"Shnookums & Meat": Underrated?

[Classic Speedy]

Back when "Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show" debuted, it was dismissed as a shameless rip-off of Ren & Stimpy. But really, aside from the emphasis on face vaults and a few gross-out gags, the two cartoons really have nothing in common. The two title characters act nothing like Ren & Stimpy, for one thing.

Anyway, this cartoon seems to get lost in the Disney cartoon shuffle, and while it's not my favorite, it's fairly entertaining from the episodes I saw, and I like how it wasn't based on an existing Disney property. I appreciate the specific facial expressions and sight gags, which wasn't always the case for Disney shows if they weren't animated by Walt Disney Australia. And the animation's quite nice, with some good squash-and-stretch and no "lumpiness". It's arguably one of the better efforts by Wang, and LEAGUES above their brief work on Ren & Stimpy.

So what do you think? Is "Shnookums & Meat" underrated?

 

[Leviathan]

The back-up segments (Pith Possum especially) were actually funnier most of the time than the Schnookums and Meat segments.

That having been said, those had their moments, too (particularly the "Judgment Day" one)

 

[nicoli9000]

I love that show. Especially the animation, and the voices. Speaking of which, I know most of the voices on that cartoon:

With the Voice Talents of (alphabetical order)
Charlie Adler - Chafe ("Tex Tinstar" segments), Granny Pearl ("Pith Possum" segment)
Jeff Bennett - Pith/Peter Possum ("Pith Possum" segments), Tex Tinstar ("Tex Tinstar" segments)
Corey Burton - Ian, Krusty Rustknuckle, Percy Lacedaisy (all of them on "Tex Tinstar")
Jim Cummings - Narrator (both on "Pith Possum" and "Tex Tinstar")
Brad Garrett - Commissioner Stress ("Pith Possum" segment), Wrongo ("Tex Tinstar" segment)
Jess Harnell - Lieutenant Tension ("Pith Possum" segments), Floyd the Rattle Snake ("Tex Tinstar segments)
Steve Mackall - Husband ("Shnookums and Meat" segments)
Tress MacNeille - Wife ("Shnookums and Meat" segments)
Jason Marsden - Shnookums ("Shnookums and Meat" segments)
Frank Welker - Meat ("Shnookums and Meat" segments)
April Winchell - Doris Deer ("Pith Possum" segments)
Patric Zimmerman - Obediah ("Pith Possum" segments)

That's all I know so far. Anyway it was a good show.

 

[CLXcool]

The show itself had a few moments, but there were times where it showed where it was trying to hard to be like Ren and Stimpy. It should be noted that this was the first Disney made cartoon to have a different art style than most of the Disney tv produced cartoons. I wonder how the show would have went if they didn't go for the Spumco styled animation.

 

[Surreal Kangaroo]

I remember loving this show when it first came on when I was about five. I didn't watch Ren & Stimpy at the time so I though nothing of it. I later watched it when Toon Disney did a marathon of it in 2007 or 2008 and pretty much hated it. The back of shows were okay, but the title segment was weak. Sure Shnookums and Meat do not act exactly like Ren & Stimpy, but I have a hard time believing that the show would of ever existed if Ren & Stimpy wasn't a hit.

 

[Classic Speedy]

Sure Shnookums and Meat do not act exactly like Ren & Stimpy, but I have a hard time believing that the show would of ever existed if Ren & Stimpy wasn't a hit.

Well yeah, it may have been inspired by R&S (a LOT of shows at the time were), but that doesn't mean it was a rip-off.

 

[Leviathan]

Incidentally, the character designer was Michael Fontanelli, a Spumco alumnus.

 

[John Pannozzi]

I thought this was an entertaining show.

Here's something interesting: an article from Wild Cartoon Kingdom about Shnookums and Meat, which was published in 1993 when it was a segment on Marsupilami:

J.E. Daniels' Animated Topics & Headlines: Shnookums & Meat: 1993

 

[Classic Speedy]

I thought this was an entertaining show.

Here's something interesting: an article from Wild Cartoon Kingdom about Shnookums and Meat, which was published in 1993 when it was a segment on Marsupilami:

J.E. Daniels' Animated Topics & Headlines: Shnookums & Meat: 1993

Nice find, thanks for the link. It's interesting to see the faces of Disney crew members who, for the longest time, I only knew by their name.

 

[defunctzombie]

....I can barely remember watching it but it was my favorite food as a child:

 

[trance2009]

Pith Possum deserved his own show.

 

[Andrew Steiner]

You know what? I first read about the show in a Disney book about its shorts, TV shows, and movies. Then, a few years later, I realized I watched it when I was little, only one time when I saw the "Pith Possum" segment, "Son of the Cursed Black of Darkness". I started to fall in love with "Shnookums and Meat", and in the fall of last year, I uploaded some segments of it. Sure, it may not be my favorite childhood show or the best Disney TV show, but it would have been WAY much better if some of the Disney animators lended their characters into the show, with Monte the Pelican, Viddy the Snipe, Pablo the Penguin, Susie the Little Blue Coupe, Lambert the Sheepish Lion, and a whole bunch of others.

 

[Lonestarr]

This is like saying 'Water: Wet?' or 'Grass: Green?'

I found the show engagingly ridiculous and funny (as you'd expect from a Bill Kopp cartoon).

 

[Classic Speedy]

What's everyone's favorite short? I personally love the absurdity of "Weight For Me", where the two titular characters have to lose weight. The animation on their tremendous, gelatinous girth is great stuff, as is their inability to move when they finally get buff because their muscles are so huge.

One thing I've found accentuates the comedy in this show: Drew Neumann's mickey mousing music, which just makes everything all the more goofy and loony.

 

[Andrew Steiner]

What's everyone's favorite short? I personally love the absurdity of "Weight For Me", where the two titular characters have to lose weight. The animation on their tremendous, gelatinous girth is great stuff, as is their inability to move when they finally get buff because their muscles are so huge.

One thing I've found accentuates the comedy in this show: Drew Neumann's mickey mousing music, which just makes everything all the more goofy and loony.

Personally, my favorite short is the "Pith Possum" segment, "Haunt of the Night of Blacker Darkness", where Peter Possum and Doris Deer go out on a date. It was sad at the end when Peter reads the note from Doris saying that she will date Pith Possum from now on, and not Peter. He sadly knows that Doris will never go out with him again, because she will never know the truth about his secret identity, and it broke my heart when Peter started crying like crazy. Fortunately, Obediah was there to tell his boss that he loves him. It makes you want to think of "Dumbo", doesn't it?

Anyway, the show would have had more episodes, where some would focus on Peter and Doris' relationship.