Rocko's Modern Life

''Rocko's Modern Life'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. 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.

Murray created the title character for an unpublished comic book series in the late 1980s, and later reluctantly pitched the series to Nickelodeon, which was looking for edgier cartoonists for its then-new Nicktoons. The network gave the staff a large amount of creative freedom, with the writers targeting both children and adults. The show premiered on September 18, 1993, and ended on November 24, 1996, totaling four seasons and 52 episodes. A special, '' Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling'', was digitally released on Netflix on August 9, 2019.

The show launched the careers of voice actors Carlos Alazraqui and Tom Kenny. After the show's cancellation, much of the staff regrouped to work on ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', created by ''Rocko''s creative director Stephen Hillenburg.

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 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.

Setting

The show is set in a fictional 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:

Production

Development

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. Many other characters appeared in various sketchbooks. He described the early 1990s animation atmosphere as "ripe for this kind of project. We took some chances that would be hard to do in these current times (the 1990s)".
Rocko's Modern Life
, '' Joe Murray Studio''
Murray wanted funding for his independent film ''My Dog Zero'', so he wanted Nickelodeon to pre-buy television rights for the series. He presented a pencil test to Nickelodeon, which afterward became interested in buying and financing the show. Murray had never worked in television before. The industry was coming out of a " rough period" and Murray wanted to "shake things up a bit".

Linda Simensky, then in charge of animation development in Nickelodeon, described the Nicktoons lineup and concept to Murray. He originally felt skepticism towards the concept of creating a Nicktoon as he disliked television cartoons. Simensky told him that Nicktoons differed from other cartoons. He then told her that he believed that ''My Dog Zero'' would not work as a cartoon. He then researched Nickelodeon at the library and found that Nickelodeon's "attitude was different than regular TV". The cable network providers were "making their own rules": for example, Murray stated that he "didn't write for children", which the executives were fine with. Murray was unsure at first, but was inspired by independent animation around him, such as Animation Celebration and MTV's '' Liquid Television'', and gave the network a shot. At the time, Nickelodeon was selling itself as a network-based as much around the edge as around kids' entertainment. It aimed to appeal to college students and parents as much as children.

Murray developed the Rocko character after visiting a zoo in the Bay Area and coming across a wallaby that seemed to be oblivious to the chaos around him. Murray combed through his sketchbooks, developed the ''Rocko's Modern Life'' concept, and submitted it to Nickelodeon believing that the concept would likely be rejected. Murray felt they would not like the pilot, and he would just collect his sum and begin funding his next independent film. According to Murray, around three or four months later he had "forgotten about" the concept and was working on ''My Dog Zero'' when Simensky informed him that Nickelodeon wanted a pilot episode. Murray said that he was glad that he would get funding for ''My Dog Zero''.Lisa (Kiczuk) Trainor interviews Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life
, ''The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ'' On his website he describes ''My Dog Zero'' as "that film that Linda Simensky saw which led me to ''Rocko''." "Sucker for the Suck-O-Matic" was originally written as the pilot; the executives decided that Heffer Wolfe, one of the characters, would be "a little too weird for test audiences". Murray, instead of removing Heffer from "Sucker for the Suck-O-Matic", decided to write "Trash-O-Madness" as the pilot episode.

In the original series pilot, Rocko was colored yellow. His color was changed when a toy merchandising company informed Nick they were interested in marketing toys but did not want to market Rocko because " they already had a yellow character". Murray changed Rocko's color to beige, but after the pilot aired, the company opted out of producing toys for the series, so the color change was pointless. When the series was in development prior to the release of the first episode, the series had the title ''The Rocko Show''.A Bit of Trivia From Paul Sumares
, ''The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ''

In November 1992, two months prior to the production of season 1 of ''Rocko's Modern Life'', Murray's first wife committed suicide. Murray had often blamed his wife's suicide on the show being picked up. He said, "It was always an awful connection because I look at ''Rocko'' as such a positive in my life."October 17, 2010
. Joe Murray Studio. Retrieved on October 26, 2010. "I often directly blamed my wife's suicide in 1992 on ''Rocko'' getting picked up (it happened as we were preparing to start production of the series)." Murray felt that he had emotional and physical "unresolved issues" when he moved to Los Angeles. He describes the experience as like participating in a "marathon with my pants around my ankles". Murray initially believed that he would create one season, move back to the San Francisco Bay Area, and "clean up the loose ends I had left hanging". Murray said that he felt surprised when Nickelodeon approved new seasons; Nickelodeon renewed the series for its second season in December 1993.Warner, Fara. "Nick Rock(o)s Licensing Boat". '' Brandweek''. Volume 35, Issue 5. January 31, 1994.

After season 3, he decided to hand the project to Stephen Hillenburg, who performed most of the work for season 4; Murray continued to manage the cartoon. He said that he would completely leave the production after season 4. He said also that he encouraged the network to continue production, but Nickelodeon eventually decided to cancel the series. He described all 52 episodes as "top notch", and in his view the quality of a television show may decline as production continues "when you are dealing with volume". On his website he said that "In some ways it succeeded and in some ways failed. All I know it developed its own flavor and an equally original legion of fans." In a 1997 interview Murray said that he at times wondered if he could restart the series; he feels the task would be difficult.

The show was jointly produced between Games Animation and Joe Murray Productions. Since Nickelodeon did not have an animation studio, it had to contract out to other studios. After incidents with ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' creator John Kricfalusi, Nickelodeon began not to trust its creators as much and began to form its own studio, Games Animation. However, Murray recalls that they were still able to get a lot done independently. Murray has likened the independence to that of "Termite Terrace" (Warner Bros. Cartoons) from the 1930s. As Nickelodeon began to have more and more success with its animation cartoons, Murray said the "Termite Terrace" mentality was not working as much. Producer Mary Harrington made the move from New York City to Los Angeles to set up Games Animation, in order to produce ''Rocko's Modern Life''. The crew first began production on the show in January 1993. ''Rocko's Modern Life'' was Nickelodeon's first in-house animated production.

Murray's Joe Murray Productions and Games Animation rented office space on Ventura Boulevard in the Studio City neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. The production moved to a different office building on Vineland Avenue in Studio City. Executives did not share space with the creative team.
October 24, 2008
. ''Joe Murray Studio''. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
Where Rocko the series was produced
, '' Joe Murray Studio''
Murray rented a floor in the Writers Guild of America, West building, although the team of Rocko was not a part of the union, which the staff found ironic. Sunwoo Entertainment, and later Rough Draft Studios, assembled the animation. According to Murray, as ''Rocko's Modern Life'' was his first television series, he did not know about the atmosphere of typical animation studios. Murray said that he opted to operate his studio in a similar manner to the operation of his Saratoga, California studio, which he describes as "very relaxed". His cadre included many veterans who, according to him, described the experience as "the most fun they had ever had!" He, saying that the atmosphere was "not my doing", credited his team members for collectively contributing. Murray described the daily atmosphere at the studio as "very loose", adding that the rules permitted all staff members to use the paging system to make announcements. He stated that one visitor compared the environment of the production studio to "preschool without supervision". Murray stated that 70 people in the United States and over 200 people in South Korea and Japan animated the series.

Rick Bentley of the '' Ventura County Star'' said that it was unusual for a cartoon creator to select a wallaby as a main character. Bentley also stated that the Rocko universe was influenced by "everything from Looney Tunes to underground comics".Bentley, Rick.
Rocko the wallaby as 'Modern' as ever
. '' Ventura County Star''. July 14, 2011. Retrieved on July 17, 2011. The staff of the show consists of fans of outrageous comedy, both animated and not animated. Tom Kenny cited ''Looney Tunes'' and '' SCTV'' as influences for the show, and also stated "I'm sure if you asked Joe Murray or Mr. Lawrence or any of those guys, especially in terms of animation, the weirdest cartoons would, of course, be our favorites—those weird '30s Fleischer brothers ''Betty Boop'' cartoons and stuff like that."

Murray produced the pilot episode, "Trash-O-Madness", at his studio in Saratoga; he animated half of the episode, and the production occurred entirely in the United States, with animation in Saratoga and processing in San Francisco. While directing during recording sessions, Murray preferred to be on the stage with the actors instead of "behind glass" in a control room, which he describes as "the norm" while making animated series.
Rocko's Modern Life Archives
, '' Joe Murray Studio'' He believes that, due to his lack of experience with children, ''Rocko's Modern Life'' "skewed kind of older".Q & A with Joe Murray
, ''Cartoon Network Pressroom''
Murray noted, "There's a lot of big kids out there. People went to see ''Roger Rabbit'' and saw all these characters they'd grown up with and said, 'Yeah, why don't they have something like that anymore?'" When he began producing ''Rocko'', he says that his experience in independent films initially led him to attempt to micromanage many details in the production. He said that the approach, when used for production of television shows, was "driving me crazy". This led him to allow other team members to manage aspects of the ''Rocko's Modern Life'' production. Director and later creative director Stephen Hillenburg met Murray at an animation film festival where he was showing his three short films. Murray hired Hillenburg as a director on the series, making Hillenburg's first job in the animation business as a director.

Murray designed the logo of the series. He said that, after his design drifted from the original design, Nickelodeon informed Murray of how it intended the logo to look like. Murray also designed the covers of the comic book, the VHS releases, and the DVD releases.

Writing

The writers aimed to create stories that they describe as "strong" and "funny". The writers, including George Maestri