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"Stimpy's Cartoon Show" is the seventh episode of the third season of The Ren & Stimpy Show, and aired on January 8, 1994.

Characters[]

Summary[]

Stimpy decides to create a cartoon show. Ren wants to help, but is convinced that he cannot do anything helpful. Stimpy allows him to be the producer, a job that turns out to be perfect for him. Whilst Stimpy toils away on the cartoon, Ren relaxes and enjoys a luxurious life. Finally, after many hardships, the cartoon is finished. Then the two of them go to show the cartoon to the animation genius Wilbur Cobb, who turns out to be unhinged.

After a long session of rambling, Wilbur allows them to view Stimpy's cartoon. The cartoon, entitled "I Like Pink", turns out to be a lot of nonsense, but Wilbur approves it. He then informs Stimpy that if he keeps up the good work, one day he will be where he is (prison). The episode ends with Wilbur sitting in an electric chair with Ren and Stimpy in his lap. He pulls the lever and all three of them are electrocuted.

Plot[]

Stimpy is in his basement surrounded by paper and, with a pencil in hand, is drawing furiously. Ren is revealed to be looking for Stimpy and, from the top of the staircase, spots his pal sharpening a pencil by using his ear while spitting the pencil shavings out of his mouth into the garbage. Annoyed, Ren asks Stimpy what he's doing, and Stimpy replies that he has decided to make a cartoon like his idol, "animation godfather", Wilbur Cobb. Explaining to Ren that he just has to draw the same pictures over and over a million times (revealing his art to be at the level of a young child), Stimpy believes the process is easy. Ren reminds Stimpy that cartoons are stupid, rot your brain, and are nothing more than "puppets", referencing his lecture of his disapproval of Stimpy watching Muddy Mudskipper in "Stimpy's Big Day", but Stimpy still wants to finish his cartoon. Ren leaves Stimpy to continue, but it is revealed that his frustration is not from Stimpy wasting his time, but jealousy of his friend's talents. After seeing that Stimpy's "Golden Pencil Award" in animation, Ren breaks down over wanting to help Stimpy. While Stimpy comforts his Chihuahua buddy, he offers to let him help draw, but Ren says he doesn't know how. After revealing that Ren lacks a specific talent, Stimpy suggests he could produce, since all he'd have to do is tell Stimpy what to do (which Ren enjoys), and take all the credit. Ren goes from sadness to excitement in seconds. Dancing devlishly to Stimpy's bewilderment, Ren agrees, shaking on it.

Screenshot 2019-02-08 at 10.42

Stimpy hires Ren as the producer for his cartoon.

Early the next morning, Stimpy "clocks in" to his work, dressed in a uniform of a ski cap, goggles, suspenders, and a sweater. He begins painting animation cels and "bleeding" the paint through the sheets. Meanwhile, Ren takes over his duty as producer, adjusting the schedule, unfairly giving Stimpy mere days to complete the cartoon, while weeks and nearly the entire month are dedicated to his own vacation time. Stimpy begins storyboarding on his own, figuring out scenes and jokes in his cartoon. He begins ordering the sequences on a wall after drawing the out, nailing them to the "studio" wall with a staple gun. Ren calls him from his work to adorn his "producer's office" with his new title. As Ren subjects Stimpy to horrible work conditions, such as eating a sandwich with only a five minute lunch break in a rat infested "breakroom", Ren spoils himself with gourmet meals prepared by a chef, berating Stimpy ruthlessly for any "shortcomings" or "mistakes" (which are insignificant). Ren becomes so mean and heartless, he begins donning a "producer" uniform (complete with a golden "hat" with an axe on it to exercise his new authority and carrying a riding crop for which to intimidate Stimpy). One day, Ren comes to judge Stimpy's progress storyboarding, and while the feline begs for mercy in silence, Ren dismisses virtually all of his work, and throws away Stimpy's entire storyboard as Stimpy despondently watches. With all his work destroyed, a reluctant Stimpy approaches his "boss" for more materials and supplies. Ren now guards the supply closet, and is only barely doling out what he deems Stimpy worthy of or necessary. Stimpy presents Ren with his final pencil now reduced to nothing, but Ren taunts him with a new one, forcing Stimpy to cough up money out of his own pockets to purchase a new one from him. Stimpy later runs out of paper, and a cheap Ren outright refuses to give Stimpy anymore, making him resort to painstakingly chop his own "paper" off of a log with a butter knife. Struggling until he bites his tongue off, Stimpy judges the quality of the gelatinous, transparent "wood paper" as acceptable before using it to draw on.

Ren is having telephone conversations with presumably "important" people as Stimpy is forced to do labor, by carrying heavy loads of paper and camera supplies, while Ren cusses him out for "not working hard enough". In the editing room, Stimpy films the animation cels with a camera that Ren has branded with their "company" logo, arrogantly calling it "Hoekvision", naming it after himself as Stimpy grows more exhausted and debilitated, and it shows. Stimpy creates the film reels, while Ren finally decides to "help" (lounging in a hammock and "editing" Stimpy's film by chopping each scene out with scissors). An exhausted Stimpy works all night, turning the crank on the editing machine. Haggard, overworked and underpaid, and nearly giving up from the sheer abuse Ren is putting him through, Stimpy, in total hopelessness, seems to nearly do just that until he sees the photo of his idol, Wilbur Cobb, lit up from the dull light of the editing machine, hanging on the wall; the same photo he showed Ren earlier in the episode. Stimpy is inspired by seeing Cobb's picture, and trudges on valiantly and reinvigorated through the night, despite all his shortcomings from a cruel Ren, proving himself better than his tyrannical, authoritarian, lazy "boss". In fact, Stimpy is able to finish his cartoon that night, holding it in a film reel labeled "final edited film" as he exits the editing room, passing out on the floor from exhaustion.

Screenshot 2019-02-08 at 10.47

Stimpy finally finishes the cartoon.

The next day, Ren is lounging in the sun near a pool. In his swimsuit and wearing cucumber slices over his eyes, Stimpy approaches him, announcing that he has finished the cartoon. A furious Ren, perturbed Stimpy was blocking his sun, is asked by an abused, sleep-deprived Stimpy if he'd like to see it. All Ren can say is that Stimpy should "get out more". Handing over the reel, Stimpy says it came out very "chunky". As a cold Ren "judges" Stimpy's cartoon, he looks at the flim (which is revealed to be Stimpy's hand holding every cel in place as he filmed it) as Ren comments it "all looks the same", to Stimpy's horror; however, after a brief climax, Ren deems it "a film", giving Stimpy his approval if he'll just leave him alone to "work", to Stimpy's joy. Stimpy, instantly reenergized, goes to contact Wilbur Cobb, to which Ren doubts Cobb would even care about Stimpy, much less, his cartoon.

Ren is proven wrong, however, as he and Stimpy have dressed in their finest clothes to go visit Cobb in his dimly lit office at his desk, having agreed to meet the duo. Wilbur Cobb seems to be in the middle of a important phone conversation, as Stimpy announces their arrival; however, Cobb is no longer the man he once was and Stimpy admired. As he turns in his office chair he is revealed to be ancient, long since demented with a glazed look and his "telephone call" is nothing more than him talking to himself into a conch shell as a crab crawls into his ear. He asks the two "girlies" "what they can do for [him]"), as Stimpy beside an bored, unimpressed Ren, awestruck and respectfully asks if the crazy old cartoonist will watch his cartoon. Wilbur then begins talking nonsense about the walls hearing them through their teeth, and since they are "Italian" they must "stick together". Ren and Stimpy grow increasingly uncomfortable around Wilbur. Cobb is either suffering from leprosy or simply begun to rot from being so ancient; he is possibly even dead and now a zombie as his nose and eyes have become detached from his body and fused to his glasses. After being asked again, he thinks Stimpy is talking about one of his movies. When Stimpy thinks he was going to call it crap after Mr. Cobb began stuttering, Wilbur actually instead goes on a rant about Walter Lantz, chuckling to himself. As his arms fall off his sweaty armpits as he arises from his seat and he hobbles around with his cane, Cobb tells Ren and Stimpy that his claim to fame and genius in film came from saying "Everything stinks. Then you're never wrong", as it is revealed he wears a women's thong for underwear. By now even a low IQ Stimpy is growing even more confused and worried to a at first indifferent and annoyed, now long since uncomfortable and massively confused, Ren, who caught on to Cobb's insanity and deteriorated physical health, too. Seating himself on a sofa in his office, Mr. Cobb goes on about experience and smarts, not being overshadowed by "starry eyed amateurs" before going into a violent coughing fit and spitting his dentures into Ren's mouth as he changed the subject to how he fought in World War I and was "up to his elbows in "Nazzys'" as Ren gagged on and eventually swallowed his dentures in agony. Letting Ren and Stimpy sit in his lap, his ear falls off into Stimpy's lap (he glued it on with bubblegum and tape) as he gags Ren yet again with his breath and rotten teeth. Stimpy tries to reattach his ear, but pretended it was a hat to not insult him out of fear. Putting the cat and Chihuahua down his pants, he continued ranting and babbling insanely until he seemed to think he was giving a speech on peace. Ren and Stimpy cry because they could just watch Stimpy's cartoon when the man asks them if they have any questions. Cobb said he didn't know, but said they could watch Stimpy's cartoon in the meantime, having someone start Stimpy's cartoon on a projector, now acting inconvienced and annoyed and just wanting to get it over with.

Stimpy's cartoon starts, revealling Ren had plastered his name all over it, ("A Ren Hoek Cartoon", "Flimed In "Hoekvision") even though Stimpy did all the work alone. Called "I Like Pink" and starring a dog named "Explody the Pup" and his girlfriend, "Poopy". Poopy introduces herself to Explody as his "best girl" and asks Explody if he would like a kiss. To which a nervous Explody, locking eyes, turns her down. The two ride in an airplane to her delight leading up to Act II. Now living in an igloo, which the inside of is underwater complete with fish, Explody drinks a martini as Poopy offers him another kiss, to which he uses the excuse that "he has to throw up" and Poopy tells him that she doesn't mind waiting; although 23 years pass. Now living peacefully in Montana in a jungle with dinosaurs, Explody asks Poopy, who is serving drinks, if she wants to pick his nose in the living room of their now regular home, and she goes to retrieve her purse. Meanwhile, a man in a uniform and hat with only one leg and no foot bounces down the road, claming to come after the two of them. After Explody spots him looking through their peephole, Poopy identifes him in panic as "Peg Pelvis Pete" (Parodying Peg Leg Pete, aka Pete the Cat from Disney) come to "kill" them as Explody panics, too. However, Explody "defeats" Pete by hitting his own self over the head with a hammer, though Pete, spying on the couple through their window, swears his return. As Explody and Poopy's "victory" is heard around the world, Poopy asks Explody one last time for her to give him a kiss, to which he agrees. Poopy then kisses Explody, and it is explained why he is called "Explody", after receiving a kiss on the cheek from Poopy, he explodes and body parts fly everywhere, perhaps explaining his hesitation all along, ending the cartoon. It was shown Stimpy's cartoon was drawn at a kindergarten level and had several animation mistakes, for instance, background fish swimming through Explody's eyes, Peg Pelvis Pete's animation and dialogue constantly being recycled, along with Stimpy messing up the voice acting, such as Poopy calling Explody Ren in Stimpy's natural voice (since Ren made him do it all himself and Stimpy is not the sharpest tool in the shed).

Despite Stimpy's cartoon being mediocre and arguably terrible, Wilbur Cobb told Stimpy he liked it. Moved to tears by the words of his "hero" beside an annoyed Ren, Stimpy looked in awe at Cobb, as he told the cat that men like him were "disposable" to the film industry, and to keep up the good work, because "Someday, you'll be where I am!" The camera then zooms out, revealling Cobb's "office" was actually a jail cell (his "desk" was blocking the view of the cot and toilet) and he was incarcerated in prison, serving an unknown (presumably life in prison) term and was on death row awaiting to be executed in the electric chair. Then, Wilbur has Ren and Stimpy join him in being strapped into the electric chair as he prepares to pull the lever to turn it on himself with a smile. Wilbur then says "Lights, Camera, Action!", as he activates the electric current with the electrodes and helmet attached to his head. Cobb then laughs hysterically as a horrifed and dumbfounded Ren and Stimpy sit in his lap. As the screen flashes, Cobb laughs until the three are both elecuted from the shock (as Cobb hacks and groans one last time) and the episode ends.

Trivia/Goofs[]

  • This is the first episode to air in 1994.
  • This is the first episode to have someone else other than George Liquor to use the word "crap" and one of only four episodes when Stimpy uses it (other episodes are "Bass Masters", " Superstitious Stimpy", and "Wiener Barons"). The word was used once again in "Eat My Cookies", when Ren says "Cut the crap!".
  • The original 1994 SNICK airing contained scenes that were never shown again in re-runs and aren't available on DVD (Ren and Stimpy editing the film with a bicycle pedal, Ren talking on the phone while Stimpy carries papers, Stimpy clocking out when the sun comes up, and a title card crediting John K. for writing). Also, on the original airing, a few scenes were arranged differently and the sound mixing was different. It can be viewed here.
  • Wilbur Cobb is voiced by Jack Carter, as he makes his first appearance of the show.
  • Wilbur Cobb is an obvious parody of Walt Disney.[1]
  • Wilbur Cobb is named after Nickelodeon employee Will McRobb.
  • According to John K., the "line producer" was originally going to be an exec, but Nickelodeon changed it.
  • Wilbur Cobb was originally going to named Raymond Spum. John K. and his friends claimed that Raymond Spum invented animation in 1856. Kricfalusi named his studio Spumco, after Raymond Spum. However, following Kricfalusi's termination from Games Animation, Nickelodeon decided not to use Raymond Spum thinking they would be sued by Spumco for using that name so he was changed to Wilbur Cobb.
  • This episode along with "Ren's Brain", and "Lair Of The Lummox", are the last three episodes written by John Kricfalusi before or after being fired by Nickelodeon in 1992 for "Man's Best Friend".
  • After Ren throws out some of Stimpy's storyboards, 45 storyboard papers are seen, but when it zooms out on the entire room, six papers are seen on the wall. There are a lot of papers thrown out.
  • The episode uses digital ink & paint instead of traditional cel animation. However, the Flod segment uses traditional cel.
  • This episode is not on Paramount+, due to the presence of a Raymond Scott music track ("Manhattan Minuet", heard in the first section of the cartoon production sequence) and the music clearance rights involving it.
  • Ren and Stimpy's crying from having heard enough of Wilbur Cobb's rambling is a recycled sound bite of Stimpy and Sven sobbing in fear when Ren snaps at them from "Sven Höek".
  • Ren's opinionated lecture on cartoons from "Stimpy's Big Day!" is acknowledged in the beginning of this episode after Stimpy tells him about his passion of animation.

Production Music[]

  • The Bachelor Life (a) - Laurie Johnson
  • Dance of Hours: Theme 1 - Amilcare Ponchielli
  • Romeo & Juliet Overture - Fiachra Trench, Peter Tchaikovsky
  • Drama Link (b) - Hubert Clifford
  • Our Mr Meredith - Eric Winstone
  • Terror by Night - Hubert Clifford
  • Dramatic Impact 2 - Ivor Slaney
  • Finger of Fear - Fredric Bayco
  • Bliss - Alec Gould
  • Appassionata - Daryl Runswick
  • Fanfare - Robert Sharples
  • Hollywood Holiday - Frank Samuels
  • Chicago Stomp - Keith Nichols
  • Drama Link (j) - Hubert Clifford
  • Manhattan Minuet - Raymond Scott
  • Dangerous B - Mladen Franko
  • Rescue - Cecil Milner
  • Heavy Affliction - Cedric Palmer
  • Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Little Swans from "Swan Lake" - Lee Ashley
  • Valse Aux Champs-Elysees - Daniel Jeannin
  • Agitato Mechanical (EM-133B) - Phil Green
  • Acts of Heroism (a) - Trevor Duncan
  • Poetic Love Theme B - Mladen Franko
  • Death in the City - Jack Beaver
  • Maidens of Pireus - Reginald Owen
  • Sublime Ghost (TC-22) - William Loose, John Seely
  • Drama Link (d) - Hubert Clifford
  • Moving Target - Simon Benson, Eugenio Grandi
  • Shopping Street - Cedric Palmer
  • The Cat from Peter and the Wolf - Fiachra Trench, Sergei Prokofiev
  • Drama Link (i) - Hubert Clifford
  • Carmen: Habanera - Georges Bizet
  • Fire (JB-28) - William Loose, Jack Cookerly
  • Great Future A - Mladen Franko
  • Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah - George Handel
  • The Grandfather from Peter and the Wolf - Fiachra Trench, Sergei Prokofiev
  • Pathe News Fanfare - Stanley Black
  • Marching Band (American Patrol) - Mayhew Lake
  • Stars and Stripes Forever - Graham De Wilde
  • The Star Spangled Banner (a) - Graham De Wilde
  • Pomp and Circumstance No.1 - Edward Elgar, John Fox
  • Symphony #9 - Finale "Ode to Joy" - Ludwig Beethoven

Flod segment:

References[]

Episode List
Pilot
Big House Blues (Pilot)
Season 1
Stimpy's Big DayThe Big ShotRobin HöekNurse StimpySpace MadnessThe Boy Who Cried RatFire DogsThe Littlest GiantMaroonedUntamed WorldBlack HoleStimpy's Invention
Season 2
Ren's ToothacheRubber Nipple SalesmenSven HoekHaunted HouseMad Dog HoekIn The ArmyMan's Best FriendBig Baby ScamDog ShowMonkey See, Monkey Don'tPowdered Toast ManFake DadOut WestStimpy's Fan ClubThe Great OutdoorsThe Cat That Laid the Golden HairballSon of StimpyA Visit To AnthonyThe Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen
Season 3
To Salve And Salve NotA Yard Too FarCircus MidgetsNo Pants TodayRen's PecsAn Abe DividedStimpy's Cartoon ShowJimminy LummoxBass MastersRen's RetirementJerry the Bellybutton ElfRoad ApplesHard Times for HaggisEat My CookiesRen's Bitter HalfLair Of The Lummox
Season 4
Hermit RenHouse of Next TuesdayA Friend in Your Face!Blazing EntrailsLumber JerksPrehistoric StimpyFarm HandsMagical Golden Singing CheesesA Hard Day's LuckI Love ChickenPowdered Toast Man vs. Waffle WomanIt's a Dog's LifeEgg YölkeoDouble HeaderThe Scotsman in SpacePixie KingAloha HöekInsomniac RenMy Shiny FriendCheese Rush DaysWiener BaronsGaloot WranglersRen Needs Help!Superstitious StimpyTravelogue
Season 5
Ol' Blue NoseStupid Sidekick UnionSpace DoggedFued For SaleHair of the CatCity HicksStimpy's PetRen's BrainBell HopsDog TagsI Was a Teenage StimpyWho's Stupid Now?School MatesDinner PartyBig FlakesPen PalsTerminal StimpyReverend JackA Scooter for YaksmasSammy and MeThe Last Temptation
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