The Ren and Stimpy Show: Nurse Stimpy Episode

I really love cartoons a lot, especially how malleable bodies and environments are. Sudden and drastic changes can occur in a short space of time which I think is a lot like the experience of being chronically sick. There is a predictable unpredictability about it. The morbid comedy of having a body is captured so well in cartoons. It also offers a world to escape into which doesn’t feel too exhausting to consume on low energy, because it’s fantasy, a playfully cutting reflection of the real world.

I have been totally drawn into this episode of Ren and Stimpy recently which highlights perfectly the ridiculousness of medical care, as well as the importance of caring for carers and the need for interdependent support systems.  

You can watch the episode in the embedded video above. It doesn’t have closed captions unfortunately but I found a transcript of the episode here.

I have included some screenshots below that I think are just SO beautiful for their colour palette and the way they illustrate the feelings of being sick, which I so strongly relate to. I love these images so much that I used them as my new website theme and I hope to turn them into memes about the sick experience one day..  

A screenshot from the cartoon The Ren and Stimpy Show. Ren is a small and hairless chihuahua dog with beige skin, pink eyes and floppy long pink ears. Stimpy is red/orange Manx cat with a white tummy and hands, wth a round blue nose and a pink tongue often hanging out of his mouth. In this screenshot is a close up of Ren's red nose and pink skin, the nose has a glistening liquid flowing from the right nostril.
A screenshot from the cartoon The Ren and Stimpy Show. Ren is a small and hairless chihuahua dog with beige skin, pink eyes and floppy long pink ears. Stimpy is red/orange Manx cat with a white tummy and hands, wth a round blue nose and a pink tongue often hanging out of his mouth. In this screenshot we are stood over Ren's bed, his eyes are yellow and bloodshot, with many bags around them and his face is turning greenish with some drips of sweat flowing down from his left eye. Stimpy's white hands are just visible at the edge of the shot as if they are our own, peeling and stuck down blue bedsheet from Ren's face.
A screenshot from the cartoon The Ren and Stimpy Show. Ren is a small and hairless chihuahua dog with beige skin, pink eyes and floppy long pink ears. Stimpy is red/orange Manx cat with a white tummy and hands, wth a round blue nose and a pink tongue often hanging out of his mouth. In this screenshot we see a side profile of Stimpy on the left wearing a nurse's white cap with a red cross on, he is holding a wooden stick on Ren's tongue. Ren is on the right with his face stretched and his mouth open beyond what would be physically possible in our human realm.
A screenshot from the cartoon The Ren and Stimpy Show. Ren is a small and hairless chihuahua dog with beige skin, pink eyes and floppy long pink ears. Stimpy is red/orange Manx cat with a white tummy and hands, wth a round blue nose and a pink tongue often hanging out of his mouth. In this screenshot we see Stimpy on the left wearing a white skirt and a white nurse's cap with a red cross on, they are holding the tube from a blood pressure testing machine, the strap is around Ren's whole body. Ren is sat on a patient
A screenshot from the cartoon The Ren and Stimpy Show. Ren is a small and hairless chihuahua dog with beige skin, pink eyes and floppy long pink ears. Stimpy is red/orange Manx cat with a white tummy and hands, wth a round blue nose and a pink tongue often hanging out of his mouth. In this screenshot we see the back of Ren's head, his eyes and ears are bloodshot and veiny and red, he has red spots on the crown of his head and he looks sad and fed up.
A screenshot from the cartoon The Ren and Stimpy Show. Ren is a small and hairless chihuahua dog with beige skin, pink eyes and floppy long pink ears. Stimpy is red/orange Manx cat with a white tummy and hands, wth a round blue nose and a pink tongue often hanging out of his mouth. In this screenshot we see Ren's back, he is wearing a backless white hospital style gown with his protruding spine and bum crack showing, he is slumped as though he is fed up and has no energy.
A screenshot from the cartoon The Ren and Stimpy Show. Ren is a small and hairless chihuahua dog with beige skin, pink eyes and floppy long pink ears. Stimpy is red/orange Manx cat with a white tummy and hands, wth a round blue nose and a pink tongue often hanging out of his mouth. In this screenshot we see Ren sat on a metal hospital trolley looking sad with no energy and not fully present, he has a bright metal spotlight lamp over his head shining down on him, in front of him is Stimpy in their white nurse costume with red crosses on smiling and raising a large pointed finger as if they have just the answer to all Ren's problems.
A screenshot from the cartoon The Ren and Stimpy Show. Ren is a small and hairless chihuahua dog with beige skin, pink eyes and floppy long pink ears. Stimpy is red/orange Manx cat with a white tummy and hands, wth a round blue nose and a pink tongue often hanging out of his mouth. In this screenshot we see Ren submerged in a freestanding white roll top bath with blue water and pink bubbles, only his eyes and feet are visible out of the water and he looks a little annoyed. Looking over him is Stimpy looking down on them intensely but also lovingly with their hands clasped and smiling. In the background on the right is Ren's skin hung up on a towel rail.
A screenshot from the cartoon The Ren and Stimpy Show. Ren is a small and hairless chihuahua dog with beige skin, pink eyes and floppy long pink ears. Stimpy is red/orange Manx cat with a white tummy and hands, wth a round blue nose and a pink tongue often hanging out of his mouth. In this screenshot we see a pink skinned Ren being held in Stimpy's white hands, half out of the water with his body curled over. Stimpy has a big yellow sponge which he is scrubbing Ren's back with. Ren looks simultaneously relieved and embarrassed.
A screenshot from the cartoon The Ren and Stimpy Show. Ren is a small and hairless chihuahua dog with beige skin, pink eyes and floppy long pink ears. Stimpy is red/orange Manx cat with a white tummy and hands, wth a round blue nose and a pink tongue often hanging out of his mouth. In this screenshot Stimpy is lying in bed with his eyes sagging and his tongue hanging out of his mouth on the left side. He looks frazzled and tired.

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