Marooned (The Ren & Stimpy Show)

"Marooned"
The Ren & Stimpy Show episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 4a
Directed by	John Kricfalusi
Story by	John Kricfalusi
Production code	RS-05B
Original air date	October 6, 1991 (1991-10-06)
Episode chronology
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List of episodes

Marooned is the 9th episode of The Ren & Stimpy Show of the first season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 6 October 1991. It is the second episode in a loosely linked trilogy known as the "space episodes" set in the show-within-the show, The Adventures of Commander Hòek and Cadet Stimpy.

Plot

Notwithstanding their deaths in Space Madness, the episode continues with the story of The Adventures of Commander Hòek and Cadet Stimpy that casts Ren and Stimpy as astronauts going farther into space than any other dog and cat before. The duo clash their space ship onto a strange plant and find themselves marooned. When Ren complains "we're marooned!", Stimpy tells him "just like the title of this cartoon!" ^[1] Ren and Stimpy constantly fight as Ren is annoyed by Stimpy's stupidity and habit of making annoying sounds. Stimpy has a handbook for survival, but the duo are nearly eaten several times by hostile aliens. Ren sees an apparition of a female dog that is merely a trick by an alien to lure him out of his camp. Finally, the duo are shallowed alive by an alien and are confronted by the microorganisms living within the alien's stomach. Stimpy tells Ren that his survival book reads: "It says-we're doomed!" ^[1] The ending of the episode implies that Ren and Stimpy will be eaten alive.

Production

The idea for the trilogy known as the "space episodes" that would serve as both a parody of Star Trek and as a show-within-the-show was created during a writing session held during a drinking bout in a bar between John Kricfalusi and Jim Smith. ^[2] The storyboard for the episode was done by Chris Reccardi. ^[2] Kent Butterworth, an animator who worked for Ralph Bakshi was alleged to have worked as an uncredited free-lancer on the episode and was blamed for the episode's slow pacing, but he denies he ever worked on Marooned. ^[2] Marooned was finished late and aired months after the date selected for its première. ^[3]

Cast

• Ren-voice of John Kricfalusi
• Stimpy-voice of Billy West
• Sexy chihuahua-voice of Cheryl Chase

Reception

The critic Jonathan Barkan praised Space Madness along with its sequel Marooned that "played almost like demented Star Trek episodes." ^[4] The American critic Dawn Taylor rated Marooned as one of the best episodes of the first season. ^[5] By contrast, the American critic Thad Komorowski rated Marooned as a bomb as he stated the episode was slowly paced and boring. ^[1]

Books and articles

• Dobbs, G. Michael (2015). Escape – How Animation Broke into the Mainstream in the 1990s. Orlando: BearManor Media. ISBN   978-1593931100.
• Komorowski, Thad (2017). Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren & Stimpy Story. Albany, Georgia: BearManor Media. ISBN   978-1629331836.

References

1. Komorowski 2017, p. 356.
2. Komorowski 2017, p. 99.
3. Komorowski 2017, p. 113.
4. Barkan, Jonathan (18 May 2016). "The Gruesome, Disgusting Delight of "Ren & Stimpy"". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
5. Taylor, Dawn. "The Ren & Stimpy Show: The Complete First & Second Seasons: Uncut". The DVD Journal. Retrieved 30 June 2023.