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Pipe Dreams
Leave it to this show to bring creative, if surreal,
entertainment out of any little problem.
For this cartoon, it targets the less-than-pleasing occurrence of
clogged toilets.
We already see creative
gags as we start at a beautiful river and go through a tunnel up to Rocko’s
toilet where the water comes from. From
there, the conflict kicks in when Heffer clogs the toilet while doing his
business, given that he is a fat steer.
The clog gets worse when he thinks stuffing the toilet with lots of
toilet paper will fix everything; it doesn’t.
With the plumber charging far more than Rocko can afford, surprisingly not
in a jerky manner like one would expect, Rocko and Heffer try to fix the clog
themselves.
From there, this cartoon
doesn’t have much of a plot and is more of antics mined from the attempts to
solve the problem. However, for a show
like this, that’s not a problem. The
antics stress the series’ main theme of how challenging life can be while also
being very entertaining. One gag gets
creative with exactly what ends up causing the clog when Rocko tries using a
simple plunger and pulls out more unusual things than all that toilet
paper. Pulling things like a bowling
ball and safe says a lot about Heffer’s bathroom habits. The gag doesn’t really go all out though as
it turns into a struggle with unsticking the suction part of the plunger. A gag that does go all out, however, is a
following one with a toilet snake as it’s put through the toilet and pops up in
random places. This doesn’t just apply
to Rocko’s bathroom, but also a tree and even Mr. Bighead’s toilet just as he’s
about to use it. There’s also a gag that
exists in the name of fun. Rocko and Heffer talk like people in a commercial as
they bring out a product called Tropical Plumber to fix the toilet. It even comes with a catchy island slogan
from the fruit mascots whom Spunky eats before the substance can work.
For all this time, the story sets up that
Heffer’s bathroom habits caused the clog.
However, following the use of an over-the-top industrial plunger on the
toilet that blows a hole under the house, a completely different clog source is
revealed. There’s a huge goldfish named
Lolita suck in the pipes. She apparently
was Rocko’s pet, but he flushed her when she decided to take a nap and he
thought she was dead. Lolita giving a
long-winded rant about being flushed and trapped in the pipes for three and a
half years is a very creative and hilarious outcome. The delivery of her smart talk in a voice
that hardly sounds feminine especially sells the comedy.
That said, this reveal feels a little too
random and contradictory of what clearly appeared to cause the clog
earlier. Also, while her rant is funny,
it’s hard to know how to feel about everyone getting mad at her. Being annoyed by the rant is one thing, but
they berate her and Rocko even when she’s not yelling. Out of this, we do get a nice conclusion
where the plumber from earlier gets Lolita out of the pipes with a small metal
part from a sardine container and takes her to an aquarium. It even leaves Rocko himself on good terms
with the fish forgiving him and him not being charged. That said, one last gag shows that the
neighborhood still isn’t totally safe from his plumbing problems.
While it feels like the conflict’s driving
force can’t be decided on, this cartoon is still a good demonstration of the
show’s strengths of mining creativity of life’s little moments.
A-
Tickled
Pinky
There are times when certain diseases or medical problems
show up and no precautions can prevent them.
One such disease is appendicitis.
I never had it, but from what I know, getting it can be very frightening
as you’re put through severe stomach pains at any given moment. What Rocko is put through in this cartoon
brings a believable, if creatively depicted, sensation of the disease.
We start with a jackhammer display that seems
to have nothing to do with the story.
However, that sells how appendicitis occurs when Rocko first feels the
pain while minding his own business.
It’s honestly frightening when you think about it. This doesn’t mean there can’t be creative and
humorous antics to depict what he’s put through. The pain is creatively interpreted by all of
Rocko’s organs as schoolkids and his appendix being too sick for class. In the real world, when the ambulance fails
to get him, Heffer astounds by rushing Rocko to the hospital himself. It’s a nice play on expectations, and is one
of Heffer’s most caring moments.
At the
hospital, Rocko endures much turmoil going through the motions of the treatment. He has to fill a mountain of forms before
diagnosis while in pain. It’s harsh for
Rocko to be put through this, but signing forms despite your ailment does seem
believable. There’s also a nice
appearance from Dr. Hutchinson who, in her high-spirited ways, determines
Rocko’s ailment by his lightning-shaped pain lines. In his room, TV keeps reminding him of her
claim that his appendix must be cut out.
These moments may be Rocko’s more painful life-endurances, figuratively
and literally, but they’re enjoyable and humorous for their creativity. In addition, even in pain, Rocko remains his
usual friendly self. It shows in a scene
where he finds many bottled cut organs, and he hallucinates them pleading to
not have his appendix cut out.
Eventually, he passes out and dreams of his appendix, Pinky, come to
life and saddened about getting cut out and never seeing his organ friends
again. It gives him a believable
personality of a child with a life-threatening disease, one of the most tragic
things imaginable. Rocko then acts as
someone akin to an organization like the Make a Wish foundation, and goes out
to fulfill Pinky’s final requests.
However, they’re all very extreme activities that build upon each other. This may be a dream, but it feels like all
these activities are meant to equate the pain Rocko’s actually feeling while
passed out. Plus, it all ends endearingly with Pinky
saying it’s time for him to go just as Rocko’s had enough, and they both share
a final embrace. This sensation is a
clever one to depict that in reality, the operation is over, and Rocko’s
appendix is cut out. The last scene of
Rocko burying his appendix while the spirit of it and other organs that were
cut out is saddening in a funny sort of way.
It’s a funeral where Rocko’s saying goodbye to someone close to him, but
humorous as a creative idea for body parts that are normal to lose being the dearly departed.
It’s not easy to make pain scenes enjoyable,
but in this cartoon, they’re successfully enjoyable all throughout. It’s all thanks to creative ways of showing
the pain, emphasis on relatability, and even genuine heart.
A+
The Ranking
- Tickled Pinky
- I Have No Son
- Pipe Dreams
The next Rocko's Modern Life review invites you to come crawl with Filburt as he becomes a lounge singer, and Bev Bighead astounds with how well she runs Conglom-O in her husband's place.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes season finale, "You're in Control."
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.
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.
