"The Good, The Bad, and The Wallaby" is an episode of the first season from Rocko's Modern Life. In series' production order, it is the first segment of the tenth episode of the first season, as well as the nineteenth episode overall.[1]
Summary[]
Heffer and Rocko spend some time on a ranch owned by Rocko's uncle Gib Hootsen.
Plot[]
Rocko gets a letter from his uncle Gib Hootsen, who wants him to visit his ranch. Rocko reminisces his last visit at his uncle's ranch, where he was inept at roping and rode his first horse named Jezebel, who chewed him up and spit him back out. So Rocko is determined to get back on the horse to make things different and grabs his old cowboy hat out of his closet. Heffer comes over and asks if he could come to the ranch with Rocko, who warns him that when they go, he should be careful, for a ranch is no place for a steer. Rocko and Heffer drive to Lazy J Ranch, where they visit Rocko's uncle Gib. Rocko is invited inside the house, but Heffer has to stay outside with the cattle. During the night, his ponderous weight causes him to knock into a row of sleeping cattle, waking them up. Heffer decides to just sleep in the barn instead. The next morning, Rocko asks his uncle if he could ride Jezebel again, only to discover that the horse is now dead. So Gib teaches Rocko how to rope. But the wallaby misses easily and ropes a bunch of different objects instead. A cow then tells Heffer that Rocko is an oppressor and that he needs to abandon him to be a member of the herd. When told that he isn't branded, Heffer cajoles Rocko to brand him multiple times, but Rocko refuses. As a result, Heffer marks himself and tells the rest of the herd that he has been branded, making him an official member of their herd, and they ask if he could join them to attend the moo moo club with them. Rocko notices this and walks in. The other cattle spot him and Heffer tells him about his membership in the cattle. Rocko feels heartbroken and walks away. The next morning, Rocko finds that Heffer and the rest of the cattle are going to a market via pick up truck and they drive off. On the truck, one of the cows tell Heffer that the cattle is getting sold and Rocko finds out about this as Gib tells him. So he rides on Jezebel's carcass and ropes Heffer, the force of the moving truck pulls him along with it. As the truck comes to a mountain, Rocko falls out and lands on one of the sheep below. He rides the sheep to the truck and climbs aboard. He asks the driver of the truck if he could stop, which he does so. The force of the stop sends Rocko flying over the perilous objects and onto an armchair (which Rocko calls an "unbelievable stroke of luck"), only for the spring of the chair to emerge from the seat, sending the wallaby flying again and onto a cactus. Heffer removes Rocko off the cactus and tells him that he is officially done with herding. Gib comes in and says that he will close the ranch and open up a resort for cows - a club moo. Rocko and Heffer ride the sheep back home and Gib, along with the rest of the cattle sings a song about Rocko and his predicaments in Lazy I Ranch, which he calls "Rocko the Wallaby of the West". As the song ends, Heffer asks Rocko which is funnier: bananas or cheese, to which Rocko replies "Cheese, Hef. Definitely cheese."
Characters[]
Trivia[]
- This is the only episode where Heffer mistakes himself for a cow.
- The conversation at the end of the episode ("Which is funnier, bananas or cheese?") is a reference to a gag in "Trash-O-Madness". When Spunky sticks his nose in the Suck-O-Lux, originally bananas were going to come out of his nose. But the writers decided that cheese was definitely funnier.
- Heffer's line "We'll always have the barn." is a parody of the line "We'll always have Paris." from the film Casablanca. However, he is saying this to the Milk-O-Matic, so it's cut in reruns.
- Two of the rope tricks Gib Hootsen does in Rocko's memory is based on the paintings Mona Lisa and The Creation of Adam.
- The items on Heffer's shopping list are all euphemisms for cow droppings.
- In the milking machine scene, Heffer was supposed to have hearts in his eyes, but the Nickelodeon standards and practices department thought that went too far, so they told the crew to replace the hearts with stars.
- The song "Wallaby of the West" was featured on the 1998 compilation album Best of Nicktoons, which was later re-released on vinyl in 2015. The song was written by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh.
Censorship[]
- In the original airing of this episode, there was a scene in which Heffer receives pleasure from a milking machine, though only his reactions are shown onscreen, and another scene where Heffer says goodbye to the Milk-O-Matic were cut from US re-runs and all DVD releases in Region 1 from Shout! Factory/Paramount. However, the uncut version can still be seen on the "With Friends Like These..." VHS tape, the German DVD release of Rocko's Modern Life: The Complete Series, and international TV airings of this episode.
Rocko's Modern Life - "The Good, the Bad and the Wallaby" DVD Version Censorship
The edited scene as it appears on all Region 1 DVD releases.
Quotes[]
- Gib: Is that you, "Ratso"? (sees Heffer) You sure got fat, boy!
- Rocko: No... I'm... over here!
- Gib: WHAT?! You ain't got the sense the good Lord gave a cow-pie! Well, get in here, but first, put that steer in the stock yard!
- Rocko: Uh, Uncle Gib, do you think I could ride Jezebel now?
- Gib: Well, I suppose. You could probably handle her now.
- Rocko: (clears throat) Um, uh, giddy-up? Uh, heh heh, she doesn't seem to have quite the same spunk anymore, does she?
- Gib: Well, I should say not. She's been dead nearly six years now.
- Heffer: (to Rocko) If you were a true friend, you would brand my butt!
- Suspicious Cow: That looks like felt marker!
- Heffer: Git along, little human!
- Rocko: Sold?!?!
- Gib: Yup. The whole load is being sold off to the Lazy J Ranch.
- Rocko: You've got to stop them! My friend's on that truck!
- Heffer: (while being hauled away) Rocko...!
- Gib: I don't think that's gonna happen. Why, that old truck is faster than greased pig spit. And old folks there drive just like Steve McQueen before he switched to decaf.
- Rocko: I'll save you, Heffer!
- (Rocko attempts to write "STOP" on the windshield of the truck, but it comes out backwards.)
- Driver: "POTS"? What does that mean?
- Heffer: Hey, Rocko, which is funnier? Bananas or cheese?
- Rocko: Cheese, Heff. Definitely cheese.
References[]
|