In the Army is the first episode of the second season of The Ren & Stimpy Show that originally aired on Nickelodeon in the United States on 15 August 1992.

Plot

Ren and Stimpy have decided for reasons that are never explained to join the U.S. Army. At the U.S. Army Induction Center, the duo hide in shame out of the fear of seeing the naked bodies of the other recruits. After subjected to various painful tests, the duo are permitted to join the Army. In the training camp, Stimpy proves himself a good soldier willing to do whatever he is told while Ren proves himself lazy and useless. The drill sergeant constantly punishes Ren, which causes him to almost lose his mind. Ren tries to desert, but is stopped by the Sergeant who announces that for some reason both Ren and Stimpy have graduated to be Tank Paratroopers. The episode ends with Ren and Stimpy parachuting into some battlefield somewhere.

Cast

• Ren-voice of John Kricfalusi
• Stimpy-voice of Billy West
• The Sergeant-voice of Bob Camp

Production

Unlike the first season where all of the episodes were directed by John Kricfalusi, in the second season with the increased workload imposed by 20 episodes, production was assigned to several directors. ^[1] In practice, production for the second season was primarily divided between the "A" productions headed by Kricfalusi which had money and time lavished on them vs. the "B" productions headed by Bob Camp which had lower budges and less time. ^[2] In The Army was one of the lesser "B" productions assigned to Camp. ^[2] Camp tended to combine the process of making the storyboard phrase and the lay-outs into one, which increased the speed of production. ^[2] Camp referred to himself as being "more about the gag", and the productions directed by him tended to be thin on plot, instead being a loose collections of gags built around a single theme, in this case Ren and Stimpy joining the U.S. Army. ^[3] In The Army was finished on time for its scheduled premiere in August 1992 and slightly under budget. ^[3] The episode was illustrated at the Rough Draft Korea studio in Seoul. ^[4] The American journalist Thad Komorowski wrote that In The Army was a difficult episode to illustrate because it was "heavy on distortion", but that the artists of Rough Draft Korea were able to complete the episode on time and in full with "admirable deftness". ^[4]

Reception

In a review, the American critic Sim Basible wrote In The Army was "fun without being particularly memorable". ^[5] Komorwski rated the episode as only two stars. ^[6]

Books

• Klickstein, Matthew; Summers, Marc (2013). Slimed! An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age. London: Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN  9781101614099.
• Komorowski, Thad (2017). Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren & Stimpy Story. Albany, Georgia: BearManor Media. ISBN  978-1629331836.

References