Rocky and Bullwinkle

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show is the collective name for two separate American television animated series: Rocky and His Friends (1959 - 1961) and The Bullwinkle Show (1961 - 1964). Rocky & Bullwinkle enjoyed great popularity during the 1960s. Much of this success was a result of it being targeted towards both children and adults. The zany characters and absurd plots would draw in children, while the clever usage of puns and topical references appealed to the adult demographic. Furthermore, the strengths of the series helped it overcome the fact that it had choppy, limited animation; in fact, some critics described the series as a well-written radio program with pictures.

Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends
The Complete First Season

Now here's something you don't see everyday, Chauncey. It's the complete first season of one of television's smartest, savviest, and most subversively funny animated series, ranked by TV Guide as one of the top 50 series of all time. Like the animators at Warner Bros.' Termite Terrace (birthplace of Porky, Daffy, and Bugs), producer Jay Ward, his partner Bill Scott (the voice of Bullwinkle), and the cracked writing staff did not write down to children. The dialogue is witty and sharply satiric. Characters break the "fourth wall" between the screen and the audience. They make sly references to the show's creators and the television network. They hurl barbs of mass destruction at Washington, D.C. politicians. And then there are the godawful puns. This four-disc set contains the series' first two serial adventures. "Jet Fuel Formula" is a cold war-era blast, as Rocky (voiced by June Foray, the Queen of Cartoons) and Bullwinkle frantically race to re-create a rocket fuel recipe (actually Grandma Bullwinkle's recipe for mooseberry fudge cake), while being menaced by those no-goodniks Boris Badenov and femme fatale Natasha. "Box Top Robbery" reveals that the basis for the world's economy is not gold and silver, but cereal box tops.

Linking these cliffhanging episodes are such hilarious segments as "Fractured Fairy Tales," which upend familiar storybook favorites (Red Riding Hood, for example, is a predatory fur merchant after the unwitting wolf), "Mr. Peabody," the canine genius who travels through time in the company of his boy, Sherman, and forthright Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties, who must contend with his own horse for the affections of sweet Nell. Bullwinkle gets extra credits as Mr. Know-It-All and as the host of Poetry Corner. And watch him pull a rabbit out of his hat! These cartoons are as fresh and funny as when they first aired more than four decades ago. Boomer-era adults will be amazed at the jokes that no doubt soared over their heads as children. --Donald Liebenson

Rocky: Well, they don't call him Wrongway Peachfuzz for nothing!
Bullwinkle: You mean they gotta pay?

Bullwinkle: Well this is a pickle...actually its more of a kumquat.

Bullwinkle: Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.
Rocky: Again?
Bullwinkle: Presto!
Lion: ROAR!!!
Bullwinkle: Oops, wrong hat.

Rocky: Do you know what an A-bomb is?
Bullwinkle: Certainly. A bomb is what some people call our show.

Rocky: There has already been two attempts on your life.
Bullwinkle: Don't worry, we'll be renewed.

Rocky: And now, for all your seniors who are just about to graduate, here are some words of wisdom from Mr. Know-It-All.

Bullwinkle: You just leave that to my pal. He's the brains of the outfit.
General: What does that make you ?
Bullwinkle: What else? An executive..

Rocky: Gee, an unhappy ending.

Bullwinkle: Humble, that's me... Mr. Modesty. When it comes to humility, I'm the greatest.

Rocky: Hey Bullwinkle, we're in real trouble now!
Bullwinkle: Oh good, Rocky! I hate that artificial kind!

Boris: Aw, shut up your mouth!

Bullwinkle: Well, if you can't believe what you read in a comic book, what can you believe?

Natasha: Hello dollink.

Fearless Leader: What does Pottsylvania have more than any other country? Mean! We have more mean than any other country in Europe! We must export mean.

The series began with the pilot Rocky the Flying Squirrel. Production began in February 1958 with the hiring of voice actors June Foray, Paul Frees, Bill Scott, and William Conrad. Eight months later, General Mills signed a deal to sponsor the cartoon, under the condition that the show be run in a late-afternoon time slot, where it could be targeted towards children. Subsequently, Ward hired most of the rest of the production staff, including writers and designers. However, no animators were hired, since Ward was able to convince friends of his at Dancer, Fitzgerald, & Sample - an advertising firm that had General Mills as a client - to buy an animation studio in Mexico called Gamma Productions S.A. de C.V. (formerly known as Val-Mar Animation.) This outsourcing of the animation for the series was considered financially attractive by General Mills, but caused numerous problems. Bill Scott, when interviewed by animation historian Jim Korkis in 1982, described some of the problems that arose in the production of the series:

We found out very quickly that we could not depend on the Mexico studio to produce anything of quality. They were turning out the work very quickly and there were all kinds of mistakes and flaws and boo-boos. They would never check. Mustaches popped on and off Boris, Bullwinkle's antlers would change, colors would change, costumes would disappear. By the time we finally saw it, it was on the air.[citation

Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends
The Complete Second Season

Set your WABAC machine for 1960, and the further misadventures of Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose, the most illustrious citizens of Frostbite Falls, MN (population: 48; and that's during the summer rush). This four-disc set contains seven full-length serials, several of which loom large in the Rocky & Bullwinkle canon, including "Upsidasium," "Metal Munching Mice," and "Greenpernt Oogle," with the rare, reclusive oogle bird (sorry, you'll have to wait until the release of season 3 for the Kirwood Derby).

Perhaps emboldened by what they were able to get away with in season 1, producer Jay Ward, writer and the voice of Bullwinkle Bill Scott, Queen of Cartoons June Foray, "and a host of others," gleefully further broke with television convention. Rocky & Bullwinkle was at once very silly (for the kids) and slyly satirical (for mom and dad). Characters broke the fourth wall ("Don't look at me," a villain insists at one point, "I'm not giving up the plot"). Corporate America (television executives in particular) was mocked. In "Metal Munching Mice," news that robotic rodents are devouring television antennae causes panic when it is realized that the public are unable to watch commercials. And then there are the subversively funny "Fractured Fairy Tales," in which Puss 'n Boots gets skinned, Red Riding Hood is devoured, and no one lives happily ever after, and the time-travel adventures of cultured canine Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman, in which historical figures are revealed to be boobs. Just for laughs, there is the faux melodrama of forthright Mounty Dudley Do-Right, and the Bullwinkle segments, "Bullwinkle's Corner" and "Mr. Know It All." Still crazy after all these years, Rocky & Bullwinklerises like the anti-gravity Upsidasium above mere nostalgia. Like The Simpsons, this series rewards viewers who pay attention, and invites repeat viewings to catch all the jokes you missed. --Donald Liebenson

The show was broadcast for the first time in the fall of 1959 on the ABC television network under the name Rocky and His Friends. In 1961, the series was moved to NBC, where it was renamed The Bullwinkle Show. Subsequently, in 1964, the show returned to ABC, where it was canceled within a year. However, reruns of episodes were still continually aired on ABC until 1973, at which time the series went into syndication. In addition, an abbreviated fifteen minute version of the series ran in syndication in the 1960s under the title The Rocky Show. This version was sometimes shown in conjunction with The King and Odie, a fifteen minute version of Total Television's King Leonardo and his Short Subjects. The King and Odie was similar to Rocky and Bullwinkle in that it was sponsored by General Mills and animated by Gamma Productions.

Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends
The Complete Third Season

The puns are punnier and the stories are zanier as Rocky and Bullwinkle enter their fun filled third season. It consists of 33 episodes with everyone's favorite animated moose and squirrel as well as their friends and enemies.

The central focus of the show is the continuing exploits of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose. Each episode features two segments of the current serialized story, and there are four of them this time around.

Missouri Mish Mash finds Bullwinkle and Rocky caught in the middle of a feud being run by Boris Badenov, their arch nemesis. However, when Bullwinkle finds a special hat, things really start to get interesting.

Lazy Jay Ranch finds our heroes moving to Wyoming after they buy a ranch. Turns out it's a worm ranch, and Boris has plans of his own for those worms.

The Three Moosketeers brings our heroes to the country of Applesauce Lorraine after the rightful king is replaced by the scheming Francois Villain. (Something tells me he's a bad guy.) Of interest, this is the first Rocky and Bullwinkle story to not feature Boris and his sidekick Natasha Fatale.

Topsy Turvy World finds the world's axis shifting. With the new North Pole on the Equator, it's up to Rocky and Bullwinkle to right the world before Boris gives Santa a bad name.

Of course, each episode also includes several special features. Either a Fractured Fairy Tale or an Aesop and Son (a fable like you've never heard before), Bullwinkle's Corner (poetry and nursery rhymes for laughs) or Mr. Know-it-All (Bullwinkle shows us how NOT to do something), and Peabody's Improbably History (a dog makes sure history goes as recorded) or Dudley Do-Right (a spoof of melodramas set in Canada.)

These shows are absolutely hysterical, if you can stand a good pun. The writers seem to be at the top of their game, with the puns coming so fast you just might miss one. It breaks all the rules of TV with the characters often talking directly to the audience or making references to their TV show, but it only adds to the laughter. While kids will enjoy watching, it's the adults that will get the word play and the now dated historical references.

Of course, being an animated show from the 60's means the animation isn't up to today's standards. Still, it does a good job of getting the story across and holds up to some of today's TV animation.

I was disappointed to recognize many of the Bullwinkle's Corner and Mr. Know-it-All segments this time around. They are recycled from earlier seasons. I don't know why this is, but I hope the fourth season contains new material.

This set consists of four single sided DVD's. The picture and sound are great, although the occasional bit of dust or grain does betray the show's age. Unfortunately, Sony still sees a need to include the clear R&B logo in the lower right hand corner for a minute of each segment. I hardly notice, but when I do it is annoying.

The set this time has a circus theme to the box, booklet, and menus. The booklet contains a funny biography of villains Boris and Natasha. Also this time around, the booklet contains information on the Bullwinkle's Corner and Mr. Know-it-All segments, something that's been missing in previous sets.

Extras are light. They include some third season intros from the Bullwinkle puppet (including the infamous one where he tells kids to rip off their TV's knobs so they won't miss the next episode), a preview of the next season, and some "best of" moments from the season.

While the extras aren't a reason to buy the set, the shows themselves are still as punny as they were over forty years ago. Anyone with a fond memory of the show and a strong constitution for puns will love it.

The lead characters and heroes of the series were Rocket "Rocky" J. Squirrel, a flying squirrel, and his best friend Bullwinkle J. Moose, a dim-witted but good-natured moose. Both characters lived in the fictional town of Frostbite Falls, Minnesota, which was based on the real life city of International Falls, Minnesota. The scheming villains in most episodes were the fiendish, but inept, agents of the fictitious nation of Pottsylvania: Boris Badenov, a pun on Boris Godunov, and Natasha Fatale, a pun on femme fatale. Boris and Natasha were commanded by the sinister Mr. Big and Fearless Leader. Other characters included Gidney & Cloyd, little green men from the moon who were armed with scrooch guns; Captain Peter "Wrongway" Peachfuzz, the captain of the S.S. Guppy; and the inevitable onlookers, Edgar and Chauncy.

The Best of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Vol. 1

"HEY, ROCKY, WATCH ME PULL A CLASSIC OUTTA MY HAT!"

Before Bart and Homer, Rocky and Bullwinkle defined smart TV comedy. Now they rule again on DVD!! Cartoon superstars Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose are back with three of their funniest serial-adventures! (That's 16 chapters, Low -I.Q.'ers!) In "The Last Angry Moose," Bullwinkle discovers that audiences laugh themselves sick at his dramatic talent.

"The Three Moosketeers" When the Three Musketeers find themselves a couple musketeers short, it's up to Rocky and Bullwinkle to save the day.

"The Guns Of Abalone" The dastardly Boris Badanov is up to his old tricks, but there is one thing that stands between him and world domination. Two things, if you count Rocky!

Wittily written and voiced, these timless classics are a fond salute to old-time melodrama and remain some of the funniest cartoons ever made.

SPECIAL FEATURE: CLASSIC LIVE INTROS & OUTROS

Run time: 60 minutes

The Best of Fractured Fairy Tales, Vol. 1
(1961)

Fractured Fairy Tales are not only fantastic classic toons, but they're also great for use in a high school english classroom to illustrate narrative elements! Pair it with the companion book (Fractured Fairy Tales, A.J. Jacobs) with 25 tales for even more fun. I just purchased this disc from Amazon and have enjoyed rewatching these great shorts from my childhood. I couldn't find a list of the included episodes anywhere before purchasing, so here's the rundown in case you're wondering too! The disk includes these 15 episodes:

* Rapunzel
* The Brave Little Tailor
* Rumpelstiltskin
* Cinderella
* Snow White
* Sleeping Beauty
* Pinocchio
* Ridinghoods Anonymous
* The Ugly Duckling
* Cinderella Returns
* Rumpelstiltskin Returns
* Leaping Beauty
* The Enchanted Frog
* The Pied Piper
* The Magic Fish

The disk also has some nifty Bullwinkle puppet intros as a bonus, as well as a cute case and menu theme.