Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"

Ren and Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon (also known as Ren and Stimpy: The Lost Episodes) is an American adult animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi for the cable network Spike TV. The series was developed as an "extreme" revamp and spin-off of The Ren & Stimpy Show, which previously aired on the American children's cable network Nickelodeon, and is known for being significantly more vulgar and inappropriate than the original series. The series originally ran from August 3, 2001 to July 24, 2003, after a negative reception.[1]

Ren and Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon
Also known asRen and Stimpy: The Lost Episodes
GenreAdult animation
Black comedy
Off-colour humour
Created byJohn Kricfalusi
Directed byJohn Kricfalusi
Voices of
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6 (3 aired + 3 unaired)
Production
Running time22–44 minutes
Production company(s)
DistributorMTV Networks
Release
Original networkTNN/Spike TV
Audio formatDolby Digital
Original releaseJune 26 (2003-06-26) –
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)
Chronology
Preceded byThe Ren & Stimpy Show

History

The original Ren & Stimpy Show premiered alongside Rugrats and Doug on children's network Nickelodeon in 1991. The show's creator, John Kricfalusi, had many altercations with the network,[2][3] eventually culminating in his termination.[4] In 2002, about a decade after Kricfalusi's termination, Viacom (which owns Nickelodeon) contacted him to produce a new version of his series for an updated version of TNN, Spike TV, which was devoted to programming for male audiences. Kricfalusi said that TNN wanted an "extreme" version of The Ren & Stimpy Show.[5] TNN gave Kricfalusi greater control of the writing and contents of the episodes, and he produced six new cartoons aimed at adult audiences.[6] Some of the head storyboard artists, screenwriters, and animators returned from the original Ren and Stimpy series, such as Vincent Waller, Eddie Fitzgerald, and Jim Smith, but most of the animation and writing team were a new team of artists, specifically instructed and headed by Kricfalusi himself.

Some of the original voice cast members returned, with the notable exception of Billy West, original voice of Stimpy and voice of Ren and Mr. Horse after Kricfalusi's termination, who turned down the role, as he thought it was a terrible idea and that voicing either Ren or Stimpy in it would damage his career.[7] Eric Bauza was hired to replace West as Stimpy, while Kricfalusi reprised his roles as Ren and Mr. Horse. Cast members Harris Peet and Cheryl Chase also returned, and Kricfalusi's father Mike Kricfalusi and long-time childhood friend Tom Hay provided some voices.

All of the episodes were animated at Carbunkle Cartoons, in association with Big Star Productions. Kricfalusi had previously relied upon Carbunkle during the Nickelodeon years, and he subcontracted animation of many original series episodes (including "Space Madness", "Black Hole" and "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen") to that studio.

The new series began airing in June 2003 as part of an animation block also featuring Gary the Rat, Stripperella, and digitally remastered episodes of the original Ren and Stimpy series, subtitled "Digitally Remastered Classics". Kricfalusi wrote the first episode, "Onward and Upward", based on requests from fans from the Nickelodeon era.[6] The episode portrayed the characters as bisexual. Advertisers objected to some of the new show's content, particularly that of the risqué episode "Naked Beach Frenzy" which did not air in the show's original run, causing trouble with scheduling. The show stopped airing after three episodes when TNN's animation block was "put on hold".[8]

The remaining episodes were set to resume in August 2004 along with the premiere of Spike's new animated series Immigrants but both shows were pulled and never aired again.[9]

Kricfalusi shut down his Canada studio thereafter following a lawsuit filed by Carbunkle against Spümcø in the Canadian court system. In 2005, he announced that all of the Adult Party Cartoon cartoons that were fully produced were coming to DVD, which was released on July 18, 2006.[10]

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byStory byStoryboard byOriginal air dateProd.
code
1"Onward and Upward"John KricfalusiVincent WallerVincent Waller, Eddie Fitzgerald,
Fred Osmond, and Ray Morelli		June 26, 2003 (2003-06-26)APC08
Tired of living inside a homeless man's mouth, Ren and Stimpy move to classy new digs: the inside of a spittoon after Stimpy pools his secret stash of money into it.
2"Ren Seeks Help"John KricfalusiJohn Kricfalusi and Richard D. PurselSteve Stefanelli, Helder Mendonca, Jeff Amey,
Derek Bond, Tavis Silbernagel, and John Kricfalusi		July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03)APC07
After Ren does something so horrible to Stimpy that it leaves Stimpy in hysterical grief and Ren in guilt, he realizes how cruel he can be to his beloved pal and tries to apologize to him, but Stimpy refuses to forgive him, so Ren goes to see a psychiatrist. After a depressing walk from places to places, he walks to the "help" apartment and seeks psychiatric help from Dr. Horse, to whom he tells his dysfunctional early years, and why he became such an abusive psychopath in the first place.
3"Fire Dogs 2"John KricfalusiJohn Kricfalusi, Richard D. Pursel, Eddie Fitzgerald,
Vincent Waller, and Jim Smith		John Kricfalusi, Jim Smith, Eddie Fitzgerald,
Vincent Waller, and José Pou		July 17, 2003 (2003-07-17) (Part 1)
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24) (Part 2)		APC05
The fire chief was so impressed with Ren and Stimpy's heroic deeds from the first "Fire Dogs" cartoon that he mutates into Ralph Bakshi and moves in with them, and to also go out on a bachelor's life to eat pizza; however, Ren and Stimpy are disgusted by his habits.
4"Naked Beach Frenzy"John KricfalusiJohn Kricfalusi, Mike Kerr,
Jeff Amey, and Caroline J. Alvarez		Jeff Amey, Steve Stefanelli,
Matt Roach, and Nick Cross		July 18, 2006 (2006-07-18) (DVD)APC01
Ren and Stimpy enjoy a day at a nude beach.
5"Altruists"John KricfalusiVincent Waller, John Kricfalusi, Mike Kerr,
Eric Bauza, Jeff Amey, and Richard D. Pursel		Vincent Waller, Jeff Amey,
Nick Cross, and Matt Roach		July 18, 2006 (2006-07-18) (DVD)APC03
Ren Höek, renowned lover of humanity, and his friend Stimpy decide that they must do everything in their power to help a couple of misfortunates; a woman and her handicapped (headless) son, by building a house for them.
6"Stimpy's Pregnant"John KricfalusiJohn Kricfalusi, Jeff Amey, Richard D. Pursel,
Matt Roach, Steve Stefanelli, and Warren Leonheardt		John Kricfalusi, Jeff Amey, Richard D. Pursel,
Matt Roach, Steve Stefanelli, and Warren Leonheardt		July 18, 2006 (2006-07-18) (DVD)APC02
Stimpy becomes pregnant with Ren's baby, causing Ren to at first abuse, and then respect Stimpy as a partner. Ren is at first disgusted with Stimpy's pregnancy, as he is forced to deal with his incessant loving moments with his child, such as attempting to explicitly eat for two. When Stimpy goes into labour, Ren is forced to start a driveby with other people on the highway. With help from the police, Ren and Stimpy successfully get to the hospital, where their child is delivered by Dr. Horse, only to learn that Stimpy was just constipated, although Dr. Horse does not have the heart to tell the anticipated "parents" this and so the waste is made to behave like an infant male, and was named "Little Ricky".

Broadcast and DVD release

The episode "Man's Best Friend" was originally set to air in the original series' second season, but the episode was rejected by Nickelodeon due to disturbing violence and references to tobacco.[11] The episode did not air on television until 2003. TNN's official episode lineup on their website seemed to suggest that they consider the episode "Man's Best Friend" a part of the Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" series, but this episode in general is not counted as one of the three episodes from this series that did air in the US. The first new episode that aired on TNN was "Onward and Upward", and "Ren Seeks Help" was the second. The episode "Fire Dogs 2" was the last episode to air on TNN. The three episodes "Naked Beach Frenzy", "Altruists", and "Stimpy's Pregnant" did not originally air on TNN, though they did air on other networks overseas, including Fox in Italy and MTV in Poland. They were also included in the Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes DVD set that was released on July 18, 2006.

Reception

DVD Talk panned the series, writing, "Even with a few bright spots [...] [Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" is] a mostly dismal affair that will sharply divide fans of the series."[12]

PopMatters was more favorable, writing: "With snot as side dishes and vomit as gravy, the foulness is overwhelming, yet also clever. Kricfalusi's satire may be obvious, but he's not just making puke jokes for nausea's sake."[13]

See also

References
  1. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 662–663. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  2. Jonathan Valania (December 18, 1992), "Ren & Stimpy Creator Isn't Laughing At Comic Book", The Morning Call
  3. Matt Schimkowitz (June 3, 2013), "No, Sir, I Don't Like It: The Misfire That Was 'Ren and Stimpy's Adult Party Cartoon'", Vulture
  4. "'Ren & Stimpy' go on without their creator", USA Today, September 25, 1992
  5. "John K Stuff: Bio In Progress". Johnkstuff.blogspot.com. 2007-11-10. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  6. Lenburg, Jeff (2006). Who's who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-winning and Legendary Animators. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. pp. 187–188. ISBN 9781557836717. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  7. "Billy West Interview". UnderGroundOnline. Archived from the original on March 4, 2008.
  8. Hibberd, James (November 2003). "Spike Retooling Its Toon Strategy". Television Week. Archived from the original on June 3, 2004. Retrieved December 21, 2010.
  9. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2004/07/19/spike-tv-slates-immigrants-preview-ren-and-stimpy-return-16680/6663/
  10. "The Ren and Stimpy Show DVD news: John K. chats: talks about APC & other show DVDs, says R&SS to get 'Ultimate' DVDs with more extras!". TV Shows on DVD. April 24, 2005. Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  11. Mangels, Andy (January 1993). "Hollywood Heroes". Wizard. Wizard Entertainment (17): 32.
  12. Miller III, Randy (July 17, 2006). "Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". DVD Talk. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  13. Gibron, Bill (August 4, 2006). "Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
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