BOOK TITLE: Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren &
Stimpy Story
AUTHOR: Thad Komorowski
YEAR: 2017
GENRE: Nonfiction
SUBGENRE: Animation Biography
GRADE: Fail
Sick Little Monkeys details the career of Ren & Stimpy’s
eccentric and rebellious creator John Kricfalusi, who has been described by
many as either an animation genius or a creative control freak. Mr. K always
insisted on doing things his way whether his bosses agreed with him or not. The
byproduct of his madness was cartoons that embraced toilet humor, bodily
horror, and an uncaring attitude towards the youths they were marketed to. John
K made many enemies during his time creating cartoons, but it begs the question
of whether or not it was all worth it given the cult following Ren & Stimpy
had and still has today.
I swore I would finish this book all the way through, but
the repetitive and dull writing style makes it impossible to do so. Many of the
same talking points were shoved down my throat over and over again whether it
was John K’s rebelliousness, his inability to meet deadlines, his cartoons’
disgustingness, and worst of all, how “awful” and “disastrous” competing
cartoons were. About the last item on that list, it would appear as if the
author was taking sides with John K, but there were also times when he
criticized the animator with as much venom as he did the competitors. If this
book has a message, it was lost a long time ago the minute the writing style
bored me to tears.
Perhaps the writing style could have been improved with some
showing instead of telling. Instead of telling me how “bad” other cartoons are,
show me what specifically made them that way. But of course, the author
couldn’t do that without alienating the laymen of the animation world. Insider
terms are used a lot in this book, which would have been fine if the book was
marketed to professional animators as opposed to merely fans of Ren &
Stimpy. I went into this read wanting to learn about the cartoon that made my
childhood a happy time of my life. Instead all I got was technical drivel
combined with a desert-dry writing style.
The closest the author ever got to showing instead of
telling was pictures scattered here and there of John K’s sketches and
storyboards. While pictures are always more effective at communicating than
words, if that was all I wanted, I would have watched a movie. I wanted to read
a book and use my imagination, an imagination guided by an author who’s
supposed to be as entertaining as he is informative. I would have even settled
for a graphic novel if that’s what the author really wanted. At least with a
graphic novel, it wouldn’t feel like my eyes were being dragged across
sandpaper. Now there’s a visual worthy of a Ren & Stimpy episode!
This was not a fun book to read and I can’t recommend it to
my friends. I tried. I really tried. I wanted to like it and become a more
educated person because of the reading experience. But no matter what, it just
wouldn’t happen. I’d already known John K was a little off-color and this book
does a good job of illustrating his depravity, but ultimately it’s not enough
to keep my interest. I’m sorry, Mr. Komorowski, but this book gets a failing
grade.
