The Bullwinkle Show 

Rocky, a plucky flying squirrel and Bullwinkle, a bumbling but lovable moose, have a series of ongoing adventures.

Creators:

Bill Scott, Jay Ward

Stars:

Bill Scott, June Foray, Paul Frees

2 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
June Foray	...	Additional Voices / ... 163 episodes, 1959-1963
Edward Everett Horton	...	Fractured Fairy Tales Narrator 163 episodes, 1959-1963
Paul Frees	...	Additional Voices / ... 163 episodes, 1959-1963
William Conrad	...	Narrator / ... 163 episodes, 1959-1963
Walter Tetley	...	Sherman / ... 163 episodes, 1959-1963
Bill Scott	...	Bullwinkle J. Moose / ... 163 episodes, 1959-1963
Daws Butler	...	Various Fairy Tale Characters / ... 122 episodes, 1959-1963
Hans Conried	...	Snidely Whiplash / ... 108 episodes, 1960-1963

Storyline

Main continuing story involved Rocky and Bullwinkle in conflict with spies Boris and Natasha. Other segments included "Fractured Fairy Tales", "Peabody's Improbable History" (smart dog Peabody and his boy Sherman get in the way-back machine), the "Adventures of Dudley Doright" (Canadian Mountie vs. evil Snidley) and "Aesop and Son" (odd telling of the famous fables).

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Plot Keywords:

cartoon moose | cartoon squirrel | spy | voice over narration | narrator | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 November 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bullwinkle Studios, Jay Ward Productions, Producers Associates for Television (PAT)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White (digitally colored)

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

During a brief, experimental run in prime time, "The Bullwinkle Show" incurred the wrath of no less a Hollywood heavyweight than Walt Disney. Each prime time episode was "introduced" by Bullwinkle himself (as a hand puppet, voiced by Bill Scott ), and social commentary was often sprinkled in with the gags. Disney had recently changed his own weekly show's name from "Disneyland" to "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" and was appearing on screen to relentlessly promote the sale of color TV sets, still a relatively newfangled phenomenon. Bullwinkle, taking note, told his audience there was no need to buy an expensive new set, telling them instead to think of all the nasty things Walt Disney had said about their old black and white TVs. "Now then," he said, "don't you see red?" By all accounts, Uncle Walt was not amused.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Dudley Do-Right: Stop, Snidely Whiplash, in the name of the law.

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Alternate Versions

The commonly available episodes of "Rocky and His Friends"/"The Bullwinkle Show", as released on DVD between 2003 and 2011, differ from the original broadcast versions in several ways. "Rocky and His Friends", originally broadcast on ABC for two seasons (1959-1961), and its later incarnation "The Bullwinkle Show", originally broadcast on NBC for three seasons (1961-1964), are combined under the blanket title "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends". The combined five seasons are presented on DVD with altered title sequences. The opening and closing animation originally from Season 2 of "Rocky and His Friends" has been applied to most of the episodes from each of the first two seasons, with a newer title logo and appropriately re-dubbed voice-over for the show's rebranding as part of "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends". Furthermore, due to copyright issues, the original Frank Comstock theme music from "Rocky and His Friends" has been replaced by the music composed by Fred Steiner for "The Bullwinkle Show". The DVD releases also use the altered-for-syndication versions of the opening and closing sequences that excise any mention of the show's original sponsor, General Mills. The original opening animation from "The Bullwinkle Show" is not used for any episode in any season, as the episodes originally broadcast as "The Bullwinkle Show" (represented as Seasons 3-5 of "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends") use animation from earlier seasons of "Rocky and His Friends" (including the Season 1 animation that was replaced on the Season 1 DVDs). While the DVDs present Rocky & Bullwinkle's serialized adventures in their chronological order, there's some debate over which backup segments ("Fractured Fairy Tales", "Peabody's Improbable History", "Aesop and Son", "Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties", "Bullwinkle's Corner", "Mr. Know-It-All") should be paired with each episode, as the segments have been mixed and matched, separated and recombined countless times in the decades since their original broadcast. While the current DVD versions of these episodes are considered the "official" versions in circulation, they fall short of being accurate representations of the show as originally broadcast from 1959-1964.

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Connections

Spoofed in Rugrats: The Last Babysitter/Sour Pickles (1993)

User Reviews

Rocky and Bullwinkle go on an endless quest to stop Pottsylvanian spies Boris and Natasha.

These cartoons are great despite the primitive animation. I'm old enough to remember them in their first run but I really didn't get the political and social satire until I saw them in re-runs while I was in college. The extras like Dudley Doright and Fractured Fairy Tales are also terrific. Adults will probably get the humor of these cartoons more than children. There are hidden jokes in Rocky and Bullwinkle concerning a wide range of topics, running the gamut from the Cold War and Walt Disney to hernia exams at the draft board office. Fans of Warner Brothers cartoons will recognize June Fooray as not only the voice of Rocky and Natasha but also that of Granny and Witch Hazel.