Today I bought something from Hot Topic for the first time.
Generally, I can't stay in that joint for longer than two minutes. But today? Today, I was there for TEN MINUTES. The cashiers were surprisingly friendly. The dude let me go even though I was six cents short. He also made it so that they wouldn't send me emails (because they have a free "Friends with Benefits" card thing and he made me sign up for that. Well, he didn't make me. But he was so nice!)
So yes. And even though I was in there with the mission to get my friend a birthday present (or three, because we are both awesome), I actually found myself WANTING TO BUY STUFF FOR ME. It was shocking.
Those of you Hot Topic and/or Fonzie Was Six Four-savvy might think, "Oh, well, they sell Contra, so you probably wanted that." But no. I did not want that.
I wanted their Rocko's Modern Life stuff.
Unless you had or were a child in the mid-90s, you probably don't remember what that was. But you should, because Rocko's Modern Life is one of the best cartoons EVER. And I do not say this ironically, unlike most Hot Topic patrons. I sincerely love Rocko's. It might seem weird that I still like the same stuff that I liked when I was three, but you can't really get some of the best stuff in Rocko's until you're older.
For a show on Nickelodeon, it was actually really dirty. Despite it being about an amiable wallaby, his neurotic and/or idiotic friends, and his "modern life," they managed to make it fairly adult, including in tons of sexual jokes. Because we all know sex jokes are adult.
Observe!
That frog is Mrs. Bighead, Rocko's neighbor who often gets into some really weird situations with him. There's this one episode that got banned called "Leap Frogs" that was basically about Mrs. Bighead trying to seduce Rocko. Yeah, it was pretty awkward. Especially since Mr. Bighead absolutely HAAAAATES Rocko, and pretty much everything. Like me!
The show often found itself censored due to its age-inappropriate content. In the earlier seasons, the fast food chain that is referenced in tons of episodes is called the Chokey Chicken, which is a joke that I never got until I was 12 while watching this show again. But later on, Nick wised up and made them change it to Chewy Chicken, which just isn't the same. Here's a scene that was censored after its original airing:
Pretty self-explanatory. I personally don't think that's one of the worst jokes, but then again, I like all of the jokes in the show, inappropriate or not. The thing is, the show always tried to "skew older," as its creator, my boy Joe Murray, said. Well, it didn't really try, but that's just how it turned out. They were able to create a show that was appealing to kids AND to adults. Those shows are always the best, aren't they?
And it had the coolest style. What I really like about animation is that oftentimes it isn't realistic. It creates this cool world that you would never encounter in your real life, and it just feels very massive to be. I love facial expressions, I like crazy colors, I like all of that stuff. Some directors try to take that style and apply it to live-action film (think Baz Luhrman), but it never turns out well. It feels too forced. But in animation, it comes pretty effortlessly.
Listen to the awesome theme songs, of which there were three (the third version is probably the most popular. It was done by the B-52s!):
Awesome. And even though the show had some adult stuff in it (not just the "dirty" jokes, but also a lot of social commentary; it's called Modern Life for a reason, as it often exaggerates and criticizes the late 20th Century life), it was still really kid-friendly and hilarious. Here's a song that I always liked from one of my favorite episodes:
Yeah, that's going to be stuck in my head for the rest of my life. And it's the kind of song that's catchy and funny enough for kids and their parents. It doesn't pander to either. And it's educational! So there! I think any show that wants to make it into the highest echelons of time needs to have a song in it. We always remember the songs from shows that we liked when we were younger. Music brings people together, as do cartoons. That's why you often see them combined.
I think most kids didn't really get what this scene was about (I know I didn't), but it was still hilarious. Now that I get that they were implying that Rocko was gay, there's a new understanding of it, but it doesn't change it that much. I do quite like it when he says, "Did I say 'rainbows?' I meant to say 'dolls!'" Tee-hee. And I like how everyone just immediately turns against him. I love that kind of stuff, animation or live-action.
Here's some clips from another really good episode where Rocko and his BFFAEAE (ugh, my friend says that all the time, it's so stupid) Heffer (a steer - not a cow!! - raised by this really classic family of wolves) go to France. This employs a lot of that social commentary that the show is so good at. And the facial expressions! I love this show's style! And Tom Kenny is one of the best voice actors ever.
I think my favorite character, other than Rocko (I always love the main characters), is Filburt. Filburt was this Woody Allen-esque turtle: completely neurotic, things never go right for him, etc. His "catchphrase," which was one of the show's few such things in a time when catchphrases were practically pre-requisites for getting your show on TV, was "I'm nauseous, I'm nauseous." Kind of sums him up. Oh, and Filburt, like Woody Allen, had a thing for really weird girls. His wife was this...cat...thing with a claw who always said, "Kay?" and definitely belonged in an asylum of some sorts. Dr. Hutchinson. She was insane.
Here's a Filburt clip!
And finally, here is the best scene from the absolute best episode of the show. Find some way to watch it; it's called "Wacky Delly." It was THE BEST. It was about the son of the Bigheads, who was based on and I think voiced by Joe Murray, who was the animator of this insanely popular but insanely stupid show called The Fatheads. He hated it. It was this great story about the tragic artist that was kind of subverted, because he calls on Rocko, Filburt, and Heffer to make a new show for him so he can go and do...well, nothing, really. And this is what was turned out, Wacky Delly:
And guess what? Everyone loves it. But who wouldn't? I would watch that show. And I would watch Rocko's everyday for the rest of my life if I could.
And what a nice life that would be.
P.S. Please read the Wikipedia page. It has a lot of really interesting stuff that even I didn't know on it! Like Joe Murray's wife killed herself, for instance! I wonder how that really influenced the show? MAYBE WE CAN FIGURE THAT OUT TOGETHER. :)
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