Galoot Wranglers

Plot

Ren and Stimpy are gathered around a campfire with Wilbur Cobb, who is telling a tale. Ren cooks a sausage over the flames, while Stimpy, in a foolish move, roasts a tire until it becomes a melted mess. Wilbur reminisces about the era before the Wild West, and during his story, his nose falls off. Mistaking it for a sausage, he roasts it, causing it to melt as well.

In the early days, humans rode groundhogs, with one particularly dim individual named Abner Dimwit. Then a humanoid species resembling Lummoxes, called Galoots, appeared alongside a tribe of female warriors. The Galoots nearly went extinct due to heat, but they adapted to human society and eventually spread across the entire United States. An Indigenous person first realized the Galoots' stupidity could be exploited for their pelts, which provided warmth.

A Caucasian hunter named Ewalt Nitwit later caught on. The pelts, despite their ugly look, became a high-fashion staple in Europe, and the Galoots' flesh was also popular as meat. Because Wilbur's story drags on so long, ant colonies build up on all three of them. A scorpion stings Wilbur's regrown nose, but it gets eaten without any consequences.

Wilbur then tells Ren and Stimpy about "Galoot wranglers." The duo takes on these roles, finding a Galoot's droppings, which turn out to be stale pizza. They locate an entire colony, and Stimpy uses a vehicle shaped like fried chicken to transport them to their farm. They examine one Galoot, deducing from stains on its teeth that it smoked and ate popcorn.

Ren determines its age by checking the rings in its earwax, finding it to be 36 years old. They brand the Galoot with a tattoo, which the creature is proud of, and also brand its hooves with hot red steel. They take this Galoot and others to sell into slavery, though some are kept back to compete in a rodeo. The duo's prized Galoots, which look like the Lummoxes from earlier episodes, are forced into absurd contests, including fighting over food and trying to pick a lock.

It is unclear if the Galoots are smart enough to succeed at the lock. They also race, and their top speed is only reached when they are enraged by a wedgie. Mr. Horse judges the finals. Ren gets disqualified for cheating by stuffing rocks into his Galoot's buttocks. However, every Galoot, winner or loser, is sold off to be turned into food.

Production

"Galoot Wranglers" was the first episode of the series to have its layouts handled by Character Builders, Jim Kammerud's small independent Ohio animation studio. This cost-saving measure was a major reason for the series' weaker storytelling, a frequent criticism aimed at episodes like this one. It also marked the directorial debut for the series of Craig Bartlett. Bartlett had previously sold Hey Arnold! to Games Animation while working as a story editor on Rugrats at Klasky Csupo.

Before this series could begin production, he was given a directing role on The Ren & Stimpy Show. Bartlett was instructed not to alter any episode's writing when he directed, a role he described as being a "mechanic." Jack Carter returned to voice Wilbur Cobb. Showrunner Bob Camp, feeling sorry for Carter's lack of work, let him voice the character in as many episodes as possible, a decision that drew criticism from other crew members, including Bill Wray.