Stimpy (Stimpson J. Cat)

Stimpson J. Cat — Stimpy to everyone — is the rotund, big-nosed red-and-white cat who forms one half of the title duo in “The Ren & Stimpy Show,” the cult Nickelodeon cartoon that first aired in 1991. Paired with the high-strung, perpetually furious chihuahua Ren Höek, Stimpy is the cheerful, dim-witted foil: sweet-natured, endlessly loyal, and blissfully oblivious to the disasters his cleverer friend is constantly courting.

Stimpy’s whole personality is built on innocent enthusiasm. He adores his hairball collection, worships his television heroes, invents nonsense like the “Stimpy Happy Helmet,” and greets even Ren’s worst tempers with a loving grin. Where Ren is neurotic and scheming, Stimpy is guileless and kind, and much of the show’s comedy comes from the friction between them — a partnership that manages to be both abrasive and, oddly, tender.

The series itself was a landmark. Created by John Kricfalusi, it pushed a wilder, more grotesque, more expressive style of animation than television had allowed, full of extreme close-ups, rubbery “takes” and unapologetic gross-out humour. Alongside its Nicktoons siblings, it helped kick off the 1990s renaissance in creator-driven cartoons and influenced a generation of animators who grew up on its excess.

Stimpy, with his gap-toothed smile and his catchphrase-worthy “Happy happy, joy joy!” singalongs, became the warm, beating heart of that chaos — proof that the most memorable cartoon cat need not be the smart one.