Anybody who grew up in the early 1990's more than likely saw Ren & Stimpy, one of the most inspirational television cartoons ever. Spongebob Squarepants owe them his left nut for being the inspiration. Created by animation nut John K, Ren & Stimpy was one of Nickelodeon's first Nicktoons about a psychotic dog and a stupid cat. Sounds like a simple cartoon setup, but John pushed that idea to the very limits of character, gags, and just good animation overall. Still, many will probably be confused as to why a Nicktoon that was once so popular with kids could take the route of being a raunchy adult cartoon. Anybody wondering that has obviously never watched the show.

Ren & Stimpy was always a very adult show, despite Nickelodeon's many attempts at censoring it. That being said, there were several story ideas that never made the show for one reason or another. Then, in 2003, TNN (which is now called Spike TV) commissioned John for some new episodes of Ren & Stimpy, no restrictions. Thus, John assembled his animation team, dusted off those unused stories, and produced six episodes of some of the best in adult-oriented animation. Three of them aired, three stood in limbo. Try and see if you can guess which ones were cut:

NAKED BEACH FRENZY: Ren & Stimpy hit the beach filled with topless ladies as well as a mostly nude male lifeguard resembling the Hoff. Ren attempts to get close and score with the ladies while Stimpy plays the innocent one who either ends up getting lucky or doesn't realize the subtexts of his actions. Highlights include Stimpy dressing up as a superhero called Shampoo Master, with the shampoo nozzle coming right out of his crotch, and Ren constantly being harassed by the Hoff look-alike.

STIMPY'S PREGNANCY: Stimpy somehow gets pregnant and Ren undertakes the 'hardship' of being a father. This episode best displays how well the two work together despite how abusive Ren becomes abusive intentionally and unintentionally. An important tip to keep in my mind is that this is just another weird scenario to throw the characters into. So don't question the logic too much when Ren states "you said you'd use protection" as he questions Stimpy's pregnancy. As for the baby itself, well, I don't wanna spoil it. All I'll say is that it's one of the most disgusting babies ever animated. It's also a very one-joke bit played out as a touching moment that you either buy it or you don't.

ALTRUISTS: By far the longest of these episodes, clocking in at a whopping 45 minutes, Ren & Stimpy find themselves in a Three Stooges situation helping a mother who lost her home. They mean well, but end up stealing all the supplies they need to make this woman happy. Of course, this episode will go down in history as the gayest moment in Ren & Stimpy where Ren attempts to saw through a log on Stimpy's back with saw attached to Ren's crotch. The scene plays out exactly like the act of copulation with Stimpy panting and Ren bursting with testosterone. They even drop the whole subtext when Stimpy asks Ren "don't you want to stay and cuddle." There is something so disturbing, yet so fearless about that scene. Although it wasn't as bizarre in comparison to the scene where Stimpy dresses up as a female duck to distract a guard duck with sex.

REN SEEKS HELP: After Ren has done something so horrible to Stimpy it is never revealed, Ren seeks help from Doctor Mr. Horse. During his session, Ren reveals his entire childhood explaining why he is so abusive and psychotic. Actually, it doesn't really explain, but rather shows the progression of how Ren slowly moved of the food chain in torturing several small animals. Once he obtains a frog and mutilates him, he decides not to kill him but rather prolong his pain. Ren is the cartoon portrait of a serial killer. And, sure enough, you get to see him go completely over the edge by the end of the episode. By far the most brutal and horrific episode of R&S ever conceived.

FIREDOGS 2: Back when the show was on Nickelodeon, there was an episode called Firedogs where Ren and Stimpy worked for the crazy fire chief who was inspired by legendary animation director, Ralph Bakshi. In Firedogs 2, the fire chief actually turns into and is now voiced by Ralph Bakshi himself! And what follows is a disturbing profile on Mr. Bakshi as Ren and Stimpy try to be good pals to the guy. According to John K, this story was pulled from personal experience of hanging out with Ralph. And the fact that Bakshi actually came in to do the voice almost makes it a documentary. Now, Ralph is a huge fat guy with a dirty mouth and filthy lifestyle. So, needless to say, this is a very low-brow episode with many of the gags revolving around sex and poop. Although I did enjoy watching Ralph go through various emotional states making it very awkward for Ren and Stimpy (or, as Bakshi calls them, Tommy and Eddie).

UPWARD AND ONWARD: Throwing out the book on keeping characters on model, Ren and Stimpy live inside a hobo's mouth until they decide to move on up. And apparently upper class for these two means a spitoon. So they start acting like upper class men who eat boogers. This is a pure gross-out episode. It also brings up the whole R&S gay issue again where they pretty much just have good old-fashioned sex under the covers.

Of course, the big question many will be asking is if Ren and Stimpy are actually gay. John has stated on several times that he just likes to throw the two into scenarios and form gags based on their character traits. Some episodes they'll be on the prowl for ladies while others they'll be a couple. Basically, their sexuality is part of the bits. Speaking of bits, that's my one big criticism about these episodes: they each seem to be in their own category of humor. Naked Beach Frenzy is all about sex and nudity while Upward and Onward is all about boogers. It doesn't really feel like all the elements are meshing together. That's not to say the episodes don't work in their humor, though. For the most part, these are all gut-bustingly hilarious pieces of adult humor that'll make even the most jaded viewer giggle. Yeah, it's low-brow humor, but it's creative low-brow humor. John K realizes that somebody farting or pooping themselves isn't funny enough. In fact, there is a real touching episode from the original series where Stimpy farts and searches for his lost fart as he believes it is his son.

The extras are pretty impressive for such a small set. There is no audio commentary, but there are plenty of introductions and interviews with the crew that are just as informative as commentary (if not more so). John tells some great stories about the personal experiences that went into writing these episodes as well as some great behind the scenes stories with TNN and Ralph Bakshi. There also lots of pencils tests and animatics for animation geeks such as myself. Although it was a bit odd seeing pencils tests considering it's all drawn digitally so all we really see is the finished character without color or backgrounds. Still, this is some of the best animation I've seen on TV this decade.

Now, with all this talk of homosexuality and nudity, it doesn't seem very faithful to the original Nickelodeon cartoon. I assure you, this is still the Ren & Stimpy all us old folks grew up with. This is taking all the elements of the original cartoon and punching them up for an adult audience. That being said, if you couldn't stand the original Nickelodeon Ren & Stimpy, I can guarantee you're going to hate this. This is certainly not for everyone, but as a fan of adult-oriented animation, I can tell you this is some of the best in that genre. Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon makes South Park and Family Guy look like safe cartoons in comparison.

DVD RATING SCALE
-Full Retail Price
-Bargain Bin
-Rental
-Skip This Bitch

Final Words: I have to preference my rating in that this is NOT a cartoon for everyone and is mainly only going to appeal to fans of the series. I recommend going back and watching some older episodes of Ren & Stimpy first. If you can stomach that, you'll know if this show is for you.