The sixth episode of the fourth season of Rocko's Modern Life.
Wimp on the Barby
Rocko gears up for a confrontation with a childhood bully.
Yarn Benders
Rocko and Heffer tell Filburt a derailed fairy tale to help him get over a cold.
"Wimp on the Barby" provides examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: At the beginning of this episode, Mrs. Bighead misnames Spunky "Scruffy".
- Bad "Bad Acting": Heffer and Filburt do this when they respectively pretend to be Rocko and Dingo.Heffer: Hello there, Dingo. Good to see you, eh.
Filburt: I've come to get you, Rocko.
Heffer: I offer you these flowers in peace and goodwill.
Filburt: Is this a trick? Ha ha ha ha.
Heffer: No! - A Dog Named "Cat": Dingo is a kangaroo, not a dingo.
- Left the Background Music On: On the day of Dingo's visit, kung fu music plays as the sun rises. It is then revealed that the music is playing on a radio, which Filburt turns off.
- Reformed Bully: At the end of the episode, Dingo pays Rocko a visit as an adult who has chosen a life of peace and nonviolence... and asks Rocko to punch him in retribution for all his mistreatment.
- Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: Rocko says "Snarl!" after he eats the head of a drawing of Dingo.
- Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: When Rocko hears that Dingo is coming for a visit, he dreads what Dingo will do to him, as Dingo has been physically abusing him since third grade. Throughout the episode, Heffer and Filburt train Rocko to be tougher, and in the end, when Dingo comes to visit, Rocko finds out that Dingo has chosen a life of peace and nonviolence to make up to him for all the years of mistreatment.
- Series Continuity Error: In earlier episodes such as "Power Trip" and "Rinse and Spit", flashbacks have shown Rocko having known Filburt since they were kids, implying that he had moved from Australia to America a long time ago. In this episode, he apparently moved right after graduating high school.
- Swirlie: This is one of the ways Dingo has bullied Rocko when they were kids.
- That Man Is Dead: When Dingo comes to Rocko's house, he tells him that now he goes by the name of Foofy No-no.
- Training Montage: One is shown where Heffer trains Rocko to be tougher to prepare him for the big showdown with Dingo.
- Unusual Euphemism: "Let's roast his onion!"
"Yarn Benders" provides examples of:
- Bad "Bad Acting": Throughout the story of Hansel and Debbie, the characters speak in unconvincing tones.
- Beanstalk Parody: At one point in the story of Hansel and Debbie, Rocko finds some magic beans in Filburt's fish stick house. He plants them in the ground, and one of the beans makes a beanstalk grow from its hat. The beanstalk takes them to a castle inhabited by a giant Filburt.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Rocko says one to Heffer when he screams as he and Rocko do when they fall out of the sky in the story of Hansel and Debbie.
- Caretaker Reversal: This episode begins with Filburt getting sick after being caught in the rain and ends with Rocko and Heffer catching the illness after mangling a few fairy tales that they're reading to Filburt.
- Catch Your Death of Cold: Filburt falls ill after being stuck on his back in the rain, leading Rocko and Heffer having to tell him a twisted fairy tale.
- Chekhov's Gag: Rocko is about to tell Filburt the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but Filburt objects, saying that porridge makes him nauseous. In the story of Hansel and Debbie, Rocko and Heffer are cornered by a giant Filburt, who says, "I'll grind your bones to make my...", but before he can finish, Heffer says, "Porridge!", which makes the giant Filburt nauseous, giving Rocko and Heffer enough time to escape.
- The Dinnermobile: Subverted; when Rocko and Heffer wind up in the story of Cinderella, Filburt as the Fairy Godmother turns Rocko into a prince and Heffer into a princess. When Rocko asks for a coach to ride in, Filburt spots a rat tied to a potato and turns it into... a bigger rat tied to a bigger potato.
- Disney Death: Parodied; When Heffer eats a mysterious mint, he is turned into a Pinocchio-like puppet. All the animals gather sadly around him, then glare angrily at Filburt. After his fish stick house, the Old Woman's Shoe House, and an unconscious giant fall on Filburt, Rocko takes his glass slippers and puts them on Heffer's feet, bringing him back to life.
- Evil Overlooker: This episode's title card depicts a giant witch Filburt looking down at Rocko running away from him.
- Fractured Fairy Tale: Rocko and Heffer attempt to tell Filburt the story of Hansel and Debbie, in which they get captured by a witch and then a giant, have their genders switched around, and then the witch feeds Heffer a mint that turns him/her into a wooden puppet. Don't worry, Rocko revives him/her by putting the witch's shoes on him/her.
- Gingerbread House: When Rocko tells Filburt the story of Hansel and Debbie (or at least tries to), he changes the gingerbread house to one made of healthy snacks, but Heffer changes it to a house made of pizza. They argue back and forth until Filburt declares that the house be made of fish sticks.Heffer: Imagine that. A fish stick house.
- Happily Ever After: The story ends with Rocko and Heffer('s characters) getting married.Rocko: And they lived happily ever after. The end.
- Hourglass Plot: This episode ends with Rocko and Heffer becoming sick.
- Improvised Lockpick: Subverted; when Rocko and Heffer are captured by a giant Filburt, Heffer asks Rocko if he has a hairpin he can pick the locks on their cages with. Rocko tells him he doesn't, but he has a key.
- Iris Out: This episode ends with one on a sick and bedridden Rocko and Heffer.
- Running Gag: Filburt getting nauseous by Heffer merely saying the word "Porridge!"
- Sick Episode: Filburt gets a cold after being left out in the rain, so Rocko and Heffer tell him the story of Hansel and Debbie to pass the time. By the end of the episode, Filburt recovers, but Rocko and Heffer become sick.
- Take a Third Option: When Rocko and Heffer argue over whether the witch's house should be made of healthy snacks or pizza, Filburt tells them that they're both wrong and that the house is actually made of fish sticks.Heffer: Imagine that. A fish stick house.
- Taken for Granite: A variant; when Heffer eats a mysterious mint given to him by Filburt, he is turned into a Pinocchio-like puppet. Rocko reverses the spell by putting Filburt's glass slippers on Heffer's feet.
- Tempting Apple: Subverted; when Rocko and Heffer, now a prince and princess, meet up with Filburt the Witch again after accidentally wandering into the haunted forest. Filburt tricks Heffer into eating a blue apple, washing it down with a potion, and finishing it off with a mysterious mint. Heffer does this all despite Rocko's warnings not to. The apple and potion have no effect on Heffer, but when Heffer eats the mint, he gets turned into a Pinocchio-like puppet, until Rocko fits Filburt's glass slippers on Heffer's feet.
- Tied-Together-Shoelace Trip: When Heffer manages to make the giant Filburt nauseous by saying "Porridge!", he and Rocko tie his shoelaces together while he's distracted. When he tries to chase them, he trips on his shoelaces and falls.
- Trail of Bread Crumbs: In the story of Hansel and Debbie, Heffer lays down a trail of breath mints to help him and Rocko find their way out of the haunted forest. Unfortunately, the birds have eaten them.
- Wicked Witch: Filburt takes on the form of one in the story of Hansel and Debbie.
