I was a huge fan of the old Ren & Stimpy cartoons when I was a kid, and I had heard about John Kricfalusi and his company, Spümcø, getting fired by Nickelodeon. Sure, I was a little upset about that and I had to admit, while I still watched them, the Games Animation cartoons didn't compare to the early Spümcø cartoons.
Then, years later, I heard that Spike TV was bringing back Ren & Stimpy with Kricfalusi placed back at the helm. I was so excited, I began doing the Happy Happy Joy Joy dance. If only I had known.
First of all, Billy West wasn't coming back. OK, initially, I had wondered if there may have been some bad blood between him and Spümcø. There wasn't. So why wouldn't he return to one of his best known roles? After watching the first episode of the new Ren & Stimpy, I found out why.
I had to force myself to sit through the first episode. The old Ren & Stimpy cartoons were funny because they were gross, these episodes, however, were just gross. I could've done without watching Ren and Stimpy happily eating phlegm, vomit, and various other bodily fluids, the sex scene was just wrong, and above all, did Kricfalusi forget how to write gags? The endearing charm of the original cartoons was gone, the pacing was off, and any sense of strange quirkiness was replaced with mere gross-out humor. I didn't laugh once the entire episode. The following episodes were a little better, but not by much. I was also bothered by Ren's altered personality. I understand he was supposed to be a jerk with a tendency for insanity. That was the basis for much of the humor in the original cartoon. Still he did have his nice moments and signs of vulnerability. In Adult Party Cartoon, he became a flat-out sadist with no redeemable qualities.
As for one final problem; The title of the new show was Ren & Stimpy's Adult Party Cartoon. For some reason, "adult cartoons" these days revolves around nothing more than sophomoric humor. I mean, come on, even South Park will touch on social commentary now and then!
Then, years later, I heard that Spike TV was bringing back Ren & Stimpy with Kricfalusi placed back at the helm. I was so excited, I began doing the Happy Happy Joy Joy dance. If only I had known.
First of all, Billy West wasn't coming back. OK, initially, I had wondered if there may have been some bad blood between him and Spümcø. There wasn't. So why wouldn't he return to one of his best known roles? After watching the first episode of the new Ren & Stimpy, I found out why.
I had to force myself to sit through the first episode. The old Ren & Stimpy cartoons were funny because they were gross, these episodes, however, were just gross. I could've done without watching Ren and Stimpy happily eating phlegm, vomit, and various other bodily fluids, the sex scene was just wrong, and above all, did Kricfalusi forget how to write gags? The endearing charm of the original cartoons was gone, the pacing was off, and any sense of strange quirkiness was replaced with mere gross-out humor. I didn't laugh once the entire episode. The following episodes were a little better, but not by much. I was also bothered by Ren's altered personality. I understand he was supposed to be a jerk with a tendency for insanity. That was the basis for much of the humor in the original cartoon. Still he did have his nice moments and signs of vulnerability. In Adult Party Cartoon, he became a flat-out sadist with no redeemable qualities.
As for one final problem; The title of the new show was Ren & Stimpy's Adult Party Cartoon. For some reason, "adult cartoons" these days revolves around nothing more than sophomoric humor. I mean, come on, even South Park will touch on social commentary now and then!