No need to fear for any fan of Rocko’s Modern Life who felt that the show would feel dated upon its return on Netflix. Static Cling, a new 45-minute short film co-directed and written by creator Joe Murray, still has the old show’s trademark style of parodies and slapstick, on top of an unexpectedly nuanced view of modern culture. There’s no sense of the creators struggling to understand this newfangled technology or these kids and their weird slang today, this is a cartoon that wants to both poke fun at and embrace progression.
Not even being trapped in deep space after his house was launched by a crashed rocket is going to stop Rocko the wallaby (Carlos Alazraqui) from watching his favorite cartoon “The Fatheads” on video with his best friends, the pack-raised bovine Heffer Wolfe (Tom Kenny) and Filbert the turtle. Lo and behold, the trio discover the relaunch button that could take them back to Earth’s been stuck to Heffer’s rear end for the better part of two decades, and they fly back down to an O-Town that still retains some of its old qualities, but has advanced into what Rocko deems a very dangerous 21th century.
While his two friends are excited, the comic book clerk’s heartbroken over the lack of new Fatheads episodes. His neighbor Ed Bighead (Charlie Adler) was happily enjoying his Rocko-free and thus chaos-free life, until his Conglom-O company starts to rapidly lose money after he returns. But perhaps, if the nose-picking CEO Mr. Dupette (Adler again) can help finance a new Fatheads special, their fortunes could turn around.
Exactly how a town winds up in such dire straights that one live airing could make or break its economy I have no idea, but that’s the situation O-Town finds itself in. Rocko and friends sent out to find Fatheads creator, the former Ralph now transitioned into Rachel Bighead, to convince her to produce the special- lest the company does it themselves and totally mess it up.
I want to briefly bring up another classic cartoon that’s been relaunched fairly often, Scooby-Doo around the time Scrappy-Doo first debuted. Scrappy these days is known for being one of the more annoying Scooby characters, but at the time of his premiere, he was regarded by his creators as a success. So there’s a moment in the movie that I won’t spoil, but it reminded me a lot of that particular controversy.
The story always makes it evident Rachel’s version of the Fatheads relaunch is going to be superior to Congomlo’s in-house work (although there’s an interesting WTF factor to the Chameleon brothers’ CGI toon), so this special thankfully doesn’t flat-out turn Rocko into a toxic fanboy who’s out for blood- he’s still the same sweet-hearted wallaby from twenty years ago, who just wants to watch his favorite show. But he among others finds himself having to deal with things being different.
Bev is more open about Rachel’s time away, but it takes Ed longer to wrap his head around it, and you can tell the writers were careful to handle the story in an intelligent manner (including consulting GLAAD, as reported). She’s also been selling Fatheads ice cream pops, which may be a sly reference towards the awkward-looking Sonic and Spongebob-cicles.
Visually, the show still looks as old-school toony as it did as a Nicktoon. Murray’s art direction takes a lot of cues from classic rubber hose animation from the 1930s with warped buildings and backgrounds, only brought into vivid color and updated for modern audiences. Rocko and company are adorable but always have a hint of irreverence to their actions and expressions, and there’s a cornucopia of references and cameos for longtime fans of the show. This includes the return of Really Really Big Man with his new intense 3D feature film, the Recycle trash pile, Chokey Chicken restaurant and a reprise of the B-52’s classic theme with present-day tech.
Rocko’s Static Cling special is proof that old properties can be revived and still feel relevant, so long as one has the right creative team. It feels sort of meta, as that’s the creative approach they took producing this, but they’re not simply patting themselves on the back. As twisted and bonkers its brand of humor is, there’s always been an undercurrent of empathy in Rocko’s Modern Life since its inception, and that’s what makes the special work. If you’d had the chance to watch it, stop by @official_FAN on Twitter and let us know your opinion!