Snowballs/Frog's Best Friend (Rocko's Modern Life Season 2 Episode 12) - 'Toon Reviews 24

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Snowballs

I’m not a winter person, but I do enjoy snow themed activities.  This includes seeing cartoons dedicated to such activities.  This right here is a really fun one working off of a premise that reminds that there’s no harm in working in some fun when you have a job to do if it doesn’t go too far. 

Rocko’s job is to drive through the mountains to another town to pick up comic books for his boss.  However, Heffer, who’s coming along, takes in the spirit of the location and urges Rocko to take the opportunity to break from the drive to try skiing on the way.  The admirable thing is that Rocko doesn’t buy into this until there’s a legit reason to go to the nearby Mount Frosty ski resort.  While driving, officials from Mount Frosty cause an avalanche that jams the traffic, quickly convincing drivers to turn off the highway and go to the resort.  As you can tell, it’s a total scam to get people to come, and it doesn’t stop there. 

Rocko has a lot of money from Mr. Smitty, most of which is meant for the comics he has to pick up.  The ski resort has a tagline that everything is $5 which makes it seem like going skiing would be a fine way to pass the time while the road’s blocked.  The catch is that every THING is $5, so Rocko and Heffer have to pay for more than just all day passes.  I normally would be disturbed by this ploy, but I honestly find it as a pretty humorous take on how roadside attractions tend to be rip-offs. 

There are also plenty of solid ski related gags from Rocko building up his skills.  Being inexperienced, he gets a few funny clunks from trying to get on the chairlift, showing that getting on is harder than it looks.  There also a few funny run-ins with trees while he’s on the slopes, but he does get noticeably better, and Heffer shows genuinely friendly support. 

Eventually, Rocko is deemed ready to try the most dangerous slope at the resort, the Devil’s Crevice which works as a solid payoff to everything in this cartoon.  It starts off with a slow impactful buildup as the chairlift takes Rocko and Heffer up the mountain into space.  Rocko, scared by the height, is shocked to learn that he’s been completely ripped off with no more $5 to back out of skiing.  There’s no turning back, so he has no choice but to do the slope. 

The run through Devil’s Crevice makes for an exciting climax.  There’s a collection of shots at different angles to emphasize the steepness of the mountain and the speed of the skiing.  It’s also made funny by many creative gags like Rocko skiing through traffic of people and cars, and breaking out of the side of the mountain and bringing out a frozen caveman.  Finally, his comic problem is solved when he suddenly finds himself doing a ski jump and wins money instantly. 

Everything works out with Rocko fulfilling his duty thanks to Heffer using the money to buy and deliver the comics in his place, and we’re left with an awesome ski experience.  However, there’s believable after effects of this with Rocko ending up in an all-body cast and never wanting to ski again.  It’s not a total happy ending, but the fun stuff is still very much fun. 

In the end, this is a great cartoon big on winter excitement, even if winter’s not your season.  That said, while it does show that working in fun is fine if circumstances allow, you should probably make sure you’re good at skiing first.

A

Frog’s Best Friend

In this cartoon all about the Bigheads, it’s shown that sometimes, characters who act like total grumps for most of the series can be sympathetic.  A big reason for this is that the grump in question, Ed Bighead, has to deal with someone who acts even worse than him. 

Starring alongside the Bigheads is Earl, a monstrous dog who appears in the theme song, but surprisingly isn’t a regularly seen character.  Right at the start, Earl proves to be nothing short nasty when a fairy frees him from the science lab wanting to put him down, and he thanks her by eating her.  Through showing no regret for his, Earl is certainly no sympathetic creature.  His viciousness is further shown when he gets to the Bigheads’ house.  Not only does he destroy a fly man’s truck, but delights in chasing down Ed.  By the way, it’s a particular highlight to the cartoon as Ed is chased in a vast variety of ways. 

In a more plot-based direction, another highlight is someone finally standing up to Earl, Ed’s wife Bev.  When she catches Earl digging up her flowers, Bev shows no hesitation in telling him off, something most would be too terrified to do.  It does the trick to get Earl to back down, and Bev becomes drawn to the fear and sadness in the dog’s eyes.  She also deduces that Earl is subjected for experiments and is so moved by this state of affairs that she adopts him.  The moment is staged to make it feel like Earl has a soul and does deserve to be given a chance to be good.  Not to mention, the scene demonstrates Bev’s appeal as a character.  Everything brings an impression that Earl can be a decent character if another one disciplines him.  This sounds like a good direction for the cartoon, but that ends up not being the case. 

The cartoon instead focuses much more on Ed getting harassed by Earl while he’s under Bev’s care.  Normally this wouldn’t be a problem since Ed is usually the bad guy who deserves some comeuppance.  Here, Ed doesn’t really do anything bad, so he doesn’t deserve to suffer.  Every time Bev has him go out and bond with Earl, the dog proceeds to maul him without hesitation.  The worst part is that Bev doesn’t even notice this.  She could easily scold Earl to make sure he behaves, but instead she ignores his bad actions and anything Ed is enduring.  It doesn’t help that she keeps feeding Earl luscious steaks while Ed sticks to a very unsubstantial diet.  By the time Ed lures Earl into being launched into space, these actions, while extreme, feel like Ed’s right for doing this. 

For that, the ending where Earl comes back, Ed’s impounded and still denied good food while Bev does nothing is a total downer.  It just doesn’t seem fair that Ed Bighead, for all his bad moments, is left to suffer through the one time he’s in the right.  Earl should’ve acted good on a regular basis, or at least through Bev keeping an eye on him.  Maybe Ed could’ve made Earl act mean which would put Ed in the wrong when trying to get rid of Earl thus justifying the ending.  The potential for Earl to develop and be good is there through the genuine bond Bev has with him, but apart from that, it’s not fully realized and the wrong character is punished. 

The cartoon can still work overall if you know the general nature of Ed Bighead, but this sequence of events and their disappointments do not work in its favor.

C-

The Ranking

1. Rocko’s Modern Christmas
2. Tickled Pinky
3. Boob Tubed
4. Gutter Balls
5. Uniform Behavior
6. Kiss Me I’m Foreign
7. The Lounge Singer
8. Road Rash
9. I Have No Son
10. Snowballs
11. Commuted Sentence
12. Cruisin’
13. Born to Spawn
14. Down the Hatch
15. Junk Junkies
16. Pipe Dreams
17. She’s the Toad
18. Hair Licked
19. Hut Sut Raw
20. Frog’s Best Friend
21. Day of the Flecko

The next Rocko's Modern Life review finishes Season 2 with Rocko in a "short guy wants to be big" story, and also features him get glasses for a jackhammer competition.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews, DuckTales asks you if you're "Dime Enough for Luck." 

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.

'Toon Reviews 18: Rocko's Modern Life Season 1 Episode 6: The Good the Bad and the Wallaby/Trash-O-Madness

The Good the Bad and the Wallaby

This is one of the more charming and interesting exploits of Rocko trying out one of life’s activities which takes him all the way down to a cattle ranch.  He’s invited to come by his Uncle Gib, who oddly enough is not a wallaby, and already he’s set up with a clear goal of what to do.  The last time he was there, he tried to live up to his uncle’s great cowboy skills of lassoing and horseback riding, but things never worked out, so Rocko is determined for things to be different with this new visit. 

In addition, Heffer comes along with Rocko impressed with the idea of being among a herd of cattle, although being a steer himself sets up many potential dangers.  From there, the cartoon becomes a sequence of antics of both Rocko and Heffer each trying to accomplish what they set out to do at the ranch.  They’re basically the brand of creative interpretations to the challenges that come with life’s activities we’ve come to expect, but that doesn’t stop them from being thoroughly enjoyable. 

With Rocko, horseback riding becomes especially challenging when the horse he tries riding, which is the same one he rode on his last visit to the ranch, is now dead and preserved, and the build-up to the reveal both seen and spoken sells the humor of the moment.  Other antics aren’t nearly as clever, but have comedy quirks to them such as him roping random things instead of his own cattle. 

As for Heffer, it’s particularly amusing to watch a civilized cow from the city interact and try to behave like native cows on the ranch such as sleeping standing up (which he finds uncomfortable) and constantly popping in on Rocko to get him to brand him to be part of the herd.  There's even a risqué scene where he manages to get "milked" by the ranch hands despite being a male cow that ended up cut from later TV airings and even the DVD release. But here it is now:

Anyway, Heffer ultimately brands himself with a flimsy felt marker mark and the other cattle fall for it.  However, his desire to be with other steer demonstrates an innocence and naiveté from Heffer’s character when he treats being among other steers like being part of his own kind which could be noble, yet he doesn’t seem to understand what happens to cattle raised on a ranch. 

It’s not until the herd is sent to market when Heffer finally sees the big picture.  In a humorous twist, Heffer believes that going to market means they’ll be picking up snacks, when in reality, they’re going to be sold for food.  However, it’s out of this dark situation that brings in an impressive moment from Rocko.  Riding that same dead horse and utilizing roping skills that latch him onto the truck carrying his friend, Rocko is sent on an exciting chase for the cattle.  He ends up riding an unconventional sheep when the dead horse doesn’t work out, stops the truck by getting on top and asking the drivers politely, and conveniently misses all hazards and lands on a soft chair after being flung when the vehicle stops…at least at first. 

In the end, the cartoon stands out for showing that while some goals have the potential to be met like Rocko becoming good at ranch work, there are some that aren’t always worth pursuing, like Heffer being among other cattle, yet he’s still happy where he is.  Adding on an exciting western ballad from Uncle Gib to close everything off, we can walk away with an immensely entertaining Wild West adventure, and working in the show's brand of entertainment makes it particularly special.

A+

Trash-O-Madness

You might be thrown off about how this cartoon is animated in a slightly more bizarre way than the rest of the series.  This is because it’s a reworked version of the original series pilot, i.e. a short cartoon meant to test the characters and settings of a show to convince the networks to make it.  It was originally animated by series creator, Joe Murray, and his team of artists, with many of the original scenes incorporated into the aired version with new scenes added in to make it long enough, different music to fit the rest of the show’s styles, and Rocko’s color being changed from yellow to beige.  Basically, reviewing this cartoon would be a lot like reviewing the pilot, but its background makes it somewhat interesting.

The plot is on the basic trials and tribulations Rocko faces while getting through life, with particular emphasis on his relationship with and care for his dog, Spunky, and how they’ve moved into this life from their old home in Australia.  The first moments of them waking up to start the day demonstrate the heart of the wallaby-dog dynamic with a wholesome family moment like most days would start.  Then, as soon as Rocko notices the garbage truck, it’s an all-out rush for him and Spunky to grab all the garbage they can around the house. 

If needing to rush to meet the garbage truck isn’t enough, Rocko’s task to collect all the trash is made even more challenging by how his cleaning spree leads to many ways for Spunky to get himself into trouble.  The dog gets inflated by the vacuum, chews on a piece of slime from a box that’s been in the refrigerator since World War II and won’t let it go, and to top it all, ends up with the rest of the trash in a Chinese takeout-crafted compactor, though the latter does amuse with a cartoonish shape for the compactor. 

In keeping with the show’s theme of how life is full of unpredictable challenges, garbage day is made even more of a hassle when Rocko gets pursued by Earl, a mutant dog who escaped from the science lab.  This mean dog is constantly thwarting Rocko’s attempts to simply get out of his house to dump his garbage, popping in on any door he attempts to run out of, leading him to have to try and avoid him by lowing his garbage from the roof with a fishing pole.  Since life still won’t let up on its challenges for Rocko, as it likely wouldn’t do for most people, the situation gets tenser when Earl figures out what he’s up to and catches the garbage with Spunky mixed in.  This moment brings about an admirable quality of Rocko when after being mostly calm and friendly while dealing with the challenging chore, becomes firm and tough when Earl refuses to cooperate, and willing to get physical with Earl to get Spunky back despite the pain he gets. 

In the end, when the chore is done, the day ends with one last wholesome scene of Rocko explaining how much Spunky means to him on account that he’s the only family he has in this new town.  We’re left with a basic story that demonstrates the comedic and relatable strengths of the series, making sense why this pilot got the whole series off the ground.  The aired version can get distracting visually though as we constantly cut from the sketchy pilot style to the current style making for a huge lack of consistency although some new scene like Earl sharpening his teeth and Rocko grabbing the fishing pole do help the story flow better.  Even with that, you’re in for not just a fun take on one of life’s tasks that always needs to be done, but an interesting piece of the show’s history with the cartoon’s context in mind.

A

The Ranking

1. Skid Marks
2. The Good the Bad and the Wallaby
3. To Heck and Back
4. Who Gives a Buck?
5. Dirty Dog
6. Trash-O-Madness
7. Jet Scream
8. Keeping Up With the Bigheads
9. No Pain No Gain
10. Power Trip
11. Bedfellows
12. Leap Frogs

The next Rocko's Modern Life review highlights this show's look at the challenges of going to a baseball game and the movies, both of which coming off amazingly.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a Steven Universe episode called "It Could've Been Great."


If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

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.