SDCC 2017: Return To Earth! ‘Rocko’s Modern Life’ Round-Table & Panel Recap!
Late last year when Nick announced they were bringing back Rocko’s Modern Life with the original cast and crew including, fans were excited, but nervous about it. What would it look like in the age of digital and flash animation? Would the humor from the show remain in tact? While we wouldn’t know for sure, this week answered both of those questions with a resounding YES! 
Before the big panel that took place on Thursday July 20th, I was lucky enough to attend a round-table interview with some of the talent before-hand. This included Tom Kenny (Heffer), Mr. Lawrence (Filburt), and Cosmo Segurson the director. Lawrence and Kenny talked about how the past couple of years they didn’t really realize just how popular the internet made Rocko until they started doing small live reunion shows. Lawrence told us that they would constantly sell out the venue they were performing in, and realized that there was a big demand for Rocko to come back. They also commented on how the tone and humor will defintley be in tact. Kenny, Lawrence, and Segurson all said “It just wouldn’t be Rocko without any of those things.” (Let us never forget the Chokey Chicken.)
After that, it was finally time for the panel. All of the main cast and crew were there. Everyone from Joe Murray, the shows creator, to Charlie Adler, Ed and Bev Bighead themselves. This had to be the most adult panel Nick has ever hosted. Not surprising since this is Rocko, but still a bit odd after seeing how squeaky clean & friendly the network has been for about the past decade. They began the panel by showing off updated character models and backgrounds. Everything was lively, sharp, and animated. They even joked about the fact the Joe wasn’t used to looking at the show in HD. 
They then went on to talk about how hesitant they were to bring the show back. They didn’t just want to bring it back because that’s what’s currently happening in pop culture. They wanted to make sure of 2 things: That 1, they could get the original cast and crew on board, and 2, they’d be able to have creative control over the project since they wanted the characters to e able to say something about modern day culture and technology. They then confirmed that the special will be 100% hand drawn! Not only that, but the same for the backgrounds also as all of them were hand painted. After the crowd erupted into applause, it was time to finally show off a clip of the special in action!
Afterwards they got a bit serious. One of the most important topics brought up was that Really Really Big Man’s nipples will still remain in tact for the special! Phew, that was a close one. The cast also improved Rocko as a phone sex operator again. If you hadn’t put the kids to bed by now, this would be a good time to. Finally, to wrap things up, one of the last questions asked was what surprised Joe the most about working on the special. All he replied was: “The fact that I ended up really enjoying it.” The panel ended on surprisingly emotional level, and was an absolute blast! Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling will release in 2018.
