In the '90s, Cartoon Network was home to several incredible off-kilter and sometimes lewd cartoons, many of which would certainly raise more than a few eyebrows today. One such show was Cow and Chicken, which featured the misadventures of two seemingly mismatched barnyard siblings. 1997's Cow and Chicken bore more than a few egregious similarities to the equally as notorious 1991 Nickelodeon series, The Ren & Stimpy Show. With rather unusual-looking talking animals, gross humor and banned episodes, the two shows exemplified absurd '90s cartoon tropes.
The most obvious similarity is that both shows involve talking animals. Cow and Chicken's respective species are fairly obvious, whereas Ren and Stimpy are a dog and cat whose show's art style makes it difficult to tell exactly what they are. Despite this, the titular protagonists live in a world predominantly ruled by humans, though they are always recognized as being animals.
The aforementioned art styles and designs for both shows are also reminiscent of each other, being bizarre distortions of classic "rubber hose" style animation. Both duos also feature a smaller, sarcastic character and a taller, more dimwitted yet friendlier partner. Ren and Chicken are in the former group and Stimpy and Cow occupy the latter.
Other similarities between the cartoons include the fact that one actor provided the voices for much of the cast. Ren & Stimpy had character voices primarily provided by series creator John Kricfalusi, who was later replaced by Bill West for the show's final four years. Likewise, in Cow and Chicken, Charlie Adler voiced Cow, Chicken and the show's infamous naked Red Devil. Both series also had several celebrity guests, including Ellen Degeneres, Bill Murray, Dom Deluise, Frank Zappa, Will Ferrell, Michael Gough and Mark Hamill.
Beyond aesthetics and mechanics, the shows earned a reputation for their controversial content. Ren & Stimpy featured significant violence that was deemed graphic even in light of the series' over-the-top style. There was also a litany of downright disgusting examples of bodily humor and even sexual innuendos. This saw one episode, "Man's Best Friend," pulled from further broadcast due to Ren savagely beating a man with an ore.
Cow and Chicken had a similar situation with its infamous "Buffalo Gals" episode, which was packed to the gills with offensive sexual innuendos and insulting stereotypes. Prominent butt cheeks and other types of gross-out humor were also rife, prompting many parents to complain. Nevertheless, Cow and Chicken and The Ren & Stimpy Show became beloved and renowned among children of the '90s, even if they had parents sweating bullets.