2 Stupid Dogs

First of all, I find 2 Stupid Dogs to be much more visually enjoyable than Ren and Stimpy, funnier, and definitely cuter, but likeably, not annoyingly so. If one wants to succumb to making Ren and Stimpy comparisons, Cow and Chicken is a lot more similar (and is also better than Ren and Stimpy as well). The lunacy-prone personalities on that show have more in common with R&S than the 2 Stupid Dogs, who are much more easygoing, ordinary, and laid-back (except when they freak out). The scenarios are usually more innocent on 2 Stupid Dogs as well, and the humor isn't as crude. The visual style is also totally different from R&S, and looks very clean, simple, and stylish. The situations and adventures they get into are entertaining, but I'm not sure if many young children will understand some of the ironic references, like the darkly humorous name of a hair salon they visit printed on a wall sign in the background ("Curl Up and Dye").

Another thing about this show which I happen to love is the episodes featuring the updated Secret Squirrel, who used to have his own cartoons back in the 60's--you can look it up here on imdb.com. (As far as I know, reruns of those shows are also played on the Cartoon Network, but the new Secret Squirrel is a major improvement over the old one, in my opinion, and after watching a few episodes of the old one, I had no interest in watching any others.) Although I like the 2 Stupid Dogs a lot, Secret Squirrel is my favorite part. I think Morocco Mole is my favorite character--he wears a little fez and black round glasses, and he's adorably and hilariously slow-witted ("Do you remember where we first met, Morocco?" "Ummm... the gelatin store?"). The characters on the Secret Squirrel episodes are rich, numerous, and diverse, (characters they don't list in the credits for the show here are SS's female crimefighting friend whose name I don't remember, the assorted villians, and the chief may have a beautiful secretary as well, I'm not positive... but don't they usually?) and there seems to be more action and drama going on in them than on the regular 2 Stupid Dogs episodes. It's disappointing that they didn't develop it into its own series, because it would have been great.

I highly recommend this show. It's one of my favorites on the Cartoon Network, along with Cow and Chicken, and Dexter's Laboratory, the latter of which is in the same type of visual style as 2 Stupid Dogs. (Johnny Bravo and The Powerpuff Girls also share this style.)

What? a Ren and Stimpy rip-off? isn't that cute... BUT IT'S WRONG!

If at all, this is a *parody* of that kind of cartoons and it appeals to a different (and probably smaller) audience. This is obvious in "Cartoon canines" episode: the two dogs learn how to be "funny", Ren and Stimpy way, in an army camp (Drill Sergeant: "No cutesy in my corp, only funny cartoons! You know, lots of butt jokes!").

If i recall correctly, at one time the dogs even morph into something very close to Ren and Stimpy! From the drawing style i suspect this is one of the first episodes to be conceived, even if it was aired later.

2 stupid dogs was made with a deceptively innocent animation style: smooth shapes, reassuring colors, attention to detail. The jazzy soundtrack is perfect, and the sound effects are purposefully unrelated to the action they try to describe.

The stories are not silly, but minimal (some episodes can be narrated in one sentence) with exaggerated particulars. They can be poetic, satyric, just plain silly and, parents beware, with some extremely sick or revolting details. Usually i can't stand revolting stuff that I usually perceive as a cheap way to make things interesting by tickling istinct, but here it's just the authors' fantasy running amok. I enjoy every single episode. Nobody dare to miss the one in black and white!

Little Dog is the best characterization of a little dog i have ever seen. Big Dog, my personal fave, seems just a lazy glutton, but when he decides to talk... listen to him as a foreign ambassador ("Drop all cares about politics, business, and the foreign situation. You will be astonished to find the world will manage to struggle on, somehow.") The big man and Red are awesome too! gee... better i stop writing this and watch a Two stupid dogs videotape for the hundredth time.

Vote: 10/10

I could never get enough of watching 2 stupid dogs. One of my favourite eps was the one about the boots (which was mentioned earlier). The small one finds this can, and he loses it. The can rolls down some road, towards a supermarket, and ends up, inside the supermarket, right in front of the entrance, which was one of those automatic doors. (See that other post someone made about the boots episode to read what happened after what I just said.)

I love this show. I give it 5 stars!!

2 Stupid Dogs is a great cartoon. It is one of the first cartoons to be made that was directly influenced by the style of Ren and Stimpy without being a clone of it like so many that came out in this era. It was Hanna Barberra's first cartoon that was creator driven in 30 years and it was the show that began HB's current animation craze with Dexter's Lab, Cow and Chicken, Johnny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls, and others. Created by Donavan Cook, this is a very funny and at times rude show. The best episodes are the 3 involving "Red", 3 episodes mocking and mixing up old the old fairy tales the 3 Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, and Hansel and Gretle. These episodes were written by a former writer for Ren and Stimpy, Richard Pursel, and R&S creator John Kricfalusi is credited with "tidbits of bad taste". I would recommend this show to anyone who likes funny cartoons. It is a very influential show because as I stated earlier, it began Hanna Barberra's drive back to creator driven shows. And of course it's worth watching for the show's famous tag line....Isn't that cute....BUT IT'S WRONG!!!!!

2 Stupid Dogs is another one of the best cartoons on Cartoon Network. I thought it was funny that the Little Dog is scared of the cat and every time when the Little Dog backs off, the Big Dog comes in and just barks once and then the cat drops to the ground with fear! Plus also on this show we also got to have some new episodes of Super Secret Squirrel and like wise his sidekick, Morocco Mole. Plus I thought all the episodes were funny and all of 2 Stupid Dogs and some of the new episodes Hanna-Barbera made of Secret Squirrel. Hanna-Barbera still knows how to make good cartoons and never fails to entertain me. This was also one of my favorite cartoons from the 1990's.