"Rubber Nipple Salesmen" | |
---|---|
The Ren & Stimpy Show episode | |
Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 5 |
Directed by | John Kricfalusi Vincent Waller |
Story by | John Kricfalusi Vincent Waller |
Production code | RS5-4A |
Original air date | August 29, 1992 |
Rubber Nipple Salesmen is the 5th episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 29 August 1992.
Ren and Stimpy have gone to work as a door-to-door salesmen pushing the unlikely product of rubber nipple coverings. Stimpy and Ren disagree about the purposes of their work. In a parody of the 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King Jr., Stimpy says he has a dream where every American man and woman will be wearing rubble nipple coverings, which he believes will somehow improve the world. Ren by contrast only wants to sell rubber nipple coverings to become rich. At their first house, Ren pushes Stimpy out of the way and goes to the door, only to have his head smashed in by the psychotic Fire Chief who mistook Ren for the dreaded circus midgets whom the Fire Chief hates. At their second house, Mr. Horse answers the door along with a walrus and is notably nervous. It is strongly implied that Mr. Horse is a sexual predator who has kidnapped the walrus and is now molesting him as the walrus begs Ren and Stimpy to call the police. At the third house, Ren and Stimpy are allowed in by the perpetually clueless couple Mr. Pipe and Mrs. Pipe. Ren and Stimpy demonstrate a variety of impractical uses for the rubber nipple coverings and are rewarded when both Mr. and Mrs. Pipe agreeing to buy the coverings, and then immediately expel Ren and Stimpy from their house.
The idea for the episode came from the showrunner John Kricfalusi and Vincent Waller, one of the writers at the Spümcø studio. [1] The network executive Will McRobb gave his approval for the episode despite its risqué content, but insisted on removing "all the bits of innuendo John would pretend weren't innuendo". [1] McRobb insisted that the word rubber always had to precede the word nipples as he felt having the characters talk about rubber coverings for nipples was acceptable, but talking about nipples was not. [1] The production of Rubber Nipple Salesmen moved forward slowly at the Spümcø owning largely to the perfectionism of Kricfalusi. [2] The artists on the lay-out stage complained that it took four weeks for Kricfalusi to give his approval as he wanted every frame to be perfect. [2] Much of the drawings along the illustrating the episode was done at the Rough Draft Korea studio in Seoul. [3] David Koenigsberg of the Spümcø studio stated that Rough Draft Korea was an inexperienced studio, which was reflected in their work as he stated: "When we tried to have them animate for digital in-and-paint and camera in Hollywood, they could not follow one simple rule: never trace a line. There's no need to for digital. We had to fix scene after scene". [4]
The American journalist Rachel Llewellyn wrote that Rubber Nipple Salesmen was a product of the "bizarro world" of Kricfalusi's mind. [5] She wrote that the sexual abuse allegations against Kricfalusi that came out in 2018 as it revealed that he had used his celebrity as the showrunner to have sex with teenage girls who were fans of his TV show tainted her enjoyment of the show. [5] The American journalist Victoria Vouloumanos wrote that the scene with the walrus whom it is clearly implied is being sexually molested by Mr. Horse was one of the more disturbing scenes in American animation. made worse by the fact that the scene was played for laughs. [6]
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.
Stimpy's Fan Club is the 17th episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that aired on the Nickelodeon network on 24 April 1993.
Vincent Paul Waller is an American animator, storyboard artist, writer, and technical director. He has worked on several animated television shows and movies, the most notable ones being The Ren & Stimpy Show and SpongeBob SquarePants.
"Stimpy's Cartoon Show" is the 7th episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on January 8, 1994.
"A Visit to Anthony" is the penultimate episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that aired on the Nickelodeon network on May 8, 1993.
"Fire Dogs" is the 8th episode of the first season of The Ren & Stimpy Show, that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 29 September 1991.
Lynne Rae Naylor is a Canadian animator, artist, designer, director, and producer for television. She is best known for co-creating DreamWorks' The Mighty Ones, co-founding the animation studio Spümcø with John Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, and Jim Smith, and co-developing The Ren & Stimpy Show for Nickelodeon. She also worked on Batman: The Animated Series, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, My Life as a Teenage Robot, and Wander Over Yonder.
Sven Höek is the 6th episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 7 November 1992.
Big House Blues is a 1990 animated comedy short film which serves as the pilot episode of The Ren & Stimpy Show that was originally screened at a film festival on 10 August 1990.
"Space Madness" is the 5th 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, the Star Trek-like science fiction show The Adventures of Commander Höek and Cadet Stimpy.
Out West is the 4th episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 29 August 1992.
The Boy Who Cried Rat! is the 6th 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 9th episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 12 December 1992.
Dog Show is the 10th episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 12 December 1992.
Fake Dad is the 14th episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that aired on the Nickelodeon network on 27 February 1993.
A Yard Too Far is the second episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 20 November 1993.
No Pants Today is the fourth episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 26 November 1993.
Road Apples is the eighth episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on March 12, 1994.
"Lair of the Lummox" is the season finale from the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show. It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 30 July 1994.