Ren & Stimpy 'Adult Party Cartoon'

Ren and Stimpy were two of the most cherished icons from my childhood. "Were" is the operative word in that sentence after I saw the premiere of their new "Adult Party Cartoon" on the National Network (TNN). Anyone who grew up with Ren and Stimpy remembers the psychological drama of "Space Madness," the harebrained schemes of "The Boy Who Cried Rat," and the inspired nonsense of "Robin Hoek." None of those classic cartoons' qualities were present last night. Instead, we got crude sound effects and raunchy jokes about homoeroticism and consumption of human waste.

Now, I have absolutely nothing against people with alternative sexual orientations, but I believe there's a right way and a wrong way to present them in the media, and Ren and Stimpy's new show failed miserably at it. Sure, there were various hints at the two title characters' relationship scattered throughout the old show (like Ren's job as a romance novelist), but seriously, didn't Kricfalusi and Co. have any second thoughts about the whole "pitcher and catcher" thing? I seriously doubt that "Queer as Folk," the award-winning HBO show that presents homosexuals as believable people instead of walking stereotypes, would ever resort to that kind of humor. Seriously, it felt less like a Ren and Stimpy cartoon and more like a piece of perverted fanfiction from a disturbed 12-year-old girl.

The premiere episode was the first sign of the show's inevitable downfall. TNN marketed the show as a "Cartoon for F***ing Adults," gave it a TV-MA rating, and put it in the same block of programming with a foul-mouthed anthropomorphic rat lawyer and a crimefighter named Stripperella. All this, presumably, to compete with Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and Comedy Central's "South Park." And for what? "Ren And Stimpy's Adult Party Cartoon" lacks the heart of "South Park" and the wit of "Home Movies." Not to mention how the show's TV-MA rating makes it unfit for children, although children are the only people who might find the show even remotely funny. "Ha ha ha, they're eating boogers! I can eat boogers too! When I grow up, I wanna live in a spittoon just like Ren and Stimpy!"

In closing, Billy West made the right decision after he read the script and refused to lend his voice acting talent to the show.

The hard to please Critic

I was sitting down on June 26th getting ready for SpikeTv's new animation line up. With New Ren and Stimpy, Gary the rat, stripperella and Ren and stimpy classics I was set.

When ren and stimpy came on I was sitting there with my mouth open with shock. There having anal sex. Then there in a spit jar at a bar eating snot,vomit and all the other stuff. I was trying to laugh but couldn't. The Second Episode

Well i thought this one is about ren and ren only. Ren goes to a horse therapist becuase he did something to Stimpy. Ren's childhood comes to life. At the end he kills a horse. It still didn't appeal to me.

3rd episode

Hmm a new installment of firedogs. There were moments i laughed. There were moments i felt like puking. It was ok.

Firedogs Part 2 its ok but as nothing to do with The firedogs.

So like 4 episodes and nothing???

Overall Grade: D+

Ren and Stimpy is back! I've been waiting for this for 10 years and I'm not disappointed! Ren is still a complete a**hole and Stimpy is still an eediot. Mr Horse has made an appearence and hopefully we'll see Muddy Mudskipper and Powdered Toast Man as well before long. The perfectly selected music and sound effects that added to the enjoyment before are still there.

After John K "left" the original series it rapidly downhill and was, thankfully, cancelled. Now the he's back at the helm and no longer pretending that it's a kids cartoon (which it was never meant to be) we can finally see the true humour come out.

The first episode was a little bit shaky, but I'm blaming that on the fact the creators where a little rusty after all this time! The rest of the series, so far has been spot on. It was so nice to see an old first season episode (Jail House Blues) sneaked in last night. Can we have Space Madness too, please, pretty please?

I found out about this cartoon about a week ago and I was amazed at how it got past me so easily. They don't air this cartoon where I come from but I should've at least known about it because I am a number one fan of John K and his Spumco crew. So I downloaded the first two episodes. Wow! I am so disappointed by the so-called fans who dislike this new series. The episodes are brilliantly funny in premise and hysterically funny animation wise! The first episode is just short of a masterpiece, a great send up on the cartoon that John was forced to abandon and it paves the way for the new team to fulfill their duties. This unfortunately ill recieved episode was followed up by "Ren seeks help" a grand epic that explores the twisted youth of Ren Hoek. This episode is a must see and it is filled with animation gags that most people won't even pick up. The new voice of stimpy grew on me and, while I really do like his voice, Billy West's departure was much needed. John K does a great job at doing the voice of Ren, it sounds very similar to his original work but with a great new twist that makes the character seem that much funnier. John K clearly loves to animate the torture of animals and the stupid behaviours of the creatures and I love to watch it, this is one of the things that was lost when Games took over the show way back when! But now the show is back and me and my buddy are both two happy fellows who could not stop laughing at these great episodes!

[1 star out of 5]

Now, this isn't just another review that says that the new Ren and Stimpy is nothing like the OLD Ren and Stimpy. I can tell that when John K. was given the OK to once again recreate R&S, he wanted to steer as far away as possible from the Nickelodeon version (after all, he was fired from his own show). But THIS version of the show is just unsettling.

Let me do a quick comparison of a few other cartoons. Now, a little bit of "bathroom humor" can be seen on The Simpsons from time to time, and even MORE can be seen on South Park. But calling the new Ren and Stimpy bathroom humor would be an understatement. The stuff seen on this show is just disgusting for no reason. Ren and Stimpy living in a spittoon eating people's snot and vomit -- I'm sorry, HOW is that funny? If you're going to be gross, shouldn't it at least remotely make sense?

I was looking at the R&S page at IMDb's affiliate site, TV Tome, and of course it had the different synopses for the episodes. When I read some of them, I said, "Holy living F!" Stimpy getting pregnant by Ren? Okay, last time I checked, Stimpy was a guy. I know this is a cartoon, but that's just stupid. And there were a few episodes that showed Ren and Stimpy having oral sex or something, and I'm not homophobic or anything, but I agree with the reviewer that said that that's not exactly the kind of thing that people want to see on "the first network for men."

A lot of Adult Party Cartoon lovers say that the show needs to find its niche, as do the other Spike TV cartoons (Striperella and the hilarious Gary the Rat), which is why only three episodes were shown and the rest held back until sometime this summer (supposedly). But these people are overlooking an important point: there were more than three episodes of Striperella and Gary the Rat shown. In fact, some of the Ren and Stimpy episodes they showed came from the Nickelodeon years (and no, all of them were NOT first parts of sequels, as some fans will probably argue).

I know this is hard to do, but the new Ren and Stimpy is even more disturbing than the OLD Ren and Stimpy. I'm not 100% sure if it's actually coming back, but it's not like I care, either.

Anthony Rupert