Stimpy on:  
[Wikipedia]  
[Google]  
[Amazon]
Marland T. "Ren" Höek and Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat, created by
John Kricfalusi
Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, voice actor and former animator. He is the creator of the animated television series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', which was ...
, are the
title characters in the
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
animated series ''
The Ren & Stimpy Show
''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Decemb ...
'', and its 2003 reboot ''
Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"
''Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'' is an 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/reboot of ''The Ren & Stimpy S ...
''. Kricfalusi created the characters during his stay at
Sheridan College
Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology) is a public polytechnic institute of technology located in the west-Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada.
Founded in ...
and they first appeared on film in the
pilot episode
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
"Big House Blues". Ren is a scrawny, emotionally unstable and sociopathic
”Asthma Hound” Chihuahua, and his best friend Stimpy is a dim-witted, good-natured
Manx cat
The Manx cat (, in earlier times often spelled Manks) is a breed of domestic cat (''Felis catus'') originating on the Isle of Man, with a naturally occurring mutation that shortens the tail. Many Manx have a small stub of a tail, but Manx cats ...
. The show portrays their wacky, bizarre, and often
surreal
Surreal may refer to:
*Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art
* "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki
* ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze
*Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor
...
adventures.
Characters
Ren Höek
Marland T. "Ren" Höek is a scrawny "
Asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...
-
Hound
A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey.
Description
Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. T ...
"
Chihuahua. Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman of ''Animation World Magazine'' described Ren as scrawny,
dyspeptic and violently
psychotic
Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...
, who loses his mind occasionally in a cumulative process resulting in him becoming, in Goodman's words, a "screaming
klaxon
A horn is a sound-making device that can be equipped to motor vehicles, buses, bicycles, trains, trams (otherwise known as streetcars in North America), and other types of vehicles. The sound made usually resembles a "honk" (older vehicles) or a ...
, neon-pink eyes dilating into twin
nova
A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...
e inches above his jagged, monolithic
teeth
A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...
."
Andy Meisler of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described Ren as "adventurous", "intelligent", and "emotionally brittle".
Ren has a fairly long, rat-like, pink tail. However, in the first two seasons, Ren's tail constantly disappeared and was even
docked by
George Liquor
George Liquor (often taking his epithet as George Liquor, American) is a cartoon character created by John Kricfalusi. Liquor is most famous for his appearances on ''The Ren & Stimpy Show''. He is considered Kricfalusi's signature character and ...
in the season 2 episode "Dog Show", while getting Ren and Stimpy both ready for an upcoming
dog show
A dog show is an event where dogs are exhibited. A conformation show, also referred to as a ''breed show'', is a kind of dog show in which a judge, familiar with a specific dog breed, evaluates individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs ''c ...
(even though Stimpy is a cat) although it continued to appear afterwards in the episode, as well as episodes afterwards. This was because during production of 1990's Big House Blues, John had to animate the toilet scene leading to the "Big Sleep" freakout, as he tried to mix limited animation with smooth tidbits and wanted Ren to move sploply, his tail was a pain to animate, later on he swore to not animate a tail again. After season 2, Ren's tail had a rare form of
continuity throughout the show, not even appearing at all in most episodes. In most of the episodes, Ren's ambition is to develop huge pectoral muscles. In the season 3 episode "Ren's Pecs", that is accomplished with the help of Stimpy. His wrestling name is "Mad Dog Höek".
Kricfalusi originally voiced Ren in a manner that he describes as "a bad
imitation
Imitation (from Latin ''imitatio'', "a copying, imitation") is a behavior whereby an individual observes and replicates another's behavior. Imitation is also a form of that leads to the "development of traditions, and ultimately our culture. I ...
of
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
."
Billy West
William Richard Werstine (born April 16, 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'' and several subsequent projects, the title characters of '' Doug'' ...
said that he auditioned to play Ren; the creators of the series believed that having West—who was also voicing the title character in fellow charter Nicktoon ''
Doug'' at the time—voice both Ren and Stimpy would give him too large a workload.
West voiced Ren after Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi; Kricfalusi would return for the
TNN episodes and unaired episodes of ''The Ren & Stimpy Show''.
Chris Edgerly
Chris Edgerly (born August 6, 1969) is an American voice actor, comedian and singer.
Life and career
Edgerly provided the voice of Peter Potamus on the Adult Swim animated series, ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', in addition to several g ...
would voice the character in the game ''
Nicktoons MLB
''Nicktoons MLB'' is a baseball video game released for the Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS platforms. The game was developed by High Voltage Software and published by 2K Play in 2011. It features playable characters from Nickelodeon ...
''. In the pilot episode, Pierre Decelles provided Ren's signature diabolical laughter, while West performed Ren's laugh in the series. His
catchphrase
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
is "You eediot", and he also uses variations of "What is your problem, you sick little monkey?", which is similar to a quote by Lorre in ''
The Maltese Falcon'': "You... you imbecile. You bloated idiot. You stupid fat-head, you."
Kricfalusi complained about Nickelodeon executives requesting that Ren have "a softer side".
Bill Wray
Bill Wray (born Shreveport, Louisiana) is an American musician, composer and producer. His performing career spanned the mid 1970s through the early 1980s. Since then he has written and produced a variety of artists from glam metal to cajun. He is ...
said that Ren was his favorite character to write for; Wray described Ren as "fun" because "you can make him mean." In 1993 he added that "It drives me crazy when I tell people I work on the show and they always say, 'Make Ren meaner.'"
Stimpy
Stimpson J. Cat is a 3 year old mildly overweight red and white, Manx cat, with a blue nose, purple eyelids, no tail, paws with gloves and four fingers that have fingernails, human-style
buttocks
The buttocks (singular: buttock) are two rounded portions of the exterior anatomy of most mammals, located on the posterior of the pelvic region. In humans, the buttocks are located between the lower back and the perineum. They are composed ...
, flat human feet, four wiggly toes and a brain the size of a
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...
. He is portrayed as intelligent enough in some episodes to be a chef or a scientist and sometimes as nonsensically stupid. Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman of ''Animation World Magazine'' described Stimpy as "obese" and "brain-damaged."
Andy Meisler of ''The New York Times'' described Stimpy as "bosom", "barrel-chested" and "good-natured".
Stimpy's trademark facial expression is a blissfully ignorant smile with his
tongue
The tongue is a muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surfa ...
hanging out. When he gets excited, he says his catchphrase, "Oh, Joy!", or simply "Jooooooy". Stimpy is named after an
art school
An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...
classmate of Kricfalusi, whose nickname was "Stimpy Cadogen" ("Killer Cadoogen" was Stimpy's
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
in several episodes and in a few others he is referred to as Stimpleton Cadogen). West said that he based Stimpy's voice on an "amped up"
Larry Fine
Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges.
Early life
Fine was born to a Russian Je ...
of the
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...
.
West described Stimpy as one of his favorite characters.
[Billy West
William Richard Werstine (born April 16, 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'' and several subsequent projects, the title characters of '' Doug'' ...]
''. Retrieved October 26, 2006. Stimpy was inspired in Kricfalusi's former girlfriend and Canadian animator
Lynne Naylor
Rae Naylor (born November 7, 1953) is a Canadian animator, artist, designer, director, and producer for television. She is best known for co-creating DreamWorks' ''The Mighty Ones'', co-founding the animation studio Spümcø with John Kricfa ...
.
Stimpy likes to create destructive electronic devices. Andy Meisler of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' says he feels a fixation for "sensory pleasures of fresh
kitty litter
A litter box, also known as a sandbox, cat box, litter tray, cat pan, potty, pot or litter pan, is an indoor feces and urine collection box for cats, as well as rabbits, ferrets, miniature pigs, small dogs, and other pets that instinctively ...
".
Wray described Stimpy as his favorite character to draw. Wray said that Stimpy does not have "a huge range of emotion."
West declined to voice Stimpy in the ''
Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"
''Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'' is an 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/reboot of ''The Ren & Stimpy S ...
'' because he believed that the series was not funny and that voicing Stimpy in it would damage his career.
Consequently,
Eric Bauza
Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian-American voice actor and comedian. His most-known roles include Stimpy on '' Ren and Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'', Foop on ''The Fairly OddParents'' and its reboot ''Fairly Odder'', Thunderbolt Ro ...
would instead voice the character and reprised the voice role in the ''
Nicktoons MLB
''Nicktoons MLB'' is a baseball video game released for the Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS platforms. The game was developed by High Voltage Software and published by 2K Play in 2011. It features playable characters from Nickelodeon ...
'' video game.
History
In a 1993 interview by a comics magazine,
Bill Wray
Bill Wray (born Shreveport, Louisiana) is an American musician, composer and producer. His performing career spanned the mid 1970s through the early 1980s. Since then he has written and produced a variety of artists from glam metal to cajun. He is ...
stated that he believes that Kricfalusi created Ren and Stimpy around 1978 for Kricfalusi and his friends' personal amusement in college; Kricfalusi attended
Sheridan College
Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology) is a public polytechnic institute of technology located in the west-Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada.
Founded in ...
in Canada. Wray said that he had initially "forgotten about" the characters. When
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
requested a new series, Kricfalusi assembled a presentation called "Your Gang", similar to a children's show with a live action host presenting various cartoons. Each cartoon
parodied a genre, and ''Ren & Stimpy'' parodied the "cat and dog" genre. Vanessa Coffey, the producer of the show, said that she did not like the general idea, but that she liked the characters.
Kricfalusi originally created Ren and Stimpy as the pets of
George Liquor
George Liquor (often taking his epithet as George Liquor, American) is a cartoon character created by John Kricfalusi. Liquor is most famous for his appearances on ''The Ren & Stimpy Show''. He is considered Kricfalusi's signature character and ...
and
Jimmy The Idiot Boy
Jimmy may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy
* ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma
* ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...
.
Kricfalusi received inspiration for Ren from a black and white photograph of a chihuahua in a sweater next to a woman's feet. The original photograph is called "New York City, 1946" and was taken by
Elliott Erwitt
Elliott Erwitt (born Elio Romano Erwitt, July 26, 1928) is a French-born American advertising and documentary photographer known for his black and white candid photos of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings. He has been a member ...
.
[''Ren and Stimpy: In the Beginning'' featurette, ''The Ren & Stimpy Show: The Complete First and Second Seasons'' DVD] He received inspiration for Stimpy's design by a
Tweety Bird
Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for th ...
cartoon called ''
A Gruesome Twosome
''A Gruesome Twosome'' is a 1945 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on June 9, 1945, and stars Tweety.
This is the last Tweety film directed by Clampett, following 1942's ''A Tale of Two K ...
'' where the cats in the animation had big noses.
The relationship of both Ren and Stimpy was inspired in the relationship of
Gandy Goose
Gandy Goose is a Terrytoons cartoon character who first appeared in the 1938 short ''Gandy the Goose''. He is frequently paired with Sourpuss, a cat, beginning in the 1939 short ''Hook Link and Sinker''. Sourpuss' first appearance was in the 1939 ...
and Sourpuss from
Terrytoons
Terrytoons was an American animation studio in New Rochelle, New York, that produced animated cartoons for theatrical release from 1929 to 1973 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in name only). Terrytoons was founded by ...
.
Sexuality
From its start, there were hints at the characters' sexuality. During the
Spümcø
Spumco, Inc. (stylized as SPüMCø) was an American animation studio that was active from 1989 to 2005 and based in Los Angeles, California. The studio was best known for working on the first two seasons of ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' for Nickelodeo ...
years of the show on Nickelodeon, a
running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...
would have Ren and Stimpy engaging in something intimate (such as Stimpy bathing Ren during the episode "Nurse Stimpy"), with Stimpy assuring Ren that "no one will know" about the private and rather embarrassing encounter, only to pan towards a window in the room and showing several characters (including
Mr. Horse) witnessing the event. The episode "Svën Höek" shows Stimpy having a romantic affair with Ren's cousin Svën, including an intimate "private" moment in Stimpy's litterbox and scrawling "Svën + Stimpy" all over the walls. This was dropped after Spümcø was fired from the show.
Kricfalusi discussed the sexuality of the characters in a January 28, 1997 interview with the ''
San Francisco Examiner
The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863.
Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporat ...
'', confirming their sexuality, saying: "Totally. In Ren's case, it's not completely by choice. He'd rather have a beautiful human woman if he could get away with it. Since he can't, Stimpy's easy. Stimpy's madly in love with Ren."
Jeffery P. Dennis said in the journal article "The Same Thing We Do Every Night: Signifying Same-Sex Desire in Television Cartoons" that Ren and Stimpy are within a world where "
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
identities cannot exist", so the series portrays same-sex romantic desire as "anomalous and perverse". Dennis added that the critics of the series "made much" of the gay connotations of Ren and Stimpy, such as their sharing of a house and bed, their reminiscing of a wedding, and Stimpy's "giving birth" to flatulence.
Dennis said that Ren is "socially and sexually" the aggressor in the relationship; in addition he says that some episodes portray Stimpy as "a stereotypical 1950s wife" who cleans, cooks food, and irons Ren's underwear. Dennis stated that the aspects "may adhere to a reading of a sexual relationship." Dennis concludes that the relationship between Ren and Stimpy is a parody of
heterosexual
Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...
relationships rather than an actual gay or an actual romantic relationship. Dennis adds that in other situations Ren and Stimpy are "read more appropriately" as coworkers, enemies, friends, and house pets. Dennis argues that
Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''.
Yogi Bear was the first ...
and
Boo-Boo are more consistently gay than Ren and Stimpy.
Dennis also stated that the scenes of Ren and Stimpy as a couple emulate a heterosexual couple instead of being a union between two men.
In a response to Dennis' statements, Martin Goodman of ''
Animation World Network
Animation World Network (often just "AWN") is an online publishing group that specializes in resources for animators, with an extensive website offering news, articles and links for professional animators and animation fans. Specifically, AWN cov ...
'' said that Kricfalusi had
outed
Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...
Ren and Stimpy as gay and adds that while the ''
Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"
''Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'' is an 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/reboot of ''The Ren & Stimpy S ...
'' had not yet been released and therefore Ren and Stimpy had not been explicitly portrayed as gay, Ren and Stimpy would qualify as a consistently gay couple since they share a bed, live as partners, discuss a planned wedding, and had a "child", with the child being
flatulence
Flatulence, in humans, is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environm ...
.
References
External links
Ren and Stimpyat
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
Archivedfrom the original on January 9, 2017.
{{authority control
Animated duos
Characters created by John Kricfalusi
Anthropomorphic cats
Anthropomorphic dogs
Fictional duos
Fictional inventors
LGBT characters in animation
Male characters in animated series
Nicktoon characters
Television characters introduced in 1990
Animated characters introduced in 1990
Ren and Stimpy
''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Decemb ...
Television duos