Rocket Power is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó and produced by Klasky Csupo and Nickelodeon Animation Studio for Nickelodeon. The show centers on the daily lives of Otto, Reggie, Twister and Sam, four pre-adolescent children with an interest in extreme sports such as skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding while also getting into numerous situations. The characters live in the fictional beach town of Ocean Shores, California. The series aired on Nickelodeon from August 16, 1999 to July 30, 2004.

Premise

Rocket Power revolves around the day-to-day zany hijinks of a gang of four young and loyal friends; the adventurous and vain sports enthusiast and perfectionist Oswald "Otto" Rocket; his tomboyish and kind-hearted older sister Regina "Reggie" Rocket; Otto's dim-witted but loyal best friend and videographer Maurice "Twister" Rodriguez; and the brainy techno whiz kid and relative newcomer Sam "Squid" Dullard — who live in the fictional Southern California beach community of Ocean Shores where they spend their free time playing varied extreme sports (such as Skateboarding, Surfing, Snowboarding, Biking, Street Hockey, etc.), getting into various situations and overcoming the trials and challenges of growing up. Otto and Reggie live with their widowed strict but loving father and veteran surfer, Ray "Raymundo" Rocket, who along with his best friend and business partner, Tito Makani, owns and operates the Shore Shack, a combination burger joint and surf shop where the gang usually hang out. In most episodes, they get involved in competitions, but end up learning their friendship is more important than winning.

Characters

Main Characters

Recurring Characters

Production

Rocket Power was produced by Klasky Csupo and Nickelodeon Animation Studio. Producers on the series include Susan Ward, Pernelle Hayes, Victor Wilson, John Crane, Maureen Iser and Erin Ehlich. Gábor Csupó, Arlene Klasky and Eryk Casemiro served as executive producers.

Episodes

Home media

A VHS tape titled Maxing Out was released by Nickelodeon and Paramount Home Entertainment on August 7, 2001 containing five episodes. On July 27, 2004, Nickelodeon and Paramount Home Entertainment also released four episodes of the series on the Island of the Menehune VHS and DVD. Other episodes were featured on multiple Nickelodeon compilation VHS tapes and DVDs such as Nickelodeon Super Toons, Nicktoons Christmas, Nicktoons Halloween and ''Nickstravaganza! 2''. Nickelodeon and Amazon.com teamed up to release Rocket Power and other Nick shows on manufacture-on-demand DVD-R discs available exclusively through Amazon.com's CreateSpace arm. The Rocket Power manufacture-on-demand DVD-R discs have since been discontinued.

Broadcast

Rocket Power premiered on Nickelodeon on August 16, 1999 and its final episode (a television movie called "The Big Day") aired on July 30, 2004. Reruns were then aired on the channel until October 7, 2011. Nicktoons aired the series from 2002 to 2010. Nick GAS also aired the series from 2003 to 2005. The series reran on TeenNick's former block NickRewind (formerly The '90s Are All That, The Splat and NickSplat) from 2014 to 2017.

Other projects

Other projects related to Rocket Power and developed under the aegis of Klasky-Csupo and/or Nickelodeon have included Rocket Power: 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 the spring of 2002 before being canceled over low ticket sales (it had originally been scheduled to tour about 40 cities all over the U.S., all the way into fall). In 2002, Nickelodeon also aired the Maximum Rocket Power Games, an extreme-sports competition inspired by the series which pits three teams consisting of professional athletes competing alongside aspiring youth athletes in a series of events. The special was co-hosted by professional skateboarder Andy Macdonald.

Video games

Several video games based on the series were released on the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and PC throughout the years, including Rocket Power: Team Rocket Rescue, Rocket Power: Beach Bandits, Rocket Power Gettin' Air, Rocket Power: Dream Scheme, Rocket Power: Zero Gravity Zone and Rocket Power: Extreme Arcade Games.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album to Rocket Power was released on February 6, 2002. It is officially the soundtrack to the television film Rocket Power: Race Across New Zealand. Track listing

Reception

Common Sense Media give the series a three out of five stars, writing "Parents need to know that watching this show just might inspire future X-games participation. The kids – never without a skateboard, bike, hockey stick, or surfboard – perform incredible stunts, seemingly without risk of injury. A boy with less sports ability than the others shows kids that it's OK to need a lot of practice and only take the risks you're personally comfortable with."