Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling (2019)

August 10, 2019 8:32 AM

After 20 years in space, Rocko returns to a technologically advanced O-Town and makes it his mission to get his favorite show back on the air.

Static Cling is a 2019 revival of Rocko's Modern Life, an animated series that aired from 1993-1996 on Nickelodeon. The series followed a timid wallaby named Rocko, and his friends, a gluttonous cow named Heffer, and a neurotic turtle named Filburt.

Rocko's creative director, Stephen Hillenburg, would go on to create the massively popular SpongeBob SquarePants. Tom Kenny, the voice of Heffer, became the voice of Spongebob.

Nickelodeon began a revival of Rocko's Modern Life in 2016, with the original cast returning. The finished special was handed to Netflix, where it was released on August 9, 2019.

posted by riruro (6 comments total)

This special should have a content warning for trans people who have faced parental rejection. The treatment of it generally was beeeeautiful and damned if I didn't have a deep hidden need to hear cartoon characters be so breezy and affirming about transition, but Mr. Bighead's reaction was so, so hard for me to watch.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:27 AM on August 10, 2019 [5 favorites]

Mrs. Bighead and those shoes though. <3
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:27 AM on August 10, 2019 [4 favorites]

This made me very happy. Granted, as PhoB said, I do not have that history, and I was just happy to see that every single other character was totally accepting right away.

I appreciated how they played with the concepts of nostalgia and change while at the same time totally indulging the audience. (And, look, I like to be indulged like this.) Mrs. Bighead still has a crush on Rocko. Really Really Big Man still has his Nipples of the Future. And the aesthetic is still really early '90s.

If you'd asked me at the time, I would probably have said Ren & Stimpy was my favorite cartoon, but I would have followed right up about Rocko. And, since John K has doubled down on being a piece of shit, it's nice to see Joe Murray not only coming back but saying Trans Rights while he's at it.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:25 PM on August 10, 2019 [2 favorites]

not that anyone asked me about my favorite bits from this show, but:

"Oh baby oh baby oh baby"

"I'm nauseous"

and the sadly-missing-from-Youtube "Garbage Strike! The Musical"
posted by Countess Elena at 7:32 PM on August 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

I liked it! High points: handling Rachel's transition, the awful CGI Fatheads cartoon, Bev and the shoes, and just having these old familiar characters back, even for a little while.
posted by SansPoint at 7:44 AM on August 12, 2019

I’m not sure why, but my favorite moment was when we find out that Rachel has had a cartooning set up in her truck the whole time. I love that the passion for it stuck with her, even though she was intent on exploring other things.
posted by invitapriore at 9:47 PM on August 17, 2019 [1 favorite]