New ‘Ren & Stimpy’ Doc Aims to Address Legacy and Controversy

When I was a kid, I loved Ren & Stimpy, like so many people in my age group. The bizarre adventures of that animated cat and “asthma hound” chihuahua were must-see watching for elementary school me. There was just something about the exaggerated art and the controversial jokes that felt like you were watching something you probably shouldn’t be allowed to see. How could I not love it?

Ren & Stimpy directly led to my love for other controversial animated gems like Beavis and Butt-Head, Rick and Morty and of course, the controversial animated show show of all controversial animated shows, South Park. Animation gives creators freedom to do some pretty wild shit for their jokes and Ren & Stimpy pioneered that wild shit.

As I grew up and started paying attention to the credits on my favorite shows, I saw that it was originally created by John Kricfalusi, or John K. as his title card read before every episode. I knew he was the original voice of Ren and that he often got a director credit, but that was about the extent of my knowledge of him in the ‘90s. In the early 2000s, more attention started to come to John K as Spike TV attempted a revival of the beloved kids show as Ren & Stimpy’s Adult Party Cartoon, which was…not good. But the reason most people know John K today is probably because several women have come forward to share their disturbing experiences with him when they were underage aspiring animators. 

The new documentary Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story attempts to explore the legacy of the groundbreaking show while reckoning with the behavior of its creator. 

We learn a lot more about John K. in this film, from his childhood with a father that could be generously described as “strict” to his rule-breaking views of art and humor. Early on, he’s painted like a rock star, someone who’s here to shake things up and give animation a much-needed shot in the arm to bring it into the ‘90s. He was a well-known creator/director before the term “showrunner” was commonplace in TV conversations. But of course, people who have a habitual problem with authority and rules are not always the best people to work with and we also hear horror stories from employees at Spümcø, Kricfalusi’s former animation studio, about the “lively” way he would pitch a story or give art critiques. He seems like quite the tyrant. A lot of that is brushed off as part of his genius, but it’s clear that he was difficult to work with.

We meet Vanessa Coffey, the former Nickelodeon producer who got the ball rolling on Ren & Stimpy in the first place by picking the characters out during a pitch Kricfalusi was giving for another show. Once Stimpy was on the air, Coffey, as the authority figure at the time, faced the brunt of his attitude until eventually, Kricfalusi was fired from the show in 1992 and replaced with former Spümcø partner, Bob Camp. It could easily seem like big bad Nickelodeon coming to take a brilliant idea from its troubled genius creator, like John Sculley getting Steve Jobs booted from Apple, but it’s pretty clear that Kricfalusi’s own behavior and actions led directly to this break.

And if you are feeling bad for him after this key moment, just wait until we meet Robyn Byrd. Byrd was a 13-year-old aspiring animator in 1994 when she reached out to Kricfalusi in hopes of someday working in animation. They started corresponding regularly and by the time she was 16, he had moved her in to live as his underage girlfriend and intern. Byrd is interviewed in the doc and we see just a glimpse of the damage done as she describes her experience. Like so many women who have come forward to share their stories in recent years, his abuse completely destroyed her dreams and she got out of the industry entirely, deriving no joy from animation after her experiences. 

While I appreciate that the doc tackles the issue, it’s very clear that the focus for the filmmakers is not on delving into the harm caused by Kricfalusi. The doc wants to talk about how revolutionary and genius Ren & Stimpy was and how Kricfalusi was a punk rock groundbreaker. Oh, and also he allegedly did this awful stuff. But the art! But the nostalgia! But the lasting impact of this legendary show! Much of this can probably be chalked up to securing an interview with Kricfalusi, since it’s unlikely he’d participate if this doc was going to be all about the sexual abuse allegations. Still, it feels a little half-assed to only briefly discuss it in the last fifteen minutes or so.

The doc really opens up the art vs artist conversation we see so much online these days. Can you still enjoy Ren & Stimpy knowing what we now know about Kricfalusi? This is best addressed in a section about Adult Party Cartoon, a “revival” so bad that it was canceled after only three episodes. That show was Kricfalusi unleashed with the freedom to do what he wanted, and it sucked. All the charm was gone because it turns out that what made Ren & Stimpy so great was a lot more than just John K. So as we move forward into an era with an upcoming Ren & Stimpy reboot and Beavis and Butt-Head revival as Comedy Central dumps long-running shows in favor of more adult animation, we can acknowledge that the OG Ren & Stimpy paved a path to get here, but that John K absolutely did not blaze that path by himself. 

Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story is available on VOD now.