REN & STIMPY reminds me of another animated show - INVADER ZIM. A lot of people on the Internet might have you believe that INVADER ZIM is the greatest cartoon of all-time. It's really stupid, though. REN & STIMPY is also loved by the Internet but it is far better than INVADER ZIM. Still, the writing on the show isn't very good.
The animation, especially in the first two seasons, which were made by Spumco, is great. I'm not going to deny that. But writing is more important. You can have characters doing crazy and weird things but if they don't say funny stuff along with doing funny stuff, the show won't be as funny, in my opinion.
REN & STIMPY might have been the first cartoon of its kind but other cartoons borrow from it and really made quite a few improvement to the formula. A few examples would be SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, ED, EDD 'N' EDDY, and THE GRIM ADENTURES OF BILLY & MANDY. Those are all meant for younger audiences and they don't feature the maniacal animation that defines REN & STIMPY, but they were funnier because they had good writing to compliment the animation.
This is just about the series in general, of course. There are some very well-written episodes, such as "Stimpy's Fan Club" and "Ren's Pecs" among others.
And another thing - I think John Kricfalusi did a much better job at voicing Ren than Billy West, or at least I like his interpretation of the character more.
The animation, especially in the first two seasons, which were made by Spumco, is great. I'm not going to deny that. But writing is more important. You can have characters doing crazy and weird things but if they don't say funny stuff along with doing funny stuff, the show won't be as funny, in my opinion.
REN & STIMPY might have been the first cartoon of its kind but other cartoons borrow from it and really made quite a few improvement to the formula. A few examples would be SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, ED, EDD 'N' EDDY, and THE GRIM ADENTURES OF BILLY & MANDY. Those are all meant for younger audiences and they don't feature the maniacal animation that defines REN & STIMPY, but they were funnier because they had good writing to compliment the animation.
This is just about the series in general, of course. There are some very well-written episodes, such as "Stimpy's Fan Club" and "Ren's Pecs" among others.
And another thing - I think John Kricfalusi did a much better job at voicing Ren than Billy West, or at least I like his interpretation of the character more.