![]() For Murray, he has something to say about our current times and believes he can do it in a way that is true to the tone of the original run.īoth Bartlett and Murray took a break from production to speak with Den of Geek about the upcoming revivals, and what the future could hold for their beloved Nicktoons.ĭEN OF GEEK: Were you always looking to bring Hey Arnold! back? How did we end up with a new feature-length movie?ĬRAIG BARTLETT: Fifteen years ago this summer, we had just put out The Hey Arnold! Movie. Nostalgia may be at the heart of the Nicktoon revival, but for Bartlett it’s just as much about unfinished business. “There’s a kid issue involved in the main storyline and there’s lots of great visual animation. “Even in the ‘90s, we were always keeping in mind that it was a younger audience, but that it would appeal to different age groups,” Murray remembers. “I was one of the most surprised of anybody,” Murray says as he takes a long pause before filling the silence with a loud chuckle.įor the project to work, Murray brought back the entire original voice cast and aimed to keep it as close to the original as possible, which like its predecessor Ren and Stimpy, appealed to all ages. But even he was caught off guard when Nickelodeon was circling Rocko as its next classic Nicktoon special. Rocko’s Modern Life got a second wind from "NickSplat", and Murray says he has noticed a renewed activity in recent years, from merchandising opportunities to a big uptick in interest on social media. “Conglom-O Corporation” is basically just Amazon at this point. ![]() The transition should be smooth for a series that was way ahead of its time. Rocko is slow to adapt to technology and believes nostalgia can save him from the cruel modern world while Filburt and Heffer are quick to embrace the joys of the internet age. Rocko, the anthropomorphic wallaby who taught us Garbage Day and Laundry Day are both “very dangerous” days, is going to land on Earth 22 years after we last saw him. Joe Murray, the creator of Rocko’s Modern Life, felt satisfied enough with the show’s original four seasons to blast his main characters off into space in the series finale. ![]() Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling will be a meta take on Hollywood’s wave of nostalgia projects, bringing Rocko, Filburt, Heffer, and Spunky into 2018. Nickelodeon is taking a similar approach with Rocko’s Modern Life, hoping to bridge the gap from old fans to the network’s youthful core audience. “It's not only supposed to be this satisfying conclusion to Arnold's questions of where his parents are, but it's also supposed to reintroduce all these characters to the next generation,” Bartlett says. Stylistically, Arnold is getting a light refresh (don’t worry, he still has that football-shaped head), but they shied away from a complete reboot. Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie will finally give Arnold the chance to go on the adventure of a lifetime and search for his parents. In the emotional finale, “The Journal,” Arnold learns more about his long-lost parents when he stumbles upon his father’s old journal and finds a map that could lead to their whereabouts. “I made this cliffhanger and broke the hearts of children everywhere. “I felt really bad for a long time,” Bartlett recalls. He originally planned a second Hey Arnold! film that would answer the questions of the 2004 series finale, but Nickelodeon decided to cancel the series and leave Arnold’s story on a cliffhanger. And a lot of them said, ‘Why don't you bring back Hey Arnold!?’”īartlett didn’t need much convincing. They had a town hall meeting and asked what the employees thought Nick should be doing. “A third of Nickelodeon’s employees were of that age-25 to 30-and fans of the show. “I think one of the big factors is the fans grew up and became part of the professional workforce, part of the media, social media, and animation,” Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett told Den of Geek about the roots of the Nicktoon revivals. They saw interest from outside - Nickelodeon has had a successful run with its ‘90s programming block called NickSplat (formally “The Splat” - and from within. The executives at Nickelodeon rang up the creators of these beloved cartoons seemingly out of the blue. The movie is part of Nickelodeon's slate of revivals, which kicked off last year with revivals of Legends of the Hidden Temple - as a television movie - and Double Dare, and also includes new Rocko’s Modern Life and Invader Zim specials, which are set to air in 2018. This fall, Hey Arnold! returns to Nickelodeon for a feature-length TV special called Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie.
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