Wikipedia:
Rocko's Modern Life |
| Rocko's Modern Life | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | Joe Murray |
| Developed by | Nickelodeon Studios |
| Starring | Carlos Alazraqui Doug Lawrence Charles Adler Linda Wallem |
| Opening theme | "Rocko's Modern Life" Sarah Frost |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Language(s) | English, and Spanish |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 52 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Joe Murray |
| Producer(s) | Nickelodeon Studios |
| Running time | 22 minutes (11 per episode) (approx.) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nickelodeon |
| Original run | September 18 1993 – November 24 1996 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Rocko's Modern Life is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray whose four seasons aired from 1993 to 1996. The show was based around the surreal, parodistic adventures of an anthropomorphic wallaby named Rocko, and his life in the city of O-Town. One of Nickelodeon's Nicktoons, it was the fourth series released in the Nicktoons group, and the first to be introduced since the original three were introduced in August 1991. The program was produced by Joe Murray Productions and Nickelodeon Studios, and occasionally by Games Productions.
The show is laden with suggestive double entendres, innuendo, and social commentary. It has become a prominent cult classic. There are three separate versions of the Rocko's Modern Life theme song (the new version performed by the B-52's), as well as a "remaster" of the first theme which added a high-pitched chorus line to the "Rocko's Modern Liiiiiifffe!" line, and the third was the same theme, but only instrumental. Rocko's Modern Life was eventually canceled by Nickelodeon Studios in 1996 due to it's crude level of humor.
Episodes
Places and locations
Many of the locations in the television show Rocko's Modern Life have the letter "O" for example O-Town and Conglom-O. When asked about the use of "O" in his show Murray said,
I always got a big kick out of the businesses that were 'House-O-Paint', or 'Ton-O-Noodles', because their names seemed to homogenize what they sold, and strip the products of true individuality and stress volume ... and we all know, the American dream is volume!! So what better company to create volume than 'Conglom-O', and since a majority of the town worked at Conglom-O, it should be called 'O' Town. I also wanted the town to be 'anytown' USA, and I used to love sports players with a big ZERO on their back. It was funny to me.[1]
List of places in the television show
- Chameleon Bros. Video is an artsy video shop run by the Chameleon Brothers.
- Chokey/Chewy Chicken is a favorite restaurant/hang-out place for Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt. Through the first part of the fourth season it was called 'Chokey Chicken.' However, it had to be changed to 'Chewy Chicken' because 'Chokey Chicken' was a clear reference to "choking the chicken," a slang term for masturbation.
- Conglom-O Corporation is the biggest company in town, it even runs City Hall. It is run by Mr. Dupette, who has very peculiar ways to see if the employees are fit to work there. It doesn't seem to have a specific purpose or product - it's just a giant company that manufactures every product. Conglom-O's slogan is always shown beneath its name. The slogan is "We own you," revealing in a later musical episode that they own everything in O-Town. When Ed Bighead was shown to work at Conglom-O in 1961, the slogan stated "We Will Own You" (alluding to the future of mega-corporations). The illustration that appears with the logo and on top of the official Conglom-O Corp. skyscraper is a martini glass with the earth in place of an olive.
- Buff-Pooch is a health spa and weight loss clinic for dogs.
- Flambe le Flab is a health spa.
- Heck is where "bad people" go when they die. Run by Peaches, it is where Heffer is doomed to eternal suffering. The TVs in Heck don't have remotes.
- Holl-o-Wood is a town that resembles Hollywood.
- Kerplop-it-goes Island Filburt's birthplace(named after the Galápagos Islands).
- Kind of a Lot O' Comics is a comic book store where Rocko works.
- The Lazy I Ranch is Uncle Gib Hootsen's ranch.
- O-Town is the town in which Rocko lives. Presumably, it is located somewhere in Ohio or somewhere in the Midwest.
- Paris is in an episode where Rocko met his "pen pal"
- Scratch & Sniff Cafe
- SuperLot-O-Comics is a large comic book store where Rocko used to work.
- Ballzac the town where Chuck and Leon, the Chameleon Brothers, are from.
List of places in the comic book
- Bet Your Life Race-Ways - A horse racetrack featured in Issue #4's first story, "Remote Controlled"
- Cafe Low-Cal - A health food restaurant featured in Issue #3's story, "Eat This! It's Good for You!"
- Club Seals - A nightclub and concert hall featured in Issue #4's second story, "Beaten by a Club."
- The Grease Pit - A fast food restaurant featured in Issue #4's first story, "Remote Controlled"
- Hardening of the Arteries Eatery - A fast food restaurant featured in Issue #3's story, "Eat This! It's Good for You!"
- Humongo Comicon - Rocko works as a comic book dealer at the 1994 convention in Issue #7's first story, "Conned Again"
- O-Town is the town in which Rocko lives. Presumably, it is located somewhere in Ohio or somewhere in the Midwest.
- Pet Paradise Pet Supplies - A pet supply store that Rocko arrives at in Issue #6's second story, "Lice on the Loose"
- St. Nick O'Time Hospital - A hospital appearing in Issue #1's first story, "Dental Hijinks."
Characters
Main voice cast
| Characters | Image | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Rocko |  |
Carlos Alazraqui |
| Heffer Wolfe |  |
|
| Filburt |  |
Mr. Lawrence |
| Spunky |  |
Carlos Alazraqui |
| Ed Bighead |  |
Charlie Adler |
| Bev Bighead |  |
Charlie Adler |
Cast and crew
- Cast
-
- Carlos Alazraqui as Rocko/Spunky/Leon/Granny Rocko
Tom Kenny as Heffer Wolfe/Chuck/Mr. Smitty/Really Really Big Man/Peaches/Various males- Mr. Lawrence as Filburt/Peter Wolf
- Linda Wallem as Dr. Hutchison/Mrs. Virginia Wolf/Grandma Wolf/Cindy Wolf/Tammy the Pig/Various females
- Charlie Adler as Ed Bighead/Gladys/Mr. George Wolf/Grandpa Wolf/Bev Bighead/Mr. Dupette/Mr. and Mrs. Fathead/Various males
- Joe Murray as Ralph Bighead
- Kevin Meaney as Mother Hutchison (appeared in two episodes)
- Some of the voice actors in Rocko's Modern Life currently do voices for other popular Nickelodeon shows. On Spongebob Squarepants, Tom Kenny (voice of Heffer on Rocko's Modern Life) does the voices of SpongeBob, Gary the Snail, Patchy the Pirate, and others, while Doug "Mr." Lawrence (voice of Filburt on Rocko's Modern Life) does the voices of Plankton, Larry the Lobster and others. On Fairly OddParents, Carlos Alazraqui (voice of Rocko) does the voice of Mr. Denzel Crocker and Juandissimo Magnifico.
- In 2005, voice actors Carlos Alazraqui,
Tom Kenny , and Mr. Lawrence, and writer Martin Olson, reunited with creator Joe Murray for the Cartoon Network show, Camp Lazlo. - Crew
-
- Joe Murray: Creator, Executive Producer
- Andy Houts: Project Coordinator
- Stephen Hillenburg: Producer, Storyboard Director, Writer
- Derek Drymon: Storyboard Artist, Writer
- Mr. Lawrence: Storyboard Director, Writer
- Dan Povenmire: Storyboard Director, Writer
- Jeff "Swampy" Marsh: Storyboard Director, Writer
- Timothy Berglund (aka Timothy Björklund): Storyboard Director, Writer
- Martin Olson: Writer
- George Maestri: Writer
- Vince Calandra: Writer
- Tim Hill: Story Editor (Last Season)
- Mark O'Hare: Storyboard Artist
- Robert Hughes: Animation Director
- Antoine Guilbaud: Storyboard Artist
- Sherm Cohen: Storyboard Artist, Storyboard Director
- Tom Yasumi: Animation Timer
Comic book series
Marvel Comics produced a seven-issue comic book series based on the television series.
The comics contain stories not seen in the television show. In addition, some television show characters and places are absent from the comic book series, while some original places and characters appear in the comics.
John "Lewie" Lewandowski wrote all of the stories except for one; the second story of Issue #4 was written by Joey Cavalieri.
Tom DeFalco served as Editor-in-Chief for the project, and Martin Olson, a writer on the series, served as Consulting Story Editor.
Rocko, the main character, was in a previously-created and never-released comic book. In the comic, he has the name "Travis" [1].
DVD Collection
Fans have requested that Nickelodeon produce a DVD collection of the Rocko series for years. Nickelodeon has not produced any DVD collection of Rocko, even though they have released DVDs of series such as SpongeBob SquarePants [2] and Invader Zim. According to TVShowsOnDVD.com, it is in the top 40 most requested unreleased shows.[3] The show remains without an official DVD release.
The only official home video release of the series in the United States was in the mid-1990s, when selected episodes were released on VHS by Sony Wonder, then later rereleased by Paramount Home Entertainment.
References
External links
- Rocko at Nickelodeon Australia website
- Rocko at Nicktoons UK
- Rocko's Modern Life at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Rocko's Modern Life FAQ - Includes interviews with "Rocko" creator, and production staff
- Rocko's Modern Life: A Byte-Sized Online Safety Guide
| Rocko's Modern Life | |
|---|---|
| Main Characters: | Rocko • Heffer Wolfe • Filburt • Spunky • Ed Bighead • Bev Bighead |
| Media: | Episodes • Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day |
| Cast and Crew of the television show: | Joe Murray • Carlos Alazraqui • |
| Crew of the comic book series: | Tom DeFalco • Joey Cavalieri |
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