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Rocko's Modern Life is a Nickelodeon franchise created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The franchise originally started as a created original title character for an unpublished comic book series that Murray created in the late 1980s, and later reluctantly pitched the series to Nickelodeon, which was looking for edgier cartoonists for its then-new Nicktoons. It came to a certain for a 1992 tv pilot called Trash-O-Madness. After finishing the pilot episode, It became Nickelodeon 3rd original nicktoons with an animated television series of the same name. The series centers on the surreal life of an anthropomorphic Australian immigrant wallaby named Rocko and his friends: the eccentric steer Heffer Wolfe, the neurotic turtle Filburt, and Rocko's faithful dog Spunky. It is set in the fictional town of O-Town. Throughout its run to present day, this show is controversial for its adult humor, including double entendre, innuendo, and satirical social commentary, similar to The Ren & Stimpy Show. The series has gained a cult following.

Premise[]

Characters[]

Rocko's Modern Life follows the life of an easily frightened immigrant wallaby named Rocko who encounters various dilemmas and situations regarding otherwise mundane aspects of life. His best friends are Heffer Wolfe, a fat and enthusiastic steer; Filburt, a neurotic turtle who often feels awkward or disturbed and his faithful dog Spunky. Living next door to Rocko is a middle-aged couple, Ed Bighead, a cynical and cantankerous toad who despises Rocko and his compassionate and more friendly wife Bev.

All of the characters in Rocko's Modern Life are anthropomorphic animals of varying species, the vast majority of whom are mentally unstable. Murray said that he matched personalities of his characters to the various animals in the series to form a social caricature.[1]

Setting[]

The show is set in an American town called O-Town located near the Great Lakes. Places in the town include: Chokey Chicken ( later renamed "Chewy Chicken"), a parody of KFC and a favorite place/hang-out for Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt; Conglom-O Corporation, a megacorporation with the slogan "We own you" that owns everything in town; Heck, a place of eternal torment run by Peaches where bad people go when they die; Holl-o-Wood, a town that resembles Hollywood and Kind of a Lot O' Comics, a comic book store owned by a cruel toad named Mr. Smitty, where Rocko works.

Many of the locations in Rocko's Modern Life have the letter "O" in them; for example, O-Town and Conglom-O Corporation. 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.[2]
―{{{2}}}


Pilot[]

Main article: Rocko's Modern Life: Trash-O-Madness

The Rocko's Modern Life pilot was made as one of several independent animated MTV shorts, The premise shows Rocko as he scrambles to gather up his trash and put it out since he's missed garbage day for the past few months due to a garbage man strike. Unsure to make things any easier, Earl is on the loose and he seems intent on destroying both Chinese food and Rocko. Murray produced the pilot episode at Joe Murray Studio in Saratoga, California, United States. Later on, The pilot was reused for the Rocko's Modern Life season 1 episode of the same name.

TV series[]

Main article: Rocko's Modern Life

The main series premiered on Nickelodeon on September 18, 1993, and ended on August 7, 2000, with a total of 187 episodes over the course of 6 seasons. Originally, the character appeared in an unpublished comic book titled Travis. Murray tried selling the comic book in the late 1980s, between illustrating jobs and did not find success in getting it into production. Murray said that the cartoon "resonated" with people because the scenarios depicted in the cartoon involving "the neurosis, the daily chores of everyday life" were based on Murray's own experiences "breaking out into the world" after leaving school.


Videogame[]

Main article: Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day

Viacom New Media released one game based on the show, Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day, in the United States on April 1, 1994, for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Other Videogames[]

In addition, Microsoft's Nickelodeon 3-D Movie Maker features various characters from the show. Rocko also appeared in the game Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots. Rocko and Heffer also make a cameo appearance in Nicktoons MLB. Nick.com created two free online games featuring Rocko, using Shockwave Flash (which requires the Shockwave plugin).

Comics[]

Main article: Rocko's Modern Life (1994 Comics) and
Main article: Rocko's Modern Life (2017 Comics)

During Tom DeFalco's Editor-in-Chief career, Marvel Comics produced a seven-issue Rocko's Modern Life comic book series.[3] Marvel published the series from June 1994 to December 1994 with monthly releases.

Nickelodeon approached Marvel, asking the company to produce comic book series for Rocko's Modern Life and Ren and Stimpy. Marvel purchased the license for Rocko from Nickelodeon. The staff created the comics, and Susan Luposniak, a Nickelodeon employee,[4] examined the comics before they were released.[5] Joe Murray said in a December 2, 2008 blog entry that he drew some of the pages in the comic book series.[6]

The comics contain stories not seen in the television show. In addition, the comic book series omits some television show characters and places, while some original places and characters appear in the comics. John "Lewie" Lewandowski wrote all of the stories except for one; Joey Cavalieri wrote "Beaten by a Club", the second story of Issue #4.

Troy Little, a resident of Monroe, Oregon, wrote to Marvel requesting that the title for the comic's letters column should be "That's Life". In Issue 3, published in August 1994, the editors decided to use the title for the comic's "Letters to the Editor" section.[4][5] In Issue 5, published in October 1994, the editors stated that they were still receiving suggestions for the title of the comic even though they had decided on using "That's Life" by Issue 3.[7]

On December 6, 2017, Boom! Studios began publishing a new Rocko's Modern Life comic book series.[8]

TV film[]

Main article: Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling

In September 2015, Nickelodeon stated that some of its old properties were being considered for revivals, and that Rocko's Modern Life was one of them.[9]

On August 11, 2016, Nickelodeon announced that they had greenlit a one-hour TV special, with Joe Murray as executive producer.[10] Murray revealed to Motherboard that in the special, Rocko would come back to O-Town after being in space for 20 years, and that it would focus on people's reliance on modern technology.[11] On June 22, 2017, it was announced that the title of the special would be Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling and that it would air in 2018. They also reconfirmed that the entire main cast and recurring cast would be reprising their roles, alongside new voice actors Steve Little and co-director Cosmo Segurson.[12] A special sneak peek was released to coincide with the Rocko panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2017.[13]

On May 10, 2019, it was announced that Netflix has acquired the distribution rights to both Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling and Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus and the streaming service confirmed a day later they would premiere sometime in the summer of 2019.

On July 16, 2019, it was confirmed alongside an exclusive clip by the Rocko's Modern Life official Instagram page[14] and various news sources that the show would premiere on Netflix on August 9, 2019.[15]

References[]

  1. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named CNMurrayInterview
  2. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TrainorMurray
  3. "Rocko's Modern Life" Information, Google Books
  4. 4.0 4.1 "That's Life", Rocko's Modern Life. Marvel Comics. Volume 1, Issue 3.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "That's Life", Rocko's Modern Life. Marvel Comics. Volume 1, Issue 4.
  6. "December 2, 2008". Joe Murray Studio. Retrieved December 4, 2008.
  7. "That's Life", Rocko's Modern Life. Marvel Comics. Volume 1, Issue 5.
  8. Brown, Tracy. "A new 'Rocko's Modern Life' comic book series is on the way". latimes.com.
  9. "Nickelodeon May Revive Classic 90s Shows Like 'Rugrats' and 'Doug'" (September 2, 2015).
  10. Otterson, Joe (August 11, 2016). "New 'Rocko's Modern Life' One-Hour Special to Air on Nickelodeon". The Wrap.
  11. Mead, Derek (11 August 2016). "'Rocko's Modern Life' Is Making a Comeback". Vice. Retrieved 11 August 2016.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  12. Swift, Andy (June 22, 2017). "Rocko's Modern Life: Original Voice Cast Reuniting for TV Movie in 2018". TVLine Media, LLC..
  13. Nickelodeon (July 20, 2017). "SDCC 'Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling' Sneak Peek | Rocko's Modern Life | Nick". YouTube.
  14. "Rocko has returned... from space... 20+ years later! Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling is coming to @netflix Aug 9th". Rocko's Modern Life Official Instagram.
  15. "Rocko's Modern Life Netflix Special Poster and Release Date Revealed". comicbook.com.

External Links[]


v - e - d
Rocko's Modern Life template background
Media
TV pilot: Trash-O-Madness (Rocko's Modern Life) • TV Series: Rocko's Modern Life • Video game: Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day • Film: Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling • Comics (Rocko's Modern Life (1994 Comics)Rocko's Modern Life (2017 Comics))
Characters
RockoHefferFilburtSpunkyEd BigheadBev BigheadDr. Paula HutchinsonRachel Bighead (Ralph (formerly))
Special episodes
I Have No Son (Rocko's Modern Life) • Rocko's Modern Christmas!: Can't Squeeze Cheer from a Cheese Log! • Cruisin (Rocko's Modern Life)Wacky Delly (Rocko's Modern Life)
Locations
O-TownChokey ChickenConglom-O Corporation
Songs
Rocko's Modern Life Theme song
Related
Joe Murray ProductionsNickelodeon Productions


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