ickelodeon
added to its stable of oddball cartoons with Rocko’s
Modern Life, the story of an amiable Australian wallaby
trying to fit in with suburbian America. Created by
animator Joe Murray, the show was like a kinder, slightly
less insane version of Ren & Stimpy, another Nick hit.
Settling in small-town O-Town with his stupid,
hyperactive dog Spunky, Rocko did his best to make sense
of America. He took a job at Kind-Of-A-Lot-Of-Comics,
settled into a home, and befriended neighbors Heffer Wolfe
(a hungry cow) and Fliburt (a nerdy turtle). Heffer was
the only steer in a family of wolves, although he never
caught on that he was adopted until Rocko tipped him off.
Heffer told his wallaby-hating grandfather, Willie, that
Rocko was a coyote, although Willie thought he was
actually a beaver, which he equally despised. Filburt
appeared in a variety of roles before becoming a regular
friend of Rocko’s. The turtle dated and ultimately married
a multi-talented cat named Dr. Hutchinson, who appeared as
a surgeon and a pharmacist, among other medical-related
positions.
With his new friends, Rocko set about discovering the
joys of a modern American lifestyle - health clubs,
garbage day, discount airlines, etc. Many of the episodes
were based around a single, simple premise, like going
grocery shopping, attending traffic school, or getting
fired. Regardless of the situation’s simplicity, something
would always go drastically wrong and chaos would ensue,
setting Rocko up for one crazy, bizarre adventure after
another.
Rocko’s next-door neighbor was the unpleasant Mr.
Bighead, who worked at mega-corporation Conglom-O (slogan:
“We Own You”). Bighead’s son Ralph had moved to Hollywood,
where he created the cartoon-within-a-cartoon “The
Fatheads.” Other regulars and semi-regulars included
superhero Really Really Big Man and Spunky’s resident
parasites, Bloaty the Tick and Squirmy the Ringworm. The
latter characters had yet another show-within-a-show, a
classic TV-style sitcom titled “The Bloaty and Squirmy
Show.”
It was bizarre, it was grotesque . . . it was perfect
for Nickelodeon. Rocko’s Modern Life was an instant hit on
the green slime network, an alternative for those who
liked their cartoons nutty but didn’t have the stomach for
the barrage of booger and flatulence jokes on Ren &
Stimpy. Nick ordered 26 new episodes for the second season
(along with a new theme song performed by The B-52’s), and
the show even spent some crossover time airing on MTV. By
making both Rocko and Ren & Stimpy into hits, the masses
had voted with their remotes, and anarchic humor was the
new king of the cartoon realm.
