Customer Reviews

Ren & Stimpy - The Lost Episodes

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

A couple years back, John K. attempted to resurrect Ren & Stimpy for Spike TV. And it worked, albeit pretty briefly. This collection of "Lost" episodes features six episodes where Ren & Stimpy get revamped with all the grossness, nudity, and insane antics that the show was always meant to have, and even though at times it can get to be too much for it's own good, this DVD set is a must own for those who fondly remember this gruesome twosome. In these episodes, Ren & Stimpy go to a beach filled with voluptuous young girls who like to get naked, try to help out a homeless widow (an homage to the Three Stooges), get in over their heads with an insane fire chief, and look to move out of the bum's mouth that they've been living in. Stimpy is also pregnant with Ren's love child (the results of which are hysterical, to me anyway, others may find it to be way too much), and Ren goes to a shrink to reveal the origin of his violent ways. There's interviews and introductions aplenty with John K. and a few others, which are more than worth the price of admission alone. All in all, the Lost Episodes of Ren & Stimpy will certainly be a mixed bag for many, but for those who have always wanted to see the duo in the gross out way that they were always meant to be seen, consider this a must own.

Adult Party Cartoon is amazing, plain and simple.

So many people complain about the direction that Spumco went with the new Ren and Stimpy cartoons, and to some extent I can understand why. But come on, art evolves and I guarantee you that just as many people would be hollering if John and the gang had just kept on doing what they were doing in 1991. But they didn't, and that's awesome.

Spumco has always been in the business of reinventing amazing cartoons.. right from the get-go. The original Ren & Stimpy = Brilliant. The Yogi/Jetsons cartoons = brilliant, and Adult Party Cartoon is also brilliant. Will it make you uncomfortable? YES! Is some of the art disgusting and disturbing? Yes! And you know what? That's the nature of art. Art challenges and entertains and tittilates and disgusts and disturbs, and that's why it's so important to our society. There's nothing I love more than a complicated piece of work that makes me think, reflect and laugh -- and these do all that in spades. Some of them are absolutely kill-you-in-the-face-dead-on-FUNNY (Altruists, Naked Beach Frenzy), and some of them are sad, awful/beautiful pieces about the nature of psyche (Ren Seeks Help.) I don't really know how to classify Firedogs 2, but Ralph Bakshi is one heck of a guy.

Ultimately, it's up to you -- but I think these are brilliant and I tell you what, a single frame from nearly any Spumco cartoon makes me laugh more than the entire running time of an entire episode of Family Guy (funny show, worst art ever.)

Great job, Spumco!

POSTSCRIPT: the packaging is brilliant, a work of art, fantastic. I wish that much care and attention went into all cartoon dvd packaging. Heck, all packaging.

Ren and Stimpy have come a long way from their days on Nickelodeon. If you are not into adult humor then I would fully recommend that you stay away from this series. If you are sick, disturbed and perverted, then you have found your cartoon source. These episodes are not, and I repeat not!!, recommend for children. These episodes have the cast swearing and women's nipples are flying around everywhere! I've said it before and I will say it again, this is not for children at all!

The special features are fairly interesting, but get old over time and there isn't much variety. What I do like is the introduction to the DVD by Weird Al and John K. John K does a great job on each episode introduction that he also does. He tells the inspiration and people behind the stories. Almost every other extra wasn't that interesting, they all have more interviews from the crew but they just aren't that interesting. It is mainly just giggling and not saying anything important or nothing new that John K. hasn't already said. Pencil and art tests are also included, but nothing interesting once again, just black and white versions of the episodes that were already seen in full color.

The episodes themselves are joke after joke, leaving little for story and more about fitting as many jokes in as possible, John K. even admitted to doing this. Even with that said, there is a story to each episode and this series is still funny! Even though it is all mostly adult humor, it is still very funny. But do not come into watching this series expecting it to be like the first series, because it is completely different.

Well, guys, here's the scoop on the Lost Episodes DVD set:

All 9 half-hours of the show on a 2-disc set

Video: 1:33:1

Audio: Dolby 2.0/CC

Extras:

-Intros by John K. and Wierd Al
-Interviews with the Top Artists
-Cow and Chicken Creator David Feiss Interview
-Clips of Unfinished Cartoons
-17 APC Animatics
-3 Naked Beach Frenzy Pencil Tests
-APC Model Sheet and Background Art
-Rough Cut-Ren Seeks Help

Ren and Stimpy, as Mr. Burns from the Simpsons would describe, "has quite a long and colorful history". It was ressurrected as an adult cartoon on SpikeTV in June of 2003 when four out of nine half-hour episodes had aired as part of a late-night block alongside GARY THE RAT and (shudder) STRIPPERELLA. John K. mentioned in the promo commercials that the premise of the new Ren and Stimpy is that you can do almost anything without having to worry about censorship values. Well, apparently that's where he went wrong.

There are a few changes you will notice here in this new adult cartoon:

First, the artwork and animation has improved over the original show. After all, after a decade's worth of TV and Flash-animated cartoons, John K. and his crew had enough experience under their belts. Second, Billy West doesn't return to play the role of Stimpy. Eric Bauza takes his place, and does play a pretty damn good voice of Stimpy.

Now on to the episodes:
The first one, ONWARD AND UPWARD, was inspired by fan letters who wanted to see an entire episode of gross-out gags. Yet, this episode recieved so many angry online comments stating that their favorite childhood characters just turned to [...]. It seemed pretty obvious Spike aired the weakest episode first.

However, the show got it's mojo with the second episode, REN SEEKS HELP, which explore's Ren's youth as Ren tries to figure out why is he so mean and insane. The third one, FIREDOGS 2, while not as funny as the second, brought the famous cartoonist Ralph Bakshi into the animated world.

These were all Nickelodeon-underdeveloped ideas, though; in other words, they were just old stories never brought up when Spumco was working for R&S on Nickelodeon. The new ideas, or rather the five remaining episodes (four of which are two-parter episodes), proved too risque to actually AIR on television. NAKED BEACH FRENZY, especially showed some material that even South Park couldn't top with 30 minutes of half-naked women on the beach; ALTRUISTS has the most funny and risque gags than any other R&S episode; and STIMPY'S PREGNANT displayed the first-ever onscreen natural childbirth and...well, you get the rest.

Nonetheless, with these entertaining (both aired and unaired) episodes, this 2-disc set is no doubt gonna sell like hot cakes--probably even more than the original show's DVD sets, and we'd all be in prayer of a Direct-to-DVD ressurrection for Ren and Stimpy.

And it's all thanks to the DVD market. As Stimpy would say, "We owe it all to our new best friend."

While there are a few worthwhile moments on these discs (mostly in Ren Seeks Help), in general they're uninspired and tedious. The writing is bland and shallow and focuses too much on being able to do the stuff they weren't allowed to do before. It's great to be uncensored and unfettered, but when all you do is take advantage of the opportunity, it's easy to forget to deliver actual entertainment, too. There's also a tendency to draw things out much longer than necessary, almost like the artists wanted to show off their work, dwelling on certain shots and motions for inexplicably long periods. I would get bored in the middle of scenes, waiting for them to get to the (inevitable and obvious) punchlines.

Other than John's voicing of Ren, and Ralph Bakshi's cameo, the voice acting is uneven and monotonous. The animation lipsync is pretty erratic as well, sometimes bang on, sometimes boggling bad, like they changed the joke afterwards and didn't feel like re-animating.

Remarkably, the reason why I give this two stars (instead of the minimum of one) is the extra material with John talking about the show and various bits of animation industry trivia. He's actually quite entertaining and made it worth the bother to have watched these discs. Frankly, I'd rather have spent the whole time listening to him than watching the lost episodes.

Really, other than Ren Seeks Help, these episodes are some pretty weak tea, and that's being kind. I boggle at some of the 5-star reviews and look at them suspiciously. I have a very hard time believing that anyone who doesn't work for the publisher would give these discs the best possible grade. Sorry, I find that unlikely. I think somebody's stuffing the ballot box.

This dvd collection is the most impressive collection I have ever watched. Not only is it filled with spectacular cartoon pleasure, the introductions to each cartoon by the creators draw you into their mind-set. I wholeheartedly recommend this dvd!

As a kid, I grew up with Ren and Stimpy, which aired on Nickelodeon. Because that is a young adult/children's channel, Ren and Stimpy had to be molded into the image of a relatively appropriate show. And I think because of this censorship, the show was actually able to become so iconic. It is easy to be blatant and crude, but when you have to work around certain obstacles to get your point across, that is when things become more interesting, and more creative. The beauty of the Ren and Stimpy episodes aired on Nickelodeon was the fact that they could still manage to be hilariously crude, but it was on a level where kids wouldn't get it, while adults would and could laugh and think "Hey, that's really clever. Stupid, but clever." With that in mind, if you take away the need to overcome the obstacle of portraying a message without infringing on the censorship rules, you take away the essence and creativity of Ren and Stimpy. And that is basically what is happening with "The Lost Episodes". I watched one and it was decidedly not worth my time. They are extremely crude, uncreative, and uninspired. Even the introduction by the creators was drab. Though, I will admit, there were a few times I laughed. I could see someone watching it with their friends just to laugh at how ridiculous and different it is. Sort of like a "Oh my goodness, this is so bad!" kind of laughter. I would not recommend this DVD if you are a hardcore fan of the "old" Ren and Stimpy. This DVD encompasses nothing of the great past episodes. It's just a collection of very adult situations, a poorly executed experimentation with how weird and estranging the creators could make Ren and Stimpy, both the characters and the show itself. Basically, it's too much "adult situations" and too little plot, innuendo, and hilarity.

The DVD of rare Ren & Stimpy cartoons is hilarious. The humor is not for everyone. If you're not into "fart jokes" then it's not for you. Some of the episodes are funnier than others but all of them contain unbelievable moments that will put you in stitches. If you like that sort of thing. The DVD also contains interviews with John K. which are informative and interesting. I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the early years of Classic Ren & Stimpy.

This 2-Disc collection features the "Adult Party Cartoon" episodes as shown on Spike TV amd is definitely for mature audiences due to mature subject matter, nudity and language. This collection has "Naked Beach Frenzy" which is about Ren and Stimpy having a fun day at the beach with Ren lusting over the sexy babes on the beach, "Stimpy's Pregnant" is exactlly as the title says featuring Stimpy and Ren and is about to have their first child , next "All Truists" has the duo helping a poor helpess lovely lady and her headless son out even if they have to rob someone's house. "Ren Seeks Help" has Ren been abusing Stimpy for long enough that he seeks a psychologist in the city telling him his twisted youth, "Fire Dogs 2" has Ralph Bakshi (voiced by himself) as a bachelor that helps out with Ren and Stimpy on showing them the bachelor life and finally "Onward and Upward" has our heroes trying to live the rich life in a disgusting place.

This 2-Disc set has interviews, animatatics, interoductions by Weird Al Yankovics and John K. (Creator of the show), step-by-step pencil process, and more. It's a good addition to your Ren & Stimpy DVD collection but don't show this to the kids.

This DVD wasn't made to entertain people, this is just John K's big "F YOU" to Nickelodeon - the network who censored him, and later fired him. He's trying to be as disgusting, raunchy and horrible as he can, doing everything Nickelodeon wouldn't let him, and while he succeeded in being over-the-top, he forgot to include any humor.

Before you write this review off, consider that I am not politically correct, and I don't mind cussing, nudity, homosexuality, or fart jokes. Also, I am a Ren & Stimpy fan, and believe the first two and a half seasons were some of the best comedy on TV.

The Lost Episodes are nothing like the first two seasons. It's shock humor, but the problem is that it's not funny - especially if you aren't shocked. It's as bad as Bob Saget's current act, the former "Full House" and "Funniest Home Videos" star, because he tries to be as offensive as possible and the humor (supposedly) lies in the contrast with his earlier career. "duurrr look everybody, I'm saying bad words now! I didn't do that on Full House! Isn't it funny?" No, Bob Saget, it's not funny, and same to you Stimpy.

John K. can still be genius. If you can catch "Boo Boo Runs Wild" on Cartoon Network late at night, you'll see the greatness of old is still alive, it's just not called Ren & Stimpy anymore.

This DVD gets two stars because John K's commentary is amusing, and a scene in the beach episode got a laugh from me.