Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story

It was really entertaining. I was a kid when the show came out and watched it religiously. It was cool getting the inside perspective on the show. Unfortunately it was new to me hearing about the abuse by John. It does take away from the nostalgia of the show for me because what he did was disturbing. Hearing him acknowledge what he did only made it worse.

It's odd how many times someone faces accusations of something horrible around the time of a reboot. It's almost as if major companies want more profits so they know the court of public opinion quite often removes the word "alleged" and pronounces people guilty immediately. Turns out most people are terrible so they need to believe anyone successful is worse to feel better about themselves.

Some things John admits to doing and some are just allegations and should be taken as such. You would not want people believing everything people say about you so give others the same courtesy.

That said, it's a good documentary from an age when cartoons weren't trying to indoctrinate children but letting them be kids and enjoy being silly.

This is a documentary about the envelope-burning Nickelodeon cartoon, The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991). It broke animation out of its toy-selling corporate mandate into a more outrageous adult era. Its creator John Kricfalusi became an overnight sensation. The show ran into problems after Nickelodeon ups the second season order to twenty episodes and John turns into a tyrant. The story takes an even darker turn with the 2018 BuzzFeed article about John's relationships with teenagers Robyn Byrd and Katie Rice.

To be fair, the filmmakers were probably blindsided by the 2018 story and had to do some fast editing. It takes ninety minutes before the movie gets to Robyn Byrd and they never interviewed Katie Rice. I wouldn't be surprised if the movie was already done with a ninety minute cut before the revelations turned everything upside down. There are downside consequences to this. This movie has a few famous faces heaping praises upon the show. I bet some of them would like to add to their interviews by tackling the question of separating the creator from the creation. While a few insiders do mention John's fascination with young girls, some more in-depth discussion on the subject matter is needed. Quite frankly, that should be the central issue of this documentary. It may not be possible but the filmmakers need to make another ninety minutes on that.

A look into the development and legacy of Red and Stimpy but also the story of John K and his... issues.

There's lots to like here with a look at how the cartoon was created, pitched, made, and received. Although it skips out on talking much about the seasons after John K left and how those were taken. It's really a love letter to the show but then you have to address the story of what happened with John K and the allegations of his actions. This only briefly touches on them and probably should have done more, but I can see why they didn't want to soil the movie with too much of that. Overall a strong watch for those that loved the show.

I enjoyed the first half, maybe even first 3/4'th of this the most. It really did a good job of touching on the background of John K, his influences, how the show got started, and the creative talent that helped make the show what it was. That's all good, but then as it gets to the downfall of the show, I think it learned too heavily into being focused on John K's personal issues, from the sympathetic standpoint of people who more or less bult themselves up off the allegations they raised against him. Now I don't want to take sides, but it seems obvious how some people who led to his downfall had something to gain from the controversy and attention they pursued. Especially the corporate executive who basically tried to stake claim to the shows creation, when it's obvious how she was just someone sitting on an executive board approving this and that.

In the end I guess it presents a good picture on why the show ultimately fell apart in the end, but I don't think what I got out of it was what they intended for me to get out of it. Based off everything they presented going over the show's creation, it's clear where the real talent was and why nobody else managed to accomplish anything meaningful after. It's basically a presentation on how success can affect people, making some people think they're greater than they are, or corrupting people who were truly great.