Rocko Rama is the main character and the main protagonist from the Rocko's Modern Life franchise. He is an anthropomorphic wallaby who emigrated to the United States from Australia (changed in the 3rd season to a native-born citizen with Australian heritage) and works at "Kind of a Lot o' Comics" as a cashier (although he had other jobs, including being a product tester at Conglom-O and being an underwear model) before becoming unemployed in Static Cling. A running gag is that other characters assume that Rocko is another kind of animal (usually a beaver, kangaroo, rabbit, or a dog), and then he goes into a lengthy (and often unconvincing) explanation that he is a wallaby. He has good luck and treatment from others in most episodes. He is originally from Australia but after being abandoned by his parents he now lives in O-Town with his friends and his pet dog Spunky
Rocko's original character design had yellow fur, but because a toy company that had planned to produce toys of the show (which they ultimately didn't make) insisted on his fur instead being beige, a change that Joe Murray stated he has never liked. (Everyone like Rocko)
According to George Maestri, Rocko's surname is never given because the writers did not think of a family name that they desired.[1] In a concept sketch Murray named the character "Rocko Rama".[2] The writers considered the family name "Stretchbrain" because the character's brain popped out of his head during "odd moments." [1] The writers scrapped the idea, leaving the character with one given name. Contradicting Murray's concept sketch, the Boom! Studios revival comic depicts his surname as being "Wallaby".
Appearance[]
Rocko is a wallaby with cream-colored fur who wears a blue shirt with purple triangles with brown shoes. Rocko had a quite different look in the concept art. His fur was colored brown and his snout was much longer, making him look somewhat like a dog.
Personality[]
Rocko is polite, gentle, calm, shy, caring, cowardly, helpful, cute, nervous, afraid and a hygienic person although he is the shyest. He is seen having trouble adapting to his shyness when it comes to simple tasks such as taking the trash out, laundry or cooking food. He even struggles with activities that his friends can normally do. However, a lot of this stuff and many residents in O-Town tend to treat Rocko goodly. This can be seen with his neighbor, the Bigheads.
He is seen more than a coward due to this. Joe Murray describes Rocko to be generally polite and shy which also makes him forceful. He further states that Rocko is a young Woody Allen in a surrealist adult world Common Sense Media describes the character to be paranoid and obsessed with cleanliness.
Living in an urban town, he is a busy body. He currently works as a cashier for a comic book shop that mostly sells Really Really Big Man comics, a superhero comic. He temporarily worked as a tattoo artist, plumber, and sex line phone operator. In the latter job, he mistakenly called Miss Bighead saying "Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby" before they both hung up.
Character[]
Rocko lives in O-Town. Raised in Australia,[3] Rocko later emigrated to the United States after he graduated high school.[4] Murray suggests that Rocko's interest in the United States began with a vacation with his family as a youth; during the trip he met his future sidekick Filburt. Murray allowed for directors to create inconsistencies, reflecting how friends possess different and varied, nostalgic memories of the past. For instance, in the episode "Put to Pasture" the writers portray Rocko, Filburt and Heffer Wolfe as students at O-Town High School. Murray received many pieces of mail regarding the storyline inconsistencies.[4]
Rocko wears a blue shirt with purple triangles and orange shoes. He is known for being a loyal friend, not venturing outside his comfort zone and is known to say when a situation isn't going well: "_____ day is a very dangerous day." In "Trash-O-Madness", a family photograph depicts Rocko with a mother, father, and a younger sibling. "Wimp On the Barby" shows Rocko's family again, revealing that his younger sibling is a sister. Murray created a narcoleptic older sister character named Magdalane "Maggie" in the episode "Wake Up Maggie" about her, but chose to never air the episode and never use the character.[4] Magdalane was created as a mother with 2 children.[2]
Although personally hygienic, Rocko is almost an pathological tendency to neglect his living space; several episodes, such as "Unbalanced Load", involve Rocko attempting to rectify severe messes or lapses in maintenance.
Rocko enjoys collecting comic books and likes rainbows.[3]
Nickelodeon South East Asia's website describes Rocko as "generally very polite and always shy" and that provocation can lead Rocko to become "determined and forceful."[5] Jean Prescott of The Sun Herald described Rocko as a "pudgy little wallaby star" who tries to "do what's right" and is devoted to his friend Heffer and dog Spunky. Prescott has called the character "lovable."[6]
Common Sense Media reviewer Andrea Graham, whose review is posted on Go.com, describes Rocko as "paranoid and obsessed with cleanliness" and that he initially perceives his neighbors to be "loud and messy." Graham describes Rocko as accepting of his neighbors' faults and seeing the positive qualities within them.[7]
In an early character profile presented to the networks Murray described Rocko as "a young anthropomorphic Woody Allen, who has just moved away from his home into a surrealistic adult world."[2]
Careers[]
In the television show, in his day-to-day life, Rocko works as a cashier at a local comic book shop[3] called Kind of a Lot O' Comics, which is owned by Mr. Smitty and sells mostly Really Really Big Man comics until he is currently unemployed in Static Cling. Rocko worked at Mega Lot-o Comics owned by chairman of Conglom-O, Mr. Dupette, Ed Bighead's boss. In the television show, his other jobs include tattoo artist, plumber's assistant, phone operator, a product tester at Conglom-O, a tow truck driver, an underwear model and a cartoonist for the program Wacky Delly.
In the official comic book, Rocko works as a comic book dealer in Issue #7's "Conned Again", working for "Humongo Con."
Neighbors[]
Rocko's neighbors are Ed, with whom he has a semi-rivalry, and Bev Bighead. Bev considers Rocko a very sweet neighbor. He and his dog Spunky, who often eats the neighbors' salmon bushes, are a source of constant annoyance to Ed. In the episode Skid Marks, Rocko's drivers license reveals that Rocko and the Bigheads live on "Boogie Blvd."
Friends[]
Rocko's best friends are Heffer Wolfe, a steer who eats a lot and was adopted and raised by a family of wolves, and Filburt, a bespectacled turtle with neurotic Woody Allen-esque mannerisms, who often feels nauseated.
Love life[]
In early concept sketches Murray indicated that Rocko bears a strong crush on a character named "Melba Toast".[2] Rocko expresses this trait in Season One, bearing a crush on the unseen character until he discovers that Melba has a serious boyfriend named Dave in "Love Spanked". Melba has only been mentioned once since.
In subsequent episodes, Rocko bears crushes for other characters. In "S.W.A.K.", Rocko has been vying for the attention from the pretty kangaroo mail-lady that comes to his door every day; he writes her a love note that he is too scared to send so Heffer does it for him instead. Rocko fails to retrieve the letter and gets the impression that the mail-lady would rather go out with Heffer. This turns out to be a joke on the mail-lady's part and she actually returns Rocko's feelings. In "Wallaby on Wheels", Rocko learns to roller skate to impress Sheila, a girl who hangs out at the roller rink, and becomes jealous when it is implied she is attracted to Heffer. In the end, he wins her over after saving Heffer's life. In "I See London, I See France", Rocko tries to win over Claudette, who turned out to be his female wallaby pen pal from Paris, but she is more interested in Heffer.
Video game appearances[]
Rocko is the main playable character of Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day and also in the console version of Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots, an actor in Microsoft's Nickelodeon 3D Movie Maker, and Rocko and Heffer make a cameo appearance on one of the loading screens in Nicktoons MLB. Rocko and Heffer are playable characters in the Nickelodeon game Super Brawl Universe.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Lisa (Kiczuk) Trainor interviews George Maestri, story writer for Rocko's Modern Life," The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Beck, Jerry, Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons!
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Characters" of Rocko's Modern Life Page 2, Nickelodeon Australia
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedMurray - ↑ "Rocko," Nickelodeon Southeast Asia
- ↑ Jean Prescott. "Rocko And The Gang Take On Pollution", The Sun Herald, April 19, 1996. Retrieved on 2010-10-09. “The pudgy little wallaby star of Joe Murray's squash-and-stretch cartoon series, Rocko's Modern Life, always tries to do what's right. Sometimes he fails. Sometimes temptation turns him from the righteous path, but he tries. It's what makes him lovable, that and his wardrobe of Hawaiian shirts and his devotion to Spunky and Heffer, his dog and best friend respectively.”
- ↑ "TV Review: Rocko's Modern Life," Common Sense Media on Go.com
External Links[]
v - e - d  | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|