The Ren and Stimpy Show - Seasons Three and a Half-ish
Though the third season of John Kricfalusi's much-lovedRen and Stimpyanimated series has been the subject of much controversy among devotees of the show and its creator, there is still enough cat/dog insanity to warrant viewing. Some fans' problems with the season revolve around the fact that Nickelodeon, which was airing the program, removed Kricfalusi and his Spumco team from the show's production and replaced them with Games Animation, which reproducedRen and Stimpy's signature artwork, but without the absurd spark of thefirst and second seasons(at least by those fans' estimation). However, a perusal of the 29 episodes compiled on this three-disc set (which offers the entire third season and a smattering of the fourth, which concludes on theSeason Five and Some More of Fourset) does turn up some worthwhile episodes, most notably "Ren's Pecs" (Ren develops a rippling physique after injecting fat from Stimpy's posteior), "Jimminy Lummox" (Stimpy's conscience takes the form of a monstrous singing lout), "Powdered Toast Man vs. Waffle Woman" (no explanation needed there...), and the surreal "House of Next Tuesday" (R & S visit the title domicile to escape giant ants). All this, plus several visits to "Untamed World," appearances by the irascible Wilbur Cobb, Jerry the Bellybutton Elf (who resides inside Stimpy's navel)--and scads of commentary tracks, including eleven from Kricfalusi and his Spumco team, and two from Ren and Stimpy themselves. Though the loyal may be divided on these seasons, completists will want to add this round of lunacy to their DVD animation collections.-- Paul Gaita