Rocko
Rocko Rama | |
---|---|
Rocko’s Modern Life character | |
First appearance | Trash-O-Madness (1992) |
Last appearance | Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (2023) |
Created by | Joe Murray |
Voiced by | Carlos Alazraqui |
In-universe information | |
Species | Western brush wallaby |
Gender | Male |
Occupation |
|
Relatives | Unnamed mother Unnamed father Magdalene "Maggie" (older sister) Unnamed younger sister Unnamed niece Unnamed nephew Gib Hootsen (uncle) |
Nationality | Australian |
Rocko Rama is the main protagonist of the animated television series Rocko's Modern Life, the Netflix special Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling, and the comic book series of the same name. Carlos Alazraqui provided the voice of Rocko.
Conception and development
Rocko first appeared in a never-released comic, where he is named "Travis".[1][2] Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life, believed that the personality of a wallaby suited Rocko after observing a zoo wallaby "minding his own business" while elephants and monkeys "screamed for attention".[1] After the event, Murray said that "[i]t kind of clicked. Rocko would be at the center of the hurricane of everything swirling around him. He'd be like the everyman who's affected by the dramatic personalities around him."[3]
Murray wanted to get his comic into syndication. Afterwards Murray made substantial changes to Rocko.[4] Murray added that the personality of a wallaby mirrored Rocko's humbleness and his tendency to keep his frustrations to himself instead of publicly complaining about them.[5]
In the original pilot for Rocko's Modern Life, the animators colored Rocko yellow instead of light beige. One month before the first episode was submitted to the animation studio in South Korea, Murray changed the color when a toy company wishing to make Rocko plushes refused to license the character after citing that Rocko looked too similar to a yellow character used in one of the company's existing products.[2] Murray fought the changes with the Nickelodeon executives; in the end the executives insisted on changing the color, so Murray changed the color to beige and disliked the choice. On his website Murray said, "He was always yellow to me."[1] Murray said that the company later backed out of the commitment and did not create the plush series.[6]
Murray auditioned Alazraqui in
Rocko's design changed as his character evolved. Murray said that the version placed in the Rocko's Modern Life proposal was "much looser, and closer to my independent film style. As the series progressed, he adjusted Rocko's design from episode to episode to be more "volume friendly" and "animator friendly". According to Murray, when he created independent films and the Rocko's Modern Life pilot, he created all of the character layouts in his mind and other animators used the layouts to create works. Murray said that when Rocko became "high volume", Murray taught
According to
Character
In an early character profile presented to the networks, Murray described Rocko as "a young
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.[2] Magdalane was created as a mother with 2 children.[9]
Although personally hygienic, Rocko has an almost pathological tendency to neglect his living space; several episodes, such as "
Careers
Throughout the television series, Rocko enjoys collecting comics and works as a cashier at a local comic book shop called Kind of a Lot O' Comics, which is owned by
Friends and neighbors
Rocko's best friends are
Love life
In early concept sketches, Murray indicated that Rocko bears a strong crush on a character named "Melba Toast".[9] 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 "
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 web browser game Super Brawl Universe, and are both playable racers in Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix. Rocko also appears as a playable character in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 3: Slime Speedway, and the Apple Arcade exclusive game Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis.[17][18]
Rocko, alongside
References
- ^ a b c d "Character Museum". (SWF, Archive) Joe Murray Studio. Retrieved on August 25, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Lisa (Kiczuk) Trainor interviews Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life," The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ. Retrieved on October 26, 2010.
- ^ Bentley, Rick. "Rocko the wallaby as 'Modern' as ever." Ventura County Star. July 14, 2011. Retrieved on July 17, 2011.
- ^ a b c "The Evolution of Character." Joe Murray Studio. March 25, 2009. Retrieved on March 27, 2009.
- ^ Pacenti, John. "NEW CARTOON REVELS IN DYSFUNCTION." Associated Press at Lexington Herald-Leader. February 19, 1994. 15 Lifestyle. Retrieved on June 26, 2009.
- ^ "Rocko Factoid 2." Joe Murray. Retrieved on March 27, 2009.
- ^ "Dan Abrams' interview with Jeff "Swampy" Marsh," The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ. Retrieved on October 26, 2010.
- ^ a b "Lisa (Kiczuk) Trainor interviews George Maestri, story writer for Rocko's Modern Life," The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ
- ^ a b c d Beck, Jerry, Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons!
- ^ ""Nickelodeon Rocko's Modern Life Spunky Love Tee". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.," Hot Topic
- ^ "Dental Hyjinks," Rocko's Modern Life. Marvel Comics. Volume 1, Issue 1.
- ^ "Intestinal Turmoil," Rocko's Modern Life. Marvel Comics. Volume 1, Issue 2.
- ^ Nickelodeon Australia
- Nickelodeon Southeast Asia
- The Sun Herald. Retrieved 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
- ^ "Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl: Jenny Revealed (Plus Hugh Neutron & Rocko) - IGN". 13 May 2022.
- ^ "Nickelodeon Extreme Tennis". App Store. 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
- ^ Walker, A.J. "TitanAjax" (2022-07-12). "Nickelodeon and Smite Collide in an All-New Crossover Event on the Battleground of the Gods - Xbox News". Xbox News. Retrieved 2022-07-14.