Product Details

• Actors: John Kricfalusi, Billy West, Cheryl Chase, Edan Gross, Sharon Mack
• Directors: John Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, Bong Hee Han, Chris Reccardi, Gregg Vanzo
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Nickelodeon
• DVD Release Date: October 12, 2004
• Run Time: 418 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (185 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002NY8XA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,353 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Ren & Stimpy - The Complete First and Second Seasons" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The delirious animated series Ren and Stimpy makes its DVD debut in a three-disc set that features seasons 1 and 2, as well as a handful of extras to please its devoted fan base. The surreal adventures of short-tempered Chihuahua Ren and good-natured but simple cat Stimpson J. Cat caught on like a house afire with teen and college audiences during its 1991-96 run on Nickelodeon, despite regular battles between the network and creator John Kricfalusi (who also voiced Ren and several other characters) over allegedly objectionable content in certain episodes. The conflict eventually led to several episodes suffering edits, much to the chagrin of the show's creators and audience alike; the unedited versions of these episodes have become much sought-after and traded items among collectors. And while this set attempts to rectify that situation by presenting the show in its uncut form, die-hard fans should know that several episodes retain minor cuts; however, many others, most notably the pilot, "Big House Blues," and "Powdered Toastman" are presented in their original, uncut versions. Extras include commentaries on seven episodes by Kricfalusi and the show's creators, storyboard galleries, a featurette, and the "banned" episode "Man's Best Friend." --Paul Gaita

Product Description

Join Ren and Stimpy in their bizarre and gross world that features the oddly lovable duo in some outlandish situations coupled with hilarious jokes. Ren and Stimpy features the guest voice of music star Frank Zappa and consist of amusing episodes combined with the gross-out humor that became popular when the show first premiered on Nickelodeon in 1991.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

504 of 509 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Time to set things straight, November 4, 2004

By 

Joshua Smith - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ren & Stimpy - The Complete First and Second Seasons (DVD)

It's hard to believe that after 100 reviews, none contain a comprehensive list of the edits that were made to this set. As a result, there is a lot of misinformation in many of these reviews. Some reviewers are complaining about edits that do not even exist on this DVD set. Below is a COMPLETE list of footage missing from this set and the approximate length of the missing footage:

Ren's Toothache:
Ren and Stimpy saying goodnight to each other (13 s)
Stimpy spitting into a jar and flossing (38 s)
Some of Ren grinding his teeth (10 s)

Haunted House:
The entire bloody head fairy scene (1:55)

Big Baby Scam:
Closeup of Ren's face being rubbed against stubble (7 s)
Grandpa whistling in the bath (9 s)

The Cat that Laid the Golden Hairball:
Stimpy licking most of the hair off his body (45 s)

Son of Stimpy:
Ren giving a Christmas present to Stimpy's picture (20 s)

So out of 32 cartoons, there are five that contain missing footage, which amounts to a little over four minutes total. NOTHING ELSE THAT ORIGINALLY AIRED IN THE FIRST AND SECOND SEASONS OF REN & STIMPY IS MISSING FROM THIS SET. All five goodbye scenes and all commercials are here, Powdered Toast Man is the uncut version, etc. Plus, a few scenes that never aired in the first place have been added to some cartoons. Sven Hoek has two (Additional dialogue in the closet, Ren saying "I'm going to gouge your eyes out"), Big House Blues pilot version has two (Dog-catcher saying "see if I care", the Ren talking in his sleep scene), and Dog Show contains the image of George Liquor with his bobbed tail. And of course the set includes Man's Best Friend which wasn't aired until recently on Spike TV, and bonus features like the pencil test of Sven Hoek, a 12 minute featurette, 7 commentaries, and an art gallery.

Some reviewers have mentioned the fade-to-commercial breaks in some of the cartoons. For the most part these are barely noticeable (except in Ren's Toothache, Big Baby Scam, The Cat that Laid the Golden Hairball, and Son of Stimpy where the above edits occur). I noticed these artificial fades in 15 cartoons. If there are more, I simply didn't notice them, which would prove my point that they are barely noticeable. Here is the list:

Robin Hoek - after they give to the poor
Nurse Stimpy - after the icky tasting medicine
Space Madness - after Stimpy turns off the gravity
The Boy Who Cried Rat - after Stimpy is given 5 bucks
Black Hole - after they run to the bus stop
Ren's Toothache - before Ren is grinding his teeth
Man's Best Friend - after Stimpy gets on the couch
Mad Dog Hoek - after Ren lets Stimpy keep wrestling
Big Baby Scam - when Ren's face is being rubbed against stubble
Dog Show - after George Liquor enters the final arena
The Great Outdoors - right before the skinny-stomping
The Cat That Laid the Golden Hairball - when Stimpy starts to lick his other arm
Visit to Anthony - when the father begins to enter the den
Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen - after they get struck by lightning
Son of Stimpy - when Ren is about to give a present to Stimpy's picture

Now, as far as video and audio quality is concerned, most of the cartoons are excellent. Most of the cartoons are digitally remastered and they look noticeably better than the ones that aren't. The cartoons on this set look much better than the versions that appeared on the Time Life set. Here is a list of the episodes that are not digitally remastered:

Fire Dogs / The Littlest Giant
In The Army / Big House Blues (Nick version)
Monkey See, Monkey Don't / Powdered Toast Man
Fake Dad / Out West
Stimpy's Fan Club

Of these, only Big House Blues (Nick version) and Stimpy's Fan Club have noticeably poor quality with some color bleeding and video artifacts. The pilot version of Big House Blues looks superb though, so nobody should care about the Nick version.

I hope this information clears things up for people who are still trying to decide whether to buy this set. I still say it's well worth it despite the flaws I have outlined above. My recommendation is to buy the set but write letters to Paramount in the hopes that they will start a disc-exchange program for the edited episodes.

113 of 124 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Straight from Mr. Horse's mouth..., October 6, 2004

By 

Dave Cordes (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ren & Stimpy - The Complete First and Second Seasons (DVD)

Now I am upset about the blatant false advertising concerning the "Uncut" episodes as much as the rest of you are. I recently sold my Time Life DVD's on eBay thinking that I was FINALLY getting the original "Uncut" versions. Now before we all go filling a class-action lawsuit against Paramount, Nickelodeon or Spike, take into consideration that we ARE at least getting the unaired episode of Man's Best Friend (at last I can throw away my crappy Nth generation VHS copy) so technically it is somewhat "Uncut." As for episodes like "Powdered Toastman" and the censoring of PTM's burning of the U.S. Constitution and the removal of the cross on Frank Zappa's hat... well, you can blame Nick for that.

Here is the FINAL word regarding the edits to the alleged (UNCUT) DVD versions directly from creator John Kricfalusi that was posted on TVshowsonDVD.com:

"Hey folks

I'm as surprised as you are that there are still some edits in the cartoons. Blame Nickelodeon years ago! Don't blame the producers of the DVD.

We put back every scene that I was aware was missing. Nick must have cut more scenes out long after I stopped watching the show.

But, we put a lot of cool stuff back in that no one ever saw-scenes from Sven Hoek that never aired-George Liquor's bobbed tail in Dog Show-hey all of Man's Best Friend!

We also did lots of commentaries over the cartoons and there are interviews with me and Eddie Fitzgerald, there is original artwork.

Buy this damn thing. I put in as much cool stuff as I could for you. Buy it and maybe Spike will order new episodes!

Maybe I will consult with you to restore the episodes you found that still has cuts and we'll put the missing scenes on a website for you, or run them ouncut on Spkie.

If every show is not completely intact it's because long ago Nick misplaced or lost the originals, but I restored the ones I knew had cuts, ok?

So if you review the set on Amazon, say it's great and and talk about the good stuff first! Then you can mention that there are still some edits, but it's definitely worth getting!

Maybe we can have a chat about it tomorrow night if someone contacts me to set it up.

Your pal,

John K."

Heh... well, this all sounds like a marketing ploy to get us to purchase THESE versions until an ULTIMATE, UNCUT & UNCENSORED box set is offered. John K., love ya man, but the fans are tired of getting raked over the coals when it comes to upgrading their DVD collections. I supported you on the Time Life versions and look what it got me. Okay John, I will go ahead and say it is "Great" for the sake of this great series because it is definitely worth having, but I still feel like I've been suckered into buying yet another pair of pointless Rubber Nipples. To quote Mr. Horse, "No Sir, I don't like it!"

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John K. Presents Ren & Stimpy's 1st & 2nd Seasons!, July 27, 2004

By 

Servo (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ren & Stimpy - The Complete First and Second Seasons (DVD)

While I personally will always cite creator John Kricfalusi (John K.) more for his classic remake of Mighty Mouse (1987), his 1991 series The Ren & Stimpy Show featuring high-strung chihuahua Ren Hoek and naive Stimpson J. Cat was just as cool. Ren & Stimpy was Nickelodeon's "signature toon" as much as Beavis & Butthead was for MTV - and rightfully so. The Ren & Stimpy Show featured a near-perfect blend of zany wit, retro visuals and over-the-top sight gags that scored with kids and adults. This set arguably represents the best of the series as they include all of original creator John K. episodes. Originally, the voices of Ren & Stimpy were supplied by John K. and Billy West, respectively. West went on to voice both characters for the remainder of the series run following John Kricfalusi's termination from the show due to conflicts with Nickelodeon in 1992. Last year, short-lived sets of edited Ren & Stimpy shorts were released directly through Time Life. With Time Life's rights expired, Paramount will finally release Ren and Stimpy - The (presumably)Complete 1st & 2nd Seasons on October 12th! Over 30 episodes will be present on this release:

"Stimpy's Big Day", "The Big Shot", "Stimpy's Storybook Land: Robin Hoek", "Nurse Stimpy", "Space Madness", "The Boy Who Cried 'Rat!'", "Fire Dogs", "Stimpy's Storybook Land: The Littlest Giant", "Marooned", "Untamed World", "Black Hole", "Stimpy's Invention", "In the Army", "Powdered Toastman", "Ren's Toothache", "Big House Blues", "Out West", "Rubber Nipple Salesmen", "Sven Hoek", "Mad Dog Hoek"**, "Haunted House"**, "Big Baby Scam"**, "Dog Show", "Son of Stimpy"**, "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"**, and "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen"**.

**These 10 episodes (as well as extras) weren't featured on the old Time Life discs.

Features:
"Ren & Stimpy: In The Beginning" Featurette
Audio Commentary from the Original Creators
Image Gallery
And more!


Joy!