Witness Your Favorite TV Stars and See What ‘90s Show is Making a Comeback
Written By: Nicole Hakim
Photographed By: Bhadri Kubendran San Diego Comic-Con 2017
San Diego Comic-Con—best known as SDCC—is an annual convention that began in 1970 in the U.S. Grant Hotel with only 145 guests. As of 1995, the convention has been held at the Convention Center and has hosted over a hundred thousand attendees.
As with every convention, cosplay is a big part of the experience, and as SDCC is one of the largest conventions in the world, it is not surprising to see people dressed from fandoms of all genres. Attendees channeled their inner superhero by dressing as Batman, became princesses by dressing as Belle, turned into members of the undead by becoming Liv Moore from “iZombie” and were ready to fight for the thrones as Jon Snow.
In addition, SDCC is the go-to place for some of the biggest names in media. For those who don’t wish to spend so much time in line, attendees went to panels in rooms such as Ballroom 20 and the Indigo Ballroom to see the stars of such shows as “iZombie”, “Gotham” and “Lucifer.” For those courageous enough to brave through the dreaded Hall H—it was such a daunting line that some attendees waited all day, and sometimes, night in—had the most anticipated panels featuring many stars, including “Game of Thrones”, “Justice League”, “Doctor Who” and much more in between.
SDCC also paid homage to series that have been long gone, but still hold places in many hearts. Most specifically, these series are “Hey! Arnold” and “Rocko’s Modern Life,” both of which are coming back with movies that will air on Nickelodeon in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Though “Hey! Arnold” ended in 2004, the new Jungle Movie will take place only a couple of years later. “Rocko,” however, is staying true to the gap and will take place 22 years after the series finale, in which the main characters were hurtled into space. “Rocko’s Modern Life” aired in 1993 and ended in 1996, and it seems so surreal to have it back, especially because Joe Murray (the creator) was adamant about it not returning. After Nickelodeon called him up and asked if he would consider bringing the show back, Murray contacted Mr. Lawrence (writer and voice of Filburt Shellbach) who says they didn’t want to bring it back just to bring it back, and if they couldn’t think of a purpose, there would be no point.
However, upon meeting with Murray, the idea of a TV movie—which they dubbed Static Cling—became more and more favorable. “We sat and talked about things that weren’t there in the ‘90s,” Lawrence says, and once they started talking, they realized just how funny it would be to bring the characters back from space and have them face a new modern world filled with corporate giants, smartphones and more. For Tom Kenny (voice of Heffer Wolfe), going back to Rocko was like going back to his roots. Though he is best known as Spongebob Squarepants, he says, “Heffer is always there” because the fun loving bovine was his first major role in animation, and it jumpstarted his career, just as it jumpstarted Stephen Hillenburg’s, who went on to create “Spongebob Squarepants.”
Fans of the ‘90s series will not be disappointed as in addition to Tom Kenny and Mr. Lawrence, Carlos Alazraqui (Rocko) and Charlie Adler (Mr. and Mrs. Bighead) will be returning as well. To makes things even better, Cosmo Segurson (director of the movie) reassures fans that it was “important to do [the movie] hand drawn,” in order to ensure that the spirit of show remains as it was.
