| "Jerry the Bellybutton Elf" | |
|---|---|
| The Ren & Stimpy Show episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 11 |
| Directed by | Ron Hughart |
| Written by | Steve Mellor |
| Production code | RS-311 |
| Original air date | April 9, 1994 |
| Guest appearance | |
| Gilbert Gottfried as Jerry the Bellybutton Elf | |
"Jerry the Bellybutton Elf" is the twelfth episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show . It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on April 9, 1994.
Stimpy plays with his navel while Ren is reading a newspaper. Stimpy pokes grotesquely and injects hazardous substances into it for his own amusement. At night he is sharpening pencils into his belly button; this also sharpens the finger of an angered Ren. Stimpy is suddenly goaded by his belly button to crawl inside it; he obliges, nonsensically able to enter, with his body imploding into a literal button. Stimpy experiences a psychedelic journey inside his body. Stimpy lands in a desolate region, where he finds Jerry the Bellybutton Elf. Jerry invites him to "play" (actually to help him with his housework), but not before giving him a lint miniskirt. [1]
Ren wakes up the next morning, only to find the imploded button; believing him to be dead, he mourns Stimpy and bites on the button; he eavesdrops on Stimpy being congratulated by Jerry, only to be chased after serving Jerry lint loaf, whom he despises. Mr. Horse, the Ghost, Powdered Toast Man and Kowalski join in, with Muddy Mudskipper and his new wife (used to be Abner's) appearing. Jerry chases Stimpy with a car, only for Stimpy to make it worse by offering to microwave the loaf. Jerry rips apart his skin, revealing himself to be a demonic being named Adonis, Lord of Chaos. The commotion at Ren's house soon turns into a full on party, with Ren agreeing to serve drinks. Stimpy gets out of the belly button to seek help, only for Adonis to pull the duo inside. Everyone leaves and Mudskipper's wife eats the button.
Steve Mellor wrote the episode; it is the first episode to not be written by a Spümcø alumnus as well as the last episode he worked on. The task of directing "Jerry the Bellybutton Elf" was assigned to Ron Hughart, an individual considered to be reliable by both John Kricfalusi and Nickelodeon executives. [2] The story was intended as a parody of Alice in Wonderland . Hughart said of his work on "Jerry": "['Climb Inside My World'] was added to the episode at some point after the initial storyboard was given to me. A couple of the guys didn't want to board the sequence or at least didn't know what to do with it. I boarded it and timed it". [2]
American journalist Thad Komorowski rated the episode zero out of five stars, calling it a "pitifully unfunny" episode and one of the worst episodes in the series. However, he considered the psychedelic scene to be stellar. [1] By contrast, the critic Witney Seibold praised the climax and Gottfried's voice acting, writing: "Jerry has one of the most vocal and unusual freakouts in a show full of them. Gottfried didn't just employ his well-known voice, but pushed it to 11, shrieking at the top of his lungs and mutating into a giant murderous porkchop. What a class act". [3]
Ronald P. Hughart is an American animator, director, and storyboard artist. He has worked on several shows, including The Ren & Stimpy Show, Family Dog, Futurama and American Dad!. He also worked on Ren & Stimpy as a layout supervisor and timing director. Hughart currently works on American Dad! as co-supervising director with Brent Woods.
"Son of Stimpy" is the twelfth episode from the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on MTV in the United States in January 13, 1993, after multiple delays due to its unusually long length of 21 minutes and objectionable content; an edited version would later air on Nickelodeon.
"Space Madness" is the fifth episode of the first season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on September 8, 1991. Along with "Marooned" and "Black Hole", the episode is part of a loose trilogy in the first season known as the "space episodes", centering around the show-within-the-show, a parody of Star Trek-like science fiction shows titled The Adventures of Commander Höek and Cadet Stimpy.
"Ren's Toothache" is the third episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 22, 1992. A censored version of "Big House Blues" aired yet again after this episode instead of "Man's Best Friend", which was barred from airing.
"Powdered Toast Man" is the second episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 15, 1992.
"Haunted House" is the seventh episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on November 21, 1992.
"Black Hole" is the eleventh and penultimate episode of the first season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on February 23, 1992. It is the third and final episode in a loosely linked trilogy known as the "space episodes", set in the show-within-the-show The Adventures of Commander Höek and Cadet Stimpy.
"The Boy Who Cried Rat!" is the sixth episode of the first season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on September 8, 1991.
"The Big Shot!" is the second episode of the first season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 11, 1991.
"The Cat That Laid the Golden Hairball" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on April 3, 1993.
"To Salve and Salve Not!" is the first episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on November 20, 1993.
"Ren's Pecs" is the fifth episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on December 18, 1993.
"Bass Masters" is the eighth episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on February 19, 1994.
"Eat My Cookies" is the fourteenth episode from the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on June 4, 1994.
"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".
"I Love Chicken" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on November 19, 1994.
"Pixie King" is the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on January 14, 1995.
"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.
"Insomniac Ren" is the eighteenth episode of the fourth season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on January 21, 1995.
