I've stated in some of my other reviews that the 1990s were the golden-age of animated television, and the second golden-age of animation in general. Well, this show here is one of the main reasons for that. "The Ren & Stimpy Show". Ren Hoek is a psychotic, short-tempered, greedy chihuahua. Stimpson J. Cat (nicknamed "Stimpy") is Ren's blissfully stupid best friend, a cat who loves his litter box, watching cartoons and "The Happy Happy Joy Joy Song" by Stinkywizzleteets. Ren is often mean to Stimpy. He calls him names, he slaps him, he chokes him, and one time he even plotted to kill him. But despite this, Ren really does care about Stimpy. Ren's softer side is actually seen quite often in the earlier episodes. These two crazy animals get into many crazy situations in a style reminiscent to the animation golden-age. Other characters on this show include... Mr. Horse: a horse who always has a different job; Powdered Toast Man: a superhero made of toast; Haggis McHaggis: a short Scottish man who was once the star of a hit cartoon show; Wilbur Cobb: a crazy, senile old man; Muddy Mudskipper: a celebrity who seems nice on TV, but is a greedy jerk in real life. Not unlike Krusty the clown from "The Simpsons". There are also many unnamed characters like the fireman, the fat lady, or the married couple who's faces are never shown.
Ren & Stimpy was the third of the original three Nicktoons (with the first two being "Doug" and "Rugrats"). And it's also the best. Now, "Rugrats" was great... in it's early years, and "Doug" was great too, but "Ren & Stimpy" was just... amazing! As I've said earlier, it was kind of like the classic animated short films from the golden-age (1930s-'50s), but with a twist. It had a lot of classic Warner Bros., Disney, MGM, and Hanna-Barbera elements. Like the classical music, the zany slapstick humor, the witty and sarcastic humor, or the fact that Ren and Stimpy were almost completely different characters in a different time period in many episodes. Sometimes they were nature show hosts, sometimes they were spacemen, sometimes they were pets, sometimes they were bums looking for food and a job, but most of the time they were just two friends living in a house together.
At the same time "Ren & Stimpy" was an homage to the animation golden-age, it was also a satire. It made fun of politics and society, while it also referenced lots of cartoons and other things from the '50s and '60s, and it had surprisingly a lot of adult references for a cartoon airing on a kids network (though a lot of these scenes were cut). "Ren & Stimpy" was truly a brilliant cartoon. "Ren & Stimpy" also had a lot of insane, gross, and twisted humor, but it was handled so perfectly that it actually made the show even funnier!
Also, the animation on this show was fantastic. Everything moves smoothly, the way the characters' lips move match their words perfectly. Especially in season 2. The faces on the characters have the perfect blend of real human expressions and extremely unrealistic ones, and it's great to see the detail and effort John Kricfalusi put into these characters. The episodes "Sven Hoek" and "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen" are the best examples of this wonderful animation I'm talking about. They are some of the best animation ever done in cartoon history.
"The Ren & Stimpy Show" was just great. It had everything. Amazing voice acting, brilliant writing, hilariously off-the-wall characters, and superb animation. It truly is a masterpiece in comedy and cartoons. Not only the best Nicktoon, or one of the best '90s cartoons, but one of the best animated TV shows of all time. Maybe even THE best animated TV show of all time. I am not kidding. If you are a cartoon fan and haven't yet seen "The Ren & Stimpy Show", you are really missing out. It may not be on TV very often nowadays, but a lot of the episodes have been posted on video websites such as YouTube, and DailyMotion. Also, the entire show was released on DVD in three volumes back in 2004 and 2005. I highly suggest buying those DVDs on eBay or Amazon.com.
Rating: 10/10 "Amazing"
Ren & Stimpy was the third of the original three Nicktoons (with the first two being "Doug" and "Rugrats"). And it's also the best. Now, "Rugrats" was great... in it's early years, and "Doug" was great too, but "Ren & Stimpy" was just... amazing! As I've said earlier, it was kind of like the classic animated short films from the golden-age (1930s-'50s), but with a twist. It had a lot of classic Warner Bros., Disney, MGM, and Hanna-Barbera elements. Like the classical music, the zany slapstick humor, the witty and sarcastic humor, or the fact that Ren and Stimpy were almost completely different characters in a different time period in many episodes. Sometimes they were nature show hosts, sometimes they were spacemen, sometimes they were pets, sometimes they were bums looking for food and a job, but most of the time they were just two friends living in a house together.
At the same time "Ren & Stimpy" was an homage to the animation golden-age, it was also a satire. It made fun of politics and society, while it also referenced lots of cartoons and other things from the '50s and '60s, and it had surprisingly a lot of adult references for a cartoon airing on a kids network (though a lot of these scenes were cut). "Ren & Stimpy" was truly a brilliant cartoon. "Ren & Stimpy" also had a lot of insane, gross, and twisted humor, but it was handled so perfectly that it actually made the show even funnier!
Also, the animation on this show was fantastic. Everything moves smoothly, the way the characters' lips move match their words perfectly. Especially in season 2. The faces on the characters have the perfect blend of real human expressions and extremely unrealistic ones, and it's great to see the detail and effort John Kricfalusi put into these characters. The episodes "Sven Hoek" and "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen" are the best examples of this wonderful animation I'm talking about. They are some of the best animation ever done in cartoon history.
"The Ren & Stimpy Show" was just great. It had everything. Amazing voice acting, brilliant writing, hilariously off-the-wall characters, and superb animation. It truly is a masterpiece in comedy and cartoons. Not only the best Nicktoon, or one of the best '90s cartoons, but one of the best animated TV shows of all time. Maybe even THE best animated TV show of all time. I am not kidding. If you are a cartoon fan and haven't yet seen "The Ren & Stimpy Show", you are really missing out. It may not be on TV very often nowadays, but a lot of the episodes have been posted on video websites such as YouTube, and DailyMotion. Also, the entire show was released on DVD in three volumes back in 2004 and 2005. I highly suggest buying those DVDs on eBay or Amazon.com.
Rating: 10/10 "Amazing"