One specific wallaby, anyway.
Joe was noticed for his artistic skills in kindergarten, when his teacher informed his parents that he was the only child who drew zippers on pants and breasts on women. During high school took a job drawing political editorial cartoons for a local San Jose newspaper. A few years later he got a job with MTV animating cartoons. His third independent animated film, My Dog Zero, was funded through a grant and by Joe trying to sell the rights to a potential "My Dog Zero" television show.
While that show never came to fruition, Joe did succeed in selling another show idea to Nickelodeon. This second animated television show followed through the gross-out door that The Simpsons created, Ren and Stimpy opened, and Beavis and Butt-head kicked wide. But it, like The Simpsons, was written with both kids and adults in mind, with many scenarios and storylines that either pass over children's heads, or are probably inappropriate for kids.
Steve started out a marine biologist, but he found that his most fun was had drawing an informative comic book about the tide-pools and shallow marine habitats. He eventually got a job working with Joe on his show, which gave him the knowledge and confidence to work out his own ideas. What he eventually worked out came to eclipse Joe's creation vastly.
A few months ago I posted about having read a list about the Top 100 animated television shows in America. I read the entire list, despite the rather crappy nature of the website, and was quite disappointed when I realized that they'd left Joe's show off the list. I was pleased when I discovered that the first season was available on DVD, and purchased it. It is even more surreal and cutting edge that I remember. "Joe" here is Joe Murray, and his show starred a wallaby:
"Steve" is Steven Hillebrand, the creator of Spongebob Squarepants.
I remember watching Rocko fondly, I remember all sorts of wild scenes and episodes, and having the collection of the first season reinforces, and even goes beyond, my original feelings.
There is an episode titled "Who Gives a Buck?" about the dangers of easy credit and large amounts of debt. There's an episode where we find Beverly, the better half of the next-door neighbors, an unhappily married couple with no intimacy, trying to seduce Rocko. In another, Heffer, a steer and Rocko's best pal, on a trip to a ranch, falls in love with a milking apparatus. Another deals with body image issues. Another reveals that his friend Heffer Wolfe is adopted; we meet his immediate family--a pack of wolves.
One of the major themes in the show is that the world, no matter how honest and good a person you are, is out to do you harm. This may be a cynical message for kids, but it may not be the worst one.
In examining certain dynamics of the show and comparing them to Spongebob, you'll see a surprising set of similarities. In Rocko's Modern Life, The pair is Rocko and his friend Heffer, Rocko's pet Spunky (a dog), and their straight-man neighbor foil Ed Bighead. In Spongebob, the pair is Spongebob and Patrick, Songebob's pet Gary (a meowing snail), and their straight-man neighbor foil Squidward. In both cases the friend is strikingly dumber than the protagonist, yet as pairs they tend to act stupid together.
Some storylines seem to almost be lifted from Rocko and applied to Steve's undersea setting.
One notable difference is that Spongebob is an innocent while Rocko, though gullible and honest, makes plenty of decisions where he is fully aware of what the outcome will be or could be. Rocko even gets angry sometimes at the injustices he's forced to suffer. When does Spongebob get angry? Is he even capable of anger?
While the shows are very similar, key differences mark why one got wildly popular and successful: Spongebob as an innocent lets kids learn about the harshness of the world in a way that to them is to be smarter that the character. Feeling superior to the character is better, I'd imagine, than feeling sorry for the character. A second reason I'd wager is that Bikini Bottom is simply more exciting and exotic that O-Town, Rocko's home city. A third reason is having a better supporting cast.
If anyone is interested in surreal kids fare, I'd seriously suggest checking out this collection. You'll gawk in smiley chuckles at Rocko when, in needing to get a job to get his bills paid after getting downsized, he takes a job as a sex phone operator. We see him sitting at a desk on the phone, a poster on the wall behind says "Be Courteous. Be Hot.", and in his Australian accent--bored even--he's saying "Oh baby...oh baby...oh baby..." into the phone.
A kids show. Seriously.
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