The Ren & Stimpy Show (Seasons 1–5)

The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991) is Nickelodeon's cult cartoon you can watch online on iFILM. It follows a mismatched duo: Ren, a high-strung, short-tempered chihuahua, and Stimpy, a sweet-natured but witless cat.

The two share almost nothing beyond a stubborn friendship and a gift for landing in trouble. Every episode drops them into another absurd scrape: astronauts one week, dump-dwellers the next, with Ren snapping into a bug-eyed rage somewhere along the way. The humor is gross, sticky and proud of it, lingering on close-ups of mucus, rotten teeth and bulging veins that became the show's signature look. Billy West and series creator John Kricfalusi handle the voices.

Kricfalusi reshaped early-'90s animation; his rubbery, exaggerated style and pitch-black comedy cleared a path for Beavis and Butt-Head and a wave of adult cartoons. His fights with Nickelodeon over the violence and crude gags eventually cost him the show. It's a treat for anyone who likes their retro animation loud, weird and indifferent to good taste. Stream The Ren & Stimpy Show online on iFILM.