Spunky is the deuteragonist of Rocko's Modern Life. He is Rocko Rama's non-sapient Bull Terrier dog, who emits foul odors, eats trash, drinks his saliva, and rolls in and eats Ed Bighead's salmon bushes, much to Bighead's chagrin.
Appearance[]
Spunky is mostly white. He has one black spot on his back and two yellow eyes with black pupils. He also always sticks out his tongue.
Personality[]
Nickelodeon Southeast Asia's website described his personality as "loving" and "loyal". Spunky is black-spotted, and far less intelligent than even real dogs, let alone the popular cartoon archetype of a dog who gets their owner out of trouble on the regular. He drools all the time with a vacant expression. One of his humorous actions is drooling into his water dish, mistaking it for more water, drinking it again, and then repeating this over and over. He also sits limply on his butt, and drags it as he crawls around the house.
Spunky is also known to be home to many, many external and internal parasites. These are portrayed in the episodes "Dirty Dog", "Down the Hatch" and "The Fatlands". The most well known of these parasites areBloaty the Tick and Squirmy the Ringworm, who have adventures influenced by the antics Spunky gets into.
He is always getting Rocko into crazy situations because of his stupidity. Once he ended up getting eaten by Earl, after carelessly getting compacted and thrown out as trash. He also wandered off and was snatched away by a bird at the beach, and once got vacuum packed at the supermarket. Spunky is always safe in the end, thanks to Rocko's utmost care.
Background[]
Spunky is a main character in Rocko's Modern Life, and therefore has played an important role in many episodes. In the pilot episode, "Trash-O-Madness", Spunky caused trouble by playing with a "slime" that Rocko found in the refrigerator, and then he was taken out with the rest of the trash and nearly thrown away forever. In "Sand in Your Navel", Spunky and Rocko head to the beach for a relaxing day, which soon turns into a crazy experience due to Spunky's antics. He was swooped away by a large bird, and then sold as a fish. Rocko had to chase him around the beach and then buy him back. Spunky is also well known for falling in love with a mop in "Clean Lovin'" - an episode that is popular among fans for having many innuendos. Spunky has played a role in many other episodes, such as being held hostage by Ed Bighead in "Sailing the 7 Zzzs", swallowing a bad pill in "Down the Hatch", and being possessed by the spirit of Mortimer Khan in "Feisty Geist".
Behind the scenes[]
Early development[]
Joe Murray, creator of Rocko's Modern Life, originally designed Spunky to be a dog more brain dead than the dog in his film "My Dog Zero", complete with drooling and crossed eyes. Murray later decided that the scenario could "limit the storytelling," so he gave Spunky "a little more intelligence, but not much."
Voice[]
Spunky's barks and other sounds are provided by Carlos Alazraqui, who also voices Rocko.
Trivia[]
- Spunky had a short about him titled "How To Tell if Your Dog is Brainless" that was on a VHS for the series, it was also shown on Nickelodeon during commercial breaks.
- Spunky's brain is the same shape as his ears.
- In "Dumbells", during a vox pop, a dog closely resembling Spunky is briefly interviewed, but his name is actually Spuinky (according to his water bowl) and can actually talk.
- According to one episode, Spunky apparently resembles a whippet, a small sighthound breed, though Rocko never clarifies the situation.
External links[]