Ren & Stimpy was a breakthrough when it first hit TV. Truly innovative animation had not been readily available for quite some time, and it had never been this irreverent. Nickelodeon was way ahead of its time with this series, and once it hit the air, it started a whole animation revolution, the reverberations of which are still being seen today. The show ran for five seasons, 52 episodes in all, and finally fell victim to its own success in 1996. While the show certainly had a successful run, by the time it went off the air it was just one of a great number of newly irreverent animated programs.

In 2002, something truly unexpected happened. Television channel TNN (which became Spike TV soon after), contacted John K., the series creator, and asked him to re-work the show for adult audiences. Turns out, John had already written several episodes that were rejected by Nickelodeon as being “too hot for kids”. The episodes were completed, given a final polish, and sent out to Spike TV for broadcast. This DVD release contains those episodes.

For those that mat not know, Ren & Stimpy follows the truly demented adventures of a chihuahua (Ren) and a cat (Stimpy). While Stimpy is an ignorant jerk, Ren is the brains of the operation… though really only smart by comparison. The result is two characters who frequently get into hilarious and often times extremely bizarre situations.The show is irreverent, strange, and very funny.

Audio

Obviously, audio is not the main concern for an animated television show. Imagine my surprise when I got to hear how great these episodes sound! So much of the character from these episodes comes from the sound effects. Just as classic cartoons had those trademark sound effects, Ren & Stimpy carries an all new library of amazing sound effects. Lucky for the viewers, this release does them justice. Dialog is very clear, sound effects are fantastic and the musical cues are tight and sharp. There is even an impressive amount of low end here, which I was most certainly not expecting to find. This audio rack is just one 5.1 mix away from a perfect score.

Video

For some reason, many animated shows have a problem when moving form one scene to the next. A bright white flash shows up on the screen during the transition. It is easy to not even notice the blemish, but once you begin to see it, it can become quite annoying. Unfortunately, the problem exists here, though only from time to time. Besides this issue, the quality is mostly good. Colors are especially impressive, with none of the bleed over problems that so often show up when bright colors are used. Grain is kept to a minimum, and there are really no problems with scratches or duct on the negatives to speak of. On the whole, I would say that I am quite pleased with this perfectly acceptable transfer.

Special Features

The extras start right when you put in the disc. Before even watching the first episode, viewers are greeted with an introduction by Weird Al Yankovic, which is really a brilliant choice. Yankovic’s sense of humor is very similar to that of creator John K’s. Following this segment, there is an intro by John K. himself. While Yankovic talks about wheat the show is, John’s segment focus more on where these episodes came from. Both bits are both entertaining and educational.

There are also tons of special features for each and every episode. Every episode starts with an all-new introduction from the creator and some of the artists that worked on the episode. Each one of these intros is quite lengthy, and they contain a ton of really interesting background information.

After each episode, there is even more bonus content. interviews, animatics, pencil tests, storyboard comparisons and character drawings are scattered throughout these two discs. Even the most hardcore fans of this show will not be disappointed with the amazing bonus content packed onto these two discs.

Conclusion

Let me make this absolutely clear… these episodes are absolutely not meant for kids. Let me put it this way; trailers on this disc include spots for South Park Season Seven and Wonder Showzen. The original episodes may have been aired on Nickelodeon, but the segments in this 2-disc set are clearly for adults only.

The good news is, if you are an adult and a Ren & Stimpy fan, you will be very pleased with this set. The audio quality is fantastic, the video is basically clean, and the extras are top notch. This is clearly a DVD release made with the fans in mind. Sadly, that is something that doesn’t really happen very often. John K. clearly remembers where he came from, and he pays perfect homage to the characters and the fans on this well-produced two disc set.