Overview , the creator of ''Rocko's Modern Life''|alt=A man with straight black hair smiles as his chin lays on his fist, with the portrait taken at a studio. According to Murray, as ''Rocko's Modern Life
was his first television series, he did not have prior experience or knowledge with the atmosphere of typical animation studios. He says that his experience in independent films initially led him to attempt to micromanage many details in the production, as the approach used for the production of television shows was "driving me crazy." This led him to allow other team members to manage aspects of the Rocko's Modern Life
production, including director and later creative director Stephen Hillenburg, whom Murray met at an animation film festival where he was showing his three short films. Additionally, when Murray opened his Los Angeles studio, he hired various animators who worked on The Simpsons, Cool World (1992), and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). The crew of Rocko's Modern Life
were fans of surreal humour in both animated and live-action form. Tom Kenny cited Looney Tunes
and SCTV'' as influences for the show, and also stated "I'm sure if you asked Joe Murray or Mr. Lawrence or any of those guys, especially in terms of animation, the weirdest cartoons would, of course, be our favorites—those weird '30s
Fleischer brothers Betty Boop cartoons and stuff like that." In November 1992, two months before the production of season 1 of ''Rocko's Modern Life'', Murray's first wife died by suicide. Murray had often blamed his wife's suicide on the show being picked up. He said, "It was always an awful connection because I look at
Rocko as such a positive in my life." He felt that he had emotional and physical "unresolved issues" when he moved to
Los Angeles, describing the experience as participating in a "marathon with my pants around my ankles." Murray initially believed that he would create one season, move back to the
San Francisco Bay Area, and "clean up the loose ends I had left hanging." When Nickelodeon approved of new seasons, he felt surprised by the offer; During the early stages of ''Rocko's Modern Life'', Murray struggled to feel humorous while privately grieving his wife's death. Despite this, colleagues described him as notably selfless during production. According to Marsh, Murray was aware of his own emotional strain and sometimes withdrew in isolation. Nevertheless, he remained committed to shielding the creative team from external pressures, ensuring they were not blamed or interrupted, and consistently supported their work from behind the scenes. Being Nickelodeon's first fully in-house animated production, The production moved to a different office building on Vineland Avenue in Studio City, where executives did not share space with the creative team. Throughout production,
Sunwoo Entertainment, and later
Rough Draft Studios, assembled the animation. In the Studio City offices, Murray negotiated a contractual provision preventing unannounced visits from Nickelodeon representatives. He also kept a quotation from author
Hunter S. Thompson displayed in his office that reflected the show’s anti-authoritarian ethos: "The TV business is a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs."|alt=Rocko screams in danger exaggeratedly, with extremely oversized eyes, his mouth extended, and his body far up from the roof of his house, while letting go his fishing rod.The writers aimed to create stories that they describe as "strong" and "funny." Writers
George Maestri and
Martin Olson often presented ideas to Murray while eating
hamburgers at Rocky's, a restaurant formerly located on Lankershim in the
North Hollywood section of the San Fernando Valley. Murray stated that each episode of ''Rocko's Modern Life'' stemmed from the personal experiences of himself and/or one or more of the directors or writers, including the season-two episode "I Have No Son", based on Murray's frustrations with Nickelodeon and his father's past disapproval of his aspiration to become an artist. At the start of its production, Murray received significant creative freedom from the network, and
Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, a storyboard writer who went on to co-create
Phineas and Ferb, says that writers of ''Rocko's Modern Life
targeted both children and adults. He cites Rocky and Bullwinkle'' as an example of another series that contains references indecipherable by children and understood by adults. Aiming for a similar goal, Marsh described the process as "a hard job." According to him, when censors questioned proposed material, sometimes the team disagreed with the opinions, but agreed with the rationale of the censors. He says that "many people" told him that the team "succeeded in this endeavor" and that "many parents I know really enjoyed watching the show with their kids for just this reason." John Pacenti said the series "seems very much aimed at adults" "for a children's cartoon." Marsh believes that the material written by Doug Lawrence stands as an example of a "unique sense of humor." For instance, Marsh credits Lawrence with the "
pineapple references," adding that Lawrence believed that pineapples seemed humorous. Murray's animation lacked parallel lines and featured crooked architecture similar to various
Chuck Jones cartoons. In an interview, he stated that his design style contributed to the show's "wonky bent feel." while Darryn King of
Vanity Fair described the series’ animation style as resembling “
Salvador Dalí meets mid-century mod,” characterized by zig-zagging forms, exaggerated angles, and a vivid, boisterous color palette.
Linda Simensky said that she asked the creators of ''Rocko's Modern Life'' about why the women in the series were drawn to be "top-heavy," the creators told her that they believed that drawing women "the traditional way" was easier. Simensky described the creators as "talented guys" who formed "a boy's club" and added that "we pushed them to be funny, but a lot of their women are
stereotypical." Throughout its production, Nickelodeon pushed Murray to use a strong female character on
Rocko, eventually creating Dr. Hutchinson, a dentist who "lost her hand to a crocodile patient." On April 7, 2023, a soundtrack album featuring tracks from the first and second seasons was released on streaming and digital download. A deluxe edition released on September 18 with eleven additional tracks, timing the 30th anniversary of ''Rocko's Modern Life''.
Censorship in the season one episode "Canned" (1993), where an instruction sheet notes employees to "Be Hot, Be Naughty, and Be Courteous," while he flatly repeats "Oh baby" into the receiver, turning out to be Mrs. Bighead. The series' fictional restaurant, Chokey Chicken, is based on the phrase, "to choke the chicken", a slang term for masturbation. After the name had been intact in its first three seasons, someone reported the innuendo by the fourth season's production, resulting in its name change to Chewey Chicken. Initially from "The Good, the Bad and the Wallaby" (1993), Heffer finds pleasure in a milking machine. According to Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, writer and director of the series, the scene initially had hearts appear in Heffer's eyes during its climax. Despite being cut, the crew explained the scene to Nickelodeon censors. "We described the scene, and then waited for the axe to fall, but all they said was 'can you change the hearts to stars?', we said sure, and it went in." The scene, along with the following scene of Heffer saying goodbye to the milking machine, was removed before its premiere. In the end, Shout! Factory and Paramount only received materials from sources edited for broadcast, meaning the episodes remained censored on the DVDs. == Themes ==