Leap Frogs
This
cartoon has an interesting broadcast history.
Sometime after it first aired, it was banned from the air for years due
to the suggestive content. Honestly, it
kind of make sense that it got pulled.
While the story itself isn’t that bad, it can be pretty disturbing and
uncomfortable.
The cartoon features the
first starring role of Ed and Bev Bighead.
They both have a differing opinion on their neighbor with Ed being
scornful over Rocko’s mere existence and Bev being much more hospitable and
friendly with him. Here however, her
good nature towards Rocko we’ll end up seeing later on is instead seen as
lust for him.
At least there’s somewhat of a good reason for Bev’s behavior. Ed is engrossed
in his work and a total grump. His
behavior goes so far that he doesn’t give any attention to his wife nor does it
feel like he truly loves her. This is
even creatively shown through a pig Cupid shooting arrows at Ed as he sleeps,
and unlike most times someone would be struck by such an arrow, Ed is
completely unaffected.
For the lengths
of Ed’s neglect, Bev is sympathetic claiming that she wants nothing more than
to be loved. The smart things to do
would be for her to just talk to Ed or leave him to form a healthier
relationship, but being from a show that rarely utilizes continuity, you can
guess that probably isn’t going to happen.
What does happen is not exactly the best thing to be done morally or
entertainment-wise. Bev’s desire to be loved
turns her to Rocko who she seems to admire a little too much as she watches him
do his chores. She has him do odd jobs
around the house and the discomfort begins.
Every time Rocko is tasked to do a chore, Bev summons him in a seductive
way not helped by the raspy tone and masculinity of her voice (this being due
to being voiced by Charlie Adler, the same man who does her husband), and I usually
like her voice fine. She also sets Rocko
up to do something that bring to mind her wanting to win him over, and most of
her attempts fail to be subtle. Having
him watch a video where a female toad says she doesn’t want to be near a male
toad eying her is a basic showing of harassment, and Bev is clearly happy she’s
naked in front of Rocko after getting him to try and fail to unzip her
dress. The cartoon knows what it’s
doing, and making it this easy for the audience to see costs it appeal as well
as Bev’s prior sympathy.
Fortunately,
the disturbing factor is lightened by funny physical gags like Bev being rewound
in a VCR and blended by flies she seasoned Rocko’s lemonade with. Also, it is nice that when Rocko calls Ed,
unmoved by his wife kissing the wallaby in front of him, out for his neglect,
he regrets his behavior leading to one last scene of the Bigheads pleasuring themselves
as a couple. If that’s not enough, while
Ed is still predominantly a grump for the whole of the series, he seems to learn
from this experience through acting more loving towards his wife.
In all, even if this cartoon does
creatively show the effects of dysfunctional marriages and a few nice and
funny moments, the disturbing and unsubtle drive for the story do not make it
one I’m willing to watch a lot of.
C-
Bedfellows
A common plot in most TV shows involve two friends living together and one or both of them getting on each other’s nerves. This cartoon follows this plotline and displays what most would expect a civil everyman like Rocko and a fat slobby dunce like Heffer would be like together. It’s actually impressive how much someone so calm and collected can get along with someone so difficult like Heffer as the majority of the series portrays. However, their moments of getting along are when they just hang out together as friends, and this cartoon teaches the valued life lesson that hanging out with a friend isn’t always the same as living with a friend.
Heffer is driven to move in with Rocko after his wolf dad is let go from work and the family has to make sacrifices in order to get by, and the family’s idea for Heffer’s sacrifice is renting out his room. Now since Rocko is the good-natured guy he is, he allows Heffer to stay with him not seeing any problems with the setup at first. However, Heffer thinks it’s all right to do whatever he wants to make himself comfortable especially when the couch Rocko offers him comes to life and runs away. That’s a rare antic from the show I can’t figure out what it stands for. Anyway, Heffer’s home habits which Rocko is not used to become dominant and they are a significant mixed bag. Some of them are the unpleasant kind of habits you’d expect from a slob such as snoring really loud and leaving a big mess in the bathroom just as Rocko’s ready to use it with a lot of details on how disgusting it is. Watching Rocko have to put up with Heffer’s actions doesn’t have anything fun to it, and you end up feeling for him and being disgusted by what he’s up against.
Heffer may not be intelligent, and I have been positive towards dumb cartoon characters in the past, but honestly, these are not very good moments from a dumb character. Even if characters are stupid, they can still be considerate and loyal friends, but these moments of Heffer don’t present him as such. Fortunately there are some moments to show off Heffer’s good side like when he’s nice enough to make dinner for him and Rocko even if the ingredients are questionable, and even if he causes a riot, he has good intentions of sharing fun with parties he throws with others including Rocko. One of them is part of a vast collection of risqué moments which is attended by nudists and there’s a montage of clever ways they cover their private parts even though they’re all animals. Basically, Heffer living with Rocko is a perfect showing of how he both works and doesn’t work as a dumb cartoon character.
This is even shown in the end when he ignores Rocko finally getting firm with him, and blames Rocko for being difficult to live with despite the fact that it’s clearly the other way around. However, Heffer himself also claims that no matter who’s the real slob, they can always be friends thus keeping him likable as he moves back home.
On the whole, this cartoon is a decent play on the common difficult house guest plot. True, you end up with moments that don’t do justice for certain characters, some of which can get disturbing (not to the extent of “Leap Frogs” though), but the funny and good-hearted parts are still worth pointing out and enjoying.
C
The Ranking
- Who Gives a Buck?
- No Pain No Gain
- Bedfellows
- Leap Frogs
The next Rocko's Modern Life review covers antics Rocko and Heffer come across as they travel by plane, and Rocko's attempt to wash Spunky leads to a sitcom starring a tick and tape worm on the dog's back.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a Steven Universe episode that takes us "Back to the Barn."
If you would like to check out other Rocko's Modern Life reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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