Fake Dad

Plot

Ren and Stimpy head to Fake Dad Headquarters to take in a neglected child for a weekend. They expect a seven-year-old, but instead get a giant Lummox named Kowalski, who is currently serving a thirty-year sentence for unspecified crimes against humanity. Ren is terrified, while Stimpy is thrilled at the chance to be a parent. Kowalski immediately gives Ren a forceful hug.

Back at their caravan, the three sit on the sofa. Ren tries to feed icing only to Stimpy, refusing to treat Kowalski as his son, but Stimpy makes him share, leading to Ren being swallowed and chewed unconscious. Kowalski sits on a chair while reading a book called Prison Romance, but his superhuman strength makes him rip the pages apart just trying to turn them. Though he is docile and can read, his accidental destruction angers Ren, and Stimpy scolds Ren for being aggressive.

Kowalski then smokes an entire pack of cigarettes, raising the tension until Ren hits him with a spoon. Kowalski throws a tantrum, shredding the couch, television, and Stimpy into powder, which forces Ren to stop him. The group goes on a picnic. Ren makes Kowalski a sandwich, but Kowalski demands meat.

Ren gives him slabs of meat, which are too tough to chew. Stimpy toasts the meat, but that makes it inedible. Kowalski then asks for a meat drink, so Stimpy shreds meat into a water dispenser, which satisfies Kowalski, who blows a bubble with it like gum. Ren tries to make him burp, but it takes what feels like 36 weeks.

Ren attempts to spank Kowalski, but after seeing his buttocks, he realizes his mistake and gives up. The rest of the weekend happens offscreen, and Ren seems to enjoy parenting Kowalski. Ren willingly carries Kowalski back to Fake Dad Headquarters, where they say goodbye, both crying and expressing gratitude toward each other.

Production

The script for "Fake Dad" was written by John Kricfalusi and Jim Smith. Production was greatly delayed at Spümcø throughout 1992, and by the time Kricfalusi was fired on September 21, 1992, only the layout stage had been completed. Kricfalusi and Smith were considered to be the only cartoonists at Spümcø capable of drawing Killer Kowalski, who was considered a difficult character to draw. Games Animation finished the episode on time for fall of 1992.

Smith and Kricfalusi had wanted "Fake Dad" to be half an hour long, but Games shorted the story to 11 minutes. Both Kricfalusi and Smith were unhappy about the decision to shorten the episode, even though Smith's layouts were nearly intact in the final cut. Smith stated of the abridgment that his cartoon was "taken over by uncaring people who shoved it through". Games Animation decided to add a scene where the trio play American football to honor Kricfalusi's wish, but Jim Ballantine stated that the padding made the episode "slow and unwatchable", hence the football game was cut from the version that was aired in 1993.