The Ren & Stimpy Show

The Ren and Stimpy Show (often just called Ren and Stimpy) is a Nickelodeon cartoon.

It starred Ren Hoek, an asthma-hound chihuahua (voiced by John Kricfalusi [1991 - 1993] and Billy West [1993 - 1996]), and Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat, a red cat with a blue bulbous nose and is not bright (voiced by Billy West).

The show ran on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1996.

Origins
In 1979, Canadian animator John Kricfalusi was working on low-budget cartoons of the time. At that time, he created two separate characters - one, a psychotic chihuahua and another, a dumb cat.

For the chihuahua, he tried out a Peter Lorre voice and acted him out. For the cat, he got the big bulbous nose from a Tweety Bird cartoon called "The Gruesome Twosome." A man he worked with named Joel Faynor suggested to Kricfausi to put them together and John said that was a good idea.

For Stimpy's voice, Kricfalusi contacted Billy West, who he had worked on the Beany and Cecil show with. He just asked him to do a lot of voices (not the deep, dumb voice that was common with characters like Stimpy), but nothing seemed to work. Then, he remembered him doing a Larry Fine impression and he asked him to do that.

In 1990, a pilot episode was made called "Big House Blues" and Nickelodeon picked up the show.

The Spumco years (1991 - 1993)
John K.'s (as he was often credited) animation studio Spumco made "R&S" for the first 2 years.

On August 11, 1991, the first "Ren and Stimpy" episode, "Stimpy's Big Day/The Big Shot" aired. From then on, the show was a subject of controversy, as well as a hit. Some memorable episodes included "Sven Hoek," "Powdered Toastman," "A Visit to Anthony," and "Stimpy's First Fart (later retitled "Son of Stimpy"). However, after season two, John got into a big fight with the Nick censors and they canned him and Spumco.

The Games years (1993 - 1996)
"Ren and Stimpy" scribe Bob Camp's animation studio Games Animation took over production of "R&S."


 * List of changes:
 * Games took over production from Spumco
 * Billy West took over the role of Ren from John K.
 * New writers came aboard...

Many people argue that the Games episodes sucked and were more controversial than the Spumco ones, eventually leading to the show's cancellation in 1996.

John K. has dismissed Games' episodes, notably "Stimpy's Cartoon Show" because, according to Kricfalusi in the DVD commentary for the episode, "the whole animation process is done completely backwards."

The final episode, "A Scooter for Yaksmas," aired November 14, 1996.

Nevertheless, "R&S" is still loved by fans the world over.

DVD releases
The First and Second Seasons Seasons Three and A Half-ish Seasons Five and Some More of Four

Recurring characters
Ren Hoek Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat Mr. Horse Mr. Pipe Mrs. Pipe George Liquor Muddy Mudskipper