And this week's Friday night movie has been... Happy Happy Joy Joy: the Ren and Stimpy story!
Oh this takes me back: Ren and Stimpy was a show I watched a lot of in the mid-nineties. Indeed, it was a show that was perfect for an impressionable mind entering their early teens. Say what you like about it now, but what drew me in was that really challenged to notion of what could be accomplished in a cartoon, it aggravated a lot of conservative types, it was random and bizarre, and had plenty of gross humor.
That and it was the funniest thing I had ever seen.
So upon learning that a documentary had been made about this cartoon, how could I resist?
First up you can't say this documentary wasn't informative: We follow the story of Ren and Stimpy, starting from John Kricfalusi's passion for animation before following onto his determination to make a show that pushed the envelope as to what animation could accomplish, the success, the obsessive attention to detail to the animation, the subsequent missed deadlines, the firing of Kricfalusi, and the influence Ren and Stimpy has on successive cartoon series.
I have to admit that whilst i was enjoying the show, there was a lot of behind-the-scenes chaos that was happening. So to be made aware of this has been eye-opening to say the least. I did not know about the insane process of getting the show made and I certainly did not know about Kricfalusi's... dodgy acts (and that's putting it lightly) in the years since. Still, for a documentary the information is comprehensive and it certainly makes a case that the odd adventures of a jerk and an idiot did change the face of animation and brought focus onto creator-driven shows.
Who would've guessed that such a strange cartoon would have such a compelling story behind it?
Personally, my teen years have long since passed so it is kind hard to watch Ren and Stimpy now. Still it is interesting to see the impact it had and to see fans talk about it with enthusiasm. So I will give it that much.
Plus, nearly three decades on and I still love that opening theme
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