Rachel Bighead (formerly known as Ralph Bighead) is the only child of Ed Bighead and Bev Bighead. The character appears as Ralph in the Rocko's Modern Life episodes "I Have No Son!" and "Wacky Delly".
In the revival special Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling, Rachel Bighead has come out as a transgender woman.
During the original series, their child was named Ralph Bighead. Disowned by Ed for not wanting to work for Conglom-O, the young Bighead went to Holl-o-Wood, a parody of Hollywood to become a cartoonist, eventually creating a cartoon called The Fatheads (who are both voiced by Charlie Adler), a married couple with obese heads that constantly fight and hit each other with parking meters. The Fatheads were based loosely on Ed and Bev. Rocko and his friends are fans of the show.
By the time Rocko and his friends return to Earth in Static Cling, the character has come out as a transgender woman; still living in the desert, Ralph becomes Rachel Bighead.[1]
Creator Joe Murray provides the voice of the character as both Ralph and Rachel. Writer Martin Olson created Ralph and based the character's personality on Joe Murray's personality; Olson also used the character to satirize Murray's experiences with Nickelodeon.[2] When Murray created the first episode with Ralph, the directors and artists, enamored with the story, became involved in the production. Olson asked Murray to voice Ralph. On his website Murray wrote, "I don't consider myself a voice actor, but this one I did."[3]
According to Olson, Doug Lawrence persuaded Murray into yelling "NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER!" as the character's voice. Olson found this humorous as, according to him, Murray "NEVER EVER screamed." Olson describes Murray's voice as "a quiet, thoughtful murmur" and therefore found "Joe as his alter-ego screaming like a nut" to be humorous.[4]
Biography[]
Before the events of the show, Rachel was disowned by Ed for not wanting to work for Conglom-O like her father, so she went to Hollo-Wood to become a cartoonist, which had always been her dream. She and Ed finally reunite and end their feud after Ralph attends her parents' wedding anniversary.
Rachel rose to fame after creating The Fatheads, a cartoon about a married couple based loosely on her parents. After ending production on the show, Rachell wanted to focus on her next goal of creating the world's largest still-life, but her bosses tell her that she needs to create another show for them. In an attempt to get out of her contract, Rachel hires Rocko, Heffer and Filburt to create an intentionally bad cartoon called Wacky Delly to have it immediately canceled. Instead, the show becomes a runaway hit, much to her dismay. After several attempts at sabotaging the show, such as running an episode showing nothing but a jar of mayonnaise for ten minutes, Rachel finally gets creatively involved in the series after Rocko tells her how much she's accomplished, but it's only then that Wacky Delly is canceled and her wish to leave the studio unintentionally comes true. In the end (sometime before she became a woman), she finally creates her masterpiece, only to find out that it is not as popular as Wacky Delly originally was. At some point after this, she decided to sell Fatheads ice cream.
When she reunites with her parents, her father denies her transition at first as he is dealing with much more changes than just her, but gets over it at the end of the special when he sees that she’s still the same person on the inside and remembers the influence he had on her work. Bev is more accepting of her gender identity than her husband initially was.
Trivia[]
- Rachel Bighead is the second canon transgender character in a Nickelodeon production as a minor character Dana Dufresne (nee Donnie) from The Loud House had transitioned during season 3.
- Doug Lawrence and Martin Olson convinced Joe Murray to voice Rachel Bighead, a cartoonist character through which Murray satirized himself.
- Rachel could possibly also be based on Murray himself, who is usually calm and quiet, like Rachel. The joke is that unlike Rachel, Murray would never scream.
- Unlike her parents, she has purple hair and a much smaller head.
- Rachel makes a cameo in "Rocko's Modern Christmas!".
- Her famous quote can be heard on Heffer's television in "Mama's Boy".
- In order to fit with the message of change while being respectful and avoid controversy, the crew collaborated with GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).
- Rachel's transition arc was based on the discovery that toads and frogs change gender when exposed to atrazine
- Rachel is the second Nicktoons character to be voiced by the show's creator, after Ren Höek from The Ren and Stimpy Show.
References[]
- ↑ "Exclusive: 'Rocko's Modern Life' Netflix movie will feature prominent trans story arc". EW.com.
- ↑ "Lisa (Kiczuk) Trainor interviews Martin Olson, writer for Rocko's Modern Life", The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ Template:Verify source
- ↑ "Character Museum Archived 2008-03-15 at the Wayback Machine." Joe Murray Studio. Retrieved on August 25, 2009. Template:Verify source
- ↑ "title14.com"
External links[]
- Nickipedia
- Rocko's Modern Life Wiki
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Rocko%27s_Modern_Life_characters#Ralph/Rachel_Bighead
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