Rocko and the rest of the citizens of O-Town are coming back in the shape of a TV special thanks to Netflix. Remakes and reboots continue to be popular in the film and TV industries (and in some cases, they're quite profitable), and those who appeal to viewers’ nostalgia have bigger chances to succeed. Such is the case with some of Nickelodeon’s classic cartoons, including Rocko’s Modern Life.
Back in 2016, Nickelodeon announced that a one-hour TV special of Rocko’s Modern Life was in the works, joining other projects like Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie and Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus!. A sneak peak was released at 2017’s San Diego Comic-Con and since then, the team behind this special has been silent – until now, as an official poster, teaser trailer, and a premiere date have finally been revealed.
Titled Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling, the movie will be released globally on Netflix on August 9th. This movie reunites series creator Joe Murray with the main voice cast of the beloved Nicktoon: Carlos Alazraqui (Rocko, Spunky), Tom Kenny (Heffer), Mr. Lawrence (Filburt), Charlie Adler (Ed and Bev Bighead), Linda Wallem (Dr. Hutchinson), and Jill Talley (Nosey). The poster features the inseparable friends Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt who, unbeknownst to them, are being chased by a drone.
The movie will follow the group as they come back to Earth after being in space for a bit over 20 years (how did they end up there? A rocket ship crashed on Rocko’s house at the end of the last episode of the series, “Future Schlock”). Of course, a lot has changed in two decades, and now they have to adapt to an “even more modern life in O-Town”, with “touch-screen-O-phones”, an instant-print kiosk where Rocko’s job, Kind-of-a-Lot-O-Comics, used to be, radioactive energy drinks that turn their consumers into mutants, and much more.
Of course, there are other non-material things that Rocko will have to get used to, such as wider and more invasive media attention, and a new kind of fandom that he certainly didn’t have to deal with prior to this. This can be seen in the teaser released by NickRewind, which you can check out below.
It looks like not much has changed with good ol’ Rocko, as he appears to be the same anxious wallaby we know and love – and that’s probably going to get worse while he adapts to the modern era, but it’s all part of the fun. Rocko’s Modern Life had a very peculiar sense of humor that was not entirely kid-friendly, hiding some very adult jokes in plain sight, so we’ll see if the movie kept that tone or if they left it aside just this one time.
Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling will premiere on Netflix on August 9.
Source: Netflix/Nickelodeon