Ren's Toothache

"Ren's Toothache"
The Ren & Stimpy Show episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 4
Directed by	John Kricfalusi
Story by	John Kricfalusi Bob Camp
Production code	RS5-2A
Original air date	August 22, 1992 (1992-08-22)
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Ren's Toothache is the 3rd episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 22 August 1992.

Plot

Ren's teeth are in a deplorable state owing to his lifelong rejection of dental hygiene. As his teeth decay, he is in increasing pain until his teeth shatter completely. As only the nerve endings for his teeth are left, Ren has difficulty eating while a group of flies festering in Stimpy's litterbox complain about the bad smells coming from Ren's mouth. Stimpy tells Ren to wait for the Old Man Hunger aka the Nerve-Ending Fairy who will leave $300 for his nerve endings. Ren pull outs his nerve endings with a plier and leaves out them at night, but only receives lint from the Nerve Ending Fairy. Finally, Stimpy donates one of his teeth to Ren.

Cast

• John Kricfalusi as Ren, Fly #1
• Billy West as Stimpy, Fly #2, Old Man Hunger
• Vincent Waller as Tooth Beaver

Production

The showrunner, John Kricfalusi, created Ren's Toothache to be a grotesque and unpleasant episode. Ren's Toothache was one of the few episodes from season two to be delivered on time for its scheduled premiere date in August 1992. ^[1] The episode was heavily censored by the Nickelodeon network, which removed the scene Stimpy collects his spit into jars. ^[2]

Reception

The American critic Hayden Mears wrote: "One of the show's defining elements was its texture. When Ren learns the putrid perils of his unbrushed chompers in “Ren's Toothache,” you smell the stench coming from his mouth. Thanks to some vivid close-ups, you feel a cartoon character's rotting tooth". ^[3] Likewise, the American critic Gary Kramer wrote that Ren's Toothache with its close-up shots of Ren's decaying teeth and gums was a prime example of the show's tendency to focus on the gross and disgusting. ^[4]

The American critic Martin Goodman wrote the Ren & Stimpy Show explored fears of illness, decay and death as the show "featured filth, illness, disease and mutilation to an unprecedented degree, making these horrors an integral part of the show" with Ren's Toothache being a prime example as "exposed nerve endings writhe" in Ren's mouth. ^[5] Goodman argued that the appeal of such disgusting images to young people was that young people know that their youth will not last and eventually they will grow old, their bodies will decay and finally they will die. ^[5] Goodman argued that the presentation of images of sickness and bodily decay in The Ren & Stimpy Show was a way for young people to confront fears of their own eventual coming bodily decay in a comical context. ^[5] The American critic Calvin Kemph wrote that Kricfalusi often featured repulsive images, adding: "Ren’s Toothache stands out as a primary example, where a rotted mouth of teeth turns grotesque, sharply detailing the smell and abject horror of a nightmare." ^[6]

Books

• Dobbs, G. Michael (2015). Escape – How Animation Broke into the Mainstream in the 1990s. Orlando: BearManor Media. ISBN   1593931107.
• Komorowski, Thad (2017). Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren & Stimpy Story. BearManor Media.

References

1. Komorowski 2017, p. 218.
2. Komorowski 2017, p. 264.
3. Mears, Hayden. "'Ren & Stimpy': Unpacking the Complicated Legacy of This Iconic Show 30 Years Later". Collinder. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
4. Kramer, Gary (13 August 2020). "New "Ren & Stimpy" doc perpetuates the problematic myth of the cult cartoon's bad-boy genius". Salon. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
5. Goodman, Martin (March 2001). "Cartoons Aren't Real! Ren and Stimpy In Review". Animation World Magazine. 12 (5): 2. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
6. Kemph, Calvin (21 August 2020). "Happy Happy Joy Joy Created by John Kricfalsui". Twin Geeks. Retrieved 26 March 2024.