It was excised when the episode aired on TV, in addition to home video releases. This episode originally had an additional title card at the beginning, which displayed a 'Ren Höek & Stimpy' logo.But, when Carbunkle was brought on to do half of the animation for the pilot, Bob Jaques pushed John Kricfalusi to give the show more of an exaggerated animation style. Based on surviving pencil tests, Big House Blues would have been animated in the style of a 1950s Hanna-Barbera cartoon that was designed by Ed Benedict.(The Carbunkle animation was directed by Bob Jaques.) Half of the animation was done at Spümcø, the other half was done at Carbunkle Cartoons in Canada.Several CalArts students who were up to Kricfalusi’s standards were hired as assistant animators.Four of the scenes were freelanced by David Feiss, a good friend of John Kricfalusi from his days at Hanna-Barbera and the creator of Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel.John Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, Jim Smith, and Lynne Naylor storyboarded the pilot from December of 1989 to January of 1990 with Network Revisions from Nick.Big House Blues began production in the final months of 1989.Vanessa Coffey approved all the content of the short. But, they found out that it could only work at eight minutes. It was originally intended as a six-minute short when they timed it.The mention of Nickelodeon in the credit for Vanessa Coffey was removed when the episode was put on home video.At the end of the episode, Phil apparently was going to return and say, 'Hi kids, remember me? I'm not dead! After all, this is a cartoon, isn't it?' Links to the storyboards can be seen here: Google Drive.The scene in which the Dog Catcher turns and wiggles his hips is censored on Nick.Despite being removed from Nickelodeon airings, the scene with Ren washing his mouth in the toilet after kissing Stimpy in his sleep was nevertheless left in the show's intro.The scene that shows Ren caressing Stimpy in his sleep and kissing him on the lips is censored on Nickelodeon.“Dog Pound Hop” (Opening Theme) - Chris Reccardi, Jim Smith, Scott Huml, John Kricfulcasi, (Original Composition).

Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor - Excerpt 1 – Alexander Borodin.“Dog Pound Hop” (Opening Theme) – Chris Reccardi, Jim Smith, Scott Huml, John Kricfalusi.Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah – George Handel.'Big House Blues' (Closing Theme) – Chris Reccardi, Jim Smith, Scott Huml, John Kricfalusi.Stimpy, overcome with joy, states that he can hardly wait to try it and hugs it close to his chest, only for Ren to come out of it, spitting out litter.īelow is a list of the production music used in the short. She gives Ren a sweater, and Stimpy a litterbox (his 1st material possession). At their new home, they meet a woman who appears to be the the little girl's mother. The girl accepts, resulting in a happy Stimpy jumping on top of Ren. Then, realizing Stimpy is still left alone in the cell, Ren explains to the girl that he can't go unless she takes Stimpy, too. The dog catcher gives Ren to the girl and Ren is excited to leave alive. The dog catcher comes for the duo, but a little girl mistakes Ren for a 'cute little poodle', due to the hairballs on him and wishes to adopt him. Later, Stimpy vomits hairballs on Ren, which leads to him smacking Stimpy multiple times. Ren calms down, then yells at him that he's dead and they'll be next if they don't get out. Ren says to wake him, but Jasper explains 'You don't wake up from the BIG sleep.' Ren panics and screams 'THE BIG SLEEP!!!' three times, and starts whimpering. He told him again that the dog catcher put him to sleep. Then, Ren walks over to Jasper and asks him what happened to Phil. Ren exclaims that he's been poisoned, and runs off to the toilet to wash himself of Stimpy's germs. The next morning, Ren dreams about kissing a woman, but wakes up to find out he's kissed Stimpy. Jasper tells Ren that Phil has been put to sleep and Ren, misunderstanding him, decides to take a nap himself. At a party, they meet Phil, who gets put to sleep by the dog catcher. They get caught by the Dog Catcher, who allows them to have fun with the other animals.

However, they are unable to find food and are left on the street starving, in poverty, and hapless. Ren and Stimpy are two street animals, an asthma hound Chihuahua and a cat, whose hunger has caused them to band together in union, despite the disagree between their species. Ren and Stimpy try to survive the horrors of the Dog Pound.

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