Ren & Stimpy

Ren & Stimpy

The Ren & Stimpy Show, commonly referred to as simply Ren & Stimpy, is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. Originally produced by Spümcø (later Games Animation), the series aired from August 11, 1991, to December 16, 1995, spanning a total of five seasons and 52 episodes. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotionally unstable and psychopathic chihuahua dog; and Stimpy, a good-natured and dimwitted Manx cat. It is the third of Nickelodeon's original animated series—known as "Nicktoons"—alongside Rugrats and Doug—and is considered to be one of the progenitor series of the brand. The Ren & Stimpy Show has received widespread critical acclaim from critics and audiences, with praise going to its visuals, energy, animation and surreal nature. However, it has also generated significant controversy for its dark humor, sexual innuendos, adult humor, violence, and shock value. This controversy contributed to the production staff's altercations with Nickelodeon's Standards and Practices department, in addition to Spümcø's failure to deliver episodes on time, all of which led to Kricfalusi's termination from the show in 1992. Games Animation would produce the remaining three seasons of the series. One episode was initially left unaired until it was broadcast on MTV on October 20, 1996. Nevertheless, The Ren & Stimpy Show received highly positive reviews during its original run and has since developed a cult following. It is considered by many to have had a long-lasting influence on television animation. A revival for adult audiences, Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon", was produced by Kricfalusi and Spümcø and aired in 2003 on Spike TV. Only three episodes were aired before the series was cancelled due to both production delays and negative critical reception from both critics and fans of the original series, with three additional episodes (all incomplete at the time of the cancellation) being released straight to DVD in 2006. On August 5, 2020, Comedy Central announced that they had ordered a second revival of the series to be produced without the involvement of Kricfalusi.

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