Ren & Stimpy UK Edits

[AllenJ]

While reading the thread on international SpongeBob edits, I remembered that back on the now-defunct Ren & Stimpy forums MOTLOS and Spumboard, several members from the UK would often talk about cuts that were made to the show by BBC2 and Nick UK, and since those cuts don't seem to be documented anywhere else, I thought I'd list some of the specific ones I remember reading about.

Nick UK edits:

• The entire Cheese-O-Phone scene was cut from "Stimpy's Invention" (although the UK VHS release of the episode was uncut)
• "Superstitious Stimpy" censored Ren saying "spaz" and Stimpy saying "crap" (one forum member posted a clip of these two edits, which I've recreated here)
• Many gags in "Travelogue" and "Stimpy's Pet" were edited to only show the setup without the punchline (or vice versa)
• "Sammy and Me" removed both instances of Sammy biting people's heads off
• "The Last Temptation of Ren" censored Wilbur Cobb saying "bugger"

BBC2 edits:

• "A Visit to Anthony" was missing the scene of Ren & Stimpy kissing their wives goodbye
• "Circus Midgets" had its title shortened to just "Circus", and the closing scene with the Fire Chief was edited out
• "Hermit Ren" removed the scene of Ren hallucinating his father in the cave (although he was still seen saluting Ren at the end of the episode)
• "Superstitious Stimpy" edited the scene of Stimpy checking his "Guide to Unlucky Stuff" so you couldn't see the actual pages of the book (likely because of the word "damnation")

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Some of those edits make sense as the words are considered more profane in the UK or have different meanings. If R&S ever said "fanny" that would have been cut as well.

 

[AllenJ]

Some of those edits make sense as the words are considered more profane in the UK or have different meanings. If R&S ever said "fanny" that would have been cut as well.

Ren says it in "I Love Chicken", but I don't remember any mention of that specific episode being censored in the UK. It did get released uncut on VHS over there (one board member mentioned rewinding that part over and over as a kid).

Similarly, there was also an instance of the word "bugger" being censored from Rugrats in the UK, according to this site:

Would you believe a Rugrats episode edited for content? In Britain, this episode had a minor edit before it was released on the Bedtime Bash video there. In the uncensored version (still seen in its entirety in Britain on Nick), Edwin referred to his loose tooth as a "little bugger", when he explained how he got money from the tooth fairy. The BBFC, an agency that rates videos and movies in Britain, gave Bedtime Bash a "PG" (Parental Guidance) rating, because of the word "bugger". Shortly before the video was released to the public, however, "Little Bugger" became a badly-dubbed "Little Fellow", and the BBFC reclassified the video as a "U" (all ages). This was the only time a Rugrats episode was edited for content in Britain, if not worldwide.

 

[Two Two's]

I remember they still kept the "banned episodes" such as The Last Tempation, Sammy and Me and Dog Tags prior to Comedy Central getting the rights, it always confused me why Sammy and Me was a very short episode

 

[Pooky]

Some of those edits make sense as the words are considered more profane in the UK or have different meanings. If R&S ever said "fanny" that would have been cut as well.

I would agree, barring "damn(action)" which in my experience is taken a lot more seriously in the US, so that edit may have been for other reasons.

 

[Leviathan]

BBC2 edits:

• "Circus Midgets" had its title shortened to just "Circus", and the closing scene with the Fire Chief was edited out

It's probably worth researching if they edited other Fire Chief appearances, because he says "midgets" in both Fire Dogs and Rubber Nipple Salesmen.

Censorship isn't known for logical consistency, so there's a chance BBC2 let them slide.

 

[AllenJ]

It's probably worth researching if they edited other Fire Chief appearances, because he says "midgets" in both Fire Dogs and Rubber Nipple Salesmen.

Censorship isn't known for logical consistency, so there's a chance BBC2 let them slide.

Not sure about BBC2, but Comedy Central UK indeed censored those when they ran the show earlier this year, as seen in this YouTube playlist:

Also from the look of it, they apparently removed any and all scenes of Ren slapping Stimpy, as well as "moron" and "fat bloated idiot." Was UK censorship always this strict?