School Mates

For the chess magazine, see Chess Life.

"School Mates"
The Ren & Stimpy Show episode
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 13
Directed by	Kirk Field
Written by	Jim Gomez
Production code	RS-435
Original air date	November 11, 1995 (1995-11-11)
Episode chronology
← Previous "Who's Stupid Now?" Next → "Dinner Party"
List of episodes

"School Mates" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of The Ren & Stimpy Show . It originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on November 11, 1995.

Plot

Ren and Stimpy are cross-dressers. When Ren receives a call that Chuck, his old fraternity brother, is coming for a visit, he immediately shuts Stimpy into a closet and hides all feminine household items. After scaring Stimpy out of spite, Chuck is disappointed that Ren lives a domesticated life with a cat but does not care about his femininity. He kicks Stimpy out temporarily, but not before dressing him as a black cat due to his peculiar appearance. They chase Stimpy when he attempts to enter the house again, with Ren biting Stimpy's buttocks off. ^[1]

The duo go to town to abuse townsfolk for fun and play cards with their other fraternity brothers. They return home with female dogs; while the female dogs chase Stimpy, Chuck finds Ren's old college yearbook, where he reveals Ren was a nerd during his college years; it is not known how the duo got more friendly with each other. Ren is dressed as a cat and chased to be reminded of those years. ^[1]

The next day, Ren goes off to work, only to find Chuck and Stimpy bonding instead of attacking each other; the duo leave to abuse townsfolk and leave Ren to wash the dishes they had used. He remembers how he met Chuck; he had frequently abused Ren throughout their years. Chuck and Stimpy return, with Stimpy enjoying it, especially drinking toilet water; Chuck leaves calling Ren a bum. Stimpy cheers Ren up by dressing up as a black cat to be assaulted; Ren and Stimpy realize that Chuck's opinions on them do not matter and celebrate their friendship as the episode ends. ^[1]

Cast

• Ren – Voice of Billy West
• Stimpy – Voice of Billy West
• Chuck – Voice of Billy West

Production

"School Mates" was produced for the series' fourth season and aired during a Nickelodeon-"commissioned" fifth season. It was storyboarded at Character Builders in Ohio, a less costly alternative to most animation studios by Brian Smith to save costs. ^{[2] [3]} Mark Marren produced the storyboards; due to his work frequently being revised by senior crew members like Bob Camp, he opted to be credited under the pseudonym Kirk Field. It was originally planned to be directed by Ron Hughart, but the responsibility had passed to Marren after Jim Gomez wrote the episode. ^[4]

Reception

American journalist Thad Komorowski gave the episode three out of five stars, noting it to be Marren's best episode as it had the assistance of Gomez' strong story. ^[5]

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.

Reference

1. Komorowski 2017, pp. 401–411.
2. "Character Builders: Hollywood in Ohio". Animation World Network. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
3. Komorowski 2017, p. 263.
4. Komorowski 2017, p. 259.
5. Komorowski 2017, p. 411.