Son of Stimpy
A Christmas episode parodying melodrama through a flatulence premise.
"Son of Stimpy" is the twelfth episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show, originally airing on MTV on January 13, 1993. Its 21-minute runtime and objectionable content caused multiple delays, and an edited version later aired on Nickelodeon.
Quick Facts
- Series
- The Ren & Stimpy Show
- Season
- 2
- Episode
- 6b
- Air date
- 13 January 1993 (MTV; uncut); 11 December 1993 (Nickelodeon; edited)
- Production
- RS5-8
- Writer
- John Kricfalusi
- Vincent Waller
- Richard Pursel
- Director
- John Kricfalusi
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Stinky Wizzleteats narrates the story. Stimpy, while watching cartoons, emits a large fart and believes he has given birth to a flatulence being named Stinky. He tries to brag to Ren, who calls him an idiot; Stimpy attempts to recreate the event but his buttocks deflate. Ren blames his overactive imagination. Stimpy searches the house for Stinky, even asking the Magic Nose Goblins under the piano seat, who mock him. Depressed, Stimpy sits motionless before the television. Ren tries cheering him with Commander Höek and Cadet Stimpy and The Muddy Mudskipper Show, but Stimpy remains despondent. Ren shows genuine concern with a mouse toy and litter box, but Stimpy breaks down at the word "stinky." Ren grows too angry to continue. Stimpy cannot sleep from grief, but Stinky is revealed to be a gaseous sentient being returning to reminisce about his time inside Stimpy. On Christmas Eve, Stimpy has been outside for months yearning for Stinky's return. Ren tries to lure him inside with mistletoe while looking at him romantically, but Stimpy sees through the trick and leaves, saddening Ren. Stimpy wanders the city asking about Stinky; he seeks warmth at a manure shop run by Mr. Horse but is run over by a truck. Stinky, having suffered cruelty from the city's populace, hides between two homeless men who try to light him on fire, then hides in the sewers. On Christmas, Ren celebrates alone until Stimpy returns frozen in an ice block. Ren thaws him by the fire, and Stinky visits. Stimpy joyfully reunites but refuses to let Stinky have his own life until Stinky appears with a sentient fish corpse girlfriend. Stimpy oversees their marriage, accepting Stinky's manhood. The couple moves to a corner, and Ren returns to his usual self while Stimpy celebrates the happy ending.
Production
John Kricfalusi, the show’s creator, wrote the story for “Son of Stimpy” alongside Vincent Waller and Richard Pursel, with Peter Avanzino handling the storyboards and Kricfalusi directing. He originally designed the episode as a parody and critique of well-known Hollywood melodramas like The Wizard of Oz, Bambi, The Godfather, and E.T., as well as what he called “fake pathos.” He saw this as a manipulative trick used by film directors, relying on music and camera work to force sad feelings from the audience. Kricfalusi called the practice cheap, contrived, and a dirty trick, insisting that genuine drama should come from strong characters and believable performances, not editing gimmicks. He also expressed frustration that dramatic films receive more praise and recognition than simple comedies, which are often looked down on. To prove how easy it is to make viewers cry over something meaningless, he gave the episode the silliest premise he could come up with—Stimpy being unable to fart a second time—and packed it with as many of those filmic tricks as possible. Kricfalusi made the episode as a trade-off: if he delivered heartwarming stories, Nickelodeon would let him produce more gross-out episodes. The mistletoe scene, where Ren tries to coax Stimpy inside, sparked a dispute with the network over what they saw as homosexual undertones. According to Kricfalusi’s DVD commentary, Nickelodeon agreed to keep the scene after learning that cutting it deeply upset an unnamed homosexual artist at Spümcø. A brief moment where Ren pushes Stimpy’s Christmas gift toward a photo of him was removed from the “First and Second Seasons” DVD but appears on the Sony Wonder VHS and was later digitally restored on channels like Nick, MTV, Comedy Central, and Paramount+. Nickelodeon also originally cut the part where Stimpy goes to the police looking for his missing “son” and gets violently thrown out, but that scene was kept on later releases starting with Spike TV and the DVD.
Reception
Critics have praised "Son of Stimpy" as a standout Christmas special. Thad Komorowski awarded it four out of five stars, calling it memorable. A. J. Carson of tvdvdreviews.com described it as a perfect parody of overly sentimental holiday episodes. The episode is also studied in An Introduction to Film Studies, which notes its provocative blending of sacred and profane elements through a "Son of God" motif in the title, Christmas setting, and soundtrack, though creator John Kricfalusi uses the animated medium for subversive rather than coherent analogy. It earned a Primetime Emmy nomination in 1993 for Outstanding Animated Program (under one hour), losing to a Batman: The Animated Series episode. In 2007, it ranked 96th on the 100 Greatest Nicktoon Episodes Countdown.
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