Rocko's Modern Life

Joe Murray was born and raised in San Jose, California. Joe has been able to live only of his art since he 16 years old. He has made several short films over the years. Most of which have been shown at several big movie festivals. One of his most popular short films is called "My Dog Zero" (which is where the inspiration for Spunky came from). Joe has also made several children books. He was also the creator of "Camp Lazlo" on Cartoon Network.

Below are some character bios for some of the most important characters on the show. There is also a little bit of information about the people that played them.

Rocko is a wallaby from Australia. He lives with his pet dog "Spunky" in O-Town. Rocko's favorite activities include jackhammering and hanging with his friends Heffer and Filburt. Carlos Alazraqui is the voice of Rocko.

Heffer is a very fat cow (or steer, as he often corrects people). Heffer was adopted and raised wolves who intended to eat him, but grew to love him. Heffer's favorite activaties include eating, hanging out with Rocko and Filburt, and eating (yes, I know I said eating twice). Heffer is voiced by Tom Kenny. Tom Kenny also played several other characters on the show; such as Really Really Big Man and Peaches just to name a few. After Rocko's Modern Life ended Tom went on to play several other characters on several other shows and movies; like Spongebob, CatDog, Camp Lazlo (also created by Joe Murray), Transformers 2-3, and many many others.

Filburt is Rocko's turtle friend. Filburt is pretty much afraid of everything. Later on in the series he ends up marrying his one true love, Dr. Hutchinson. They had three kids together (a cat, a turtle, and a cow that all hatched from eggs). Filburt is voiced by Doug Lawrence (A.K.A. Mr. Lawrence).

Spunky is Rocko's half-brain dead dog. Spunky's character was based on the dog from Joe Murray's short film "My Dog Zero". Spunky is also played by Carlos Alazraqui.

The Bigheads are Rocko's next door neighbors. Ed Bighead absolutely hates Rocko and all of his friends. Bev Bighead, however, doesn't find Rocko and his friends annoying. Both Ed and Bev Bighead are voiced by Charlie Adler. Charlie also voiced George Wolf, The Fatheads, Grandpa Wolf, Mr. Dupette (Ed Bighead's boss), and several other characters on Rocko's Modern Life.

Dr. Hutchinson is Filburt's wife. Dr. Hutchinson's character was created when an executive from Nickelodeon said that Rocko's Modern Life need a strong female role model. When Joe asked the executive what she had in mind she replied "You know, a professional woman, someone with a good hook". Joe knew that by "hook" the executive meant a character that "hooks" viewers, but out of "sheer defiance" he later said, he gave Dr. Hutchinson an actual hook. Dr. Hutchinson is voiced by Linda Wallem. Linda also played Cindy Wolfe, Virgina Wolf, and several other female characters on Rocko's Modern Life. (I wasn't able to find a good picture of Dr. Hutchinson. So, you will just have to picture a cat with a hook for a hand, wearing an apron.)

(All quotes in the above paragraph are from the "Joe Murray Studio" website)

The next few Youtube videos are all on how to draw the Characters of Rocko's Modern Life. All of the videos are a made by Joe Murray.

Many people that worked on the show went on to continue working in the cartoon industry. Joe Murray went on to create "Camp Lazlo" on Cartoon Network, and make several more short films. Tom Kenny (the voice of Heffer) went on to do voices of many characters for both cartoons and movies, he is mostly known for doing the voice of Spongebob. After his directing job on Rocko's Modern Life, Stephen Hillenburg started his own cartoon series on Nickelodeon called "Spongebob Squarepants". Jeff "Swampy" Marsh was also a director on Rocko. He later went on to create the cartoon series "Phineas and Ferb" on Disney Channel. And Finally Carlos Alazraqui went on to voice Lazlo on Joe Murray's next show "Camp Lazlo".