalusi. Kricfalusi brought Nickelodeon a few different ideas, but the only thing they really liked were the dog and cat characters he had included in the pitch for a show called Your Gang. Nickelodeon asked him to develop something based on those characters, and soon enough Kricfalusi was working on The Ren and Stimpy Show, which was produced by his Los Angeles-based production company Spümcø. The series premiered on August 11, 1991 alongside Doug and Rugrats.
But, things were not all sunshine and rainbows between Kricfalusi and Nickelodeon. While the show quickly gained notoriety and popularity, Nickelodeon didn’t love how out there it went sometimes. The studio would often request changes and to nix certain storylines. For example, in the episode “Powdered Toast Man,” a cross was removed from the Pope’s hat, and the credit was changed to “the man with the pointy hat.” In that same episode, there was a segment featuring the burning of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights that was removed. Other sequences that were altered or removed included one with a severed head, one where Ren’s face was grated against a man’s stubble, and a shortened scene of Ren receiving punches to the stomach from a baby.
On top of all of that, Kricfalusi was a bit lax when it came to deadlines. There are conflicting reports about whether that’s actually his fault, or if part of it was because of all of the oversight from the Powers That Be, but either way, the shows weren’t produced on time. All of this drama eventually led to Kricfalusi’s termination in September 1992. Kricfalusi claimed that it was because of the episode “Man’s Best Friend” that he was let go, due to the character of George Liquor (though his last name was never shown in the episode) being depicted as an abusive father figure. Indeed, the episode was shelved by Nickelodeon and only aired in 2003 as part of a heavily hated revival called Ren & Stimpy “Adult Party Cartoon” on Spike TV.
Ren and Stimpy continued without Kricfalusi and Spümcø, with Bob Camp taking over director duties, and Nickelodeon’s newly created Games Animation (later Nickelodeon Animation Studio) taking over production. We can all agree that things took a real turn at this point, with the shine and luster quickly fading as much of the out there antics and humor left the show. Though it would continue on for a total of 52 episodes over five seasons, ending in 1996, it was never quite the same again. Despite all of the drama and the changes, Ren and Stimpy still holds a special place in our hearts, and in the world of animation. Mike Judge even credited Ren and Stimpy as one of the big reasons why MTV took a chance on Beavis and Butt-Head.
As we mentioned above, in 2003, Kricfalusi was involved with a revival of the series for Spike TV, but pretty much everyone hated it. Only three of the nine episodes ordered were ever shown on TV, with six total being released on DVD. Another revival was announced in August 2020, greenlit this time by Comedy Central — Kricfalusi is not involved with this new version (he was accused of sexual misconduct in 2018), though many of the original series’ writers will be involved. Will it make it to our TV screens, and will it capture the feeling of the original? Only time will tell.
Did you love Ren and Stimpy? Are you looking forward to another revival, or do you think they should just let it go at this point? Let us know in the comments!
- Kricfalusi originally voiced the character of Ren, but after he left the show, Billy West, who was already the voice of Stimpy, voiced both characters. Kricfalusi tried to get West to leave with him when he was terminated in 1992, but West stuck with the show. West is also the voice of Fry in Futurama.
- Stimpy’s anthem “Happy Happy Joy Joy” first appeared in the season one episode “Stimpy’s Invention.” The song was composed by Christopher Reccardi and its lyrics were written by Charlie Brissette and Kricfalusi.
- Kricfalusi first came up with the characters of Ren and Stimpy back in 1978 while he was studying at Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada. Ren was inspired by a photograph of a chihuahua wearing a sweater at a woman’s feet, and Stimpy by a Tweety cartoon called “A Gruesome Twosome” that featured cats with big noses.
- Seven action video games were released based on the show between 1992 and 1995, though pretty much all of them were reviewed as having faithful visuals, but clunky controls.
- Many other animated series have been inspired by Ren and Stimpy, but one in particular is Spongebob Squarepants, which uses a similar gross-out extreme close-up style in many of their episodes.
- Kricfalusi originally voiced the character of Ren, but after he left the show, Billy West, who was already the voice of Stimpy, voiced both characters. Kricfalusi tried to get West to leave with him when he was terminated in 1992, but West stuck with the show. West is also the voice of Fry in Futurama.
- Stimpy’s anthem “Happy Happy Joy Joy” first appeared in the season one episode “Stimpy’s Invention.” The song was composed by Christopher Reccardi and its lyrics were written by Charlie Brissette and Kricfalusi.
- Kricfalusi first came up with the characters of Ren and Stimpy back in 1978 while he was studying at Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada. Ren was inspired by a photograph of a chihuahua wearing a sweater at a woman’s feet, and Stimpy by a Tweety cartoon called “A Gruesome Twosome” that featured cats with big noses.
- Seven action video games were released based on the show between 1992 and 1995, though pretty much all of them were reviewed as having faithful visuals, but clunky controls.
- Many other animated series have been inspired by Ren and Stimpy, but one in particular is Spongebob Squarepants, which uses a similar gross-out extreme close-up style in many of their episodes.
