Search - Ren & Stimpy - The Complete First and Second Seasons on DVD

Time to set things straight

Joshua Smith | 11/05/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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.
"

Straight from Mr. Horse's mouth...

Dave Cordes | Denver, CO | 10/06/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"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!""

My thoughts on this product.

Sam | Texas, USA | 10/14/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I remember hearing months ago that Ren & Stimpy was finally coming to DVD. I remember being elated that one of my favorite cartoons from my childhood was finally being released on DVD. I simply could not wait!

And then, Tuesday the 12th rolls around and I'm eager to drive down to the newly-opened Best Buy in my hometown and get me some DVD-quality Ren & Stimpy goodness! I wasn't interested in the two episodes from Season 3, I just wanted to put the TV to good use for once while I was on an impromptu vacation away from the rigors of college.

Well boy was I shocked when I read both on Amazon.com and other assorted web sites that this newly released Ren & Stimpy box set, despite the fact that UNCUT is quite prominently featured on the front of the box, was cut. Censored. Edited. Whichever word you want to pick to describe it, it was. The exact opposite of the claims on the box.

I couldn't believe it. I simply couldn't. "Is Ren & Stimpy cursed or something?!" I frantically asked myself as I drove down to the store, which opened just moments prior. "They couldn't have botched a release, not like this! Could they?" I walked in and picked up one of the newly arrived copies, went home, and started watching it.

I no longer could suspend my disbelief. I watched as the episode "Big Baby Scam" skipped over a part, the part where Grandpa whistles to them in the bathtub, as was already mentioned on here, is completely and totally gone. I pulled out a VHS tape containing it and other episodes that I recorded when I was 10 or so, and lo and behold, there it was. A scene that was nowhere to be found on an "Uncut" DVD was on a decrepit VHS tape from a decade ago. That one edit in and of itself makes it edited, and I won't bother harping on the other edits I saw before I returned it. I'm sure other people and/or web sites will catalog the edits quite extensively.

So, there you have it. Everyone who's saying that this DVD box set contains the crummy Spike TV transfers, which also claimed they were uncut and yet snipped off three to five minutes to cram in more commercials, are completely correct. The transfer of this video is nothing to write home about, but it's not completely abysmal, either. I would say it's about average for a cartoon from that particular time period. The special features were kind of neat, but the fact that this box set is advertised as uncut despite the fact it is anything but uncut negates all that.

My Recommendation: Avoid purchasing at all costs. Do not spend a single penny on this product. It suffers from blatant false advertising. At best, the people who handled this release were woefully incompetent. At worst, the people lied through their teeth in order to get more sales. If that is the case, they may very well be sued.

Write those who are responsible and inform them you will not give them one single cent of your money until an actual unedited product is produced if you feel strongly enough about this. I know I sure will be."

John K. Presents Ren & Stimpy's 1st & 2nd Seasons!

Servo | Atlanta, GA USA | 07/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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!"