"A Visit To Anthony" is the 17th episode of the second season.
Characters[]
Summary[]
Anthony, a young fan of Ren and Stimpy, wins a contest to have Ren and Stimpy come to meet him, but his menacing, overprotective father would do anything to protect him and his boyhood innocence.
Trivia[]
- The character of Anthony was inspired and voiced by a real life fan, who sent in the first letter to the show. As a result, this episode rarely airs in syndication, as Nickelodeon would have to pay Anthony's voice actor royalty fees.
- The episode was later banned, due to music clearance rights issues involving a Raymond Scott music track ("Manhattan Minuet", heard when Anthony asks Ren to bulge his eyes out for him), it is also not on Paramount+, due to this.
- This is the first episode to confirm that Ren and Stimpy both hail from Hollywood, Yugoslavia, which was previously hinted at in "Mad Dog Hoek".
- In real life, Yugoslavia was a European nation that was created in 1918 shortly after World War I. In 1992, around the time this episode aired, the country was divided into six separate countries, including modern-day Croatia and Slovenia, due to a variety of factors.
- "A Visit to Anthony" was originally intended to be animated by Carbunkle Cartoons. According to Bob Jaques, Nickelodeon cancelled these plans, presumably because production was going over budget (the finished episode is estimated to have cost over 1 million USD), and instead had them animate "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen".
- Although John K. voices Ren in this episode, he is briefly voiced by Billy West in the eye bulging scene, as not all of the voice acting had been completed prior to John's firing.[1] Similarly, the dialogue for Anthony's dad was recorded entirely at Games, as the part had not been cast at the time of Kricfalusi's termination.
- While Kricfalusi and Jim Smith are credited as the episode's directors, neither was directly involved with the episode's production beyond the storyboarding and voice recording stages (owing to Spümcø's termination early in its production); resultantly, much of the finished episode was laid out by Bob Camp, Chris Reccardi, and Mike Kim, contemporarily viewed as the sole artists in Games' employ capable of handling Anthony's intricately-designed father.
- This is one of the first episodes where Ren and Stimpy are portrayed as actual actors, both known as famous stars and a comedy duo. The Games Animation episodes would later continue to break the fourth wall in this fashion, acknowledging that The Ren & Stimpy Show is an actual show and the two are a comedy duo from said show. In a similar way, Warner Bros. Animaniacs would be acknowledged as an actual show for its self-aware nature.
- The World Crisis With Mr. Horse segment used only digital ink and paint instead of its original traditional-cel animation.
- There was a deleted scene of Anthony showing the two his Stimpy doll that hwarfs out cat hairballs, and Ren doll that had a pull string which would make it say naughty words. Possibly, this scene was banned from being made for the episode's production and/or final version primarily because of foul language (for example: What the f*** is your problem, man?!) and inappropriate gross-out humor. Because of that, the crew at Spümcø decided not to finish this scene for the episode.
Gallery[]
Production Gallery[]
Note: This only focuses on the scene that was rejected from being finished, plus, there are no photos of the Ren doll mentioned in the earlier scene, so it is just the Stimpy doll.
Production Music[]
- Manhattan Minuet – Raymond Scott (title card)
- Song of the Volga Boatmen B – Igor Tuhmanov (opening)
- Am Dorfbrunnen A – Otto Sieben (Ren and Stimpy reading fan mail)
- Dvorak: Humoresque – Henrik Nielsen [OGM] (kissing the wives goodbye)
- Blow the Man Down – Alfred Kluten (Ren and Stimpy swimming across the Atlantic Ocean)
- Sunshine Patrol – Tom Elliot [OGM] (Anthony’s house exterior)
- Manhattan Minuet – Raymond Scott (Anthony’s bedroom)
- Johann Strauss: Tales from the Vienna Woods (Waltz) – Lee Ashley [OGM] (Ren doing the eye bulge gag)
- Brahms’ Lullaby – Johannes Brahms (in bed)
- Rossini: Morning from “William Tell” – Lee Ashley [OGM] (morning)
- Dramatic Impact 2 – Ivor Slaney (Anthony sees Ren and Stimpy on the toilet)
- For Those in Peril – Ronald Hanmer (“Cartoon characters don’t do THAT!”)
- Drama Link (d) – Hubert Clifford (Anthony’s father comes around the corner)
- The Killing Ground (a) – Richard Harvey (Anthony’s father chews out Ren and Stimpy)
- Love Story: Lonely – Laurie Johnson (“My son Anthony likes you.”)
- The Killing Ground (a) – Richard Harvey (“…you can stay.”)
- Symphonie Fantastique Movement 4 – Hector Berlioz (“Excuse me. Don’t you even put that picture in my head!”)
- Catwalk – Kenny Graham (“Do we understand each other?”)
- The Killing Ground (a) – Richard Harvey (“We understand very well!”)
- Dangerous A – Mladen Franko (“Remember what I said!”)
- Turn the Screw – Paul Gerard (“Oh no, it’s Victor the school bully!”)
- Catwalk – Kenny Graham (Victor twists Ren’s head)
- Teenage Party – Erik Markman [OGM] (music heard in Victor’s dad’s car)
- Uppers and Downers (2) – Kenny Graham (Anthony pushes Victor; Victor beats up Anthony)
- Teenage Party – Erik Markman [OGM] (music from the car again)
- Heavy Affliction – Cedric Palmer (Ren, Stimpy, and Anthony laying in the yard)
- For Those in Peril – Ronald Hanmer (Ren gives Anthony CPR)
- Dramatic Mechanical Main Theme – Philip Green [Capitol Hi-Q] (Anthony’s dad comes outside)
- Love Story: Theme – Laurie Johnson (Anthony’s dad cries)
- Secret Hopes A – Mladen Franko (Anthony’s dad prays)
- The Killing Ground (a) – Richard Harvey (“Meet me in the DEN!”)
- Saint-Saëns: The Swan from “Carnival of the Animals” – Lee Ashley [OGM] (Anthony’s dad putting Anthony into bed)
- Can-Can – Jacques Offenbach (Anthony sits up in bed and shrugs his shoulders)
- Satanic – Richard Harvey (Ren and Stimpy in fear in the den)
- Dangerous A – Mladen Franko (Anthony’s dad enters the room)
- Dangerous C – Mladen Franko (Anthony’s dad takes off his shirt)
- The Killing Ground (a) – Richard Harvey (Anthony’s dad hangs up his shirt and sits down)
- A Question of Doubt – John Devereaux (Anthony’s dad chews out Ren and Stimpy)
- Love Story: Lonely – Laurie Johnson (“Anthony, you’ve got to pull through!”)
- A Question of Doubt – John Devereaux (“Show me your hands!”)
- Dramatic Atmosphere C – Mladen Franko (“These are the hands of a working man!”)
- Night Butcher – Richard Harvey (“I’ll tell you a joke… and you’re gonna LAUGH!”)
- From the Cockpit – Garry Hardman (“Come on, funny guys.”)
- The Killing Ground (a) – Richard Harvey (“All right, funny guys, I wanna know something.”)
- Tension Tag #1 – Dan Kirsten [OGM] (Anthony’s dad yells)
- Saint-Saëns: Dance Macabre (Waltz) – Lee Ashley [OGM] (Stimpy throws up)
- Colour Bridges (3) – Sidney Kay (Anthony’s dad looks at them funny)
- South Side Shuffle – Keith Nichols (Anthony’s dad laughs)