Rufus P. Rotten was born on June 9th, 1969, in the northeastern Slime Flats of southwest Oozelvania (just past the Popping Pus Gardens, if you hit the Grunge Geyser, you’ve gone too far) to parents Milos and Zoya (née Slimeanov).

From a very early age, it was apparent that Dr. Rotten had something special inside of him when it came to creating culinary snack food wonders and gross out gag gifts. His dissertation on fart bombs and their role in the Industrial Revolution and his discovery of a previously unknown level of sour led him to, at age 13, a full scholarship to the prestigious Grossmore Regents University in Boston, the most famous and selective higher learning institution in Massachusetts.

Memories of the sugar mines that were built over his favorite mud pits in Oozelvania and the resulting Fructose Wars with the Republic of CornSyrupa fueled Dr. Rotten’s determination to create an in-your-face flavored snack that didn’t rely on lots of sugar. G.R.U.B.’s undefeated underwater chess team was a lot of fun too (Go Worms!).

After graduating with a dual degree in Freakonomics and Dessert Chemistry, Dr. Rotten signed a two-year contract with a rural Canadian minor league hockey team due to a case of mistaken identity and a couple of misplaced Oxford commas. (He still holds the league record for most own-goals in a season.)

After that, Dr. Rotten set up his own laboratory with the sole purpose to complete his quest for the perfect low-sugar candy. After years of experiments and attempts, Dr. Rotten created his gummy worms, and upon his first bite into them, it was with those worms that the something special in Dr. Rotten came out, literally, in the form of a mohawked little freak named Franky! But that’s another story.