Rocko, the animated lead of Nickelodeon's classic '90s series "Rocko's Modern Life," wasn't always Australian.
Carlos Alazraqui, the voice behind Rocko (who you may also recognize from "Reno 911!"), told TooFab in an interview about the upcoming movie, "Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling," that he suggested the accent during his initial audition while reading a vacuum manual.
"They said, 'That sounds kind of good. Let's lay something down' ... They liked it, they sent it off to New York and they said, 'Yay, we're going to do a pilot," Alazraqui said.
And before he even snagged the lead role, he was cast as Rocko's dog, Spunky, after whipping out his uncanny "crazy dog." Our interview (above) was filled with Alazraqui's incredible character voices and impressions of celebrities, including David Bowie, Gene Wilder and Woody Allen.
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View StoryAlazraqui stopped by TooFab's studio for a chat after the first "Static Cling" trailer made nostalgic waves online following its debut on Comic-Con.
"Uh fellas, I don't think we're in the '90s anymore," is the very first line fans heard Rocko utter after being off the air for over two decades, and it sets the tone for the entire plot of the 2018 TV movie.
"The whole special is about Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt coming out of 1996 and being thrust into this new century of coffee shops, food trucks and cell phones, Alazraqui told TooFab. "How do you deal with this world when you haven't been a part of it? It's a fun journey to go on with those guys."
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View StoryAlazraqui said all of today's technological and cultural developments can be "overwhelming," so he hopes viewers will feel empowered as they watch sweet, little, innocent Rocko tackle the 21st century. "If Rocko can take that journey, I think people will say, 'I can take that journey.'"
In the '90s, cartoons on Nickelodeon weren't afraid to push the boundaries of political correctness. "Ren and Stimpy" set that standard and "Rocko's Modern Life" ran with the madness. Alazraqui explained how they snuck adult themes into "Rocko's Modern Life," and what made them "pull back."
"We got away with a lot of subversive things that we wanted to talk about, politics and social issues, through this wallaby who was taking a journey through life with a couple of pals," he said in an effortless Rocko voice. "Heffer did't know who his mom was, Rocko got a job at an adult phone line ... there were a lot of issues we got away with, at least the first couple of seasons, and then Nickelodeon sort of made a shift toward advertising more toward kids, so we had to pull back on some of the subversiveness."
Watch the rest of TooFab's interview with the voice of Rocko below.