For now, a couple of my all-time favorites as well as one of the best known episodes... even for casual fans of the series.
Wimp on the Barby
From the first time this segment aired, it became one of my favorites in the entire series. It’s a huge character arc for Rocko and also gives some interesting back story on him.
He gets a call from his parents saying that someone named Dingo is coming to visit him. Through flashbacks, we discover that Dingo was Rocko’s schoolyard bully who made his life so miserable and frightening that he moved all the way to America to get away from him.
His friends convince him he needs to face his fears head on and learn how to defend himself. A training montage follows and by the end of it, Rocko is absolutely ready to take him on.
The music that plays when Rocko goes to answer the door- it’s super dramatic and I’ve always loved it
But then something unexpected happens. Dingo has since found religion. He now goes by Foffy No-No and once he gets forgiveness he can become one with the unicorn. (There’s an actual unicorn in a car waiting for him in the street)
To make amends, he offers a bunch of random stuff like a blender, bacon in a box “and that’s not all, here’s 5 bucks” and he only asks for Rocko to punch him in the nose in exchange
Rocko confesses he’d been afraid of him his whole life and was prepared to stand up to him. He’s also learned that violence only makes things worse and doesn’t want to punch him.
“Please, friend Rocko…”
“Ok!”
And he does it.
But as he explains himself to Spunky, Dingo winds up getting jumped by Heffer and Filbert and the unicorn ditches him and leaves him to get what’s coming to him
Yarnbenders
This segment is one my sister and I still quote to this day. The self-aware writing and the jokes are a huge highlight of the entire series.
It begins where Rocko accidentally leaves Filbert (while he’s flipped over on his back) outside the rain, resulting him catching a cold. At first to make him feel better, Heffer suggests they put on the tv. Filbert comments how “my mother always used to read to me when I was sick.” Heffer’s comeback is so hilarious that we’ll say it anytime a situation calls for it. “Read? Are you nuts? Nobody reads anymore.”
Usually we say this to make fun of other people who devalue reading… we still love books in our house, my mom especially
Rocko dusts off The Really Really Big Book of Fairytales. The first story screeches to a halt because Filbert realizes it’s the one with porridge and porridge makes him nauseous.
Next, Rocko starts reading another one, “Once upon a time, there were two children in the woods. One was named Hansel and the other was…”
Heffer interjects “Debbie!”
Filbert’s interest is immediately piqued cuz he’d never heard that one before…
Believe me, nobody’s heard a fairytale quite like this one before. Rocko reads from the book and Heffer keeps adding random comments, almost like they’re playing mad libs. The two characters reach the witch’s house and go back and forth about whether it’s made of healthy snacks or pizza… Filbert settles the argument quickly, suggesting “you’re both wrong, the house is made of fish sticks.”
As the story continues forward, several other fairytales get through into the mix and the results are so good… trust me, you owe it to yourself to see it.
He gets a call from his parents saying that someone named Dingo is coming to visit him. Through flashbacks, we discover that Dingo was Rocko’s schoolyard bully who made his life so miserable and frightening that he moved all the way to America to get away from him.
His friends convince him he needs to face his fears head on and learn how to defend himself. A training montage follows and by the end of it, Rocko is absolutely ready to take him on.
The music that plays when Rocko goes to answer the door- it’s super dramatic and I’ve always loved it
But then something unexpected happens. Dingo has since found religion. He now goes by Foffy No-No and once he gets forgiveness he can become one with the unicorn. (There’s an actual unicorn in a car waiting for him in the street)
To make amends, he offers a bunch of random stuff like a blender, bacon in a box “and that’s not all, here’s 5 bucks” and he only asks for Rocko to punch him in the nose in exchange
Rocko confesses he’d been afraid of him his whole life and was prepared to stand up to him. He’s also learned that violence only makes things worse and doesn’t want to punch him.
“Please, friend Rocko…”
“Ok!”
And he does it.
But as he explains himself to Spunky, Dingo winds up getting jumped by Heffer and Filbert and the unicorn ditches him and leaves him to get what’s coming to him
Yarnbenders
This segment is one my sister and I still quote to this day. The self-aware writing and the jokes are a huge highlight of the entire series.
It begins where Rocko accidentally leaves Filbert (while he’s flipped over on his back) outside the rain, resulting him catching a cold. At first to make him feel better, Heffer suggests they put on the tv. Filbert comments how “my mother always used to read to me when I was sick.” Heffer’s comeback is so hilarious that we’ll say it anytime a situation calls for it. “Read? Are you nuts? Nobody reads anymore.”
Usually we say this to make fun of other people who devalue reading… we still love books in our house, my mom especially
Rocko dusts off The Really Really Big Book of Fairytales. The first story screeches to a halt because Filbert realizes it’s the one with porridge and porridge makes him nauseous.
Next, Rocko starts reading another one, “Once upon a time, there were two children in the woods. One was named Hansel and the other was…”
Heffer interjects “Debbie!”
Filbert’s interest is immediately piqued cuz he’d never heard that one before…
Believe me, nobody’s heard a fairytale quite like this one before. Rocko reads from the book and Heffer keeps adding random comments, almost like they’re playing mad libs. The two characters reach the witch’s house and go back and forth about whether it’s made of healthy snacks or pizza… Filbert settles the argument quickly, suggesting “you’re both wrong, the house is made of fish sticks.”
As the story continues forward, several other fairytales get through into the mix and the results are so good… trust me, you owe it to yourself to see it.
At one point the witch says after their captives escape, “I was gonna make espresso.” Was this a reference to Young Frankenstein? If so, the writers have really good taste.
Zanzibar!
This is one of those classic cartoon episodes EVERYONE remembers, even people that didn’t regularly watch Rocko… not only is it one of those classic 90's attempts to make people more environmentally conscious… it’s a musical! Lots of catchy tunes and random bursting into song. Anyone not a fan of this… consider yourself warned
Rocko wakes up to find everyone in O-Town singing about how it’s spring cleaning time. He’s as confused as we are, not knowing how it all came about. According to Heffer, they held rehearsals every Thursday so they all know the words. He also discovers that there’s going to be multiple songs.
Everyone heads to the dump to unload their trash and discover that it’s filled to capacity. Mr. Bighead is irate about the holdup and says there’s plenty of room “over there”- pointing to a pristine park nearby. Rocko stands up to him saying you can’t just throw your trash anywhere and how you need to take care of the environment.
We then get introduced to Captain Compost Heap who suggests a number of solutions to their predicament… in possibly the most catchy song ever written. I only remember the chorus...
In addition to recycling, he talks about chlorofluorocarbons eating the ozone layer and how deforestation will lead to less oxygen for us to breathe. We get to the end and Rocko sums it all up perfectly, “what a sappy song…”
Everyone bands together to do their part but soon discover one entity isn’t… the corporation known as Conglom-O. Rocko asks why everyone is so quick to give up after this. According to multiple people, they own everything. They even own city hall… “and you know what that means.”
Rocko guesses correctly when he groans to Heffer, “it’s gonna be another song, isn’t it?”
Sad but true- “you can’t fight city hall,” but as music continues to play in the background, Rocko inspires everyone to come with him to Conglom-O.
The next several minutes involve Rocko trying to convince the doorman to let them in. All while everyone else echoes his comments in song.
At one point, the doorman asks “how do you know the words?”
Heffer- “oh boy, he’s got you now, Rock.”
Rocko- “well, I don’t know the words.”
Unruly mob (in song)- “he doesn’t know the words…” Rocko (screams)- “shut up!!”
Doorman- “sorry I can’t let you in without an appointment.”
Rocko- “oh…”
Unruly mob (in song)- “I guess we’ll all go home.” And they leave him to fend for himself.
Rocko comes up the perfect comeback about how "our business keeps your business going" and the doorman finally lets him in: “ok, whatever…”
He speaks to the board of directors but has a little difficulty getting his point across. He hesitantly starts into one of the songs and one of the guys whispers to another “why is he spelling?”
Out of nowhere, the unruly mob busts into the boardroom and sings the full song. The boss finally agrees with a soft “ok…” Rocko gets carried out on the shoulders of the mob and they rejoice about how Rocko fought city hall
Ironically, Mr. Bighead is the head of the environmental department and has to close off the cooling stacks, stop the waste runoff into the rivers and last but not least, he needs to recycle
The entire neighborhood shows up the next day to thank him, but he wants none of it. He hated being forced into doing what he did and spouts his own song about not having the patience to recycle and it ends up him getting zapped by UV rays thanks to a hole in the ozone that coincidentally opens over his head.
Between this, Fern Gully and Captain Planet, they were REALLY into the environmental anti pollution thing in the 90s. In todays world, I think things have gotten way out of hand. For me, recycling and not littering is more than enough. Plus I have a yeti water bottle so I don’t use as many plastic bottles as I used to. Anything more than that is too expensive or simply asks way too much.
High Five of Doom
Talk about your imagination running away with you…
Filbert is seen earlier in the segment writing in a notebook. Heffer wants to see what he’s writing but Filbert refuses, stating it’s his private journal. It just so happens that Rocko comes across it when Filbert loses it. He vows to keep it safe and not infringe on Filbert’s privacy despite Heffer pestering him about it.
As you can imagine, curiosity does get the best of him. But he tries to be sneaky about it. He vacuums his living room and lifts up the table slightly so the book falls off the table.
“Oh dear, Filbert’s journal fell off the coffee table… and it didn’t open… thank goodness…” Don’t know why but I find his sarcasm here hilarious.
Just as Rocko is about to read one page, Heffer busts in and begs on his knees to see it. “I can’t sleep, I can’t think, I can’t even eat…” his stomach gurgles, “ok… I can eat.”
Rocko relents, suggesting “if I read just one page, will you be satisfied?” We all kinda know they won’t be able to stop at just one page.
Filbert’s writing isn’t just gripping, it becomes a little unsettling after a bit. It says he’s part of an alien race bent on world domination and their master plan is blowing people up by giving them high fives. The two of them do some recon and see filbert doing some of the things he mentioned in the book, like putting mustard under his arm pits. They also see him with antennae coming out of his head.
The next page is especially frightening and drives the rest of the story arc home. It says that he’s discovered that the two of them are onto his plans and must destroyed. Filbert shows up at that moment and they proceed to block the front door with every piece of furniture in the house… neglecting to lock the back door.
Filbert is overjoyed to find that rocko had his journal and suggests a high five. Of course Rocko and Heffer panic and everything comes out. Filbert laughs saying it’s not a real journal and snorts “I’m not an alien.” They ask him about the odd behavior they witnessed and he easily explains them. Like how putting the tv antenna on his head gives him good reception anywhere and “why spend money on cologne when mustard is free?”
The rest… you’ll have to see and find out for yourself cuz it’s kinda open for interpretation
Dear John
Another series classic we still quote to this day.
A random government satellite falls through Rocko’s roof, destroying his kitchen. As one might expect, not only does the government refuse to compensate him, they explicitly deny anything happened at all. His insurance agent happens to be a hyena and naturally laughs at the matter, unable to do anything to help. This puts Rocko in a bind because he’s holding a party soon and needs to find a solution fast.
He and Heffer go to the local home and garden expo for other ideas. One is playing a game show to win a kitchen. Rocko wins easily but what they don’t tell him is that he has to keep winning games in order to find the entire kitchen. His prize for winning the first game is a spoon… so yeah, he’s got no time. The two of them come away with a do it yourself book on kitchens and bathrooms and proceed to do just that… except they accidentally turned the kitchen into a bathroom
He ultimately hires tv personality Bob "Bucky" Taylor (gee, I wonder who he’s based off of) to do the job for them. What happens is easily one of the best joke in the entire series.
"My living room, it's a bathroom. My closet is a bathroom. My basement is a bathroom! My ballroom is a bathroom!! EVEN MY BATHROOM IS A BATHROOM! Well, I guess that's okay..."
Rocko then finds the perfect solution: making the party a tribute to bathrooms with all the guests wearing towels. Filbert asks for the little turtle’s room but is having trouble cuz people are in all the rooms. Rocko suggests the garage and it winds up being the perfect solution
Everyone bands together to do their part but soon discover one entity isn’t… the corporation known as Conglom-O. Rocko asks why everyone is so quick to give up after this. According to multiple people, they own everything. They even own city hall… “and you know what that means.”
Rocko guesses correctly when he groans to Heffer, “it’s gonna be another song, isn’t it?”
Sad but true- “you can’t fight city hall,” but as music continues to play in the background, Rocko inspires everyone to come with him to Conglom-O.
The next several minutes involve Rocko trying to convince the doorman to let them in. All while everyone else echoes his comments in song.
At one point, the doorman asks “how do you know the words?”
Heffer- “oh boy, he’s got you now, Rock.”
Rocko- “well, I don’t know the words.”
Unruly mob (in song)- “he doesn’t know the words…” Rocko (screams)- “shut up!!”
Doorman- “sorry I can’t let you in without an appointment.”
Rocko- “oh…”
Unruly mob (in song)- “I guess we’ll all go home.” And they leave him to fend for himself.
Rocko comes up the perfect comeback about how "our business keeps your business going" and the doorman finally lets him in: “ok, whatever…”
He speaks to the board of directors but has a little difficulty getting his point across. He hesitantly starts into one of the songs and one of the guys whispers to another “why is he spelling?”
Out of nowhere, the unruly mob busts into the boardroom and sings the full song. The boss finally agrees with a soft “ok…” Rocko gets carried out on the shoulders of the mob and they rejoice about how Rocko fought city hall
Ironically, Mr. Bighead is the head of the environmental department and has to close off the cooling stacks, stop the waste runoff into the rivers and last but not least, he needs to recycle
The entire neighborhood shows up the next day to thank him, but he wants none of it. He hated being forced into doing what he did and spouts his own song about not having the patience to recycle and it ends up him getting zapped by UV rays thanks to a hole in the ozone that coincidentally opens over his head.
Between this, Fern Gully and Captain Planet, they were REALLY into the environmental anti pollution thing in the 90s. In todays world, I think things have gotten way out of hand. For me, recycling and not littering is more than enough. Plus I have a yeti water bottle so I don’t use as many plastic bottles as I used to. Anything more than that is too expensive or simply asks way too much.
High Five of Doom
Talk about your imagination running away with you…
Filbert is seen earlier in the segment writing in a notebook. Heffer wants to see what he’s writing but Filbert refuses, stating it’s his private journal. It just so happens that Rocko comes across it when Filbert loses it. He vows to keep it safe and not infringe on Filbert’s privacy despite Heffer pestering him about it.
As you can imagine, curiosity does get the best of him. But he tries to be sneaky about it. He vacuums his living room and lifts up the table slightly so the book falls off the table.
“Oh dear, Filbert’s journal fell off the coffee table… and it didn’t open… thank goodness…” Don’t know why but I find his sarcasm here hilarious.
Just as Rocko is about to read one page, Heffer busts in and begs on his knees to see it. “I can’t sleep, I can’t think, I can’t even eat…” his stomach gurgles, “ok… I can eat.”
Rocko relents, suggesting “if I read just one page, will you be satisfied?” We all kinda know they won’t be able to stop at just one page.
Filbert’s writing isn’t just gripping, it becomes a little unsettling after a bit. It says he’s part of an alien race bent on world domination and their master plan is blowing people up by giving them high fives. The two of them do some recon and see filbert doing some of the things he mentioned in the book, like putting mustard under his arm pits. They also see him with antennae coming out of his head.
The next page is especially frightening and drives the rest of the story arc home. It says that he’s discovered that the two of them are onto his plans and must destroyed. Filbert shows up at that moment and they proceed to block the front door with every piece of furniture in the house… neglecting to lock the back door.
Filbert is overjoyed to find that rocko had his journal and suggests a high five. Of course Rocko and Heffer panic and everything comes out. Filbert laughs saying it’s not a real journal and snorts “I’m not an alien.” They ask him about the odd behavior they witnessed and he easily explains them. Like how putting the tv antenna on his head gives him good reception anywhere and “why spend money on cologne when mustard is free?”
The rest… you’ll have to see and find out for yourself cuz it’s kinda open for interpretation
Dear John
Another series classic we still quote to this day.
A random government satellite falls through Rocko’s roof, destroying his kitchen. As one might expect, not only does the government refuse to compensate him, they explicitly deny anything happened at all. His insurance agent happens to be a hyena and naturally laughs at the matter, unable to do anything to help. This puts Rocko in a bind because he’s holding a party soon and needs to find a solution fast.
He and Heffer go to the local home and garden expo for other ideas. One is playing a game show to win a kitchen. Rocko wins easily but what they don’t tell him is that he has to keep winning games in order to find the entire kitchen. His prize for winning the first game is a spoon… so yeah, he’s got no time. The two of them come away with a do it yourself book on kitchens and bathrooms and proceed to do just that… except they accidentally turned the kitchen into a bathroom
He ultimately hires tv personality Bob "Bucky" Taylor (gee, I wonder who he’s based off of) to do the job for them. What happens is easily one of the best joke in the entire series.
"My living room, it's a bathroom. My closet is a bathroom. My basement is a bathroom! My ballroom is a bathroom!! EVEN MY BATHROOM IS A BATHROOM! Well, I guess that's okay..."
Rocko then finds the perfect solution: making the party a tribute to bathrooms with all the guests wearing towels. Filbert asks for the little turtle’s room but is having trouble cuz people are in all the rooms. Rocko suggests the garage and it winds up being the perfect solution
An Elk for Heffer
Filbert’s rite into adulthood was returning to his birthplace: Kerplopacos island. Anything he fights cuz he doesn’t want to become an adult but nature has other plans. For Heffer, things are slightly more complicated.
Because Heffer’s family are wolves, his dad is part of an important council. According to their laws, whether he’s a wolf or not, Heffer has to bring an elk home for dinner in order to be inducted into the pack as an adult.
He accepts the task, but it’s not explained to him very well… he asks Rocko when he can find an elk and he suggests the local elks' club.
After putting on fake antlers in order to get in, he meets Elkie… and they fall madly in love.
Filbert’s rite into adulthood was returning to his birthplace: Kerplopacos island. Anything he fights cuz he doesn’t want to become an adult but nature has other plans. For Heffer, things are slightly more complicated.
Because Heffer’s family are wolves, his dad is part of an important council. According to their laws, whether he’s a wolf or not, Heffer has to bring an elk home for dinner in order to be inducted into the pack as an adult.
He accepts the task, but it’s not explained to him very well… he asks Rocko when he can find an elk and he suggests the local elks' club.
After putting on fake antlers in order to get in, he meets Elkie… and they fall madly in love.
One mushy montage later, he asks her to dinner with his family.
This is where things go off the rails. Elkie gets over the initial shock that his family are wolves. Meanwhile, his parents have a classic conversation
George mutters under his breath, “Honey, she’s still alive.” And Virginia says that they’re lucky he got her there at all.
Next, Elkie is shocked to discover Heffer isn’t an elk… he’d had the “antlers” on as long as they’ve been dating. In response to her remarks, his dad counters with, “what, he’s not good enough for you or something? He’s not a wolf but we love him anyway.”
That’s when Virginia makes a comment about getting Elkie into the oven. Heffer is completely blindsided and she has the best response, “I ain’t getting in any oven!”
Heffer sees her out, apologizing but she decides they can’t be together because they’re different species
His dad commends him for standing up for himself and comes up with a good backup plan. A secret only known to them, their elk dinner is vegetarian elk substitute
This is where things go off the rails. Elkie gets over the initial shock that his family are wolves. Meanwhile, his parents have a classic conversation
George mutters under his breath, “Honey, she’s still alive.” And Virginia says that they’re lucky he got her there at all.
Next, Elkie is shocked to discover Heffer isn’t an elk… he’d had the “antlers” on as long as they’ve been dating. In response to her remarks, his dad counters with, “what, he’s not good enough for you or something? He’s not a wolf but we love him anyway.”
That’s when Virginia makes a comment about getting Elkie into the oven. Heffer is completely blindsided and she has the best response, “I ain’t getting in any oven!”
Heffer sees her out, apologizing but she decides they can’t be together because they’re different species
His dad commends him for standing up for himself and comes up with a good backup plan. A secret only known to them, their elk dinner is vegetarian elk substitute
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