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Over its five seasons, The Ren & Stimpy Show featured a varied cast of characters, some who appeared in as few as one episode, and some who were practically regulars.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2007) |
Over its five seasons, The Ren & Stimpy Show featured a varied cast of characters, some who appeared in as few as one episode, and some who were practically regulars.
Ren Hoëk (voiced by John Kricfalusi in Seasons 1–2 and Adult Party Cartoon , Billy West in Seasons 3–5 and most laughter and screaming, and Chris Edgerly in Nicktoons MLB ) is a scrawny "Asthma-Hound" Chihuahua with a fairly long, rat-like, pink tail (which constantly disappears due to the character's animation limits), pink eyes and tan fur. Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman of Animation World Magazine described Ren as "scrawny", "dyspeptic", and "violently psychotic". On some occasions, Ren "lost his mind" in a "cumulative process", resulting in Ren becoming, in Goodman's words, a "screaming klaxon, neon-pink eyes dilating into twin novae inches above his jagged, monolithic teeth". Andy Meisler of The New York Times described Ren as "adventurous", "intelligent", and "emotionally brittle".
Kricfalusi originally voiced Ren in a manner that he describes as "a bad imitation of Peter Lorre". Billy West said that he auditioned to play Ren; the creators of the series believed that having West voice Ren and Stimpy would give him too large of a workload. West would, however, take over Ren's voice after Nickelodeon fired Kricfalusi. As West refused to return for Adult Party Cartoon , Kricfalusi would return for the role in that series. In the pilot, Pierre Decelles provided Ren's signature diabolical laughter, while West performed Ren's maniacal laugh in the series.
Kricfalusi complained about Nickelodeon executives requesting for Ren to have "a softer side".
Bill Wray said that Ren was his favorite character to write for; Wray described Ren as "fun" because "you can make him mean". In 1993, he added that, "It drives me crazy when I tell people I work on the show and they always say, 'Make Ren meaner'".
Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat (voiced by Billy West in the series, Eric Bauza in Adult Party Cartoon ) is a 3-year-old fat, red and white Manx cat. His significant physical features a large blue nose, purple eyelids, no tail, white gloves with fingernails on them, human-style buttocks, flat feet and a brain the size of a peanut (despite some intelligence, such as when cooking and inventing). Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman of Animation World Magazine described Stimpy as "obese" and "brain-damaged". Andy Meisler of The New York Times described Stimpy as "barrel-chested" and "good-natured".
Stimpy's trademark facial expression is a blissfully ignorant smile with his tongue flopping out. Most of the time when he gets excited, he says his famous catchphrase, "Oh, joy!" or simply "Joy". He also has a strong attachment to his "first material possession" which is a litter box (given to him in the pilot episode) and even though Ren destroys it (by bashing it on his head in "Fire Dogs" or dumping it in acid in "Ren's Bitter Half"), Stimpy always reacts strongly to it by crying, panicking or fainting, though it always appears again in some later episode. He is frequently confused with a dog, due to his peculiar appearance for cats, that allow him to partake in dog-related activities to disastrous results; one example would be George Liquor designating hom as a "Cornish Rex Hound" to enter him in a dog show. [1] While the duo's relationship has been ambiguous in the original series, Stimpy is occasionally depicted in a feminine role, helping with housework and maintaining the residence (if any) while Ren goes to work.
Stimpy is named after an art school classmate of Kricfalusi, whose nickname was "Stimpy Cadogen" ("Killer Cadogen" was Stimpy's pseudonym in several episodes, and in a few others he is referred to as Stimpleton Cadogen). Billy West, who voiced Stimpy, said that he based Stimpy's voice on a "sped up" Larry Fine of The Three Stooges. West described Stimpy as one of his favorite characters. Eric Bauza voiced Stimpy in the Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" because West believed that the series had no humor and that voicing Stimpy in it would damage his career, as West later said in an interview. Stimpy likes to create destructive electronic devices, whenever he has sufficient intelligence for it in episodes and feels a fixation for "sensory pleasures of fresh kitty litter".
Bill Wray described Stimpy as his favorite character to draw. Wray said that Stimpy has "a huge range of emotion".
Mr. Horse (voiced by John Kricfalusi in Seasons 1–2 and Adult Party Cartoon , Billy West in Seasons 3–5) was one of the most popular characters, appearing in many episodes in a wide variety of non-continuous roles. Mr. Horse partakes in a wide range of roles to comedic effect due to his nature as a cameo based character
Mr. Horse is an anthropomorphic horse. He is usually bipedal, aside from instances he is depicted as a mere horse. His catchphrase being "No sir, I don't like it" after pondering for a moment. He is usually depicted as a straight-talking and cynical individual with a degree of eccentricity, getting along with Ren and Stimpy whenever they interact. However, he is depicted as being secretly a sexually depraved predator, having kept a distressed walrus for sexual slavery in his house while believing Ren and Stimpy to be FBI agents in the episode Rubber Nipple Salesmen .
Powdered Toast Man (voiced by Gary Owens [2] in most appearances, Darrin J. Sargent in the first "Powdered Toast Man" commercial, Corey Burton in Nicktoons MLB , David Kaye in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl and Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway , Michael Berger in Smite ) is a melodramatic superhero and a spokesperson for Powdered Toast, a breakfast treat that "tastes just like sawdust". He was based on a Frank Zappa-inspired character called Studebacher Hoch, from the song "Billy the Mountain". The character appeared in Powdered Toast commercials on The Ren & Stimpy Show, and starred in two of its episodes: "Powdered Toast Man" (with Frank Zappa as "the Pope") and "Powdered Toast Man vs. Waffle Woman". He is depicted as extremely incompetent in heroics, causing unintentional destruction and lax treatment of the people he saves. He does not have a morally reinforced conscience, as demonstrated by his time as the President of the United States; in his titular episode, he denies the people's basic rights (which they idiotically celebrate) while burning the United States Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States at a fireplace for warmth.
By day, Powdered Toast Man is Pastor Toastman, a "cool" youth deacon; it is implied that he is competent at his day job, gaining popularity among the youth, in contrast to his superhero career. His disguise is a pair of thick black spectacles and a pastor's collar reminiscent of Superman's thinly disguised but effective alter ego, Clark Kent. Pastor Toastman's office is his headquarters; he is served by a lovely young female assistant named "Catholic High School Girl", who serves as his confidant; it is suggested that they have a romantic relationship.
Powdered Toast Man has a number of abilities and, like many superheroes, has a mysterious background and an alter ego. The character's catchphrase is "Leave everything to me".
Powdered Toast Man can fly by flatulence, by inserting his head into a special toaster and launching from it, or by pushing off from the ground. He also flies backwards, and can hover in midair. His powers include projection of offensive weapons: high-velocity raisins shot from his mouth, hyper-corrosive croutons fired from his armpit, butter pats launched from the top of his head, and acidic marmalade from his navel. There are several signals that alert Powdered Toast Man to danger: his tongue phone, the inflation of his briefs, the dissipation of toast particles in his head, or the reading of emergency messages encoded in slices of olive loaf. He is apparently made entirely of powdered toast, since he can produce fully formed toast by flicking his wrist or separating his head (which is made of two pieces of toast) and scraping the interior with a butter knife. His head is depicted as two identical pieces of toast, each with a face.
Muddy Mudskipper (voiced by Harris Peet) is a mudskipper (a species of fish capable of crawling out of water and breathing air through its skin) with the voice and personality of a grizzled vaudeville comedian who hosts his titular children's television series, which is depicted as a low-effort production with subpar animation and persistent product placement. He is depicted as a cynical individual, calling everyone "a lousy bum". [3]
Besides being a huge television star, Muddy has dabbled in villainy, at one point kidnapping the Pope (voiced by Frank Zappa) before being foiled by Powdered Toast Man. His name is a parody of Woody Woodpecker.
The show's theme song (written by John Kricfalusi, Bob Camp & Charlie Brissette) plays up Muddy's particular physical traits.
Muddy's lines would also be used as archive recording from these last three episodes for Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker .
Mr. and Mrs. Pipe (voiced by Billy West and Cheryl Chase) are a 1950s' sitcom-styled white suburban couple. Always seen only from the waist down, they are depicted as a standard, if somewhat hapless couple. The son of Old Man Hunger, Mr. Pipe is typically seen with a pipe and clad in a bathrobe, slippers and black socks supported by sock-suspenders. He loves to wear rubber nipples on his knees and farts at inappropriate moments. His shaved beard is briefly seen in "Big Baby Scam". Mrs. Pipe is depicted as a standard housewife with seemingly no unique traits, though it is revealed that she had copious amounts of body hair in "Rubber Nipple Salesmen". The couple have two children named Eugene and Shawn, who are literate and act like gangsters, frequently leaving the residence without notifying their parents. They had kept a baboon as a pet in "A Yard Too Far".
The Announcer Salesman (also known as "That Guy") is a salesman. He is depicted as an omnipotent being, able to warp reality to promote his product to unwitting individuals. Sometimes, he is a salesman ("Feud for Sale", "To Salve and Salve Not!".) Other times, he is a narrator, an announcer, a dog-show judge, a real estate agent, etc. The character is never referred to by any name in the series, but the name of "Hey, It's That Guy" seems to be the official name given by West, who also voiced him. He first appeared in "Space Madness", appearing out of thin air while provoking Stimpy to press the history eraser button, having served as the narrator of the fictional series. He bears a slight resemblance to the Genie from Disney's Aladdin . He had a moustache in "House of Next Tuesday". He was voiced by Billy West.
Haggis MacHaggis is a short, bald stereotypical Scotsman. At one point, he was a cartoon star, but low ratings forced him out into the street. He is created by Chris Reccardi and voiced by Alan Young, who utilizes the same voice as Scrooge McDuck.
Wilbur Cobb is a demented, decaying old man who was once the foremost cartoon producer in the world. He speaks in malapropisms and suffers from a malady that results in body parts falling off. In the episode "Stimpy's Cartoon Show", Ren and Stimpy show Cobb their own film "I Like Pink" (with Explodey the Pup) in hopes the powerful producer will give them their big break. Voiced by Jack Carter, his final appearance was in "The Last Temptation", where he was the gardener for God. John Kricfalusi originally wanted his name to be Raymond Spum (a reference to the pseudonym that he used in episodes he considered unsatisfactory), but after his termination from the series Nickelodeon renamed him Wilbur Cobb after the story editor.
The Fire Chief is a fireman. He is depicted as a competent and kindly figure. Despite this, he has a psychotic hatred for "circus midgets", having mistook Ren and Stimpy for them. He beat the duo up in "Circus Midgets", having no idea the duo were forcibly dressed as clowns.
He was voiced by Harris Peet in the entire original series and at the beginning of the character's appearance in the Adult Party Cartoon. After transforming into a caricature of Ralph Bakshi (which was already the basis for the character), Bakshi himself voiced the character.
Mrs. Buttloaves is a morbidly obese and homely old woman dressed in a bulging pink night gown and hair curlers. She first appeared in "Fire Dogs", having appeared in subsequent episodes as cameos. She is the mother of Old Man Hunger, consequently the grandmother of Mr. Pipe and the great-grandmother of Eugene and Shawn Pipe; her surname implied she had remarried, which is confirmed as she has an infant child. She is voiced by John Kricfalusi for the show's first two seasons and subsequently by Billy West.
Old Man Hunger is a recurring character who first appeared in "Big House Blues". He was voiced by John Kricfalusi, Billy West, and Bob Camp. He is depicted as a physically queer and seemingly perverted old man, who is nevertheless competent in his job. He is implied to be younger than he looks, as he is the son of Mrs. Buttloaves, the father of Mr. Pipe and consequently the grandfather of Eugene and Shawn Pipe; the moniker "Old Man Hunger" may have been a nickname.
George Liquor is a stereotypical ultra-patriotic American citizen. He is depicted as a highly aggressive individual, having extremely warped beliefs to the point he believes Republicans are communists. When episodes featuring him were aired on Nickelodeon, his family name was edited out. Instead, the scene would pause and a record-scratching sound effect would be played in place of the word "Liquor". Many story pitches featuring Liquor were vetoed by Nickelodeon due to their dislike for the character. After Kricfalusi's termination from the show, the rights to the character were returned to him.
According to Kricfalusi, he is Ren and Stimpy's official owner. He was voiced by Michael Pataki until his death, preceded by Harris Peet voiced prototypes of the character in "The Boy Who Cried Rat" and "Black Hole". Kricfalusi would provide additional voice lines for the character that Pataki had not recorded before his death in "Cans Without Labels", the character's final official appearance.
The Ren & Stimpy Show, commonly referred to as simply Ren & Stimpy, is an American comedy animated television series created by John Kricfalusi and developed by Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, Jim Smith and Lynne Naylor for Nickelodeon. Originally produced by Spümcø, the series aired on Nickelodeon from August 11, 1991, to December 16, 1995, with its last episode airing on MTV on October 20, 1996, spanning for a total of five seasons and 52 episodes. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotionally unstable and psychotic chihuahua dog; and Stimpy, a good-natured and dimwitted Manx cat. It is the third to be aired of the original three Nickelodeon animated series known as "Nicktoons", alongside Doug and Rugrats, and is considered to be one of the progenitor series of the brand.
Spümcø, Inc. was an American animation studio that was active from 1989 to 2005 and based in Los Angeles, California. The studio was best known for working on the first two seasons of The Ren & Stimpy Show for Nickelodeon and for various commercials. The studio won several awards, including an Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject for the music video of the song "I Miss You" by Björk.
Michael John Kricfalusi, known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator, blogger, and former animator and voice actor. He is the creator of the animated television series The Ren & Stimpy Show, which was highly influential on televised animation during the 1990s. From 1989 to 1992, he was heavily involved with the first two seasons of the show in virtually every aspect of its production, including providing the voice of Ren Höek and other characters. In 2009, he won the Inkpot Award.
Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon" is an 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 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.
George Liquor is a cartoon character created by John Kricfalusi. Liquor is most famous for his appearances on The Ren & Stimpy Show. He is considered Kricfalusi's signature character and was a mascot for Kricfalusi's defunct animation studio, Spümcø. Kricfalusi portrayed George Liquor as a patriotic, outspoken, politically conservative blowhard. Kricfalusi described Liquor as his favorite character to animate.
"Robin Höek" is the third episode of the first season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on August 25, 1991. This episode is the first in a short-lived series of episodes called Stimpy's Storybook Land, which parody children's literature.
Ren Höek and Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat, created by John Kricfalusi, are the title characters in the Nickelodeon animated series The Ren & Stimpy Show, and its 2003 spin-off Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon". Kricfalusi created the characters during his stay at Sheridan College and they first appeared on film in the pilot episode "Big House Blues". Ren is a scrawny, emotionally unstable, and psychotic "Asthma Hound" Chihuahua, and his best friend Stimpy is a dim-witted, good-natured Manx cat. The show portrays their wacky, bizarre, and often surreal misadventures.
"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".
"Hard Times for Haggis" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on April 30, 1994.
"Jimminy Lummox" is the seventh episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on February 19, 1994.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"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.
"Big Baby Scam" is the ninth episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on December 12, 1992.
"Dog Show" is the tenth episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on December 12, 1992. It is the final appearance of George Liquor in the series, as John Kricfalusi was fired midway through production and reclaimed the rights to the character, utilizing it as Spümcø's mascot.
"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.
"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.
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