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This article is about the animated cartoon series Rocket Power. To learn about spacecraft propulsion systems, please visit spacecraft propulsion. Rocket Power was an American animated television series which debuted on Nickelodeon in August of 1999. About the show Produced at Klasky Csupo of Los Angeles (the creators of the Rugrats media franchise), the show revolves around the day to day adventures of (at present) middle-school age extreme sports enthusiasts who live in the fictitious Southern California beach resort town of Ocean Shores, where they enjoy surfing, roller skating, skateboarding, bicycling, street hockey, and other active pastimes. In fact, due to the activities in the subject matter, the producers retained a ''Surfer Magazine'' staff member as a language and technical consultant to make sure that things like ocean waves and skate park half-pipes worked with some degree of credibility. Episode directors included Michael Daedalus Kenny, Dave Fontana, Ron Noble, and Steve Ressel. Characters The principal characters in the show are: Other characters include: Catchphrase: "Like the ancient Hawaiians say..." More about the show A made for TV movie, Race Across New Zealand, was shown on Nickelodeon in February 2002 (opposite the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City) and featured activities such as zorb riding and floating down underground streams, as part of a junior sports competition in New Zealand. Another telefilm based on the series, Reggie's Big (Beach) Break, centering on a spring-break type sports and music beach festival, aired on that channel in July of 2003. Klasky-Csupo announced shortly thereafter in their online newsletter that a third telefilm, Island of the Menehune, about a trip to Hawaii and telling a bit about Raymundo's late wife Danielle (who got a brief mention, but not by name, in the show's Christmas special in December 2003), would be shown on Nick at some time in the future, and it aired in July 2004. That telefilm subsequently led to a wedding between Ray and Tito's cousin Noelani (voice of Kim Mai Guest) in "The Big Day" (the last new episode to be aired) later the same month. The show has also had cameos from sports figures, for example skaters Tony Hawk (Enter the Hawk-trix) and Andy MacDonald (...Beach Break), and hockey players Jeremy Roenick, Luc Robitaille, and Martin Brodeur (Power Play). There have also been episodes on rather unusual topics: Radical New Equipment featured a (rather competitive) disabled girl snowboarder and won an award from The Association for the Severely Handicapped *, while Major Scrummage revolved around Reggie's desire to play rugby, a sport relatively unknown in the US (more details on the latter ep below). Off the screen 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). Points of view Fans of the show proudly point to the virtues of friendship, mutual loyalty, and physical activity exhibited by the principal characters, as well as the fact that ethnic characters in the show are voiced by ethnic talent (Nickelodeon's usual practice... on this show, this briefly had its own quirk when they had to explain Cuadra's deepened voice by having Twister get a deeper voice as well in Cinco de Twisto, before Cuadra was eventually replaced with Leal). As well, critics have noted the Reggie character as a strong, positive, and confident female role model not falling within cultural stereotypes (in fact, in New Zealand, she actually tied for first with Otto in the junior sports competition, competing against other boys, and in Beach Break, she got a job reporting for the sports fest). Health and safety advocates have also noted the show's emphasis on active lifestyles and the use of pads and helmets in activities where their use is recommended. Detractors of the show are bothered by the Otto character being so capable, as well as being selfish and egotistical (example: The Big Day has him attempting to postpone his father's wedding so that he may compete in a sports competition), the Twister character being somewhat clueless, the unrealistic slang the characters use (itself addressed in The Lingos), and hardly anybody ever getting hurt doing the activities depicted, though in one episode, Otto's Big Break, Otto was seen with a leg cast as a result of a snowboarding accident, and in another, Womp Race 2000, Sam was hospitalised by a skateboarding mishap (Losers Weepers also features Sam breaking his arm in a skateboarding mishap). The show also occasionally uses mildly bad language (dork, crap, shut up, etc.), which has made it unpopular with more conservative parents. Furthermore, the show lacks realism when it comes to the terms and moves performed. One example of this is Otto stating that he's attempting a "Double 09". This is inaccurate as a double 09 would be an 1800, and furthermore, it is totally impossible, with a 09 only being achieved by a handful of skateboarders. Romance on the show Despite generally being mostly about sports and the kids who play them, there has been some room for romance on the show. The show has had two official canon romances. However, both of them involved a regular and a character who only appeared in two stories. Raymundo and Breezy In April 2002, the show premiered an ep titled There's Something About Breezy, in which travelling salesman Breezy Copeley (voice of Jane Krakowski) was introduced. She was shown to be a keen rollerblader and surfer, and showed a distinct interest in Raymundo. Fans believed that the ep was hinting towards a marriage between the two some time down the road (later on, her bio at Klasky-Csupo's RP site, revamped in January 2003, also hinted at this). The following month, Klasky Csupo promoted an upcoming ep titled "Summer Breezy" which featured Breezy going on a trip with the gang to Lake Havasu to test out some equipment. It turned out to be her only other appearance, and in the US, Nickelodeon ended up only airing this episode in March 2004. The announcement of the "Island" telefilm, and a new girlfriend for Raymundo, surprised many fans, and was subsequently confirmed in a later edition of the newsletter. More on the Breezy issue can be found here. Reggie and Trent In the same week Breezy made her first appearance, a boy from New Zealand named Trent (voice of Greg Coolidge) was also introduced in the episode "Reggie/Regina". Reggie fell off her surfboard, on purpose actually, in order to get his attention. Like Breezy's debut episode, it not only showed him to be an accomplished skater and surfer, it also seemed to hint towards romance between the two (and as was the case with Breezy, his biography at the revamped Rocket Power web site hinted at this as well). His only other appearance in the series was in "Major Scrummage" (first US tx: October 14, 2002), where Reggie, somewhat frustrated that Trent wouldn't teach her rugby football (a sport he was shown to be very good at), put together a team of her own. Season 1: 1999-2000 Season 2: 2000-2001 Season 3: 2001-2004 Brief Timeline December 1998: New show "Rocket Beach" mentioned in Nickelodeon press release June 1999: One of the characters, Reggie, featured in KC ad celebrating Nick's 20th birthday August 16, 1999: Series premiere with New Squid on the Block and Down the Drain November 10, 2000: Radical New Equipment aired, featuring a handicapped snowboarder (voiced by Olivia Hack, Rhonda on Hey Arnold!) September 10, 2001: Enter the Hawk-trix aired, the first of many episodes featuring professional athletes (here, Tony Hawk) November 2001: 2001 TASH Image Awards announced, with Rocket Power winning one in the "Young People’s Program: Animation" category for the aforementioned Radical New Equipment February 16, 2002: Rocket Power's first telefilm Race Across New Zealand aired March 26 to April 8, 2002: Maximum Rocket Power Live: The Battle For Madtown Park played in Columbus, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois, Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan, before being cancelled (about 33,000 tickets were sold in all) April 9 and 11, 2002: Reggie/Regina and There's Something About Breezy aired, featuring the debuts of two new characters: respectively, Trent and Breezy (see above) July 19, 2003: Rocket Power's 2nd telefilm Reggie's Big (Beach) Break aired December 15, 2003: Rocket Power's first 30-minute story, and its Christmas special, A Rocket X-Mas aired, with mention of Otto and Reggie's mother (Reggie holding a surfing trophy her mom won) March 22 to 26, 2004: Five "leftover" episodes aired, among them, the show's only non-holiday 30-minute story Twist of Fate and an episode that was produced in 2001 but wasn't aired until now, Losers Weepers and Reggie: The Movie April 25, 2004: The 3rd telefilm (previously thought to be the last episode produced), Island of the Menehune, shown at 2004 International Family Film Festival in Valencia, California May 15, 2004: Nickelodeon announced a contest in which 4 winners will receive a 1-week trip for four to Hawaii for surfing lessons.(Contest Site) June 16, 2004: Previously unknown ep After Shocked aired, featuring Noelani as Ray's new wife (the ep that features their marriage, The Big Day, would not air until July 30) July 16 and 27, 2004: Island aired on Nick US and was released on DVD, respectively October 6, 2005: Ray Bumatai, the voice actor who played Tito, dies of brain cancer. 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