48 Fun Facts About Rocket Power

Which duo created Rocket Power?

Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó's producers hired a contributing editor from Surfer to vet the kids' slang, because dated lingo would brand a cartoon about skating and surfing as phony.

On which network did Rocket Power originally air?

Nickelodeon also turned the cartoon into a real contest: its 2002 Maximum Rocket Power Games put action-sports pros on teams with hand-picked kids.

Which earlier cartoon came from Rocket Power's studio?

Rugrats began when its makers wondered what their own babies were thinking; by 1999 those kids were skating and surfing, and the same studio answered with Rocket Power.

What is the fictional California beach town where Rocket Power is set?

Ocean Shores banned skateboarding on its boardwalk and pier after Otto knocked down a neighbour; the kids fought the ban, and the town ended up building them a skate park.

What is the full first name of Otto's older sister Reggie?

Regina is a name she won't even let her dad use, until a new surfer at school guesses it, calls it cool, and she plays along.

Which chant does the Rocket Power gang shout when a plan comes together?

Woogity, woogity, woogity is the gang's all-purpose rallying cry: Otto and Twister chant it in unison after working out how to sneak into a skate park by walking in backwards.

What is Twister's real first name?

Maurice is the name his family uses and he can't stand: when it slips out in front of a friend, the friend cracks up and Twister snaps, "Don't call me that!"

What is Sam Dullard's nickname?

Squid is the gang's tag for its greenest member: Twister was sick of being the squid until the new kid moved in, in a premiere titled "New Squid on the Block".

From which state does Sam move to the beach in Rocket Power?

Kansas left Sam short on beach skills: asked on his first day how the surf was back home, he deadpans, "No ocean."

What is the name of the burger joint and surf shop run by Raymundo?

The Shore Shack nearly became a chain outlet: Raymundo weighed selling it to the Happy Hut people so the family could afford a fancier home.

What do the Rocket Power kids call the tourists who crowd their beach?

Shoobies is real slang from the Jersey Shore for day-trippers; when the tourists start copying the gang's lingo in one episode, the kids invent new words to stay ahead.

Raymundo's fear of dogs in Rocket Power centres on which breed?

Poodles haunt his nightmares: "all dogs know each other," he warns Otto, "and they're all friends with poodles. Poodles are their leaders."

Long before they ran a restaurant, Raymundo and Tito cut a single together in what kind of group?

A surf rock band: the kids dig out the old vinyl single, and a flashback shows young Raymundo on electric guitar and Tito on maracas. Radio played it exactly once.

In Rocket Power, how does Tito usually begin his pieces of wisdom?

"Like the ancient Hawaiians say..." sets up lines such as "he who is on the canoe is responsible for the journey, whether he has a paddle or not", which a puzzled Sam has to ask him to explain.

What is the name of Tito's young nephew who visits from the islands?

Keoni flies in for an invitational surf contest and does everything better than Otto, who sulks with jealousy before the two end up friends.

Who is Twister's delinquent older brother and Otto's biggest rival?

Lars bullies Twister so relentlessly that their mother threatens to pull him from a big tournament unless he stops, and Twister milks the truce for payback.

What does Otto fake to clear the tourist-packed beach in one Rocket Power episode?

A shark sighting, staged the day after a TV special on great whites, empties the water but brings out the authorities with nets, and Otto ends up grounded for the prank.

What do Otto and Reggie name the stray dog they bring home in Rocket Power?

Ollie gets his name from the skateboard jump after the stray hops a cone; to win over their dog-fearing dad, the kids enter him in a local dog show.

Eddie Valentine calls himself the Prince of where?

The Netherworld colours everything Eddie says: when his parents go out, he announces that its king has "banished all travelers", meaning he can't have friends over.

Conroy, who runs the gang's skate park, surprises Otto and Twister by becoming their new what?

Homeroom teacher: Otto and Twister brace for the worst on the first day of school, only to find the man who runs their skate park at the front of the class as Mr. B.

Who voiced Officer Shirley in Rocket Power's first season?

CCH Pounder voiced the officer who keeps catching the kids out after curfew for one season; Denise Dowse then took over the badge for the rest of the run.

Reggie's friends Trish and Sherry play on which all-state team?

Girls' beach volleyball is the all-state team Reggie finally makes too, only to find that training for it and for the gang's own team at once wears her out and forces a choice.

What does Twister almost never leave home without in Rocket Power?

His video camera, the "Twist Cam", goes everywhere; when he leaves it behind in a hurricane he heads back out into the storm for it, setting off a search for him and Otto.

Who is Rocket Power's tough-as-nails five-year-old?

Mackenzie Benders is five and fearsome: when the gang discovers she has lost her parents, they spend an episode helping the pint-sized terror track them down.

Which skate park is the Rocket Power gang's home turf?

Madtown is home: when the slick indoor chain Skatopia opens in town, the gang pledges loyalty to its old park, caves the moment free passes arrive, and comes away let down.

What are the names of the Rockets' next-door neighbors?

Merv and Violet Stimpleton trust Reggie to mind their pool in the very first episode; the boys drain it to skate the bowl and flood the Rockets' basement instead.

What is Lieutenant Tice Ryan's job?

Lifeguard Tice Ryan barks orders through a megaphone, and no wonder: his voice is Dale Dye, the Marine veteran who put the cast of Platoon through boot camp.

Twister's girly cousin Clio turns out to be surprisingly good at which sport?

Ice hockey is Reggie's event, but the two swap contests on a dare at Winterfest: Clio holds her own on the rink while Reggie turns out to be a natural figure skater.

Trent, the surfer who catches Reggie's eye, moved to town from where?

Gisborne, New Zealand is "one of the raddest surf spots ever", a classmate gushes on meeting him, and Trent shrugs that he was surfing before he could walk.

Which 30 Rock actress voiced Breezy, the sporting-goods rep who catches Raymundo's eye?

Jane Krakowski voiced Breezy in just two episodes: the romance never gets going because her job keeps her on the road.

Reggie Rocket writes and publishes her own what?

Magazine: The 'Zine covers everything from sports to kid politics, and it backfires when an issue she fills with the boys' embarrassing secrets gets printed and handed out by accident.

Who becomes Otto and Reggie's stepmother in Rocket Power?

Noelani Makani, Tito's cousin, is an old friend Raymundo falls for on a summer trip, where Otto and Reggie grumble that he keeps ditching them for her; the two go on to marry.

What was the title of the 2004 TV movie that ended Rocket Power?

The Big Day is a wedding day, and Otto nearly wrecks it: the date clashes with an indoor skate park's grand opening, so he schemes to get the ceremony moved.

What position does Sam play on the gang's street hockey team in Rocket Power?

Goalie: the gang is hunting for one when the new kid swats a flying object away with his hand, so they strap a mask on him and he stops every shot.

How does Otto break his leg in Rocket Power's first season?

A snowboarding accident: trying to outdo Reggie, he ignores the ski patrol and rides a run meant for expert adults, then spends the next episode stuck at home in a cast.

In the Rocket Power gang's slang, what does it mean to "beef it"?

To wipe out: any trick that ends in a crash counts, and Twister even says it of a grown-up neighbour sent sprawling by Otto's skateboard.

What does Otto name the sport he invents when the gang tires of its usual game?

Rocketball has rules Otto makes up as he goes; when he announces the name, Sam mutters that it could have been worse: "Could have been called Ottoball."

Otto learns that his skateboarding movie idol, Donnie Lightning, secretly relies on what?

A stunt double does the tricks: on a film shoot in town, the gang tapes a girl in Donnie's clothes taking over, then threatens to show it unless the star proves he can skate.

Sam Dullard is the Rocket Power gang's resident whiz at what?

Computers: the network billed him as the gang's "techno whiz", and he once codes an online game about his friends that pokes such fun at them they get upset with him.

A comic book convinces Otto and Twister that their grumpy next-door neighbour is secretly what?

A space alien: Sam lends Twister a comic about invaders living next door to an unsuspecting kid, and after a night of bad dreams the boys decide it is all true.

Raymundo brags to the kids that he was a 1970s champion in which sport, then has to prove it?

Freestyle skiing: the tall tale told on the drive to the slopes comes back to bite him when a rowdy kid bets Otto that his own dad can out-ski Raymundo.

Which real-life action-sports star do the Rocket Power gang try to talk out of retiring?

Tony Hawk voices himself: the kids battle through his secret private skate course to change his mind, only to hear the retirement was a rumour that starts whenever he takes a break.

Which company published the 2002 game Rocket Power: Beach Bandits?

THQ had expanded its deal with the show's network the year before, promising first games for Rocket Power, SpongeBob SquarePants and other cartoons from its line-up.

In the Rocket Power game Beach Bandits, what has been stolen from the beach town?

The sand vanishes overnight, and the trail leads to Golem Industries, which has also drained the local lakes to feed a secret robot factory hidden under a water park.

Which condition of Sam's flares up badly enough to put him in the hospital in one Rocket Power episode?

Asthma: his medicine runs out on a trip, and after the hospital scare his worried friends start taking everything easy on him to keep him safe.

The Rocket Power theme is by The Wipeouters, an alias for members of which new wave group?

Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh revived The Wipeouters, a group from his junior-high days, when his studio was asked for a theme, and built it from tunes they had written as schoolkids.

Which band's cover of "99 Red Balloons" appears on the 2002 Rocket Power soundtrack?

Goldfinger sing part of their ska-punk cover in the song's original German; the same recording also turned up in Not Another Teen Movie and EuroTrip.

Twister befriends a wild animal on the beach and names it Bruce; what kind of animal is it?

A harbor seal: after Twister feeds and plays with it, Bruce trails him all over town, until Lieutenant Tice steps in and Twister has to find a way to say goodbye.