Rocket Power is an American animated television series that aired from August 16, 1999 until July 30, 2004 on Nickelodeon.
Premise
A show based around extreme sports, friendship, and conquering the ups and downs of life, Rocket Power involves the daily situations of a group of friends, Otto, Reggie, Twister, and Sam, as they are living in the fictitious town of Ocean Shores, California.
Production
Rocket Power was produced by Ben Hail for Nickelodeon. While episodes are limited to Sunday mornings on that channel in the US, the show can more frequently be seen on the Nicktoons Network. Episode directors included Michael Daedalus Kenny, Brian Yoder, David Eigsti.
Ocean Shores, the city the show takes place in, is loosely based on the real Californian City of Santa Monica. Some hints include the "Incline," similar to the California Incline in Santa Monica, the City's skyline and the pier, similar to the Santa Monica Pier. Ocean Shores was said to be in Los Angeles County as they frequently ski at the Mount Baldy Ski Lifts on Mount San Antonio, the tallest mountain in Southern California.
The theme song is performed by Devo under the name "The Wipeouters".
Characters
Main characters
- Otto Rocket (Joseph Ashton), An obsessive-compulsive, and greatly successful and courageous athlete whose cocky attitude and short sighted judgment often get him into trouble. Otto is shown in the opening theme wearing an earring, though he never wears one in the main show. Otto doesn't try hard in school and as a result he doesn't get good grades. Otto is Twister's best friend. He is the most well rounded character in extreme sports. Otto is also the leader and cheif idea-starter of the group.
- Regina "Reggie" Rocket (Shayna Fox), Otto's big sister by a year, an aspiring publisher who, while no less competitive and skillful as an "athlete," happens to be of calmer disposition and much more mature. Reggie is most noted for her "magazine" (dubbed "The Zine"). She's the show's biker.
- Maurice "Twister" Rodriguez (Ulises Cuadra; Gilbert Leal), Otto's best friend and a "daredevil" on wheels and aspiring "videographer." He hates to be called by his real name, and he is often seen being teased by his big brother, Lars. Twister's reputation of being the least smart member of the "group" is one of his flaws. Twister is best at skateboarding and rollerblading.
- Samuel (also known as Sam/ Sammy)"Squid" Dullard (Sam Saletta; Gary LeRoi Gray; Sean Marquette; Mike Lane), a Kansas native, who while not as athletically gifted as the others has found a niche as the brains and conscience of the group--and also as a "rock-solid" goalie when they play hockey ("New Squid in Town", "Power Play"). Sam's reputation of being the smartest member of the group is, at times, one of his flaws. The character of Sam is based on the show's creator. Sam's mom is over protective and she forced Sam to skip the 5th grade. Sam was originally the least athletic character, but eventually developed an expert level of surfing and decent abilities in other sports.
Secondary characters
- Raymond "Ray" (often "Raymundo") Rocket (John Kassir), father of Otto and Reggie and the owner of the Shore Shack. Ray is a forty-something widower and also a surfer of no renown. He drives a "vintage woodie."
- Tito Makani Jr. (Ray Bumatai), a Hawaiian surfer and self-styled philosopher who helps his best friend Ray run the business. He has a young nephew who occasionally visits from the islands, named Keoni Makani (professional surfer Matty Liu), who has appeared in a few episodes.
- Lars Rodriguez (Lombardo Boyar), Twister' elder brother who routinely picks on him.
- Eddie Valentine (Jordan Warkol), the self-styled "Prince of the Netherworld," is a sometime participant in the Rockets' activities and a frequent target of Lars' bullying. The son of a magician couple, he favors an outfit of a hooded cloak and a "scary" mask.
- Oliver van Rossun (David Gallagher), is at first Sam's main rival in smarts, but became a close friend to the gang along with Eddie. He never played sports, and was only into academics until he met Sam. In the episode where Oliver met Sam, it was made clear that he would rather watch a documentary of a dung beetle rolling dung balls than participate in physical activity.
- Officer Shirley (CCH Pounder) the only police officer in Ocean Shores who does what she can to keep the peace. A minor character, a relationship between her and Raymundo was implied numerous times in the show, usually by means of pet names.
- Trish and Sherry (both voiced by Lauren Tom), Reggie's best friends, surfers, and members of the state volleyball team. Both had peripheral importance to the plot, and appeared in a handful of stories.
- Mackenzie Benders (Rosslynn Taylor), The five-year-old ankle-biter. She continually beats up the members of "the gang", but has a crush on Twister.
- Conroy Blanc (Obba Babatunde), Owner of the skate park, Madtown, who later becomes Otto and Twister's teacher at their school. In one situation, Conroy was intent on finding the person(s) responsible for ruining a newly-poured cement skate ramp in Madtown Skate Park. It was Twister who made an imprint in the wet cement by accidentally falling into it face-first; he was attempting to write his initials in it before it set.
- Merv and Violet Stimpleton The Rockets' neighbors. Merv is apparently retired and tries to live a life of leisure, but becomes easily frustrated with almost everyone, especially with the Rocket gang. Because of this, he has the Madtown Skate Park opened so that the kids can skate without disturbing anyone. Merv is usually depicted as angry and somewhat eccentric (leading in one episode to Otto and Twister thinking him to be a space alien), although he does have a friendly side, particularly towards his wife. Violet is quite the opposite, always smiling and cheerful. Her pride and joy is growing violets in her garden. She is also a prolific cook, though her food is not always edible.
- Bree "Breezy" Copely A traveling journalist who works for an outdoor adventure/lifestyle magazine, which is not named in the show. Ray has an obvious crush on her and it is implied that there would be a relationship if she wasn't constantly traveling. She only appears in two episodes, and is never heard from again.
- Doug Dullard Sam's estranged father who works in the corporate industry. He is rarely seen, as it's implied that he's always working, which clouds his better judgment. He tries to be the "cool dad" by including Sam's friends in their plans, but it ends up with him talking on his cell phone and ignoring Sam. Though he may seem neglectful, he does have good intentions. He almost seems like a stock character, the neglectful parent who cares about their child in the end, which is noted in the episode where he is the main focus; at the end he throws his ringing cellphone into the back seat of the car as a gesture to Sam that he really does care about him.
Episodes
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Television movies
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Another telefilm based on the series, Reggie's Big (Beach) Break, centering on a spring-break type sports and music beach festival, aired on Nickelodeon in July 2003.
Otto will be playable in Nicktoons: Pirate Planet.
Other projects
Other projects related to Rocket Power and developed under the aegis of Klasky-Csupo and/or Nickelodeon have included video games like Beach Bandits, and Maximum Rocket Power Live: The Battle for Madtown Park, a live-action extreme-sports dramatic arena play that briefly toured the U.S. Midwest in spring 2002, before being cancelled over low ticket sales (it had originally been scheduled to tour about 40 cities all over the U.S., all the way into the fall).
External links
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