"Dog Tags" is the tenth episode of the fifth season of ''

The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...

''. It originally aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

in the United States on October 28, 1995.

Plot

Ren and Stimpy live in a house built over a

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...

. Ren prepares to go out for his "

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

lodge meeting", with Stimpy giving him his hat and shoes reminiscent of a costume. It is revealed that Ren is a part of the Benevolent Order of Dog Bone Eaters, joining more than 53 years ago. Ren reluctantly lets a persistent Stimpy go with him despite the fact he is a

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

. Stimpy makes a fool of himself with an unconvincing disguise made from

Hamburg steak Hamburg steak is a patty of ground beef. Made popular worldwide by migrating Germans, it became a mainstream dish around the start of the 19th century. It is related to Salisbury steaks, which also use ground beef. It is considered the origin of ...

. A

walrus The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large pinniped marine mammal with discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only extant species in the family Odobeni ...

was kicked out for a similar reason, but Stimpy was able to enter for his peculiar appearance not particularly resembling a cat. Ren is however stopped for not resembling a dog that much either, as the Order does not allow "mosquito rat-faced rodents", but he proves himself to be a member with his tag. However, it expired in 1972, so Ren still has to prove himself in tests; he relents. Ren tries to hunt an

elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

to prove, but he mistakes Ren for a rat and assaults him before flying away. The dogs note that he has to do actual tests to prove. Meanwhile, Stimpy fits in with the dogs and hits a

piñata A piñata (, ) is a container, often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. Piñatas are commonly associated with Mexico. The idea of breaking a container fill ...

full of bones. Ren chases a car and gets run over, while the dogs explain he has to hot-wire one to prove; he proceeds to destroy a

police car A police car is an emergency vehicle used by police for Police transport, transportation during Patrol, patrols and responses to Call for service, calls for service. Police cars are used by police officer, police officers to patrol a Beat (po ...

in a misunderstanding and escapes from

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

. It is clear that the dogs are messing with him, as they urge him to marry a

millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. Many national currencies have, or ...

. He engages in more torturous tasks until the dogs tell him one last task: to clean himself in public. Ren aborts his attempt as he refuses to give up his dignity for membership. He renounces his "doghood" and attempts

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by jumping into the sewers with a

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

, but is stopped by Stimpy, who smuggles him to a "cat bar" where its regulars are more hospitable. The duo sip on

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

, ending the episode.

Cast

* Ren – Voice of

Billy West William Richard Werstine (born 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor, comedian, radio personality, impressionist and musician. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'', the title characte ...

* Stimpy – Voice of Billy West

Production

"Dog Tags" was produced for the series' fourth season and aired during a Nickelodeon-"commissioned" fifth season. It was storyboarded at Character Builders in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, a less costly alternative to most animation studios by

Jim Kammerud Jim Kammerud (born July 23, 1960) is an American director, writer, producer and animator, best known for his work with the Walt Disney Company. Kammerud attended the Ohio State University in the mid-1980s. There he developed his cartooning styl ...

to save costs. The low quality of its storytelling was made worse by the fact director Ken Bruce was assigned the responsibility to direct the episode after it had been animated at Rough Draft Korea. It is the last episode in the series to show Ren having a

tail The tail is the elongated section at the rear end of a bilaterian animal's body; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage extending backwards from the midline of the torso. In vertebrate animals that evolution, evolved to los ...

, whose depiction was highly inconsistent in the series.

Reception

American journalist Thad Komorowski gave the episode zero out of five stars, considering it to be one of the worst in the series.

Books and articles

* *

Reference

{{The Ren & Stimpy Show 1995 American television episodes The Ren & Stimpy Show episodes Television episodes about animals Television episodes about friendship Television episodes about suicide