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Original airdate: 10/8/94
Rating: 1/7
A notoriously bad Ren and Stimpy cartoon (even for the later seasons), and I can't disagree with that notion. Parts of this cartoon rank among the WORST output ever on the show, but it's hard to do anything with such a ridiculous plot. Stimpy's head gets invaded by a head parasite, whose country cousin invites himself over and goes inside Ren's head. Now I can understand plots like Hermit Ren and Ren Needs Help, which were only lame attempts at recreating former glory, but this?
Still, I gotta stand up for the cartoon a little. Just a little. The last few minutes are a total pain to watch, but there are some gags in here I like. When Stimpy hits Ren's head off-frame, it looks like he's only tapping him with the broom, but then it pans over to Ren looking incredibly beat up. This is a pretty tasteless gag and I don't even laugh at it, but I feel some respect for the contrast in there, so whatever.
There's also Stimpy pouring coffee in his ear (for his parasite) while telling Ren he's acting kind of strangely (being tortured by his own parasite), which is actually pretty funny for a cartoon with such a low rating. Every other scene is a merging of bad directing, and bad ideas, and bad visuals. Well okay, the way Stephen DeStefano drew Ren's angry poses are intriguing, even if they're ugly, but otherwise this cartoon looks hacked-out. And at least one scene rivals Road Apples in tastelessness: Ren gets blown up into a J-shaped spinal cord with eyes and a brain on top. Eeeeeech.
Original airdate: 10/22/94
Rating: 3/7
There are 4th and 5th season R&S cartoons that have no right to exist and then there are cartoons like this one, which could have been good if not for a few fatal flaws. Biggest flaw here: Every good idea is ruined with gross, tactless visuals. I'm indifferent to gore, as in Garth Ennis and Steve Dillion's Preacher, but being so obnoxiously in-your-face is a turn-off. Thus, I can't stomach the scenes of Stimpy mutilating himself and Ren getting sucked dry by tapeworms. These were illustrated in the most unhumorous, explicit manner possible, and the fact that some genuinely entertaining moments were diverted for these scenes makes me wonder if this was inspired-yet-rushed shit or just half-inspired shit.
Now for the good points: The plot is pretty cool, and even if it doesn't yield a lot of funny gags, it can be fun to watch just to see what happens. I really like it when Bill Mumy goes, "You must investigate...INSIDE STIMPY." Nice echo on the voice there. Camp even squeezed in a couple of good poses, which don't live up to his best stuff but are worth watching the cartoon for nonetheless, if you can stomach the bad scenes. The inner workings of Stimpy's body can be entertaining, and it's not as unnecessarily gross as you might believe.
It's a real shame they didn't labor over this one, because I really believe it could have turned out better. As it stands the scene progressions are boring with a few moments to perk your interest, and the meandering gag where Ren spends a year with the planarian worms might have been funny if not for the hideous visuals of Ren getting sucked dry (with strangely detailed animation, no less).
Original airdate: 10/22/94
Rating: 3/7
Two cartoons airing back-to-back by the same director get the same rating. What are the odds? At the very least, LJ doesn’t contain anything completely repulsive, but it’s still tedious viewing. Most of the gags do not make sense at all – what is with that stupid “Wolverine Whirlpool” bit? And the log floating above ground that the lumberjack rides like a horse? And did they think they were aping Tex Avery with these predictable “revelation from off-frame” gags? The lumberjack turns out to be short (standing on a stool from behind the door to look tall) and goes on and on about tree crabs and how they’ll cling to you and never let go, and then sure enough they show one clinging to his butt, when it clearly wasn’t there before. Hey, a cartoon is like a garden – make a mistake somewhere and everything turns out rotten. Maybe some of these gags could have worked with a few minor adjustments – at least they’re actual gags that don’t rely on the characters jabbering away. I reiterate – I could pass over these Games cartoons but I have to review them – they demonstrate the dark side of cartoonists-driven cartoons (or should that be cartoonists driven cartoons controlled by an evil network from behind the scenes?).
Before I go, I must say my favorite part was when Ren finally got around to knocking down a tree – I felt a rush of adrenaline go through me. Way to tap into my nihilistic destructive side.
Original airdate: 11/12/94
Rating: 2/7
This feels all-too familiar. Wilbur Cobb has become Games’ version of Hippity-Hopper, and while I could train myself to enjoy some of those HH cartoons despite their flatness, anything that could be called good here was ripped-off from Untamed World. My favorite part is when the Stimpy-fish climbs out the water and walks into the tar-pit, and even this scene wouldn’t be so hot if not for the cuteness of the Stimpy-fish and the dopey-music from out of the UW’s bus scene.
Cobb’s introduction is a donkey-butt of a gag – his head somehow exchanges places with a dinosaur’s skull which inadvertently hits Ren on the head causing him to do a wobbly dance. The abrupt timing is murder, and so is the choreographing. Of course there’s always the bus skeleton gag which would have worked better as a one-panel political cartoon and the Stimpy-saurus, which may get you to laugh if you haven’t seen Stimpy do that thing with his tongue in every Spumco episode.
But if I named off every gag and eloquently explained why it doesn’t work I’d be here all day, so I’ll just skip to Wilbur’s nonsensical, scattershot narration where he suddenly brings up and drops dozens of flashbacks vaguely connected with each other, which worked in The Scarlet Pumpernickel and Uncle Tom’s Cabana but falters here, relying on unfunny puns (There were no puns in the aforementioned cartoons, just over-the-top slapstick), Wilbur’s droning voice, a total lack of focus (You just know they’re building to something in the classic cartoons, here it feels more like an excuse to throw out more silly jokes).
Original airdate: 11/12/94
Rating: 3/7
Believe it or not, I don’t mind that Farm Hands reuses animation from Out West for the beginning (which is identical except for the dialogue and a few subtleties are gone). If anything, it’s the best part of the cartoon! In some ways I enjoy the opening of Farm Hands more because Abner and Ewalt’s dialogue is ten-times funnier (way more sadistic, goes to other themes besides hanging, and their discussion about “young ‘uns” and “comical books” is more genially moronic than any quip from Out West). If they had just recycled the entire Out West cartoon with new dialogue of this quality, it might have been the best cartoon Bob Camp ever directed!
But sadly they didn’t, and it’s back to scene-after-scene of stupid pointless gags, and I can’t even believe kids would find this stuff funny. Would any kid laugh at the hens ranting about the Easter bunny? They use all this political lingo a seven year-old wouldn’t understand! What’s sad most of all is that some of the gags are really strong, but their delivery is gosh-darn awful. If they’re gonna do another teeth joke, they had better stay away from any reminders of Ren’s Toothache. That scene was okay right up until I saw a nerve-ending in Ren’s mouth, which made me yearn for a cartoon that was well-done and didn’t look so cheap and generic. However: The line “Don’t you know teeth are a source of disease?” is worth a thousand Ren’s Retirements, I'll give it that much.
And that’s the best original scene in here. The only bit of comedy I can think of for the remainder is the tornado bit. Not the aftermath of it, however. I think I’ll just wrap this one up now, by telling you Ren’s obligatory tantrum at the end is very badly drawn and acted. Goodnite.
Original airdate: 12/03/94
Rating: 5/7
This is a sudden jump in quality. I don't know what happened but I doubt it was seriously labored over (as it's still very sloppy visually), it's more likely they were just inspired at the moment. Still, this cartoon deserves a lot of respect for a late-period R&S episode and even the terrible look doesn't hurt the rating.
Don't make the mistake of lumping it in with the other Games episodes. I did at first, but there's a beacon of quality in here. I mean, the storyline is well-crafted, every gag is related to the storyline and is hung on something substansial, and few of the scenes are especially boring. The most repulsive visual is when Egg Yolkeo smears himself on the fat lady's face. It makes me wince, but I can easily forgive that.
The plot is like a response to Coal Black, with a very surreal and totally twisted reading of the classic story and every scene showing complete irreverence-yet-love towards it's source material. I for one think it was very clever to make the hoodlums who lead Pinnocchio/Egg Yolkeo astray into sentient foodstuffs (and it's so funny when they make him walk the skillet!). Some other good gags include Ren's mistreatment of Stimpy after making a very self-reflective prayer, Ren adding a part of his body to EY (I won't give away what, it's one of those retarded Games puns that for once actually works), and Ren cuddling a replacement Egg Yolkeo and acknowleding its phoniness in a self-contradiction that would do Bob Clampett justice.
It might take you some time to discern the merits of this cartoon as opposed to the rest of the Games episodes, but there's nothing in here I could call unfunny or wasted, and there are no low points to speak of. The only thing preventing it from climbing higher is that the production values are lackluster, but otherwise, please seek this out if you are a cartoon fan who won't even give Games R&S a second glance. You won't be disappointed.
Original airdate: 1/7/95
Rating: 2/7
I have no doubt that the material for this cartoon was extremely funny to Camp and co. while they were working on it. I mean, a dissected brain shaped like a piece of cake? A hippie genie with an Italian accent? Voices chanting in Latin as Stimpy recites an altered Bible verse ("...and he will not eat the unlavened bread for it is diseaseth") while floating towards the sun with an angry Ren? Ren and Stimpy growing wool after the Scotsman forces them to graze for a year? Ren's women turning into a Hindu, Muslim, and Mexican after Stimpy wishes for equality regardless of race or creed?
If the thought of any of these made you laugh, then I did the job of watching the cartoon for you. The beginning with Ren blurting out paranoid delusions based on concepts from Space Madness bastardizes the classic in such a way you'll either laugh at how pathetic it is or turn your head in disgust. After they discover Haggis McHaggis floating in space Ren unceremoniously gets over his pyschosis and they go from there.
The plot turns out to be a series of non-sequiturs walking up jack-booting you over the head. Haggis has a few of his own psychotic tantrums where he spazzes out, making baby gibberish, but the only thing coming close to real Clampett acting is his weeping over his sheep, and that's only tolerable. And then there's Ren and Stimpy's rapport-like glee over dissecting Haggis after going on about how they'll treat him with dignity. Visual gags like the wallet attached to Haggis by a blood vessel can best be described as Tex Avery From Hell. Anyway, if I have to describe any more I may as well make you watch it.
I haven't mentioned how it looks yet - The first scene inside the ship is a direct recycle from that of Space Madness only everything is shown at a smaller scale, and the cut to Stimpy mashing moles at the control panel (one of the funnier moments) is a direct lift of that cut from Ren's opening monologue to Stimpy's "aye-aye". And you can't help but notice how they probably blew up the storyboard instead of doing actual layouts and slopped some color over it. To be fair, some of those Haggis poses where his teeth stick out are imposing, though still limpid.
Some of the gags would have worked in a more focused film, but there are too many moronic ideas crammed in too fast. I can give it a higher score than Superstitious Stimpy because it's not as mind-numbing and because a few moments are funny, but in between what few chuckles I eek out there's an overwhelming desire to never look at it again. It's a shame - Those translator helmets are cool.
Original airdate: 2/11/95
Rating: 3/7
OMG – this cartoon’s first scene is a direct rip-off of the opening of Hound Hunters (Avery). How about that. These guys have a lot of nerve to quote the master when they can’t even grasp his essence (and besides, “The Wacky World of Tex Avery” already took that job). I can watch the cartoon without losing my sanity you understand, or writhing in pain hoping it will end soon, but it’s pretty boring. What do you expect from a plot where Ren and Stimpy go up to a weiner-shaped Canada to harvest wieners? I don’t wish to talk any more about this cartoon – just cut and paste my criticism from any similar one and you have a review. However – I do love the ending. Billy West inserted a good paranoid intonation in Ren’s voice as he explains his dream. Which results in him building an ark out of wieners. Say what you will – after going through the cartoon with such a bland personality that twist on Ren’s psyche came across as actual character-development.
Original airdate: 3/4/95
Rating: 3/7
I gotta hand Bob Camp and the rest of the Games crew one thing, they were getting better at psychodramas near the end. Between Big Flakes and this, I’m convinced they could have made an enjoyable cartoon in this style given more time and energy. Or maybe they always could have made something this good but didn’t, whatever.
That’s not to say that Ren Needs Help is really enjoyable – there are a few stand-out moments, but for the most part this is for the curious viewer only. Ren’s psychotic sequence is hardly affecting due to the lack of build-up, and it's really just more gags about Stimpy destroying his precious celebrity memoirs, but at least the story is more focused than Hermit Ren. Another minor quibble that can easily be discounted is that Chris Reccardi threw away the idiosyncrasies that made Hermit Ren interesting, even if it was really ugly. But at least this way Ren and Stimpy don’t look ugly – they just look generic. So that’s more of a good thing than a bad thing.
Stand-out moments include the letter Ren writes to Stimpy (I love how he ends it!), the group therapy session you’ve probably read about somewhere else (I hate it when they dredge up third-string R&S characters for no reason, but at least here they serve a purpose) and the ending, which calls up a gag from earlier in the episode and gives it a creepy spin (not to mention they finally decided to do some funny animation with Ren as he is carried away). It’s worth seeing the episode for the ending alone, but overall this is more of a freak show than an enjoyable cartoon.
Original airdate: 4/1/95
Rating: 1/7
Berk! Sorry, that was the sound of me berking. To put not too fine a point on it, this is a loathsome load of shite. Even Friend in Your Face had semi-interesting drawings and the gag where Stimpy poured coffee in his ear. This? This starts boring, stays boring, and ends up boring. Nothing hideous, nothing repulsive, nothing that would make you run away from the TV and out of the house screaming. It’s just boring! Consistently boring all the way.
There’s no point in describing the art. Plenty of Games Ren and Stimpy cartoons have various images that stick in my head; this one has none. Camp appears to be influenced as much as John K. by Bob Clampett, whose gags were a cross stringing of build-ups and payoffs that worked every time. But nothing here works. When Stimpy puts all that stuff in Ren’s mouth (some ritual to prevent bad luck), maybe you’ll chuckle at how over-the-top it is (IIRC, one ingredient was toad excrement), and at how Ren has to keep it in his mouth. But if you find it funny, that’s only because everything else is so mind-numbing you'll laugh at the most immediately funny idea in desperation.
The throwaway pun, “old husband’s tale”, is so unfunny it’s absolutely shocking. Stimpy’s incomprehensible chant during the exorcism scene contains the phrase “Ub Iwerks”, an inside joke more self-indulgent than Wilbur Cobb’s anti-Walter Lantz rant from Stimpy’s Cartoon Show. The gags involving the boar head (and the other lucky charms I can’t remember), falling off the roof, and the speeches Ren makes that end in him getting struck by lightning take so long to develop, usually because someone is talking too much, and anything that could be called a pay-off is not.
There is no room for pay-offs in fact, because rather than attempt to build the gags Ren and Stimpy just talk and talk about superstitions and things, and this makes it more tedious than the worst episodes of Cow and Chicken. With all these problems, it's not as bad as Road Apples and hence, I refuse to rate it lower. But was this animated in South Korea or North Korea?
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 3/7
As if we needed proof that these Games cartoons are okay one at a time, but should be avoided in large doses, I randomly decided to watch this again after a long day at work, and realized I was too hard on it just because I watched so many of these when I reviewed it. What the hell, it's not crudely drawn like Scotsman in Space, and other than the forgivable choking scenes that only make me wince a little, nothing's as gross as Friend in Your Face. The animation is acceptable, the colors are pretty, the drawings are okay, especially the one where Ren's eyes are on top of his head like Kermit the Frog...and even a few gags I used to find unfunny are now kinda funny, like the weeds personifying Ren's unseemly life on earth (I just wish they invented a new character instead of frigging Wilbur Cobb).
Sometimes these Games cartoons are horrible, but most of the time they're just mediocre, like this one. If nothing else I can pay attention to the backgrounds and the competent, if not too exciting animation, and there's even some things I like about them: The pseudo-religious musical gags, some of the crazy decadent (and alternately disciplined) actions of Ren and Stimpy, and occasionally I'm taken with the wit of their satire. But as a whole, few of these cartoons work. They have no self-restraint, slopping every idea they can think of even remotely related to the story, and they invented a new style of character development that sacrifices any real development for what they think is funny. Ren and Stimpy constantly shift through meaningless personality influxes, in here as well as other episodes, just to deliver some cheap gags - and rarely are said gags worth it.
It's impossible for me to seriously like most of these Games episodes. They may be better than most of the crap on TV, at least the ones rated 3 and over, but these guys were supposed to be the modern equivalent to the Warner Brothers crew, who even in their worst moments never made anything like Superstitious Stimpy. Their talents went to waste on this stuff as much as they did on that action figure crap, which grieves me.
Oh well, this one in particular is better than I thought at first. One to go...
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 2/7
What can I say? Watch the Beavis and Butthead Christmas special instead. Jeebus. I should count my blessings that this wasn’t even worse, but it leaves me to wonder if making a good cartoon is really that difficult. There are a few good poses in here, and a few good gags, but they get lost in the myriad of inane jokes and filler footage.
It’s actually pretty cool to see Bob Camp draw Stimpy like he drew Ren for Stimpy’s Invention, when the cat becomes disappointed with his Yaksmas gift from Ren. Of course I just don’t get it when it turns out Ren bought Stimpy what he wanted after all and Stinky forgot to deliver it, because why did Ren give Stimpy the box of sticks in the first place!? The notion that I could care about that is deeply disturbing. But getting back to the relevant issue at hand, Stimpy’s reaction shots are good. So is the song about Stinky Wizzleteats, a little bit. And the letter Ren sent Stimpy asking for his present.
But that’s it, really. The footage of Stimpy riding his motorcycle is dreadfully dull, the whole freaking story is as far away from classic John K. as possible, and the bumpers are boring (another spot for “Dog Water”, ‘nuff said). I can give them credit for a few good moments, however rare they are, and at least this didn’t degrade into another Scotsman in Space or Superstitious Stimpy. The Ren and Stimpy show goes out with a whimper like expected.