"Ren's Bitter Half" is the fifteenth episode from the third season of ''

The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...

''. It originally aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

in the United States on June 4, 1994.

Plot

Stimpy Ren Höek and Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat are the title characters in the Nickelodeon animated series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' and its 2003 spin-off '' Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"''. Series creator John Kricfalusi created the characters ...

works in a laboratory late at night, using

rubber bands A rubber band (also known as an elastic, gum band or lacky band) is a loop of rubber, usually ring or oval shaped, and commonly used to hold multiple objects together. The rubber band was patented in England on March 17, 1845, by Stephen Perry ...

, "colored water" and

Sterno Sterno is a brand of gel, jellied denatured alcohol sold in and meant to be burned directly in its can. Popular both in commercial food service and home entertainment, its primary uses are as a chafing fuel, fuel for heating chafing dishes in bu ...

to create a mysterious substance named XB-49. Ren walks in, where Stimpy reveals that he had become a genetic engineer, giving himself an additional

buttock The buttocks (: 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 of a laye ...

in a prior experiment. A furious Ren demands his dinner whom Stimpy should have cooked; he steals the substance and shakes it; it erupts on Ren, who splits into two individuals: one evil and one indifferent. Stimpy is joyful on the prospect of having a second best friend. Stimpy watches television with the two Rens; Evil Ren repeatedly hits Indifferent Ren who does not mind the abuse. Evil Ren throws the television on top of Indifferent Ren and Stimpy, causing Indifferent Ren to be rendered unconscious. Evil Ren finds a

Girl Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organization ...

at the door, who offers him cookies; he joyfully chews the cookies and spits it out in an attempt to disturb her. Stimpy unsuccessfully tries to make Indifferent Ren help; Evil Ren plugs in the television, electrocuting the duo. Stimpy takes Indifferent Ren for a walk, who does not react; Evil Ren fortifies the door with wooden planks to keep the duo out, which is unsuccessful; they return 12 hours later to Evil Ren having constructed a factory, where he destroys Stimpy's prized possessions, including his record of "

Happy Happy Joy Joy ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotionally unstab ...

", his mouse toy and his

litter box 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 Domestic rabbit, rabbits, ferrets, miniature pigs, small dogs, and other pets that ...

. Stimpy is traumatized by this incident; he passes out, waking in captivity with Evil Ren taking control of his laboratory. Evil Ren, glad to have become free to act on his maniacal desires, decides to splash XB-49 on himself to replicate more of him into an army, so he can conquer the world in a manner similar to the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. This attempt splits him into another Evil Ren without his intelligence and Hideously Evil Ren, a hideous female version of himself whom he is immediately attracted to. Evil Ren kidnaps a Minister to officiate their marriage; they beat other in love and leave in a car, pulling the wall holding Stimpy and Indifferent Ren together with a chain and ending the episode.

Cast

Billy West William Richard Werstine (born 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor, comedian, radio personality, impressionist and musician. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'', the title characte ...

as Ren, Stimpy, Evil Ren, Indifferent Ren, Hideously Evil Ren and the Minister * Cheryl Chase as the Girl Scout

Production

The episode is the first to be primarily directed by Michael Kim. Kim had been working in the animation industry since he was 16 and he had been recruited to work for

Spümcø Spümcø, 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 N ...

by series creator

John Kricfalusi Michael John Kricfalusi ( ; born September 9, 1955), known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, and former animator and voice actor. He is the creator of the animated television series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', which ...

. Kricfalusi considered Kim to be a highly talented individual, realizing his talent from his work on ''

The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil ''The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil'' is an American animated series. Produced by DIC Entertainment, DIC Animation City, It is a revival of Bob Clampett's ''Beany and Cecil''. Five half-hour episodes aired out of the thirteen in production du ...

''. He made him his protégé and convinced him to back off from working on '' Batman: The Animated Series'' at

Warner Bros. Animation Warner Bros. Animation Inc. (abbreviated as WBA) is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Group, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation divis ...

with higher pay. Kim worked on every episode as a layout artist until his firing, where Kricfalusi was dissatisfied at his inability to provide large amounts of layouts in little time during the production of

Man's Best Friend "Man's best friend" is a common title given to both domestic dogs, referring to their multi-millennia-long history of Human-canine bond, close relations, loyalty, friendship, and companionship with humans. The first recorded use of a related ph ...

. When Spümcø lost the contract for ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', Kim was among the studio's alumni who migrated to

Games Animation Nickelodeon Animation Studio Inc. (also known as Nickelodeon Animation Studios or Nick Animation and credited as Nickelodeon Productions on-screen) is an American animation studio owned by Paramount Global through the Nickelodeon Group. It has c ...

. Kim stated in an interview: "I just wanted to get back into doing shows more like the original episodes that were just centered around Ren and Stimpy. I was just feeling my way around, I had never directed before. But I had a good idea of what I wanted and basically drew it all myself". Kim had personally contacted

Bob Jaques Robert Jaques (born 1956) is a Canadian-American animator and animation director. He is best known for the television series ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', ''The Baby Huey Show'' and ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. He also was nominated for two Emmys in 1 ...

of Carbunkle Cartoons to allow the studio to provide their animation, who showed interest but rejected due to scheduled conflicts, so

Rough Draft Korea Rough Draft Studios, Inc. is an American animation production studio based in Glendale, California, with a sister studio Rough Draft Korea located in Seoul, South Korea. The studio was founded in Van Nuys, Los Angeles by Gregg Vanzo in 1991. Rou ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

provided the animation as usual.

Peter Avanzino Peter Avanzino (born May 26, 1962) is an American animation director. He has directed several episodes of '' Futurama'', and served as supervising director on the 6th and 7th seasons of the series. Avanzino works for Rough Draft Studios in Gl ...

was responsible for the episode's storyboards.

Reception

American journalist Thad Komorowski gave the episode four and a half out of five stars, praising Kim's supreme draftsmanship and the story and considered it to be one of the best episodes in the series.

Books

References

{{The Ren & Stimpy Show 1994 controversies 1994 American television episodes The Ren & Stimpy Show episodes Television episodes about cloning Television episodes about genetic engineering Television episodes about neo-Nazism Television episodes about the aftermath of The Holocaust Television episodes pulled from general rotation Television controversies in the United States Animation controversies in television