To be sure, the show still has its moments, particularly in the diabolical innuendo of "Wiener Barons" and in episodes of ever-increasing insanity such as "Superstitious Stimpy" and "Ren's Brain." However, even though the show is at this stage still unrelenting in its visceral animated assault, it's difficult to shake the feeling that it's much tamer than it once was, having settled into a sort of resigned "okay, we'll be good" mentality. Every episode is capable of eliciting at least a few hearty laughs though, and if you want to see a children's cartoon done right, Ren & Stimpy is a quality primer.
Score: 7 out of 10
The Video
Ren & Stimpy always carried a few visual trademarks, most notably its close-ups of gruesome images painted in painstaking detail and its unique backgrounds, often smattered with black blots reminiscent of holes in reality or the vision of a person in a deep state of dementia. The animation has been remastered with such stark clarity that several shots are more gut-wrenching now than they were when they originally aired. Digging deep into the spectrum, the color achieves a type of vivacity that does not rely on saturating the viewer with primary colors, providing stunning works of art in an otherwise sophomoric cartoon.
Many cartoons become more polished as time goes on, but in Ren & Stimpy's case, it works to their disadvantage. Part of what defined the show was its rough-around-the-edges style, and the addition of light effects and shadows gives the show a gloss that doesn't suit it very well. Ren & Stimpy is an emphatically visual cartoon, and always a joy to gaze upon.
Score: 10 out of 10
The Audio
If your greatest memories of Ren & Stimpy are the sounds of the myriad loud belches, bodily functions, and otherwise humorous noises set against loping orchestral music, fear not - they've been rendered in crystal-clear Dolby digital here. The DVD doesn't contain any subtitles, so unfortunately, the sick, twisted beauty of the show remains confined to the English language only.
Score: 9 out of 10
The Extras
The DVD set's sole bonus feature is the audio commentary, the highlight of which is the third-disc episode "Big Flakes," examined by none other than the eponymous cat and asthma-hound Chihuahua themselves. Commentary is featured on thirteen of the 33 individual episodes.
Three seasons prior to season five, John Kricfalusi was ignominiously fired from his own creation by Nickelodeon; now, as he injects his insights into cartoons he had no hand in making, it feels as though he is playing catch-up, asking numerous questions to his colleagues in the soundbooth about the creative process and the way things worked following his departure.
John K. is also keenly aware of the impact Ren & Stimpy had on the future of animation, and as a result, he often comes off as arrogant and high on his own influence: he makes a number of bold statements, the gist of which is usually "there were no good cartoons in the 1990s" or "every cartoon does this or that now, but Ren & Stimpy did it first, so y'all better recognize." Such prattle ranges from mildly annoying to occasionally insufferable.
Score: 5 out of 10