The Ren & Stimpy Show: The Complete First And Second
Seasons
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: B- Episodes: A-
Since its arrival in 1991, The Ren & Stimpy Show
was a huge hit, an important revival of the animated TV series as the domain of
the animator as artist and the risks it took made it instantly
controversial. A new DVD set covering
the first two seasons of the show (1991 – 1993) is here and this set is
absolutely fantastic in many respects. There are some shortcomings here
and there that will be met with disappointment - but I’ve been able to take the
good with the bad, as I doubt these episodes will be presented any better for
some time to come. The first thing that diehard fans will notice after
opening this bundle of joy is that the episode order is mostly correct for the
first season (the pilot episode is the only one placed out of original airing
order), yet the second season has many changes to the order. This is
unusual, but even more so since the packaging states that they’re all shown in
original broadcast order. Further, though the banned episode “Man’s
Best Friend” is listed on the case of Disc 3, it’s actually located on Disc
2 under the bonus features. These things are pretty much just minor
inconsistencies that are little more than a pesky annoyance. The bigger
problem lies in the term “uncut” that is used liberally anywhere it can be
plastered. Many other sites make note of this problem, so I won’t go into
too much of a retread. The most that’s missing is a few seconds here and
there - which doesn’t sound like much, but it takes away from the experience
overall. The snippets that are missing were apparently aired as recently
as the Spike TV Network reruns, so there’s no reason at all for any of it being
cut out.
I have listed the following episodes in a more preferable
viewing order. This is altered slightly from the broadcast order to
include “Man’s Best Friend” where it was originally intended, so the
first four cartoons in season two are in the order they would have been had the
episode not gone unaired. Everything else listed in the second season
from “Out West” and below is as originally aired:
Season 1: Spümcø Produced Episodes –
Big House Blues (Pilot)
Stimpy's Big Day
The Big Shot
Robin Hoek
Nurse Stimpy
Space Madness
The Boy Who Cried Rat
Fire Dogs
The Littlest Giant
Marooned
Untamed World
Black Hole
Stimpy's Invention
Season 2: Started At Spümcø And Finished At Games
Animation –
*Man's Best Friend (Unaired)
*Powdered Toast Man
*Ren's Toothache
*In The Army
*Out West
*Rubber Nipple Salesmen
Sven Hoek
Mad Dog Hoek
Haunted House
Big Baby Scam
Dog Show
Son of Stimpy/Stimpy's First Fart
Monkey See, Monkey Don't
Fake Dad
The Great Outdoors
The Cat That Laid The Golden Hairball
Stimpy's Fan Club
A Visit to Anthony
Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen
(* Episodes in Season 2 that are marked with an asterisk
were fully produced by Spümcø)
Other little problems in the presentation can be spotted
here and there - there’s a glitch on the episode “Firedogs” that can
pose a problem for some. On the better of the DVD players I used while
watching the show, it’s little more than a second of pixelation and sound
flubbing - somewhat minor, but it shouldn‘t be on something you just paid $40
or the like for. However, on a lesser player that I used, it froze the
whole episode from then on, and I had trouble skipping past it. I have no
way of knowing if this glitch is found on all copies, or if it was taken care
of before being released to the general public. Chances are there are a
good many of the earlier runs that possess this problem, so you may have to
return your copy for a better one, if possible. One other major annoyance
is found on the “Sven Hoek” episode - but this isn’t a technical
problem, so it will be found on all copies. For a few seconds, there’s a
visible drop in picture and sound quality, along with a visible time code,
smack in the middle of the screen. The material here had to be restored
from videocassette, so it couldn’t be fixed up much better than this. Making
it optional to view this sequence would have been a better choice, as it can be
a tad distracting.
The picture quality is especially excellent in my opinion
- things look just right for the cartoon, with clean lines, sharp colors and
little to no blurring. The image is full screen as was originally
intended, since this is a television cartoon. The sound is Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo and is as equally pleasing as the video quality. It’s hard to
say which episodes have been digitally remastered and which haven’t for quality
presentation, though all have to in order to exist on a DVD. They may all
have been, as they all look and sound gorgeous - but some episodes are labeled
as “The Ren & Stimpy Show”, while others are introduced as “Ren &
Stimpy Digitally Remastered Classics”.
The bonus features are excellent - but even more stuff
would have been better, as what’s given just whets your appetite to get all the
background info you can. The quality of the commentaries varies a little
bit from episode to episode, but they’re all highly informative and
entertaining. Some even add to the humor of the episodes a great deal -
especially the one for “Sven Hoek”. There is an extra commentary
hidden as an Easter egg, and since I’m so generous, I’ll let you know how to
access it. On Disc 2 in the bonus materials section, highlight the
episode “Man’s Best Friend”. Instead of hitting enter, hit the
left arrow on your remote control and it should start right up. Another
bonus available on Disc 2 is the option of watching two different cuts of the
pilot, “Big House Blues”. The Spümcø version seems to be timed for
comedic effect much better, and has a couple extra snippets shown, so it’s
definitely the preferred version to watch.
You may have doubts about buying this after I’ve just
listed the many problems found throughout, but it speaks volumes about the
quality of the content that I still highly recommend rushing out and buying
this. Especially when you watch this with a group of friends, you’ll find
the whole room bursting into fits of laughter - these jokes just don’t get
old. John Kricfalusi and his team worked animated wonders in a very short
span of time, before Nickelodeon closed their doors to Spümcø and took over the
show for themselves. Despite what almost all purists of the show feel, I
still remember enjoying the Games Animation episodes. It’s been many
years since I’ve seen them, but I still remember “Ren’s Retirement” as a
great episode. Then again, as a kid you don’t really notice the change in
quality as much as you would as an adult. Whatever the case, I still look
forward to at least adding Season 3 to my collection when it becomes available,
as most of those episodes were still storyboarded at Spümcø. I also hope
that John K. is able to continue with the new Adult Party Cartoon episodes on
Spike, but things seem to have stalled at least temporarily. If you’re a fan of animation of any kind, go
get this set and enjoy it.
- David Milchick
