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SON OF STIMPY (A.K.A. STIMPY'S FIRST FART)
Rating: 5/7
The cartoon that was to be Stimpy’s First Fart actually aired with minimal censorship, but there’s a history behind it nonetheless. And unlike Man’s Best Friend, its victimization has overshadowed its actual quality. It did air in January of ’93 on MTV, but did not air on Nickelodeon until almost a year later! Around the time that it first came to light, there was a public quarrel with John K. and Bob Camp over who actually finished the episode, with Camp claiming to have finished half the cartoon. I don’t have a concrete, satisfactory answer to that riddle, but it’s very likely SoS was completed after Spumco's firing, unlike Sven Hoek, which was more or less finished and just needed a clean-up. In a way, it harbors the same flaws as the post-Spumco John K. episodes in that you feel this was supposed to be great, but didn’t quite turn out that way. It’s structure is murky like Fake Dad, the art is as acceptably mediocre as Stimpy’s Fan Club (except maybe the paint job, which I’ll get to later), and it just feels incomplete on the whole like Visit to Anthony.
Starting with the muddy structure - there are so many gaps in the story it’s unbelievable for a half-hour cartoon. It still bugs me that Stimpy’s relationship with Stinky was never built in any way…the sentient fart isn’t seen for most of the cartoon, and most of the time he’s shown as a non-sentient floating cloud of gas. This is the kind of non-sequitur humor that would plague the Games episodes and comes off as a cop-out instead of a funny aesthetic. Most of the scenes are emotionally overwrought, and lack gags to boot, unless homeless bums waving matches at poor Stinky counts as a gag. Although I will admit, the mistle-toe scene is a classic.
Before this goes any further, there’s a silent scene of Stimpy talking to a police officer with the orchestrated background music playing, obviously describing Stinky to him. The cop flashes a weird look at the camera and kicks Stimpy out on the street. For some reason, this scene was only included in the initial airing on MTV, and is even gone from the officially-released Stinky Christmas video. Either way, it doesn't affect the flow.
The only artwork to rave about is the painting, especially the murky colors used for Stimpy in the city sequence (contrasted by his yellow eyes). There’s not a single pose in here that stands out, and that’s pretty sad when even cheaters like Firedogs had that shot of Ren swallowing the litter. This is also the first cartoon animated by Carbunkle where the animation is just incredibly smooth, fluid, and professional without any of the amazing tricks they used to pull off. Ren twirling in knots? Nimble body movement? Gorgeous acting ala Sven Hoek? It just ain’t here. Nothing they animate is interesting. The only explanation I can offer is that this was indeed animated after Spumco was fired. Seeing as Carbunkle worked tightly with Spumco and now had to work directly with Nickelodeon just to get these unfinished projects completed for airing, it’s likely they became dispirited (none of the other post-Spumco cartoons animated by Carbunkle are up to snuff either, and they fell out with Nickelodeon at the end of the second season over Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen and dispersed soon after).
On to the good points: There’re lots of good gags right up to the commercial break, such as Stimpy’s initial fart. Who couldn’t love the contrast between Ren and Stimpy as the dumb cat goes to explain his farting to his cultured Chihuahua friend? Then there’s Stimpy’s disastrous conversation with his boogers (sorry, “nose goblins”) and the bed scene where Ren and Stimpy are shown close together then spread apart.
But there’s one thing about SoS that stands above the rest, the one thing that makes it worth watching at least once. That’s Billy West’s performance of Stimpy. Only West could have pulled off that childish “I don’t care” mumble. If you think the cartoon is awesome just for that moment, I can’t blame you. West’s acting justifies Stimpy calling out Stinky’s name. His voice for Stinky is a real treat as well (reminds me of Stan Freberg).
I will admit one thing, SoS did emotionally affect me the first time I saw it. This’ an unusual cartoon even for John K., and his character development instincts are in place whether or not Spumco did it all the way. He actually makes the viewer care for the emotional plight of a talking fart cloud. Problem is, once the poignancy wears off, boredom sets in. Once-in-a-while I’ll go back and watch my favorite parts, but this definitely shouldn’t have been a half hour. As far as I’m concerned, Sven Hoek is the swansong for the original Spumco Ren and Stimpy.
Rating: 5/7
Fake Dad was cut in half from its planned half-hour run, and while it's not a total loss, it's lost a lot. Some of the cutting is awkward, with a tacked-on fade away from the prison to Ren and Stimpy's home, and in some scenes the layouts leave Kowalski's placement in the background a bit frigged-up looking. Add this to the fact that the development feels rushed and you're probably wondering by now why I gave this a 5.
Because I enjoy what did make it into Fake Dad. While it pales in comparison to Sven Hoek there's a certain charm about the ugliness. AS in one scene where Kowalski looks like a static, painted figure with eerie glowing eyes, only to resemble a normal animated figure in the next shot. Despite the sloppy directing this transition is entertaining.
It's necessary to pay close attention to the characters when the visuals aren't immediately striking. Kowalski's menacing presence contrasted with sentiments spoken in his molten-lead voice makes his debut scene, potentially dull due to its "talking-heads" presentation, work. Ren may look flaccid while shaking with anger at Kowalski during the picnic scene, but his pose and shaking are nonetheless menacing and John's performance of Ren is his most convincingly angry to date.
The humor in Fake Dad overcomes its technical problems, and that holds true for Ren, Stimpy and Kowalski sitting together where Ren answers Stimpy's pleas for fatherly compassion with gritted teeth, or when Kowalski destroys everything in the living room in a fit of barely-justified anger. There are unfulfilling moments thanks to its butchering, but dwelling on them would be missing out.
Rating: 5/7
This is worth watching more than Stimpy’s First Fart in my humble opinion. The art and animation aren’t so hot (even the sequence boarded by John looks really frigged-up) but at least the poses aren’t abstract silliness like the Games artists would use – they really communicate some emotion.
The main problem with Stimpy’s Fan Club is that while it’s a solid film, it doesn’t contain all these levels of subtext like the self-consciously classic R&S cartoons. There’s nothing in here that would make you go “wow, never noticed that before”, and it’s not due just to the art and animation, the plot takes its sweet time getting from one twist to the next. The characterization is complex, but there’s nothing as thought-provoking as Stimpy's Invention, and I have to extend some good will to consistently enjoy it.
But there’s one saving grace that prevents me from lowering the score – it’s one of three pieces of animation I’ve seen (the other two being What’s Opera Doc? and The Iron Giant) that genuinely makes me cry. I have to sit through the entire thing to get that effect, and sometimes I wonder why I’m even watching it, but when the ending comes it’s all worth it. Ren’s character is constructed so magnificently, from his petty jealously over Stimpy’s adoration, to his vindictiveness while answering the fan mail, to his shame and inner-conflict spurred by jealousy and loyalty to his friend. Anything else is in sacrifice to this character portrait.
But it’s not as if there aren’t any gags. Some of Ren’s responses to Stimpy’s fan letters are quite funny – especially the really sarcastic and vindictive ones. His mock-suicide scene is well-done, and so is the daydream where he blows up a chunk of the earth (although that laugh sounds like it was ripped directly from Stimpy’s Invention). Generally the gags give way to the acting, and even if the animation isn’t captivating on its own, it’s tasteful enough to give us a visual performance that complements the voice-acting. I wish Ren’s psychotic sequence wasn’t so confusing (and the scene where his head and hands are shown against a black background bothers me a little), but this is one of the most emotional cartoons ever, and it maybe it turned out for the best.
Rating: 4/7
Tragedy. If Stimpy’s Fan Club came through as a minor masterpiece regardless of its butchering, then Visit to Anthony was compromised into a mere shell of what the director envisioned. I never thought much of this cartoon for a long time, believing it only had some novelty value placing Ren and Stimpy in the “real world” (the flipside of Stimpy’s Big Day if you will). Upon subsequent viewings after reading up I realized Spumco might have had a masterpiece on the level of Stimpy’s Invention had they stayed on.
First some background: The kid in the cartoon was voiced by Anthony Raspanti, who sent Spumco their first fan letter (uh, if he wrote directly to Ren and Stimpy how did he know where to send it?). They actually proposed to Nickelodeon the idea of flying him over and using him as a voice for a future episode. Amazingly enough, it all came together. They actually hung out with the kid, took him to Disneyland, and got him to record his voice for this cartoon. At certain points, his lack of acting skill (among other factors) makes me believe a real human is standing next to some cartoon characters, all without the added benefit of live-action + animation ala “Roger Rabbit”. This is the only cartoon where you’ll find such a surreal effect, and that alone makes it worth watching.
Unfortunately the cartoon was far from complete when Spumco got fired. I don’t know how much of it was animated but there is a scene where Billy West plays the voice of Ren, even though John K. plays him for the duration of the episode. And a turkey of a scene at that. Ren’s eyes bulging out as a one-off double take in say, In the Army or Man’s Best Friend advances the cartoon. But when Ren presses against his belly-button and “artificially” inflates his eyes, my suspension of disbelief dies a traumatic death.
Despite the lackluster execution of that scene, it at least stays in the general theme of Anthony’s disillusionment with his cartoon heroes. Other scenes fare better: When Anthony catches them in the bathroom, I find it funny as a gag, and it builds the main conflict with Anthony's dad. However, just when it looks like this thing is gonna get rolling, many mistakes are made with the main draw.
“Dad” doesn’t like Ren and Stimpy because they’re Hollywood bigshots who’ve never had to work a day in their lives, but he only lets them stay around because they make his son happy. He was voiced by Randy Quaid, a post-Spumco addition by Nickelodeon/Games, and while the voice suits his intended personality, he didn’t work very hard to achieve the conceived effect. His melodramatic displays around Anthony are over-pathetic and kill the resonance for me. The guy barely tried to act out those parts; he just made the quickest, saddest voice he possibly could.
But it isn’t the voice alone that dulls the intended effect of Anthony’s dad. The artists who finished the cartoon did their best on it, I’m sure, but Dad’s visual presence is not what it could have been. John once said only he and Jim Smith could draw his construction, and if you can pull that off you have to animate the guy. In most places the guy is barely moving, although he looks okay as a still piece, and in the den scene, where he moves around a lot, most of it is limited to his neck and head with his body hidden off-frame. When they manage to animate his entire person, it's stiff as a red-blooded woodchuck. If his first encounter with Ren and Stimpy was decently handled, the den scene (apparently an intended classic) was completely botched – He tries too hard to build himself up as a threatening guy, puts on a seething display of anger, and suddenly acts friendly to R&S. I don’t know what happened in John K’s version but I expect the kind of dread I felt watching Stimpy’s Invention and Space Madness and well, I don’t.
That said, parts of the cartoon are very enjoyable and managed to get the point across. I’m genuinely moved when Ren and Stimpy make Anthony hyperventilate (and you can really feel his mom’s concern when she sees him). The sequence with Victor is fairly amusing – His voice is funny and his dad's a surreal character in his own right. And there’s a few motifs – like Anthony’s mailbox and the actual location of Hollywood – that make it a little funnier.
This is the animated equivalent to ‘Smile’ and Big Numbers (two major artistic projects in music and comics that were only partly finished, though 'Smile' just came out). Some of the heartfelt moments work better than others; either way, it's best to watch it keeping the background in mind. Be glad Stimpy’s Invention was complete all the way through.
Rating: 4/7
Richard Pursel called this an "almost undirected" show, which would explain its seeming lack of purpose. Not knowing what was meant for RCKY, I don't mourn it as much as Visit to Anthony. It pokes fun at Canadian nationalism by making Royal Mounted Yaksmen look like incompetent jerks and sending them on pointless, impossible missions. Some of the scenes are funny and some of them, where the narration rambles while Ren and Stimpy are on their yaks, are filler.
My favorite scene in here is the Yak’s psychotic tantrum which is very well-built with the cut to each new shot throwing a crazy face at us and the yak’s speech going from articulate to gibberish complemented by the animation (which, by the way, is not that great compared to Carbunkle’s greatest achievements). I’m also fond of the sing-a-long – The silly lyrics get funnier with each new repetition and the gradual layering of the choir in the background makes it so over-the-top I have to like it. Plus: Crocostimpies in kilts!
Ain’t got much else to say. This reminds me of a Games cartoon though – most of the humor is derived from Ren and Stimpy getting beat up (especially Ren), and even the gratuitous spaghetti veins appear. Worth watching for the really funny scenes (and indeed, I know some people who deify this as a classic) but not on the whole.
Rating: 5/7
It's like they never left - All your old friends (and some new ones) are in the title credits along with classical music and tasty paintings. John K. is doing Ren and I could have sworn that was Billy West, not Eric Bauza, doing the voice of Stimpy. Characters play off each other while one is speaking and the other is doing something funny, and the delicate senses of timing, building, and coordinating are applied throughout.
Unfortunately, the Stimpy's First Fart syndrome strikes again. There are parts of this cartoon that really make me laugh and I really enjoy watching, but I don't like watching it on the whole. Onward and Upward was written way back when Spumco first did Ren and Stimpy and I wonder if making it a full 22 minutes was really a good idea. On the other hand, I can't think of anything I'd take out, simply because even the most boring moments of this episode are still okay since you can always expect your waiting to pay off, whether it's a violent spasm from Ren or an unpredictable sound effect. As for the people who think this is inheritently inferior to the Ren and Stimpy of old, I think I should remind them that O&W was meant as an excuse to go crazy with the gross jokes and was never intended to be a major classic. Had it been made back in 1992 I doubt it would be significantly better.
So if you don't dismiss it off the bat, you can get some amusement out of it. Ren's abrupt entrance during the first scene is enough to set me off, and his eyeballs squishing against their surroundings are enough promise that every scene is going to be interesting in some way. Ren delivers complaints about his surroundings with enough pathos and Stimpy's dumbfounded facial expressions provide the perfect foil for these moments. Some strange visual gags, like that thing in the ceiling whipping Ren, the stench in the "basement", and the writings on the chalkboard rear their ugly head in this dwelling. Stimpy's childish pleadings for favors from Ren and his stupid displays of glee show he's in fine form (although I don't like his human nose anymore than I did in Stupid Sidekick Union).
Eventually they move away from the dump and into a penthouse suite (actually it's not), mixing the gross jokes with upper-class pretentions. My favorites include Ren chewing out Stimpy for his uncultivated habits and Stimpy's commentaries on the cusine. Expect some really gross stuff, like people spitting things into Ren and Stimpy's house (was that gravy gag really necessary?). Even then, you can tell they're showing self-restraint, as John originally promised Nickelodeon they wouldn't do shit and well, they didn't.
The bathtub sequence has Ren and Stimpy acting a bit like parent and child ala Nurse Stimpy, and there's a funny out-of-place sound effect as he rummages for the shampoo. The controversial bedroom scene has them coming out of the closet. Now I know there are people who don't like this scene because it brings their implied homosexuality to the forefront. But think of how this scene is handled, man. Ren morphs into a macho dude before Stimpy's eyes just as schlubs in old cartoons used to morph into handsome celebrities to symbolize their ego (remember Hep Cat?). Stimpy's erection caricature, while explicit, is no worse than the wolf's from Red Hot Riding Hood and their clothes appearing out of nowhere when the frame cuts back to them adds to the comedic effect. What I'm saying here is, they've resurrected the old spirit of sexual humor from WB cartoons. Granted, their homosexuality is no longer hidden behind metaphors, but so what? It's funny anyway.
The chaotic bar scene practically redeems every shortcoming, with a killer action shot of the bartender. Honestly, I don't see how you can like the original Spumco R&S and not like this. I don't LOVE it but people who say John K. lost it or whatever are crazy, and this is coming from somebody who thought John K. lost it with The Ripping Friends. All-in-all not a disappointment and it was nice to see this cartoon after being suspended for a decade.
Rating: 6/7
NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH Ren Needs Help. I read on some forum or other that they were taken from the same plot, so if this is for real we might see Spumco doing more stories that Games frigged-up. Hey, it would be something if they did Stimpy's Cartoon Show and Ren's Brain (sorry Bob Camp and Chris Reccardi!:)).
You have to be patient when watching Ren Seeks Help since the individual components are less captivating than taken together. The beginning is little more than Stimpy making sobbing noises and throwing vague, angry taunts at Ren ("How could you say those horrible things!"), even if his poses are memorable. It's a far cry from stuplifying me into childish glee like the set-up of Stimpy's Invention, so we're gonna have to settle for mid-level greatness as opposed to orgasmic greatness. Even so, I appreciate how it sets up the cartoon, and the absurd events that rise out of Stimpy's crying and Ren's self-critical remarks are still entertaining.
While some people are bothered that Stimpy is barely shown in the cartoon, I don't have much of a problem with it. I also saw at least one post that complained about Mr. Horse's role. Personally, I'm glad Mr. Horse was made a psychiatrist, since I've always been suspicious of psychiatry, and his unprofessional behavior is a hoot. His body language in reacting to Ren, his attempts to goad assurance that Ren is remorseful, and his "safe-guards" for Ren's inevitable psychotic moment imply a lot of tension that also counterpoint Ren's personality influxes.
Ren himself might be unsympathetic except the motivations for his violent acts are cleanly established. On the other hand, if you have any repressed feelings of anger you might get a release out of him torturing animals, and he even gets it in the end himself. I think the deal with the frog was a little drawn out but the cartoon would not survive without the resolution to this sub-plot. I don't even mind that some parents were created for Ren, since their lack of commonsense is all too familiar.
The ending, which, naturally, is where patience pays off, combines the deranged release of pointless violence from Man's Best Friend with the nihilistic "non-resolution" to the character's fate of Space Madness. Yeah, I kept this review short but most of this defies description. You may have seen some of its bug-torture and "descent into madness" gags in Jimmy Comic Books and Boo Boo but the way it pushes Ren's character has to be experienced.
Rating: 5/7
I knew opinions on Fire Dogs II would be mixed. A scathing forum post pointed out that this is nothing more than a bunch of gross jokes, Ralph Bakshi getting off his fat can from doing nothing to voice another John K. tough-guy type harboring manly stereotypes from the last century, and Ren and Stimpy relegated to a third party. Well, duh. That doesn't mean it can't be good.
As good as it is though, I can't give it the same rating as Fire Dogs, which was unbounded in its creativity, while this sequel runs on one central idea, namely Ralph, relies on the razorsharp sense of choreographing and timing to keep one's interest, and seems to be on creative autopilot, a few inspired notions notwithstanding. Still, I laugh at it way too much not to give it a thumbs up.
If you've already decided you hate Fire Dogs II, I probably won't change your mind. All I can say is, I like it and I'm glad I do. I just turn off my higher intelligence, give in to the material and laugh at it for what it is. It's a portrait of a macho fat guy interested only in satisfying his base desires for friends, chicks, smoking and reveling in his own bodily functions, while subjecting Ren and Stimpy to his crazy whims, elicitng all kinds of funny responses from the two. It's a simple plot and no, the long-awaited heir to the legacy of Space Madness this ain't, but they made this set-up entertaining, and I receive the message loud and clear.
The fat guy is Ralph Bakshi, a legendary cartoonist who directed Fritz the Cat and Heavy Traffic, two supposed-classics I haven't seen as of this writing, and was John K.'s partner in reviving the active role of cartoonists in making cartoons in the late 80's with "The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse". Ralph and John were supposed to do an animated feature together so if this ain't it we might be in for a treat.
Anyway, Ralph takes Ren and Stimpy to his apartment where the fun ensues. As Spumco is wont to do there are sudden cuts to various parts of someone's body (usually Ralph's) engaging in sudden animations that make hidden corners of their anatomy do unexpected things. Whether he's seeking comfort in Ren and Stimpy or flirting with busty blondes the situation is presented in the most physically outrageous way possible. I might as well mention that many of the poses are among the best they've done, including Ren's delirious fantasy of killing fire victims and Stimpy's clinging to Ralph's leg.
It seems to be an advance for Spumco, if only because of the visuals they pulled off, and yet it lacks variety for such a length. Half the gags involve cigarette butts (many of them admittedly funny) and such, and yet on the other hand the repetition makes some parts funnier, so if you're like me you'll laugh your head off one day and squirm the next. I didn't think it was any great shakes at first but as you watch it more you may start to notice that some parts you were apathetic to are now funny, so if one viewing was enough for you, give it another shot. For my sake.