"Stimpy! ACTIVATE THE PLOT DEVICE!"
March 9, 2016 2:20 PM Subscribe
It's always a great time to look back at the joy and wonder that was (is) Ren & Stimpy!
The madness! The pain! The tangents!
Still respected and celebrated as one of the most influential shows of the animation renaissance of the 90s, Ren & Stimpy love is still strong, and creator Jon Kricfalusi is still doing some great work.
And let's not forget the adverstisers!
No sir, I don't like it.
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:23 PM on March 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:23 PM on March 9, 2016 [11 favorites]
Our country reeks of trees
Our yaks are really large
And they smell like rotting beef carcasses
And we have to clean up after them
And our saddle sores are the best
We proudly wear women's clothing
And searing sand blows up our skirts
And the buzzards they soar overhead
And poisonous snakes will devour us whole
And our bones will bleach in the sun
And we will probably go to _bleep_
And that is our great reward
For being the Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen.
posted by graymouser at 2:29 PM on March 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
Our yaks are really large
And they smell like rotting beef carcasses
And we have to clean up after them
And our saddle sores are the best
We proudly wear women's clothing
And searing sand blows up our skirts
And the buzzards they soar overhead
And poisonous snakes will devour us whole
And our bones will bleach in the sun
And we will probably go to _bleep_
And that is our great reward
For being the Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen.
posted by graymouser at 2:29 PM on March 9, 2016 [12 favorites]
We're not hitchhiking anymore, we're riding.
posted by Palindromedary at 2:30 PM on March 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Palindromedary at 2:30 PM on March 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
We're not hitchhiking anymore, we're riding!
posted by entropicamericana at 2:31 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 2:31 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
DAMMIT!
posted by entropicamericana at 2:31 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 2:31 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
FLAWLESS VICTORY.
posted by Palindromedary at 2:33 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Palindromedary at 2:33 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
This is great.
One might even go so far as to call it beautiful.
Shiny.
Jolly.
Candylike.
posted by eclectist at 2:42 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
One might even go so far as to call it beautiful.
Shiny.
Jolly.
Candylike.
posted by eclectist at 2:42 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
One of the once a year things I do is rewatch the Powdered Toast Man episode. I just watched it about a month ago.
When Ren & Stimpy come up I'm also reminded of Surmak Ren and the Hoek System.
posted by juiceCake at 2:59 PM on March 9, 2016
When Ren & Stimpy come up I'm also reminded of Surmak Ren and the Hoek System.
posted by juiceCake at 2:59 PM on March 9, 2016
Could there not be a better outlook than "happy, happy, joy, joy?"
posted by njohnson23 at 3:03 PM on March 9, 2016
posted by njohnson23 at 3:03 PM on March 9, 2016
I'll teach you to be happy!
I'll teach your Grandmother to SUCK EGGS!
posted by Cookiebastard at 3:05 PM on March 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
I'll teach your Grandmother to SUCK EGGS!
posted by Cookiebastard at 3:05 PM on March 9, 2016 [9 favorites]
Was wondering why I hadn't yet seen a Kylo Ren Hoek. And lo, the internet provides.
Happy Happy Joy Joy.
It's log! It's log!
It's big! It's heavy! It's wood!
It's log! It's log!
It's better than bad, it's good!
posted by nubs at 3:06 PM on March 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Happy Happy Joy Joy.
It's log! It's log!
It's big! It's heavy! It's wood!
It's log! It's log!
It's better than bad, it's good!
posted by nubs at 3:06 PM on March 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Could there not be a better outlook than "happy, happy, joy, joy?"
Ah, Stinky Wizzleteats, you still inspire us all.
Where will you be on the official 25th Anniversary on August 11th?
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:08 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Ah, Stinky Wizzleteats, you still inspire us all.
Where will you be on the official 25th Anniversary on August 11th?
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:08 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I TOLD YOU I'D SHOOT, BUT YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE ME!
WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 3:10 PM on March 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME?
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 3:10 PM on March 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
PTM: Quick, man! Cling tenaciously to my buttocks!
POPE: Both of them?
posted by infinitewindow at 3:19 PM on March 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
POPE: Both of them?
posted by infinitewindow at 3:19 PM on March 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Don't whiz on the electric fence!
posted by nubs at 3:22 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by nubs at 3:22 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes, the one thing that scared me in the run-up to The Force Awakens was Kylo Ren and other 'new generation' characters who seemed to be named after popular cartoon characters... Finn? Po(e)?
It also speaks volumes about Kricfalusi that he hired for the voice of Powdered Toast Man the legendary Gary Owens, and having met 'Garish' multiple times, I know that he must have totally loved the opportunity to play a superhero who uttered the line "Cling tenaciously to my buttocks!" (And don't forget, the voice of the Pope in that same episode was Frank Fucking Zappa!!!)
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:23 PM on March 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
It also speaks volumes about Kricfalusi that he hired for the voice of Powdered Toast Man the legendary Gary Owens, and having met 'Garish' multiple times, I know that he must have totally loved the opportunity to play a superhero who uttered the line "Cling tenaciously to my buttocks!" (And don't forget, the voice of the Pope in that same episode was Frank Fucking Zappa!!!)
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:23 PM on March 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
It's....it's all so clear to me....
I am the keeper of the cheese! And you're the lemon merchant! And he knows that, get it? That's why they're trying to kill us!
Quickly, we gotta get outta here before they let loose the marmosets!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:58 PM on March 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
I am the keeper of the cheese! And you're the lemon merchant! And he knows that, get it? That's why they're trying to kill us!
Quickly, we gotta get outta here before they let loose the marmosets!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:58 PM on March 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oh, goddamnit.
1.) I now have a rabbit hole for the evening. It's a good one. Don't get me wrong. But some personal and professional priorities need to be set aside to indulge it.
2.) RIP, white Ren & Stimpy t-shirt. I loved you so, and wore you until you became embarrassingly pit-stained.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:05 PM on March 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
1.) I now have a rabbit hole for the evening. It's a good one. Don't get me wrong. But some personal and professional priorities need to be set aside to indulge it.
2.) RIP, white Ren & Stimpy t-shirt. I loved you so, and wore you until you became embarrassingly pit-stained.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:05 PM on March 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
Still can't believe Muddy Mudskipper got passed over for Jimmy Kimmel.
posted by HeroZero at 4:10 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by HeroZero at 4:10 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
"You like it, huh? Do you reeeeeaaaaalllly like it?" sees almost daily use in our household.
posted by Shepherd at 4:11 PM on March 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by Shepherd at 4:11 PM on March 9, 2016 [7 favorites]
Time to take the oath...
Put your hand on the TV screen and repeat after me.
I do hereby promise only to watch the Ren and Stimpy show. To make underleg noises during the good scenes. To wear unwashed Lederhosen every single day of the rest of my life!
That's it, you're in our secret club!
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:19 PM on March 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Put your hand on the TV screen and repeat after me.
I do hereby promise only to watch the Ren and Stimpy show. To make underleg noises during the good scenes. To wear unwashed Lederhosen every single day of the rest of my life!
That's it, you're in our secret club!
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:19 PM on March 9, 2016 [4 favorites]
Happy Happy Joy Joy!
posted by OHenryPacey at 4:22 PM on March 9, 2016
posted by OHenryPacey at 4:22 PM on March 9, 2016
"But first, I gotta take a whiz. Don't go anywhere!"
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:39 PM on March 9, 2016
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:39 PM on March 9, 2016
No you don't! You can't take it from me now! I've had this ice cream bar since I was a child. PEOPLE always trying to take it from me...... WHY.... won't they leave me.... ALONE! Don't make me use this! One step closer, I'm warning you! Don't make me use it! Now you've done it! You forced me to use it!
posted by grimjeer at 4:52 PM on March 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by grimjeer at 4:52 PM on March 9, 2016 [6 favorites]
Is this a good place to tell the story of The Time I Burnt The Fuck Out On Animation?
I think it is.
It was around 2000, and I was working at Spümcø. We were producing a Flash show called "Weekend Pussy Hunt", an episodic film noir about a dog who is going to catch the cat who insulted him, even if it takes all weekend. We had a pretty polished pipeline by this point: an episode would spend about a week in layout, then get inked and scanned and put into Flash, and then it'd take about a week to animate it. Then we'd deliver it to Icebox the next Monday. All in-house, done by a crew of about, oh, 17 people I think? Maybe like 25? We had two Flash units, and I can't remember if we had two layout units.
But this episode? This episode was different. This episode was special. Most of it was this one giant setup with Cigarettes the Cat pacing around his girlfriend's apartment, angsting about how doomed he was. And John had been obsessing over this episode long past the time it should have been handed off to the Flash side of things. Like, the entire time it should have been being animated. We didn't get it all into the computer and ready to animate until something like Friday evening.
It was crunch time for the Flash crew. We came in on the weekend and burnt the midnight oil. Some people only made it about twenty-four hours. I spent the whole weekend. I had to; I was the director of that episode's actual animation.
John had a cold, and stayed home that whole weekend. So there was an increasingly stressed-out crew working as hard as they could to have something, anything ready to turn in on Monday to save the studio having to pay performance penalties. And we did it. It was a mess, but on Monday morning? There was a cartoon. It synchronized with the speech, it had everything moving in a way that roughly matched what we could parse in our increasingly dazed state. It was all in one file and ready to send off.
Then John showed up. And immediately began listing off the many things that were wrong with it. No praise for burning ourselves out to cover his schedule slack or anything; just a list of Things That Were Terrible And Wrong.
I dazedly listened to him for a few minutes, and then I cut him off, and noted that the whole Flash crew had barely slept for a weekend, and yeah maybe it wasn't the perfect realization of what he imagined, but there was a fucking cartoon and we could send it to Icebox and not get a performance penalty. And that I was going to go home, and when I came back, neither me or my unit were going to work on fixing it, if that was the kind of thanks he was going to give us.
I left the studio in a huff, and came back a couple days later. Surprisingly I still had a job there. Well, I did until Icebox's funding ran out a couple months later and Spümcø laid everyone off with the show still a few episodes away from the end. But looking back, that is kinda when I quit, well, caring so much, because I knew that was the thanks that would be waiting for me if I put forth extra effort. And when I'd work there again later, I would generally kind of slack off a lot.
Later on, after having a ringside seat to the mess that was the Ren And Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon, I would come to the conclusion that for all John K's rants about the Horrible Executives who Meddled and Ruined Things, executives had an important function: ideally, they are the ones who can step between an obsessively perfectionist creator and the work, and ensure that something decent actually happens, instead of a ton of money and time and sweat being thrown away in the pursuit of "actually getting the @#$%^ cartoon out without anyone wanting to kill themselves". Spümcø never had anyone who could serve that function, and if I ever find myself at the helm of a cartoon series*, I will make damn sure I find someone who can do that.
* it's been long enough that I kinda miss it, what can I say; I have a few pitches kicking around in various states, and former co-workers doing development who remember me fondly enough...
posted by egypturnash at 5:17 PM on March 9, 2016 [56 favorites]
I think it is.
It was around 2000, and I was working at Spümcø. We were producing a Flash show called "Weekend Pussy Hunt", an episodic film noir about a dog who is going to catch the cat who insulted him, even if it takes all weekend. We had a pretty polished pipeline by this point: an episode would spend about a week in layout, then get inked and scanned and put into Flash, and then it'd take about a week to animate it. Then we'd deliver it to Icebox the next Monday. All in-house, done by a crew of about, oh, 17 people I think? Maybe like 25? We had two Flash units, and I can't remember if we had two layout units.
But this episode? This episode was different. This episode was special. Most of it was this one giant setup with Cigarettes the Cat pacing around his girlfriend's apartment, angsting about how doomed he was. And John had been obsessing over this episode long past the time it should have been handed off to the Flash side of things. Like, the entire time it should have been being animated. We didn't get it all into the computer and ready to animate until something like Friday evening.
It was crunch time for the Flash crew. We came in on the weekend and burnt the midnight oil. Some people only made it about twenty-four hours. I spent the whole weekend. I had to; I was the director of that episode's actual animation.
John had a cold, and stayed home that whole weekend. So there was an increasingly stressed-out crew working as hard as they could to have something, anything ready to turn in on Monday to save the studio having to pay performance penalties. And we did it. It was a mess, but on Monday morning? There was a cartoon. It synchronized with the speech, it had everything moving in a way that roughly matched what we could parse in our increasingly dazed state. It was all in one file and ready to send off.
Then John showed up. And immediately began listing off the many things that were wrong with it. No praise for burning ourselves out to cover his schedule slack or anything; just a list of Things That Were Terrible And Wrong.
I dazedly listened to him for a few minutes, and then I cut him off, and noted that the whole Flash crew had barely slept for a weekend, and yeah maybe it wasn't the perfect realization of what he imagined, but there was a fucking cartoon and we could send it to Icebox and not get a performance penalty. And that I was going to go home, and when I came back, neither me or my unit were going to work on fixing it, if that was the kind of thanks he was going to give us.
I left the studio in a huff, and came back a couple days later. Surprisingly I still had a job there. Well, I did until Icebox's funding ran out a couple months later and Spümcø laid everyone off with the show still a few episodes away from the end. But looking back, that is kinda when I quit, well, caring so much, because I knew that was the thanks that would be waiting for me if I put forth extra effort. And when I'd work there again later, I would generally kind of slack off a lot.
Later on, after having a ringside seat to the mess that was the Ren And Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon, I would come to the conclusion that for all John K's rants about the Horrible Executives who Meddled and Ruined Things, executives had an important function: ideally, they are the ones who can step between an obsessively perfectionist creator and the work, and ensure that something decent actually happens, instead of a ton of money and time and sweat being thrown away in the pursuit of "actually getting the @#$%^ cartoon out without anyone wanting to kill themselves". Spümcø never had anyone who could serve that function, and if I ever find myself at the helm of a cartoon series*, I will make damn sure I find someone who can do that.
* it's been long enough that I kinda miss it, what can I say; I have a few pitches kicking around in various states, and former co-workers doing development who remember me fondly enough...
posted by egypturnash at 5:17 PM on March 9, 2016 [56 favorites]
I've had it up to HEEEEERE with the likes of you people!
posted by SansPoint at 5:52 PM on March 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 5:52 PM on March 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
I'm sorry. I thought were were a circus midget...
posted by SansPoint at 5:55 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by SansPoint at 5:55 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm firmly of the mind that "Stimpy's Fan Club" is a contender for the short list of funniest things ever.
It is the only thing, other than the movie "Quick Change", that I can recall that literally caused me and my friends to fall out of our comfy chairs and roll on the floor laughing.
"My hot...steenking...BRAIN!!!"
posted by darkstar at 6:36 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
It is the only thing, other than the movie "Quick Change", that I can recall that literally caused me and my friends to fall out of our comfy chairs and roll on the floor laughing.
"My hot...steenking...BRAIN!!!"
posted by darkstar at 6:36 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
Hay! Stay outta my TRAAaaaash!
A man werks hahd for his trash, just to have MeFites come an' post it.
posted by petebest at 6:52 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
A man werks hahd for his trash, just to have MeFites come an' post it.
posted by petebest at 6:52 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
We're not hitchhiking anymore, we're riding.
That whole sequence is just so, so great.
posted by kenko at 7:14 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
That whole sequence is just so, so great.
posted by kenko at 7:14 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
The Super Tank Paratroopers episode was much beloved in the Army Barracks back in the 90. "Private Ren, Private Stimpy, report to KP duhhhhhhhh."
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 7:16 PM on March 9, 2016
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 7:16 PM on March 9, 2016
Most of those youtube links are to videos where you can't see the full frame. I think there are better copies on dailymotion.
posted by kenko at 7:54 PM on March 9, 2016
posted by kenko at 7:54 PM on March 9, 2016
DON'T TOUCH IT!!!
posted by the painkiller at 9:08 PM on March 9, 2016
posted by the painkiller at 9:08 PM on March 9, 2016
Oh, the log ad, man, I was a bit obsessed, to the point that I really ticked off my roommate's mother as I had put the whole damn log song on our answering machine. Yeah, that was probably not a kind thing to do to, well, anyone. I'm not sure how long it lasted, a week or so before I relented. However what I miss most is my Log for Girls that was lovingly made as a birthday present for me by my roommate's boyfriend who was similarly obsessed with Ren and Stimpy. In fact, we had to go to his house to see the show. She was exasperated with us a bit, and with him as he dragged her along to pick out the doll dress to nail into the log - "So, do you think this dress would be better?" Poor roommate. I miss my Log for Girls, it made it through one move, but not the next, apparently it was more heavy than good.
posted by dawg-proud at 9:09 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by dawg-proud at 9:09 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
I TOLD YOU I'D SHOOT, BUT YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE ME!
WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME?
My favorite part of that is that Burl Ives was still alive at the time they made this, and when he found out they did a Burl Ives impression, he was like, "I'd have done it if they'd asked me."
posted by MrBadExample at 9:14 PM on March 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME?
My favorite part of that is that Burl Ives was still alive at the time they made this, and when he found out they did a Burl Ives impression, he was like, "I'd have done it if they'd asked me."
posted by MrBadExample at 9:14 PM on March 9, 2016 [5 favorites]
So! Whizzed on the electric fence, huh?
I have yet to hear a single thing about John Kricfalusi that didn't paint him as a complete asshole
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:25 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have yet to hear a single thing about John Kricfalusi that didn't paint him as a complete asshole
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:25 PM on March 9, 2016 [1 favorite]
For one Christmas in the 90s I got a talking Stimpy doll: you had to pull on a hairball that was in his mouth in order for him to speak. My little 6 year old sister on the other hand received a farting Ren doll - suffice to say that she was not happy (many tears were shed).
I recently found my Stimpy doll and it still works 20 years later. Oh joy of joys!
posted by littlesq at 9:41 PM on March 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
I recently found my Stimpy doll and it still works 20 years later. Oh joy of joys!
posted by littlesq at 9:41 PM on March 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
ATTENNNNNNNN-HOOOOOOOO!
posted by infinitewindow at 9:48 PM on March 9, 2016
posted by infinitewindow at 9:48 PM on March 9, 2016
Well, John K. WAS the voice of Ren (except when Nickelodeon took the show away from him after the first season*) so if the character weren't already based on his own personality, some of it HAD to rub off on him.
*which was, according to most accounts, at least partly because of his failure to deliver shows on time, which makes egypturnash's story even more credible.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:19 PM on March 9, 2016
*which was, according to most accounts, at least partly because of his failure to deliver shows on time, which makes egypturnash's story even more credible.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:19 PM on March 9, 2016
oh yeah here is a tidbit for y'all: in "Fire Dogs 2", the bit about Ren and Stimpy having to deal with the Chief's clogged toilet by driving the offending material away in a car, wrapped up like a baby, so as not to ruin his hot date, is based on a thing that Ralph Bakshi made either a producer or an intern do, I can't remember which it was. The first-gen Spümcø crew had a lot of crazy Bakshi stories that came out while Ralph was visiting to do the voice on that thing.
ObQuote: "MEEEEEAT"
posted by egypturnash at 11:43 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
ObQuote: "MEEEEEAT"
posted by egypturnash at 11:43 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
If anyone's interested, John K's blog has the rough sketches for the Simpsons animation. Plus lots and lots of other stuff.
Put me down as someone who doesn't "get" Ren and Stimpy. As a kid, R+S weirded me out. As an adult, all I really see is a bunch of mugging, non-sequitors and gratuitous weirdness. Reading John K's blog a while back, I also found it really annoying how pretentious he is and how quick he was to shit on basically all modern animation (Including the Simpsons, for that matter.) His bizarro take on The Simpsons is pretty cool, but a 45-second couch gag is about as much of it as I could take.
Don't mean to sound negative, this was a very good FPP, and Powdered Toast Man was actually quite funny. I just get annoyed at all his posts talking about how terrible modern animation is. He has this hardline insistence that HIS FAVORED KIND OF ANIMATION IS THE ONLY CORRECT TYPE OF ANIMATION AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS MADE BY IDIOTS AND IS AN ABOMINATION AGAINST THE ART FORM. He's the Taliban of weird animation.
posted by Green Winnebago at 12:17 AM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
Put me down as someone who doesn't "get" Ren and Stimpy. As a kid, R+S weirded me out. As an adult, all I really see is a bunch of mugging, non-sequitors and gratuitous weirdness. Reading John K's blog a while back, I also found it really annoying how pretentious he is and how quick he was to shit on basically all modern animation (Including the Simpsons, for that matter.) His bizarro take on The Simpsons is pretty cool, but a 45-second couch gag is about as much of it as I could take.
Don't mean to sound negative, this was a very good FPP, and Powdered Toast Man was actually quite funny. I just get annoyed at all his posts talking about how terrible modern animation is. He has this hardline insistence that HIS FAVORED KIND OF ANIMATION IS THE ONLY CORRECT TYPE OF ANIMATION AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS MADE BY IDIOTS AND IS AN ABOMINATION AGAINST THE ART FORM. He's the Taliban of weird animation.
posted by Green Winnebago at 12:17 AM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
I remember one day years ago when my wife and I were first living together, we were down in Midtown Comics in Manhattan, which had a whole wall of DVDs of questionable legitimacy. And there was a complete run of the 1960s Beany and Cecil cartoon, which she had watched as a kid on VHS tapes, but I had never seen. She bought the DVDs and we watched them over a few days. And as we did I realized what John Kricfalusi had done.
Because in Beany and Cecil, despite it being a pretty tame kids' show, there was this warped nature to the characters and stories. People had weird motivations and reactions, and the gags put them in odd predicaments. And Kricfalusi took the aesthetic of Beany and Cecil, removed the innocence, and ramped up all the strangeness to a higher level. When I found out that Kricfalusi had been the director of a short-lived Beany and Cecil reboot in the 1980s that sealed the deal: this was what had informed Ren and Stimpy, to a very heavy degree.
It doesn't surprise me that an obsessive creator can be an asshole to work with. But I think Kricfalusi did a hell of a job as far as creating a twisted and strange cartoon with roots that were clearly in the tradition of American animation. And I think that's why it worked as well as it did.
posted by graymouser at 12:46 AM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
Because in Beany and Cecil, despite it being a pretty tame kids' show, there was this warped nature to the characters and stories. People had weird motivations and reactions, and the gags put them in odd predicaments. And Kricfalusi took the aesthetic of Beany and Cecil, removed the innocence, and ramped up all the strangeness to a higher level. When I found out that Kricfalusi had been the director of a short-lived Beany and Cecil reboot in the 1980s that sealed the deal: this was what had informed Ren and Stimpy, to a very heavy degree.
It doesn't surprise me that an obsessive creator can be an asshole to work with. But I think Kricfalusi did a hell of a job as far as creating a twisted and strange cartoon with roots that were clearly in the tradition of American animation. And I think that's why it worked as well as it did.
posted by graymouser at 12:46 AM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
I still have an of-the-time Ren & Stimpy t-shirt that is in good enough shape to wear, sort of. I wear it sometimes, too. When I first got it, I got a lot of reactions about it. Then for many years, it didn't draw much attention. Seems like for the past 3-4 years, it has gotten a LOT of attention when I wear it. Nice to see they are having a mini-renaissance.
Stimpy's Invention and Black Hole are the two I most often shared with people who had never heard of them before. I figured, if one of those didn't grab someone's attention, they wouldn't care for the series in general.
posted by hippybear at 1:13 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]
Stimpy's Invention and Black Hole are the two I most often shared with people who had never heard of them before. I figured, if one of those didn't grab someone's attention, they wouldn't care for the series in general.
posted by hippybear at 1:13 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]
There is a lot of John K. bad vibes in this thread.
This thing from Letters of Note always fills me with joy.
Anyone who takes the time to do that can't be a complete misery vortex.
posted by debord at 3:10 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]
This thing from Letters of Note always fills me with joy.
Anyone who takes the time to do that can't be a complete misery vortex.
posted by debord at 3:10 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]
People contain multitudes. Also: nothing is obvious. Your upbringing and environment determine what your ideas of normality and justice are unless you have uncommon insight, or good teachers and the willingness to listen to them, which is also borne of upbringing.
Well, that is how I think of it. Take or leave.
posted by JHarris at 3:32 AM on March 10, 2016
Well, that is how I think of it. Take or leave.
posted by JHarris at 3:32 AM on March 10, 2016
When we went our separate ways, the only one of two items my ex-wife and I argued over was who would get the original Happy Happy Joy Joy animation production cel I had bought right after we got married. I won out, but it's hers after I croak, specified in my will. We had our priorities.
posted by dbiedny at 5:20 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by dbiedny at 5:20 AM on March 10, 2016 [3 favorites]
Time to dust off the old Mr Horse shirt. Man I loved R&S as an early teen, it was just about the only contemporary cultural artefact that made any sense to me. I was obsessed, and the other kids at my school gave me sooooo much shit, and I didn't give a damn. One year I did two major R&S themed art projects: for one I reverse engineered storyboards for Stimpy's Fan Club; the other I built a house set, props, and puppets for a claymation homage (which never actually got filmed but gimme a break I was 14 in 1995 and had no camera). And then the whole thing just hollowed out when John K got the boot, and I was stuck rewatching tapes until I figured out other things were cool too like guitars and the occasional person. Mr K may or may not be hell to work with, but those shows were the centre of my life for a couple of years, and I tip all of my hats to him. I also kind of agree with his snobbery as far as his fetishisation of late 40s - early 50s toons, the way those things move and feel, they're the old masters as far as the craft of animation goes. Not much these days comes close in that respect (imho), although storytelling's another matter.
...just strayed into his blog before I hit post, holy crap I had no idea the dad in A Visit to Anthony was like, his dad. Wow.
posted by threecheesetrees at 6:10 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]
...just strayed into his blog before I hit post, holy crap I had no idea the dad in A Visit to Anthony was like, his dad. Wow.
posted by threecheesetrees at 6:10 AM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]
I was an actual child when Ren and Stimpy was on and I loved it. I remember that it came on Sunday mornings with just enough time to watch before church. Anyways, Adult Swim was playing a bunch of reruns a few years back so I recorded them all. First one I chose to watch the is one where Stimpy goes into his own bellybutton. Holy fuck was that a super weird and kinda scary episode.
posted by LizBoBiz at 6:21 AM on March 10, 2016
posted by LizBoBiz at 6:21 AM on March 10, 2016
I also found it really annoying how pretentious he is and how quick he was to shit on basically all modern animation
Is it something more than an aesthetic thing? Because I tend to prefer older animation like Loony Tunes, too. I'm not wild about the 3-D CG stuff and would take something by Kricfalusi or Tartakovsky every time.
Yeah, Ren & Stimpy was never all that strong narratively, but it was fun and odd and the artwork was fantastic. And they were pretty memorable characters.
posted by Hoopo at 9:55 AM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
Is it something more than an aesthetic thing? Because I tend to prefer older animation like Loony Tunes, too. I'm not wild about the 3-D CG stuff and would take something by Kricfalusi or Tartakovsky every time.
Yeah, Ren & Stimpy was never all that strong narratively, but it was fun and odd and the artwork was fantastic. And they were pretty memorable characters.
posted by Hoopo at 9:55 AM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
One of the once a year things I do is rewatch the Powdered Toast Man episode.
I once had a barrel-chested boyfriend I nicknamed Powdered Toast Man. Plus yay Ren & Stimpy!
good lord, it's been 25 years?!
posted by Room 641-A at 10:53 AM on March 10, 2016
I once had a barrel-chested boyfriend I nicknamed Powdered Toast Man. Plus yay Ren & Stimpy!
good lord, it's been 25 years?!
posted by Room 641-A at 10:53 AM on March 10, 2016
And John K. just showed up in my animation newsfeed as being a special guest at Paris' Annecy Animation Festival in June, giving "a masterclass". Love him or lump him (or both), that's something I wish I could be there for and hope it gets fully preserved on video.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:15 PM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:15 PM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
I was going to go home, and when I came back, neither me or my unit were going to work on fixing it, if that was the kind of thanks he was going to give us.
you are my new hero
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 5:38 PM on March 10, 2016
you are my new hero
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 5:38 PM on March 10, 2016
Sorry, I was a bit of a Negative Nory with that comment. As a 3D animator, I was annoyed by some of John K's dismissive blog posts, but he is a very talented artist and creator.
posted by Green Winnebago at 12:48 AM on March 11, 2016
posted by Green Winnebago at 12:48 AM on March 11, 2016
Is it something more than an aesthetic thing?
It's mostly aesthetics, yes. John K really really doesn't like overly polished animation that he sees as bland. From his perspective, the comical (and preferably grotesque) exaggeration of character movement and appearance is a crucial part of any animated work. He's a VERY outspoken critic of the "California School" of Animation, an admittedly somewhat generic house style that you see in movies like (the excellent film) The Iron Giant. He also heavily criticized shows like the Simpsons, again for not having an exaggerated and original enough animation style, as well as basically writing off all Japanese animation.
Personally, most of my favorite animated works use animation as a means to an end, where the story and characters are the main draw and the animation exists to present that story. I appreciate that there are animated works (like Ren and Stimpy) where the bizarre animation and character design itself is the main reason to watch, but I just found it really annoying that he writes off the 90% of all animation that isn't either his work or Loony Tunes. Anyway, I do enjoy his work, so I'll give him a Phil Fish-style pass for being a dick now and again.
posted by Green Winnebago at 12:58 AM on March 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
It's mostly aesthetics, yes. John K really really doesn't like overly polished animation that he sees as bland. From his perspective, the comical (and preferably grotesque) exaggeration of character movement and appearance is a crucial part of any animated work. He's a VERY outspoken critic of the "California School" of Animation, an admittedly somewhat generic house style that you see in movies like (the excellent film) The Iron Giant. He also heavily criticized shows like the Simpsons, again for not having an exaggerated and original enough animation style, as well as basically writing off all Japanese animation.
Personally, most of my favorite animated works use animation as a means to an end, where the story and characters are the main draw and the animation exists to present that story. I appreciate that there are animated works (like Ren and Stimpy) where the bizarre animation and character design itself is the main reason to watch, but I just found it really annoying that he writes off the 90% of all animation that isn't either his work or Loony Tunes. Anyway, I do enjoy his work, so I'll give him a Phil Fish-style pass for being a dick now and again.
posted by Green Winnebago at 12:58 AM on March 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
One thing to note is that the shorts that Kricfalusi praises were by and large released cinematically, while the shows he pans were largely made for television. It's not universal, and there were still tight budgets and deadlines, but the era of Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry that Kricfalusi's looking at is the age of the cinematic cartoon.
posted by graymouser at 3:38 AM on March 11, 2016
posted by graymouser at 3:38 AM on March 11, 2016
I co-wrote one of the tie-in Ren & Stimpy books. Nickeloden was firmly in charge by that point and it was a fairly frustrating experience trying to get clearance for art and ideas. We managed to get a couple of cool ideas into it (there's a 'How to Draw Ren' page that still makes me laugh) but the Amazonian suggestion that a new copy is worth £999.61 is laughable—and untrue, as I tested with one of my remaining author's copies a few years ago.
posted by Hogshead at 6:05 AM on March 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Hogshead at 6:05 AM on March 11, 2016 [4 favorites]
Here's another recent video survey of R&S "Never the Same Face Twice" with plenty of intense, insane clips.
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:45 PM on March 11, 2016
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:45 PM on March 11, 2016
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posted by TheWhiteSkull at 2:23 PM on March 9, 2016 [16 favorites]