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Original airdate: 3/18/95
Rating: 2/7
Why does this have to be so boring? There’s some nice things about it. I enjoy watching the scene when Ren hits Stimpy and Stimpy singing for a prison audience ala Johnny Cash is pretty neat. Uhm…Stimpy pulling quarters out of his nose is cool…kind of. But let’s face it – this is just another half-hearted attempt at writing witty satire but with a really boring, hacked together plot. And how did Billy West get a story credit? It makes sense that he would write a cartoon about something like this, but how did a voice actor get to be writing cartoons?
I’m running out of ideas here, so let’s move on to the next one, whatever it is (you think I wrote these things in order? That would drain my energy.)
Original airdate: 3/18/95
Rating: 3/7
There are some funny gags in here, truth be told, but I get the feeling they made it in by accident. The story is so self-conscious and moronic most of the gags don’t get under my skin, if you know what I mean. Especially these dumb show-biz gags with Stimpy’s nose being “fake” (a butt-ugly human nose for Stimpy – not at all redeemed by his regular nose coming back for the next scene), and all the former sidekicks joining Stimpy is just another awkward story development that only adds footage to the cartoon.
So I’ll just run through the gags I do like – there’s a few funny twists on the general premise of the show in the form of the sidekicks and the dialogue gags they share with Ren. The baboon justifies the cartoon if anything else – it’s so funny when he gets the job (scaring the crap out of Ren and half-heartedly fulfilling the job-requirements by tearing a Stimpy costume so it fits on his back) and the actual The Ren and Baboon Show cartoon is a great caricature of the “regular” show with Ren nervously trying to act angry (“w-who put these wildebeests carcasses on my good c-couch?”).
Other than that I doubt I’ll ever watch the cartoon again – It’s not offensive at all but it doesn’t provide any reason for me to watch it. Tom McGrath’s poses try too hard to be outlandish (see Stimpy’s disfigurements at the end) and he tends to fall back on the same angry Ren pose all the time – which is funny-looking (and goes great with Billy’s Ren voice for some reason) but gets old after awhile. Draw some new poses, Tom! BTW, I remember seeing Tom on the credits of Space Jam. Sweet jeebus, I wouldn’t wish that gig on my worst enemy.
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 3/7
This is soooo much better than Arthur Filloy’s previous cartoon, Travelogue - Watchable the whole way through and even a decent story. Of course the attempts at melodrama are silly and the characters feel more like hand puppets than actual characters. But still, for a late R&S cartoon this is surprisingly acceptable.
The rub is, you’ve got to give in to what the cartoon is aiming for. The specific events work together enough that you can enjoy the story if you ignore the flaws (or rather, lack of any major success). I have, as a distraction at least, but there’s nothing in here to make me want to watch it again and again. The incidental gags (most of which revolve around the many deaths of Stimpy) are amusing somewhat but it’s not as if I’ll be replaying these in my head weeks later when I’m bored and laughing my ass off to strange glances from onlookers.
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 4/7
This works for the most part, despite being painful to watch at moments, because it revels in its childishness so much I have an in for the gags, and even though this has the look and feel of a crummy sitcom-ish children’s show, Stephen’s talent somehow shines through – a few gratuitous, “extreme” poses, yeah, but those children are drawn pretty darn well, and even the reverend looks cool and funny when he’s not trying so hard to look psychotic. So let it be said that Stephen DeStefano is not a talentless hack – only a victim of circumstance.
Of course this just barely grazes the “good” territory by virtue of its inane structure and the reverend’s out-of-control ramblings. The dialogue gags are only good when accompanied by a frenetic visual. When they try to make the ramblings funny on their own it’s a failure. Did little kids even get these “Biblical” jokes? Why did they have to butcher such a potentially great cartoon with stupid banter when they could have thrown in more meat gags and further exploit the Reverend’s creepy presence? (That first scene with the reverend is dynamite!)
Isolated moments in here are pure genius, and you gotta respect the originality – there’s not a cartoon with a concept as wonky as this. It’s little things like Ren and Stimpy revealing their identity when they’re supposed to be puppets and the Reverend’s whacked-out story of the war between humans and meat that make this worthwhile. Plus my all-time favorite “stupid non-sequitur” gag is in here – after the Reverend tries driving the truck and leaves the wheel to Ren a fade to the next scene indicates a certain amount of time has passed.
So this was a respectable try – and they made it unpredictable - Even the ending reprises an earlier scene in a way you won't see coming. It shares the same flaws as every late-period R&S cartoon (inane to the core, stupid meandering gags that go nowhere) but this may have been the best made-for-TV cartoon of 1995 - That’s a tragedy right there, innit?
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 3/7
Y’know, this might be one of Games’ better attempts at a psychodrama. Actually, it’s very pitiful – there’s no real character development, just scenes of Ren and Stimpy acting like their watered-down selves. Some of these scenes are pretty good – I like the twist on Stimpy’s face when he wakes up and screams like a girl (“SCREAM LIKE A GIRL!”). I like the game of charades they play. I like the things they resort to eating. I like the stupid meandering gag when the pizza boy drops in. And it has a whole bunch of flaws I’ve already pointed out for other cartoons.
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 2/7
Well, Billy West does a cool voice for the cop in here – too bad he often ruins it by using Stimpy’s tantrum voice for when the cop goes psycho. Come to think of it, you just know a psychotic tantrum is gonna happen a nanosecond before it does, and you know how it will happen. Dynamics? Pssssh. We don’t need no stinkin’ dynamics!
I enjoy watching Ren and Stimpy hide in a toilet – it reminds me of the surrealism I imagined when reading about Onward and Upward where they’re living in a bum’s mouth and move into a spittoon. As if that weren’t enough there’s a Kowalski-like convict in this cartoon. Had these concepts been handled with 1/5 of John K’s directing prowess and not with such a repetitive story structure, well, you don’t need me to tell you that.
I do remember the series of headlines being somewhat decently amusing (several of them picture the cop saying, “It could be worse” after Ren and Stimpy free the convicts, the last one says, “I always get my man” after Ren and Stimpy turn themselves in) but even that is clutching at straws. And I almost forgot – Mike Kim’s artwork is nothing to write home about. He was okay in the cartoons he directed, but don’t forget he tended to do the layouts himself. Here the layout artists butchered any potential he might’ve had (or maybe I’m blaming the wrong thing – either way the posing doesn’t win me over).
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 2/7
No really, this is a one-paragraph review if there ever was one. Is there any entertainment in here? None that I noticed. Just more unnecessary satire mixed in with a few crude jokes that think they're so funny. Well, if you try hard enough you can squeeze a little bit of excitement out of Ren and Stimpy’s race against the pigs, and there’s nothing offensive in here (although that joke about Stimpy dumping from his space suit into Ren’s helmet via a tube was a bit much), but it’s just more predictable, faceless swill from artists who used to do something worthwhile and may do it yet again.
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 3/7
Hang on…I think there’s some good stuff in here, but it is mixed with boring, predictable footage, like usual. If you’re in a truly mindless mood, however, you may laugh at them. A few psychotic moments have Abner shifting through one deformity after another. There are some more psychotic scenes where the characters take one thing and get very worked up over it, whatever.
I’ll give them props for satirizing 70’s HB cartoons (they turned the Space Madness announcer guy into a take-off of Dick Dastardly, one of their few satirical moments that makes sense).
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 2/7
They sure have a way of making a good cartoon look difficult. Even worse, this is one of the Games episodes that try to make you feel guilty about hating it by lamely attempting to recreate the old Spumco magic. Somebody thought having Stimpy throw a few gleeful tantrums and running along the floor with his belly lying down (to some “wacky” Hanna-Barberra sound effect) would make the viewer laugh, but it’s like jumping out of one’s shorts to convince the world he’s funny, instead of actually being funny. Besides, the animation blows.
And I’m not bowled over by all these idiotic jokes where Ren suffers many allergic reactions, including all kinds of deformities, from Stimpy’s hair, to which he is oblivious for most of the cartoon. Where did these people get it in their heads that Ren’s abrasive reactions to his suffering would be funny? If they have to churn out formulaic slop over and over again, why couldn’t it be a more acceptable formula? I tell ya man, you can hate Cow and Chicken all you want, but you have to admit David Feiss and co. had a tasteful formula for making every cartoon at least a little funny, if not stellar, and never offensive. Not like this at any rate.
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 2/7
And so Vince Calandra continues the Rocko-ification of Ren and Stimpy. Can you begin to comprehend the lameness of this plot? Ren and Stimpy are farmers, okay, and they don’t want to grow crops – they want to grow dirt. And there’s a drought, but they don’t want it to rain, instead they pray every night for the drought to continue. And when it does rain and they start growing actual food, they give up on the farm and leave for the city. This plot had to have been written by the nimrods on Sean Hannity's forum who think the terrorists are the real Muslims and the peaceful ones are the extremists.
If it weren’t for a couple of decently funny scenes, this would have scored even lower. But the Greaser truck-drivers and the union guys from Brooklyn make me laugh. Not that these are genius gags, but at least they’re entertaining. The rest of it is the same boring predictable non-sequitur nonsense-making crap I’ve described over and over again already.
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 2/7
This is a watchable cartoon – not funny, but other than the regurgitated breath mints (with close-ups of them drenched in spit) there’s nothing offensive in here. It’s just another R&S episode that happens to be interchangeable with the comic.
What bothers me is that the cartoon could have been good – had they done some work on the timing and such. The art isn't stellar but at least it doesn’t look sludgy. There are a few good ideas in here – such as Ren’s apathetic reaction when Stimpy recites the accomplishments of “Mr. Noggin” (the religious tone of Stimpy’s voice grates, but it’s funny that Ren would call a loser somebody who cured every disease). It’s also fun to watch Ren enter the head’s penthouse suite –Ren and Stimpy walk through this blue UPA-ish background with headless statues set to Chris Reccardi(?)’s over-amplified guitar chords.
But don’t ask me to like the cartoon – most of the footage is useless. The running gag with the fat woman goes nowhere (they just keep showing her over and over again, until she comes to the forefront as a lame plot device), and Ren’s attempt at photographing the head leads to him popping up places he clearly could not have gotten into – if this sounds like a lame attempt at emulating Avery, it is. Just because you can make your character appear in places he clearly didn’t go into doesn’t mean people will laugh when there’s nothing to support the gag.
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 3/7
This could be prime, first-rate crap. Though the backgrounds resemble the gorgeous dreariness of The Great Piggy Bank Robbery even if they are repetitive, so that’s an upgrade to second-rate crap.
Good God! You know there’s trouble when the pacing has an easily noticeable formula. Bit of dialogue…something slap-happy…dialogue…slap happy…dialogue…slap happy. Whether it’s Ren performing a bunch of ridiculous tasks in rapid succession like building a pyramid or hot-wiring a car or Stimpy gritting some goofy rant through his teeth, it’s yet another Games cartoon that could have evolved into a decent gag fest, but is relegated to bad stand-up comedy. Without speaking directly to the audience.
The incidental characters have simple, angular designs that Tom Oreb might have hastily sketched at a speakeasy (That’s a compliment), but Ren and Stimpy are fitted with the same blocky posing as usual. When people say Ren and Stimpy are the most difficult characters to draw ever, they probably aren’t full of shhh…
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 2/7
What is it with these Games cartoons? They’re so cruel one minute then lighthearted the next. Not that they’re good either way. The only thing I can really appreciate is Stimpy’s fruity behavior at the beginning, making Ren a cheerleading outfit for no reason. And they become friends again at the end, even though their relationship isn't explored in any way.
It’s back to the sludgy, frigged-up artwork – Ren looks more like a pink-colored mosquito, as if the artists wanted to make that letter from Stimpy's Fan Club accurate. And what’s with the lame storyline? I can’t stand it when some hack writes a back story for an established, trademarked character, and making Ren a loser in college was about the most mind-draining basis for a comedy they could imagine. Ren in college, yeesh. Next thing you know Neil Gaiman will be writing Marvel comics.
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 2/7
Hey! The first cartoon since Spumco not to have a director credit! I DIRECTED THIS CARTOON! IT WAS MEEEEEEEEEEE! And what a lackluster job I did! The only thing even approaching funny is Ren taking the mantis’ skin and putting it in the closet (with the other animal coats – and the human skin) and the sleazy characters Ren invites are amusing after he says only invite the cream of society. Besides that we have more plodding footage of unfunny jokes including spit and stuff. Ren’s narrates the whole thing and if you’ve always wanted to hear Billy West narrate a whole cartoon in his bland Ren voice you’re in for a treat. This reminds me of Tiny Toons.
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 3/7
Awww…well…this is okay. Loter’s high point on the show, even though I seriously doubt he had anything to do with the creativity. The animation for the psychotic scenes is ASS, and the cutting between each shot for them is verrry stiff, but we can live with it. I even laugh at some of the stuff in here. After coming up with new ways to describe the crappiness of each Games cartoon, I had to find one that would relieve me of that heart-wrenching task sooner or later.
The Clown (Phil Hartman) is my favorite in here. I like his sleaziness, his language, and of course his voice. He causes some funny arguments between Ren and Stimpy (I especially like it when Ren brings Stimpy into the basement and threatens him with bodily harm if he doesn’t keep the clown away from him) and when Ren throws the clown in the garbage disposal (and when midget climbs back up with the cigar still in his mouth). The bed scene that follows doesn’t make any sense, but it’s still cool to witness (what with the midget reprising his “pet name” for Ren in a very angry state). And the ending’s alright. Really, this cartoon doesn’t commit any serious crimes. It’s unexceptional, but not excruciatingly dull or embarrassing. When you vent your hatred at Games, leave this one out.
Original airdate: 1995
Rating: 3/7
I suppose I give out too many 3 ratings, but what can I do? Not all of these Games cartoons are horrible – most of them are tolerable for one viewing at the very least. But this one had some potential – the material in here is pretty good, and there’s no serious problem with the timing. The real problem is the trimmings: I can’t stand those stupid science-fiction sound fx during Stimpy’s mutations, and he looks incredibly ugly as a teenaged-cat. And some of the images are very abrasive.
While I’m a little uncomfortable with the plot, which makes Ren into Stimpy’s dad more or less, some parts are incredibly enjoyable. The idea to make Archie and Jughead two fat thugs was a genius one. Some of the nonsensical twists on puberty (Ren’s grooming kit, Stimpy’s first chest hair, his phone calls) are a hoot as well, especially when Stimpy goes into “the pupa stage”.
The poses Tom McGrath drew for Ren are quite memorable, even if they have nothing to do with classic Ren and Stimpy, and Ren’s constipated angry voice is so bad its funny.