Hermit Ren

Plot

Ren and Stimpy inhabit a house made from an upside-down dead cow. Stimpy, displaying extreme stupidity, plays an accordion while Ren, mentally exhausted, takes a taxi home from work; the taxi crashes at their doorstep. Ren also chases a neighbor's dog off the lawn. He discovers he has been involuntarily terminated, as indicated by a pink slip, and is harassed about it.

At dinner, Ren eats overcooked chicken that Stimpy forgot in the kitchen, which severely burns his tongue; Stimpy cools it with rotten milk, further angering Ren, who demands to be left alone. Ren decides to shave his beard, but Stimpy uses his razor to hammer a portrait into the wall, and the blunt razor shaves Ren's chin off. This, combined with stepping on the accordion, Stimpy's stupidity, a cartoon on television, and a ringing telephone, causes Ren to experience sensory overload.

He decides to leave Stimpy forever, returning the accordion before departing. Ren joins the Hermit Union, receiving a cave on the condition that he receives no sunlight, does not bathe, and makes no friends. He revels in the idea of peace and solitude, finding a mummy he intends to abuse. Seven months later, Ren has spent his days playing games and stacking stones, with the mummy serving as his imaginary friend.

Hungry and malnourished, he attempts to find food, confusing bats with a cow's udder and a rock with a relative, Old Man Farmer Höek, whose illusion mocks him into scavenging. He eats mushrooms, fungi, and insects. Meanwhile, Stimpy has gone crazy from Ren's absence, building a statue of Ren out of earwax.

Production

"Hermit Ren" originated from Chris Reccardi, who wanted to create more dramatic episodes after the show's third season dip. He got help from showrunner Bob Camp, Jim Gomez, and artist Bill Wray. This episode stands out as one of the few where Reccardi had a major hand after the series shifted from Spümcø to Games Animation. Reccardi later called it "a great idea for a story that I wish I had another crack at." His wife Lynne Naylor and John Kricfalusi's former protégé Michael Kim assisted with layout drawings. The episode feels more like the first two Spümcø seasons, focusing on intense psychological drama with less slapstick. Being a musician, Reccardi used his own compositions instead of the usual production music, keeping that library music to a minimum. Rough Draft Korea in Seoul handled the animation.