| "In the Army" | |
|---|---|
| The Ren & Stimpy Show episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 1a |
| Directed by | Bob Camp |
| Written by | Bob Camp |
| Production code | RS5-2B |
| Original air date | August 15, 1992 |
"In the Army" is the first episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show . It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 15, 1992. It is the first episode in the series to not be directed by creator John Kricfalusi, with developer Bob Camp taking up these duties.
Ren and Stimpy have decided for reasons that are never explained to join the U.S. Army. They stand no higher than the other to-be-soldiers' feet, and are tricked into being vaccinated and having haircuts (despite a warning at the eye chart). Despite this, they successfully join.
The duo engage in military training under a Sergeant with nonsensical abilities, with Stimpy proving to be a competent soldier while Ren struggles to understand the Sergeant's commands; in one instance he misconstrued orders of multiple sit-ups to paying the Sergeant 20 dollars, resulting in the money to be destroyed and the duo sent to peel potatoes as punishment. Stimpy believes Ren to be more important as he was assigned to peel more potatoes compared to Stimpy's minuscule amount.
The duo are ordered to withstand being in a room full of tear gas. They try to leave but are stopped by the Sergeant on top of a cannon. Stimpy, unable to withstand the gas, turns green and cries in pain while Ren stays unharmed by holding his breath. The Sergeant forces the duo to go back in the room, and they are punished again to peel watermelons.
The duo are forced to hold big sacks of supplies while they walk through a muddy area. Ren, who is unable to hold the weight, collapses and convinces Stimpy to carry him and his supplies. He is punished by having to carry the Sergeant in addition to his supplies.
After a long day, the duo finally get to their bunkers to sleep, and their feet are swollen and smelly from hard work. Ren tries to sleep, only to be waken up by sirens; tortured by his ordeal and sleep deprivation, he goes insane and chops up his bed. The duo are again punished by being sent to peel warheads.
The next day, Ren fantasizes that the army intends to kill them both and try to kill them, only for the Sergeant to notify them that they had graduated and can officially go to war. They are happily sent to war at an unidentified country, descending in burning tanks while singing "The Star-Spangled Banner".
Unlike the first season, where all of the episodes were directed by John Kricfalusi, in the second season, with the increased workload imposed by 20 episodes, production was assigned to several directors. [1] In practice, production for the second season was primarily divided between the "A" productions headed by Kricfalusi, which had money and time lavished on them, vs. the "B" productions headed by Bob Camp, which had lower budgets and less time. [2] "In the Army" was one of the lesser "B" productions assigned to Camp; "In the Army" is, consequently, the first episode in the series to not be directed by Kricfalusi and to have a writer's credit. [2] Camp tended to combine the process of making the storyboard phrase and the layouts into one, which increased the speed of production. [2] Camp referred to himself as being "more about the gag", and the productions directed by him tended to be thin on plot, instead being a loose collections of gags built around a single theme, in this case Ren and Stimpy joining the United States Army. [3] "In the Army" was finished on time for its scheduled premiere in August 1992 and slightly under budget. [3] The episode was illustrated at Rough Draft Korea in Seoul. [4] American journalist Thad Komorowski wrote that "In the Army" was a difficult episode to illustrate because it was "heavy on distortion", but that the artists of Rough Draft Korea were able to complete the episode on time and in full with "admirable deftness". [4]
In a review, American critic Sim Basible wrote "In the Army" was "fun without being particularly memorable". [5] Komorowski gave the episode three and a half out of five stars, noting that it exemplifies Bob Camp's raucous animation style, turning a stale and unoriginal story into an outrageous and fun episode. [6]
Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" is an American animated television series created and directed by John Kricfalusi and produced by Spümcø for TNN / Spike TV. The series was developed as a more "extreme" revamp and spin-off of Nickelodeon's The Ren & Stimpy Show, which Spümcø produced the first two seasons. The series premiered on June 26, 2003, and was removed from the network on July 24, after airing only three episodes; the remaining episodes were released on DVD. During its short run, Adult Party Cartoon was heavily panned by critics, audiences and fans of the original series. It has been referred to as one of the worst animated series of all time.
"Stimpy's Cartoon Show" is the seventh episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on January 8, 1994.
"Man's Best Friend" is an episode from the second season of the American animated television series The Ren & Stimpy Show. It was originally intended to air on Nickelodeon on August 22, 1992, as the second half of the second episode of Season 2, but was pulled before airing and replaced by a censored version of "Big House Blues". It eventually aired on the soft launch of Spike TV on June 23, 2003. In the episode, Ren and Stimpy learn about obedience after George Liquor takes them home with him and swears to make them "champions".
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"Big House Blues" is a 1990 American animated comedy film produced by Spümcø. Originally screened at a film festival, with a censored version later airing on Nickelodeon, it was succeeded by The Ren & Stimpy Show on the network, to which it serves as a pilot episode.
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"The Great Outdoors" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on March 27, 1993.
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"Lair of the Lummox" is the sixteenth episode and season finale from the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on July 30, 1994. It is the second and last episode of the Untamed World sub-series after "A Cartoon".
"Aloha Höek" is the seventeenth episode of the fourth season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on January 14, 1995. It is considered to be one of the series' worst episodes.
"Ren's Brain" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on October 7, 1995. It is the final episode of the series to be conceptualized at Spümcø, as well as the last with the involvement of writer Richard Pursel and the episode's director and storyboarder Chris Reccardi.
