Jet Scream
Everyone
has their own way of travel, so travelling a different way can understandably
make them feel uneasy. Also, even if
some people are used to a certain form of travel, things can still go wrong in
accordance with the nature of life.
That’s the topic for this cartoon.
Rocko gets two plane tickets to a comic book convention and invites
Heffer to come along. From the start,
the flight is perceived in two different ways.
Heffer, who has never been on a plane before, is nervous, while Rocko is
much more optimistic about the whole thing claiming flight to be one of the
safest ways of travel. Both perspectives
are natural for both the inexperienced and experienced respectively, and nicely
start off the flight where the tables are turned somewhat regarding how it goes
for both Rocko and Heffer.
As it is one
of the show’s specialties, comedic exaggerations highlight any sort of
inconvenience or challenge that comes from modern life, and travelling is no
exception. There’s flight attendants
being careless with Rocko and Heffer’s bags by sending them to space, Rocko getting
busted by the metal detector which picks up even the smallest metal things,
coach passengers only getting peanuts for dinner instead of exquisite meals
like first class passengers, and Rocko dealing with bratty little kid passengers. Other exaggerations don’t connect to the
challenges of flight, but stand out for adding onto the sensations of the
motions of a flight. There’s the
intensity of the takeoff, Rocko freezing and melting based on the overhead
buttons Heffer pushes, and the plane taking a very sharp decent after Rocko
flushes paper down the toilet. The
things Rocko and Heffer are put through also offer a balance of their earlier
thoughts on flight. Heffer who feared
flight sees its benefits, and Rocko, in his usual fashion, started off
confident about flight, but it turned out to not be as safe as he thought.
Heffer adjusts well to the plane environment, especially since he successfully
sneaks into first class, while Rocko mostly gets the short end of the stick.
Regarding Rocko, him only facing the hardships
work for how no one seems to actively try and make life difficult. It’s just things simply not working out the
way he wants them to which is relatable to anyone. The only time it feels like the plane is trying
to make life difficult for Rocko is when he’s shocked while entering first
class, and Heffer improbably gets in without trouble. Other than that, things like getting held up
at the metal detector and getting bothered by the kid are more believable, with
the latter standing out with Rocko retaliating against the kid and everyone
cheers for him. The flight ends with an
exciting climax with another exaggeration with the landing which comes with
creative flash-and-pan reactions of Rocko and Heffer as it comes down, followed
by a reminder that all transportation has its misfortunes after Rocko decides
to take the bus the rest of the way.
All
in all, you end up with an exciting, relatable flight with interesting takes on its common mishaps.
A
Most creative interpretations of life’s many challenges featured on this show are a collection of things going wrong for Rocko. This cartoon has a bit of a distinction in which it’s not just things going wrong, but mainly a depiction of the inside source oh the problem.
The featured task Rocko is put up against is giving his dog, Spunky, a bath after getting convinced of the potential hazards of letting him stay dirty. While most cartoons of the show would have the actual bathing process as a focus, the real focus is a unique turn of events that helps the whole cartoon stand out better.
It brings a creative interpretation on how bugs and parasites that crawl on mammals are living creatures trying to survive and live their lives like any of us would, even if they are unhealthy for creatures like dogs to live with. On Spunky’s back live two parasites, a tick named Bloaty and a ringworm named Squirmy, and the cartoon gives them an interesting edge by portraying them as characters in a sitcom. It’s certainly not what you’d expect out of insects who only exist to feed off bigger creatures, but as an animated product, any little thing is opened up to any creative interpretation. They also take full advantage of the sitcom format with a laugh track, a stock plot about Bloaty needing to prepare dinner for his boss to keep his job and become vice president, and even its own theme song that’s sure to stick in your head. Even if what Bloaty and Squirmy get up to is as basic as a sitcom plot as you can conceive, the fact that it comes from parasites automatically gives it some distinction for taking the time to explore what they’re thinking instead of just treating them as a hindrance you want to groom away.
Out of it all, there’s some nice chemistry between both Bloaty and Squirmy which shows how good a team they make when they need each other and how they’re confident enough to help each other out even when they mess up or when things go wrong beyond their control. Regarding the things beyond their control, they enhance their task at hand. Bloaty and Squirmy may be portrayed as characters living their own normal lives, but they’re still parasites others would want to dispose of. As a result, the tiny vermin are put at the mercy of the many ways Rocko tries to clean Spunky such as having to run for cover when Spunky is brushed, and hanging by the fur when Spunky tries to hide from taking a bath. These are the kind of things that are bound to happen when you’re really tiny and living on a much larger creature, and the cartoon does an amusing job of bringing the antics that come from the setup to life.
They’re also an entertaining way to bring on the ending to the boss dinner plot when everything involved in Spunky’s grooming that got in the way of the dinner actually impresses Bloaty’s boss, even though he gives the vice president position to the true mastermind, Squirmy. The creativity doesn’t stop there though when one last part of grooming produces a big wave from a bath for Spunky that moves Bloaty and Squirmy onto Rocko for a new island-based sitcom plot, while another sitcom occurs on the actual parasites.
The creative takes on the bugs we need to clean off of our pets make the cartoon truly stand out as something entertaining, for even if what they do is typical for sitcoms, it’s still an amusing take on bugs in general.
The Ranking
- Who Gives a Buck?
- Dirty Dog
- Jet Scream
- No Pain No Gain
- Bedfellows
- Leap Frogs
The next Rocko's Modern Life review covers one of Ed Bighead's nastiest moves as he plans to repossess Rocko's house for petty reasons, and Rocko putting up with the challenges of driving school when he's sent there over a missing gas cap.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is more of Steven Universe with "Too Far."
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