Airing on Nickelodeon for over four years and releasing a total of 52 episodes in the ’90s, John Kricfalusi’sRen and Stimpyquickly became a staple for the children’s television channel. It’s no surprise why this show grew so quickly with the younger audience – it’s quite hard to look away from the wacky and wild adventures surrounding a skinny, neurotic chihuahua and a giant, brainless cat. Their weekly skirmishes involved getting into tussles with psychotic circus workers, thinking that they gave birth (when it was actually just flatulence), and trying to sell rubber nipples to the local firehouse.
As much as these shock-value storylines created a negative fervor among Nick executives and parents alike, these dream fever situations combined with quality animation helped to makeRen and Stimpya great successamong critics and audiences alike. Even with this controversy standing in the shadows of the show,Disneycould not take the fact that Nickelodeon was racing ahead, and they were in dire need of a similarly animated show.
Premiering on The Disney Afternoon programming block a month afterRen and Stimpyconcluded its final season, Bill Kopp’sThe Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Showcame to have a very similar dynamic. This was actually a spin-off of1993’s Marsupilami,which sprang out ofCBS’s Raw Toonagefrom 1992 (neither of which had great episode runs).Shnookums & Meatalso presented viewers with a cat named—you guessed it—Shnookums and a big but inept dog named Meat. This duo had equally crazy outings, like being harshly judged in limbo after getting hit by a truck and creating unhinged monsters with a brain-altering device, sowhy was this seemingly fine series canceled after only 13 episodes? What was so wrong withShnookums and Meatthat made people change the channel?
Disney Couldn’t Be Edgy Like Nickelodeon
First, audiences should realize thatDisney obviously has stricter regulations than Nickelodeon. The underlyingdark and adult humorthat madeRen and Stimpyenjoyable for all ages is non-existent inShnookums and Meat. Kopp surely had the ability – look at his work on the final episode ofTales from the Crypt.
However, Disney would never have let him go withthat much violenceand black comedy in this animated series. As the creator mentioned in an interview with a former website, Animato, imagine if this show was on a less restricted network like Fox Kids. But because of this tight grip on the content they distribute, people will always consider Kopp’s creation to be a lighter, almost bargain-version ofRen and Stimpyand nothing more.
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As aforementioned in the introduction,The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Showonly ran for 13 episodes before being axed. In this short period, the featured dog and cat were surprisingly overshadowed by the two supporting shorts in the episodes –Pith PossumandTex Tinstar: The Best In The West. While they were indeed parodies in and of themselves (Pith was a play onBatman, and Tex was a satire ofold-time cowboy protagonists), these side stories inevitably shined because the phenomenal Jeff Bennett stepped in for both leading roles.
With over 600 animated productions under his belt, Bennett could make anything entertaining. Unfortunately, this unbalanced casting was a detriment to theRen and Stimpycounterparts. When reviewing the show, Scott Moore from theWashington Postsaid thatShnookums and Meatwere the weakest of all three cartoons shown in the half-hour time slot.
Tex Tinstar and Pith Possum Stole the Show From Shnookums and Meat
Aside from looking at the other segments,Shnookums and Meatwas just plain awkward with its pacing at timesand thus was never comparable to the original animated duo ofRen and Stimpy. For example, many chase sequences (such as when Meat tries to hit Shnookums with a stove) or comedic windups (like when a baseball goes through too many shenanigans before hitting Meat square in the head) go on for too long. When the title of the show is based around characters who share the screen with two other segments, a quick pace is always needed. Maybe it was a creative choice or a decision that was forced by Disney, butthis slower story-telling will inevitably signal viewers to the other, more entertaining animated facesin your program.
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Let’s face it –Bill Kopp’s collaboration with Disney was marred by a lack of originality. Even though some may still argue to this day thatTex Tinstardeserves to be given a second chance, all three segments were rip-offs of something else. We all know whatShnookums and Meatwere based on. ButPith Possum’sriff of Batman came right off of the heels ofDarkwing Duck, another play on the caped crusader. Even though Bennett’s lively depiction helped, the premise ofPithwas tiresome at this point. WhileTex(theJohnny Bravo-cowboy hybrid) undoubtedly had a charm and copied cartoons of old with itsweekly cliffhanger ending, most viewers never stayed long enough to see how it played out.
WhileThe Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Showhas not been made available on Disney+ or any sort of television since 2007, it can be watched onYouTubefor free.
