A reimagined Ren and Stimpy will be returning to television after nearly 25 years off the air — without original creator John Kricfalusi, who was accused of sexual misconduct a few years back.
Comedy Central has greenlit the new series, based off of the groundbreaking Nickelodeon cartoon that originally aired from 1991 to 1996. ViacomCBS, the owner of both cable networks, has provided few details on the reboot, but says that a new creative team at Nickelodeon Animation Studios will helm the project.
“We are excited to reinvent this iconic franchise with a new creative team and our partners at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio,” ViacomCBS Entertainment and Youth Group president Chris McCarthy said. “Ren and Stimpy joins our rapidly expanding roster of adult animation including South Park, Beavis and Butt-Head and Clone High as we continue to reimagine our treasure chest of beloved IP for new generations.”
McCarthy recently approved the reimagined Beavis and Butt-Head as well as a Daria spinoff, Jodie, both of which will air on Comedy Central. The Clone High reboot does not yet have a network attached.
Ren and Stimpy, created by John Kricfalusi, was launched in the early Nineties as part of Nickelodeon’s original Nicktoons package, which also included Rugrats and Doug. The show became a pop culture and cult phenomenon for its gross-out humor and surrealist animation that called back to classic Chuck Jones cartoons, but also drew controversy for its adult themes and lack of educational lessons. Multiple segments on the show were edited or censored to remove references to politics, religion, alcohol and violence.
In 2003, Kricfalusi created a more adult-oriented spinoff series for the show, Ren and Stimpy “Adult Party Cartoon.” The series earned a negative reception and only aired three of its six produced episodes. In 2018, Kricfalusi was the subject of a BuzzFeed investigation in which two women accused him of sexually harassing and assaulting them while they were underage as part of an alleged pattern of the animator dating underage girls. According to a source for Variety, Kricfalusi “will have no creative input into and will receive no financial remuneration from the new series.”
From Rolling Stone US
