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 channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

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 Dece ...

'', 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 Sh ...

''. 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 i ...

and they first appeared on film in the pilot episode "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, co ...

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. ...

" 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 t ...

, 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 ...

, neon-pink eyes dilating into twin novae 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, t ...

." 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 d ...

'' 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 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 ' ...

(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. ...

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 ...

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 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 seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...

. 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 in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste ...

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-second ...

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 appeare ...

. 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'' ...

Characters

Ren Höek

Stimpy

History

Sexuality

References

External links