RJ Writing Ink

Jay’s Month of Screams, Day 16- Rocko’s Modern Life

Ever since I started this month long event, I’ve made a conscious effort to avoid using any of the examples I used for FANDOM. Yet I can no longer put off using this next one because it’s so good. It’s Rocko’s Modern Life: Sugar Frosted Frights.

On Halloween night, everyone is excited for candy and costumes, except for Filburt. Thanks to his Halloween-hating Aunt Gretchen and her stories about the infamous Hopping Hessian, the poor turtle’s in fear of the holiday. So Rocko and Heffer decide to teach him about the joys of Halloween.

However, it turns out giving someone who’s never tasted candy before can backfire horribly. Filburt goes into what I can only describe as a G-Rated drug trip, which is something that a show like Rocko would be willing to allude to. Seeing Filburt devolve into a sugar-crazed state is disturbing, but what takes the cake is the hallucination where he turns into a giant demon. The older fans may recognize it as a parody of the famous Chernabog scene from Fantasia. It has the music for Night on Bald Mountain playing, which only adds to the scene.

Once Filburt comes down from his sugar-high, though, we get a real treat in the Hopping Hessian. One of my favorite stories to read around Halloween is Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The Hopping Hessian is a silly, yet still scary, parody of the Headless Horseman. Plus the ending is pretty funny.

I recommended this special in my article on FANDOM, and I still think that it was a good decision. Sugar Frosted Frights is awesome, and the Hopping Hessian is fun. The real lesson learned here, though, is never listen to Crazy Aunt Gretchen. Happy Halloween!

Click here to see the FANDOM Article I did for Halloween last year. Click here to see my other animation stuff. Or here to see all holiday related posts.

Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling Review

Two years ago, when I first heard about Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling, I thought the title made no sense. At all. Still, I rolled with it, got up bright and early to watch the special on Netflix. After watching it at least four times for this review, the meaning of the title hit me as I was driving home. It was referring to the notion of stubbornly clinging to the past in the face of change. Therein lies the message Joe Murray and the Rocko alumni were trying to give.

My first thought was “dang, that’s good! Murray’s still got it!” Here’s my review of Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling.

Future Shock in O-Town

After being stranded in space for twenty years, Rocko, Heffer, Filburt, and Spunky are finally able to return home. What they find is a futuristic O-Town they hardly recognize. While Heffer and Filburt whole-heartedly embrace this new O-Town, Rocko’s slow to accept a modern life. Everything hits the fan when the poor wallaby learns that his favorite show, The Fatheads, no longer runs on Tv.

While Rocko’s desperate to get the last link to his old life back, O-town goes through a crisis. An accounting error by Mr. Bighead pushes Conglom-O into bankruptcy, putting most of O-Town out of a job. The only way to save the day is for Rocko to find The Fatheads creator, Ralph Bighead, and get him to make another Fatheads cartoon.

The Need for Nostalgia

Right off the bat, Static Cling tries to establish its central theme about change through this comment from Rocko:

Isn’t it great how some things never change?

Despite spending twenty years in space with his dog and two friends (one of which won’t stop singing), Rocko’s content. He’s like one of those people who gets stranded for a long period of time and comes up enjoy the isolation. So when he gets back to Earth, he finds it hard to rejoin society.

What sends Rocko off the deep end, though, is the loss of The Fatheads. Considering how his only entertainment in space was a VHS tape of the show, I think it’s safe to assume that it was the only thing that kept him sane. It’s his lifeline.

Poking Fun at Fandom and Reboots

From the moment Rocko decides to get his show back, I saw him as channeling a satire of the modern-day super-Fan. From defending his show as a cultural icon to obsessively saying it’s all he has in his life, Rocko channels all the fervor of a fanboy. As a fan of many works of entertainment myself, I found this satirization to be accurate and hilarious.

What was even funnier, though, was how it addresses the unspoken truth behind reboots: making cash. As Mr Bighead points out, fans have actual power these days thanks to the Internet and Social Media. I still remember how Rick and Morty fans got McDonald’s to bring back their Szechuan sauce. When it comes to it, though, it’s about making money. Unless a company thinks there’s a big enough audience out there, they won’t risk bringing back an old property.

A reboot’s a tough balancing act that, when done wrong, will alienate the old fans. So after talking Conglom-O into rebooting The Fatheads, Rocko and friends go to find Ralph Bighead to help. They find him, but keeping with the specials theme on change, they find Ralph’s no longer Ralph. He’s now Rachel Bighead.

It’s Rachel Bighead

When I heard that a major character int even special was going to be transgender, it drove the point home. It would have been crazy to have a kids show with a transgender character in the 90s. Thanks to the growing acceptance of homosexuality and transgender, though, Murray’s free to get away with it.

Mr. Bighead takes some getting used to Rachel’s change, but he decides his daughter is what’s most important in the end. It’s a touching moment that happens just as The Fatheads special is being aired, with everyone reveling in the nostalgia. Rocko’s more stubborn though, as when The Fatheads cartoon isn’t the same as he knew it, he channels the negative fanboy in him.

The Whinds of Change

In the most important part of Static Cling, though, Ed Bighead sums up the moral of the story: if we keep living in the past all the time, we’ll miss out on the amazing stuff going on around us. It’s a touching reminder that I think a lot of fans can relate to.

In my years, I have seen many things I love come to an end, some before I was ready. Having a show end can be a bittersweet thing, but seeing a show you love get cancelled is the worst. So I get what Rocko’s going through! If you’ve read my blog lately, then you know I’m still not entirely over Game of Thrones or Star vs.! Maybe more so for the latter.

My point being, and I know this is gonna sound rich coming from me, is that Bighead’s, and Static Cling, are right. We can always be grateful for the things we experience and see in the past; they can be some of our best memories! That doesn’t mean that we should deride anything that’s new or changes on our lives. We need to stop clinging to the past like static, and embrace the here and now. Ultimately, that’s the lesson that Rocko finally learns.

A Reboot Done Right

So in the end, was Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling everything fans had hoped for? I can answer that with a resounding yes. It had all the humor and charm of the show wrapped into a story about modern life. It balances the fans need for nostalgia while understanding the need to move forward into the future. If you’re a fan of Joe Murray, or 90s Nicktoon’s, then you’ll want to watch this special again and again.

Then when you’re done, make sure to thank the one who made it all possible: Really Really Big Man and his power nipples!

I give Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling a 5/5. That was a hoot!

Besides, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from years of watching TV, it’s that nothing’s gone for good. There’s that petition to bring Star back. Come to think of it, I think another classic Nicktoon’s coming back next we-

-Attention, puny Earth creatures. This website is being repurposed for a very special announcement. Tune in tomorrow at 4 PM on your EST to learn more.

Click here to see my other animation stuff.

A Look Back on Rocko’s Modern Life and it’s importance

My fellow 90s kids and lovers of classic Nickelodeon, tomorrow is a momentous day. Joe Murray’s classic Nicktoon, Rocko’s Modern Life, shall make it’s return on Netflix. If the trailers are anything to go by, it’s going to have all the slapstick, satire, and adult jokes fans will remember. As a 90s kid, I feel I should be more excited about this, but I have a confession to make. I didn’t like Rocko as much as I could have as a kid.

I was born in the middle of the 1990s, so I was too young to watch the show when it was actually airing. By the time I graduated from Nick Jr. to Nickelodeon proper, all that they had were reruns. When I watched them, though, most of the jokes flew over my head, and by the time I was old enough to understand them, Rocko’s Modern Life had gone off the air.

Despite this, the years have given me a greater appreciation for the show for its satirization of our culture. The show’s setting of O-Town is basically a jab at the commercialization of everything in the 90s. Again, I don’t remember much, so I have to take others word for it. Or do I?

Camp Lazlo

Despite my limited childhood connection to Rocko, much of my appreciation for it comes from another show Murray did, Camp Lazlo.

Premiering on Cartoon Network in summer of 2005, it was a show about three best friends, Lazlo, Raj, and Clam, who spend their summer as Bean Scouts in Camp Kidney. I fell in love with this show as a kid, and, for a time, it was one of my favorite cartoons. I also noticed that it used a lot of the jokes and music from another show I liked, Spongebob Squarepants.

In hindsight, this observation makes sense. After Rocko’s Modern Life got cancelled, a good chunk of its actors and staff moved to work on Spongebob. According to Murray, they kept in touch, and when Lazlo got green lit, they jumped on board.

As a result, Camp Lazlo had a lot of its predecessor in its DNA. The actors, the writing style, the comedy of Rocko’s were all there. In many ways, it was like the second coming of Rocko’s Modern Life. Albeit, it’s one that toned down the adult jokes. It was a fun show, but then Cartoon Network pulled the plug on it in 2008. According to Murray, he ticked the executives off by refusing to appear in a commercial for McDonald’s or something.

Murray’s Uphill Battle

That wasn’t the first time Joe Murray faced issues. According to Vanity Fair, his dad didn’t approve of his desire to be an artist. I’m convinced that this led to him creating Ralph Bighead, the cartoonist and estranged son of Mr. and Mrs. Bighead on the show. He even voiced Ralph himself.

It gets worse. Around the time production of Rocko’s Modern Life got his wife Diane committed suicide. For a time, Murray blamed Rocko for what happened. He eventually got therapy, though, and working on his show helped. Then, when he started Camp Lazlo, he got a divorce from his second wife. Ouch.

Yet despite all the hardship, Murray never let it truly break him. He did everything he could to make sure that his team could have the freedom to do what they wanted. They worked at their own separate studio , and Murray’s contract ensured that none of the executives from Nickelodeon could show up unannounced. As a result, the team behind the show worked in an environment that was essentially controlled, light-hearted anarchy.

After reading all of this, I can’t help but respect Joe Murray, both as a person and a creator. He created the kind of work environment that I would have loved being in. I think because of this, many of the people who worked on Rocko’s Modern Life went on to make a big splash in pop culture.

Impact of Rocko’s Modern Life

As crazy as it may sounds, cartoons as we know them today may not be the same without Rocko’s Modern Life. Many of the team members have gone on to work on several highly successful cartoons, from the adult animation on Fox, to Cartoon Network, and of course, for Nickelodeon. Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, who got their starts on Rocko, have gone on to create Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy’s Law. Phineas and Ferb was one of my favorite cartoons on Disney Channel for years, you know!

In terms of cultural impact, Rocko started the careers of two highly successful comedians, Carlos Alazraqui and Tom Kenny. Carlos’ got some pretty high-profile roles and a steady number of minor ones. As for Tom Kenny, there’s not enough time in the day. The guys practically voice acting royalty. He may be best known for playing Spongebob, but he’s got a lot of other big roles under his belt.

Speaking of Spongebob, we wouldn’t have Spongebob without Rocko. Stephen Hillenberg was the creative director of the show, and took most of the reins when Murray wanted to step back. After Rocko got the axe, Stephen went on to pitch Spongebob Squarepants. A lot of Rocko’s team joined him, and the rest is animation history.

That Was a Hoot!

So, while I may not get the level of nostalgia as some fans, that doesn’t mean I don’t see the value of this show. It left a big impact on the animation industry and helped make it what it is today. I’m looking forward to seeing Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling first thing in the morning. You can bet that I’ll be doing a review of it, too! It’s gonna be a hoot!

Click here to see my other animation stuff.

*The following was originally published on FANDOM. Due to the FANDOM Contributor Program being shut down, it has been copied and moved to my blog. Thank you!

Three things make Halloween a fantastic holiday: costumes, candy, and TV specials. Every October networks air special episodes to help people get in the spirit of the holiday. When it comes to a holiday that children love, though, no one can get kids hyped for a night of tricks and treats quite like Nickelodeon, “The First Kids’ Network.”

In its first ten years on the air, Nickelodeon gave kids shows that they’re now nostalgic for as adults. Many of these shows would air annual Halloween specials. When it comes to laughs and scares, these five classic Nicktoons Halloween specials are among the most frightful and funny in Nick’s first ten years on TV.

“CANDY BAR CREEP SHOW” — RUGRATS, 1992

It’s Halloween night at the Pickles’ house in episode “Candy Bar Creepshow,” and the babies have only one thing on their mind: Reptar Bars. They’re delicious candy bars molded in the likeness of their favorite dinosaur, Reptar. The only problem is that they have to go to a haunted house. A haunted house filled with spaghetti brains and grape eyeballs (cue scary music)!

Few things are as memorable as going trick-or-treating as a kid. Through the Rugrats, this episode captures the joy, and fear, of the holiday. This episode also built on the in-show popularity of Reptar with the Reptar Bars. The candy proved to be enduring enough to warrant a real-life release in 2017 by FYE, just in time for Halloween.

“SUGAR FROSTED FRIGHTS” — ROCKO’S MODERN LIFE, 1995

In the episode “Sugar Frosted Frights,” Rocko and Heffer discover Filburt is afraid of Halloween, so they try and teach him the joy of the holiday. Their plan backfires when Filburt goes into a sugar-induced frenzy and begins to tear apart O-Town in search of candy, ultimately ending up at an old cemetery. Of course, the cemetery is haunted by a local ghost, the Hopping Hessian.

Nick may have canceled it in 1996, but Rocko’s Modern Life has maintained a cult following among fans. With the revival movie coming soon, now is the perfect time for fans to rewatch this special episode. The real cherry to this episode, though, is the Hopping Hessian, which spoofs Washington Irving’s Headless Horseman. Way to reference an American classic, Nickelodeon.

“ARNOLD’S HALLOWEEN” —  HEY ARNOLD!,1997

On Halloween night, Arnold and Gerald decide to prank the residents of the Boarding House. They broadcast a fake radio transmission about an alien invasion, but things get out of hand. The host of a local UFO show picks up their broadcast and shares it with the entire city, causing panic. It doesn’t help that Arnold’s classmates dressed as aliens for Halloween, either.

This episode serves as a tribute to Orson Welles’ famous “War of the Worlds” broadcast in 1938. The UFO host is even voiced by the king of Orson Welles impersonators, Maurice LaMarche, aka the Brain from Pinky and the Brain. The nods to the legendary actor, along with the Halloween setting, make for a hilarious special. Not to mention, Arnold and Gerald pulled a great prank.

“SCAREDY PANTS” — SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, 1999

When SpongeBob gets tired of everyone scaring him on Halloween, he decides to do the scaring for once. So, after Patrick gives him a quick head shave, SpongeBob becomes the Ghost of the Flying Dutchman. The duo tries to scare everyone at Mr. Krabs’ Halloween party, only to incur the wrath of the real Flying Dutchman.

“Scaredy Pants” is classic SpongeBob at its finest. From SpongeBob jumping at everything to people’s confusion at his attempts to be scary, this episode has plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The funniest moment by far, though, is everybody’s reactions to what’s underneath Spongebob’s costume. Watching the Dutchman and partygoers run away from the sight of Spongebob’s brain is comedic gold.

“HALLOWEEN SPECTACULAR OF SPOOKY DOOM” — INVADER ZIM, 2001

Following a mishap with one of his dad’s inventions, Dib, and Zim, get sucked into a nightmarish world based on Dib’s imagination. Led by a monstrous version of Ms. Bitters, the nightmare creatures want to use Dib’s head as a portal to the real world. As such, the two rivals are forced to work together to escape the dimension and return home. Meanwhile, GIR is terrorizing kids and stealing their candy.

If you’ve seen Invader Zim before, then you know that it is the darkest Nicktoon to ever air. So you know that the Halloween special is going to be dark and disturbing, if not more so given the holiday. Not to mention, inhabitants of the Nightmare Realm are grotesque and terrifying to look at. The scariest thing, though, is the sight of a bloated chocolate-covered GIR resting on a pile of stolen candy.