Dr. Paula Hutchison Shellbach, or Hutch for short, is a feline character on Rocko's Modern Life. Originally a dentist, Hutch has also been a cashier, surgeon, veterinarian, obstetrician, and pharmacist. She jokingly admits she left her job as a dentist because she was "Getting tired of looking down in the mouth!" and as a surgeon when she admits she "Just couldn't cut it!" She has very big teeth when she grins and very upbeat outlook on life. She has a hook for her right hand which does not hinder her normal activity in any way. Her hook was also used to defeat the Giant Mutant Tooth. Hutch took a liking to Filburt and has encouraged him to do various things he's afraid of and eventually married him. Hutch's mother, the widow Hutchison, disallows the wedding between the two because of her belief that "cats and turtles don't mix" citing their status as natural enemies. While both Filburt and Hutch's families fight each other, it turns out that Hutch's father Colonel Frank Hutchison, who was thought to be dead, is actually a turtle, meaning that Widow Hutchison did not want her daughter to marry Filburt because she was trying to protect her.
Hutch's catchphrase is "'kay?", said while tilting her head. In "Sailing the Seven Zzz's", Rocko did this in the same fashion. She was the prom queen of O-Town High School. Hutch also seems to have a number of odd quirks, including the fact that she claimed to keep a baboon heart under her pillow. The team created Dr. Hutchison after Murray attended a press conference for networks to market new seasons of television shows to the press. A reporter asked Murray why the show did not have any "positive female role models." Murray responded by stating that he had no positive role models, that people do not use cartoon characters as role models, and that television shows should not teach lessons. After the conference some Nickelodeon executives told the reporter that they had plans to place female role models in the television show and asked Murray to place an unused character, Magdalane, as a female role model. Murray refused to use Magdalane.[1] A female executive from Nickelodeon later requested "a professional woman, someone with a good hook." The executive intended for the "good hook" to be a personality trait that attracts viewers; Murray instead gave the doctor a literal hook. Murray and the directors "grew to love her."[2][3] Martin Olson, a writer, described the decision when Nickelodeon gave the "okay" for the marriage of Filburt and Paula Hutchison as one of the most memorable moments of the production. Olson said that the executives at first did not like the marriage idea which he came up with in his outline of The Big Question; linear character development did not exist in Nicktoons. Murray convinced the executives to allow for the marriage to occur.[4]
Biography[]
Paula Hutchison (Hutch for short) is a feline character of the series. She is originally a dentist, Hutch has also been a cashier, surgeon, veterinarian, obstetrician and pharmacist. She has a large smile and very upbeat outlook on life.
Personality and traits[]
She has a hook for a hand which does not hinder her normal activity in any way, since she lost her right hand in an unknown accident, giving a hook to replace her hand. She also used the hook to defeat the Giant Mutant Tooth. Hutch took a liking to Filburt and has encouraged him to do various things he was afraid of and eventually married him. Hutch's mother, the widow Hutchison, disallows the wedding between the two because of her belief that "cats and turtles don't mix", an obvious reference to interracial marriage.
Her first appearance was in Season 1 episode Rinse & Spit. While both Filburt and Hutch's families fight each other, it turns out that Hutch's father Frank Hutchison, who was thought to be dead, is actually a turtle, meaning that Widow Hutchison did not want her daughter to marry Filburt because she did not get along with her own turtle husband. Hutch's catchphrase is "'kay?", said while tilting her head. She was the prom queen of O-Town High School.
In the final season of the series, she and Filburt eventually conceived, becoming pregnant with and giving birth to four of his children - three boys and one girl (in truth, rather than giving birth to them alive, she actually laid an egg - literally). Two of their sons were turtles, their daughter was a cat, and their other son became a steer instead (Heffer had turned in sitting on the egg, causing one of the children of taking on his traits instead). Despite her beauty, Hutch also seems to have a number of odd quirks, including the fact that she claimed to keep a baboon heart under her pillow.
Behind the scenes[]
Early development[]
The team created Hutchison after Joe Murray attended a press conference for networks to market new seasons of television shows to the press. A reporter asked Murray why the show did not have any "positive female role models." Murray responded by stating that he had no positive role models, that people do not use cartoon characters as role models, and that television shows should not teach lessons. After the conference, some Nickelodeon executives told the reporter that they had plans to place female role models in the show and asked Murray to place an unused character, Magdalane (Rocko's narcoleptic sister), as a female role model. Murray refused to use Magdalane in that way because it went against his creative vision. Then, a female executive from Nickelodeon later requested Murray to create "a professional woman, someone with a good hook" and Murray started developing Hutch. The executive intended for the "good hook" to be a personality trait that attracts viewers; Murray instead gave Hutch a literal hook. Soon enough, Murray and the directors "grew to love her." Martin Olson, a writer, described the decision when Nickelodeon gave the "okay" for the marriage of Filburt and Paula Hutchison as one of the most memorable moments of the production. Olson said that the executives at first did not like the marriage idea which he came up with in his outline of "The Big Question"; linear character development did not exist in Nicktoons at the time. However, Murray convinced the executives to allow for the marriage to occur.
References[]
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ "Rocko Factoid 3 Archived 2008-02-14 at the Wayback Machine", Joe Murray
- ↑ "Character Museum Archived 2008-03-15 at the Wayback Machine." Joe Murray Studio. Retrieved on August 25, 2009.
- ↑ "Lisa (Kiczuk) Trainor interviews Martin Olson, writer for Rocko's Modern Life", The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ
External Links[]
- Nickipedia
- Rocko's Modern Life Wiki
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Rocko%27s_Modern_Life_characters#Dr._Paula_Hutchison_Shellbach
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