Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"

Ren and Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon (also known as Ren and Stimpy: The Lost Episodes) is an American 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 of The Ren & Stimpy Show, which previously aired on the American cable network Nickelodeon, and is known for being significantly more vulgar and inappropriate than the original series. The series originally ran from June 26 to July 24, 2003, and was abruptly removed from the network after just three episodes. It received negative reception from both fans and critics.[1]

Ren and Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon
Also known asRen and Stimpy: The Lost Episodes
GenreAdult animation
Black comedy
Created byJohn Kricfalusi
Directed byJohn Kricfalusi
Voices of
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6 (3 aired + 3 unaired)
Production
Running time22–44 minutes
Production company(s)
DistributorViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks
Release
Original networkSpike TV
Audio formatDolby Digital
Original releaseJune 26 (2003-06-26) –
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24)
Chronology
Preceded byThe Ren & Stimpy Show

History

The original Ren & Stimpy Show premiered alongside Rugrats and Doug as one of the original Nicktoons on children's network Nickelodeon in 1991. The show's creator, John Kricfalusi, had many altercations with the network,[2][3] eventually culminating in his termination.[4] In 2002, about a decade after Kricfalusi's termination, Viacom (which owns Nickelodeon) contacted him to produce a new version of his series for an updated version of TNN, Spike TV, which was devoted to programming for male audiences. Kricfalusi said that TNN wanted an "extreme" version of The Ren & Stimpy Show.[5] TNN gave Kricfalusi greater control of the writing and contents of the episodes, and he produced six new cartoons aimed at adult audiences.[6] Some of the head storyboard artists, screenwriters, and animators returned from the original Ren and Stimpy series, such as Vincent Waller, Eddie Fitzgerald, and Jim Smith, but most of the animation and writing team were a new team of artists, specifically instructed and headed by Kricfalusi himself. In a similar vein to the original series, Kricfalusi ran into problems with meeting production deadlines, with only three out of the nine episodes ordered by the network being completed on time.[7]

Some of the original voice cast members returned, with the notable exception of Billy West, original voice of Stimpy and second voice of Ren and Mr. Horse, who turned down the role, as he did not consider it funny and that participating in it would damage his career.[8] Eric Bauza was hired to replace West as Stimpy, while Kricfalusi reprised his roles as Ren and Mr. Horse. Cast members Harris Peet and Cheryl Chase also returned, and Kricfalusi's father Mike Kricfalusi and long-time childhood friend Tom Hay provided some voices.

All of the episodes were animated at Carbunkle Cartoons, in association with Big Star Productions. Kricfalusi had previously relied upon Carbunkle during the Nickelodeon years, and he subcontracted animation of many original series episodes (including "Space Madness", "Black Hole" and "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen") to that studio.

The new series began airing in June 2003 as part of an animation block also featuring Gary the Rat, Stripperella, and digitally remastered episodes of the original Ren and Stimpy series, subtitled "Digitally Remastered Classics". Kricfalusi wrote the first episode, "Onward and Upward", based on requests from fans from the Nickelodeon era.[6] The episode portrayed the characters as bisexual. Advertisers objected to some of the new show's content, particularly that of the risqué episode "Naked Beach Frenzy" which did not air in the show's original run, causing trouble with scheduling. The show stopped airing after three episodes when TNN's animation block was "put on hold".[7]

The remaining episodes were set to resume in August 2004 along with the premiere of Spike's new animated series Immigrants but both shows were pulled and never aired again.[9]

Kricfalusi shut down Spümcø shortly thereafter following a lawsuit filed by Carbunkle for failing to pay the animation studio for their services. In 2005, he announced that all of the Adult Party Cartoon cartoons that were fully produced were coming to DVD, which was released on July 18, 2006.[10]

Episodes
Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" episodes
No.TitleDirected byStory byStoryboard byOriginal air dateProd.
code
1"Onward and Upward"John KricfalusiVincent WallerVincent Waller, Eddie Fitzgerald,
Fred Osmond, and Ray Morelli		June 26, 2003 (2003-06-26)APC08
Tired of living inside a homeless man's mouth, Ren and Stimpy move to classy new digs: the inside of a spittoon after Stimpy pools his secret stash of money into it.
2"Ren Seeks Help"John KricfalusiJohn Kricfalusi and Richard D. PurselSteve Stefanelli, Helder Mendonca, Jeff Amey,
Derek Bond, Tavis Silbernagel, and John Kricfalusi		July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03)APC07
After Ren does something so horrible to Stimpy that it leaves Stimpy in hysterical grief and Ren in guilt, he realizes how cruel he can be to his beloved pal and tries to apologize to him, but Stimpy refuses to forgive him, so Ren goes to see a psychiatrist. After a depressing walk from places to places, he walks to the "help" apartment and seeks psychiatric help from Dr. Horse, to whom he tells his dysfunctional early years, and why he became such an abusive psychopath in the first place.
3"Fire Dogs 2"John KricfalusiJohn Kricfalusi, Richard D. Pursel, Eddie Fitzgerald,
Vincent Waller, and Jim Smith		John Kricfalusi, Jim Smith, Eddie Fitzgerald,
Vincent Waller, and José Pou		July 17, 2003 (2003-07-17) (Part 1)
July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24) (Part 2)		APC05
The fire chief was so impressed with Ren and Stimpy's heroic deeds from the first "Fire Dogs" cartoon that he mutates into Ralph Bakshi and moves in with them, and to also go out on a bachelor's life to eat pizza; however, Ren and Stimpy are disgusted by his habits.
4"Naked Beach Frenzy"John KricfalusiJohn Kricfalusi, Mike Kerr,
Jeff Amey, and Caroline J. Alvarez		Jeff Amey, Steve Stefanelli,
Matt Roach, and Nick Cross		July 18, 2006 (2006-07-18) (DVD)APC01
Ren and Stimpy enjoy a day at a nude beach.
5"Altruists"John KricfalusiVincent Waller, John Kricfalusi, Mike Kerr,
Eric Bauza, Jeff Amey, and Richard D. Pursel		Vincent Waller, Jeff Amey,
Nick Cross, and Matt Roach		July 18, 2006 (2006-07-18) (DVD)APC03
Ren Höek, renowned lover of humanity, and his friend Stimpy decide that they must do everything in their power to help a couple of misfortunates; a woman and her handicapped (headless) son, by building a house for them.
6"Stimpy's Pregnant"John KricfalusiJohn Kricfalusi, Jeff Amey, Richard D. Pursel,
Matt Roach, Steve Stefanelli, and Warren Leonheardt		John Kricfalusi, Jeff Amey, Richard D. Pursel,
Matt Roach, Steve Stefanelli, and Warren Leonheardt		July 18, 2006 (2006-07-18) (DVD)APC02
Stimpy becomes pregnant with Ren's baby, causing Ren to at first abuse, and then respect Stimpy as a partner. Ren is at first disgusted with Stimpy's pregnancy, as he is forced to deal with his incessant loving moments with his child, such as attempting to explicitly eat for two. When Stimpy goes into labour, Ren is forced to start a driveby with other people on the highway. With help from the police, Ren and Stimpy successfully get to the hospital, where their child is delivered by Dr. Horse, only to learn that Stimpy was just constipated, although Dr. Horse does not have the heart to tell the anticipated "parents" this and so the waste is made to behave like an infant male, and was named "Little Ricky".

Cancelled Episodes
  • Life Sucks - Ren explains to Stimpy that life sucks, much to Stimpy's horror. After that, they have an extensive look at life's past tragedies like the Children's Crusade. According to John Kricfalusi himself, this was meant to be a prequel episode to "Ren Seeks Help". This is suggesting that this episode was the cause of Ren and Stimpy's argument, as it is never stated in "Ren Seeks Help" what Ren had done exactly. Production had begun on this episode, with some voice work and roughly a third of the storyboard completed at the time of the show's cancellation. This episode was also originally written for Nickelodeon.[11]
  • The Big Switch - The supposed sequel to "Ren Seeks Help", with it beginning with Stimpy no longer being tolerate to Ren's abuse any longer as the two argue over which is better by being an idiot or a "psychotic asshole". They finally settle the argument by making a bet that they can switch roles for a day. The episode's basic premise would somewhat be loosely made into the Games Animation era episode, "Who's Stupid Now?".
  • Fishing Trip - Ren & Stimpy go on a fishing trip in search of the elusive foul-mouthed bass. The episode's basic premise is loosely related to the season 3 episode "Bass Masters" and the unproduced Spümcø episode "The Wilderness Adventure."
  • The Wilderness Adventure - George Liquor takes Ren & Stimpy hunting in the deep woods. The episode was originally written for Nickelodeon, but was rejected several times. Michael Pataki was made to reprise his role as George Liquor. The storyboard for the rejected episode, however, were completed all the way back in the 90s, as far as before the show actually started production, as one of the ideas would later used in the season 2 episode The Great Outdoors. Two small portions of some of the storyboards of this episode had some voice work, sound effects, and music completed and put into part of the episode before the show's cancellation. [12] [13] [14]
  • My Little Ass - A fake commercial that was suppose to be parody the series, My Little Pony. The script for the commercial was written during when Kricfalusi was working on the new episodes for Spike, but it never came to fruitation. (Source: John K. Interview - 08/19/03, WGN Radio) [15]
  • Powdered Toastman's Rolling Tobacco - A second fake commercial. The commercial was going to mark the return of Powdered Toastman. The idea for the commercial was conceived, but the commercial itself was never fully produced. (Source: John K. Interview - 08/19/03, WGN Radio) [16]
  • Log for Moms - A third fake commercial. This commercial was going to be about a log specifically targeted to mothers. This commercial was planned, but it was never completed. [17]
  • The Succubus - The plot of this episode was going to be based on some of Kricfalusi's experiences with Robyn Byrd. [18]
  • Untitled Shampoo Master Episode - The character named Shampoo Master first appeared in Naked Beach Frenzy, and Kricfalusi was planning on making an entire episode dedicated to him. [19]
  • Untitled Mike Barrier Episode - An episode about Mike Barrier's own interests and fears that was planned to be made, though it never began production. [20]
  • Untitled Father Episode - Another episode was going to be about the specific tastes and phobias of someone, this time being Kricfalusi's own father. The episode was left unfinished. [21]

Broadcast and DVD release

The episode "Man's Best Friend" was originally set to air in the original series' second season, but the episode was rejected by Nickelodeon due to disturbing violence and references to tobacco.[22] The episode did not air on television until 2003. TNN's official episode lineup on their website seemed to suggest that they consider the episode Man's Best Friend a part of the Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" series, but this episode in general is not counted as one of the three episodes from this series that did air in the U.S. The first new episode that aired on TNN was Onward and Upward, and Ren Seeks Help was the second. The episode Fire Dogs 2 was the last episode to air on TNN. The three episodes Naked Beach Frenzy, Altruists, and Stimpy's Pregnant did not originally air on TNN, though they did air on other networks overseas, including Fox in Italy and MTV in Poland. They were also included in the Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes DVD set that was released on July 18, 2006.

Reception

DVD Talk panned the series, writing, "Even with a few bright spots […] [Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" is] a mostly dismal affair that will sharply divide fans of the series."[23]

PopMatters was more favorable, writing: "With snot as side dishes and vomit as gravy, the foulness is overwhelming, yet also clever. Kricfalusi's satire may be obvious, but he's not just making puke jokes for nausea's sake."[24]

gollark: TS lacks stuff like algebraic data types still.
gollark: And want to avoid writing it?
gollark: People dislike JS?
gollark: However, Elm/F#/OCaml can be compiled to moderately sane JS.
gollark: I don't think it gets much practical use because you get a giant several megabyte blob for WASM.

See also

References
  1. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 662–663. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  2. Jonathan Valania (December 18, 1992), "Ren & Stimpy Creator Isn't Laughing At Comic Book", The Morning Call
  3. Matt Schimkowitz (June 3, 2013), "No, Sir, I Don't Like It: The Misfire That Was 'Ren and Stimpy's Adult Party Cartoon'", Vulture
  4. "'Ren & Stimpy' go on without their creator", USA Today, September 25, 1992
  5. "John K Stuff: Bio In Progress". Johnkstuff.blogspot.com. 2007-11-10. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  6. Lenburg, Jeff (2006). Who's who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-winning and Legendary Animators. New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. pp. 187–188. ISBN 9781557836717. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  7. James Hibberd (November 2003). "Spike Retooling Its Toon Strategy". TelevisionWeek. Archived from the original on June 3, 2004. Retrieved December 21, 2010. One unexpected complication has been a lack of new episodes from Spike's most popular animated title. The network ordered nine episodes (an original order of six, then an additional three-parter) of "Ren & Stimpy's Adult Party Cartoon" from creator John Kricfalusi. The network only received three on time.
  8. "Billy West Interview". UnderGroundOnline. Archived from the original on March 4, 2008.
  9. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2004/07/19/spike-tv-slates-immigrants-preview-ren-and-stimpy-return-16680/6663/
  10. "The Ren and Stimpy Show DVD news: John K. chats: talks about APC & other show DVDs, says R&SS to get 'Ultimate' DVDs with more extras!". TV Shows on DVD. April 24, 2005. Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6La_U4g1Src
  12. http://www.whataboutthad.com/2011/04/14/storyboard-the-wilderness-adventure/
  13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY1pJ8eE7fc
  14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NbmVR6-rzs
  15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-DMK-SUQ2E
  16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-DMK-SUQ2E
  17. https://www.cartoonbrew.com/old-brew/the-john-kricfalusi-interview-part-2-434.html
  18. https://twitter.com/TopographicFish/status/980849307652894721
  19. https://www.cartoonbrew.com/old-brew/the-john-kricfalusi-interview-part-2-434.html
  20. https://www.cartoonbrew.com/old-brew/the-john-kricfalusi-interview-part-2-434.html
  21. https://www.cartoonbrew.com/old-brew/the-john-kricfalusi-interview-part-2-434.html
  22. Mangels, Andy (January 1993). "Hollywood Heroes". Wizard. Wizard Entertainment (17): 32.
  23. Miller III, Randy (July 17, 2006). "Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes : DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". DVD Talk. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
  24. Gibron, Bill (August 4, 2006). "Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
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