Alex Anderson 1920-2010, Creator of "The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show" and Dudley Do-Right

[Zoneboy]

Alexander Anderson Jr., recognized as the creator of the "Rocky and Bullwinkle" cartoon, died Friday at a home in Carmel, Calif. He was 90.

Anderson, who attended the University of California, Berkeley, and the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, was a native of Berkeley. He moved to Pebble Beach in 1968. The last four years, his health had declined, his wife Patricia said Friday. They were married for 36 years.

Anderson came from a family of creative artists and in 1938 started working in animation with his uncle Paul Terry in New York at Terrytoons, the studio that created "Mighty Mouse."

During World War II, Anderson was a U.S. Navy spy, his wife said, and in 1946, he returned to Terrytoons to work full time.

Two years later, he pitched the idea to create cartoon characters for television to his uncle.

At the time, the movie studios that Terrytoons produced for dominated the entertainment market and working with television wasn't in their plans. Anderson was told to branch out on his own, according to his son Terry.

Anderson returned to Berkeley where he and childhood friend Jay Ward began production. Ward ran the business side and Anderson handled the artistic and creative work.

Anderson's work included "Crusader Rabbit," a cartoon series sold to NBC with a 195 episodes. It was the first created specifically for television.

Another cartoon of his was "Dudley-Do-Right," a Canadian Mountie inspired by Nelson Eddy's performance in the film "Rose Marie."

Most notably, Anderson is credited with creating Rocky the Flying Squirrel and his pal Bullwinkle, a moose.

In 1996, Anderson reached an out-of-court settlement with Jay Ward Productions over rights to Bullwinkle, Rocky and Dudley-Do-Right.

The terms recognized Anderson as the creator of the characters. He filed the lawsuit after discovering Ward was the sole holder of the copyrights.

Anderson's wife said the idea for Bullwinkle came to the cartoonist after he had a dream about a moose sitting in on a game of poker with him and friends. The moose adopted its name after a Berkeley car dealership with a slightly different spelling.

In addition to cartoons, Anderson worked for an ad agency, creating slogans for Berkeley Farms, Skippy Peanut Butter and Smucker's.

[catlover79]

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...has a very "rocky" history, as there was a somewhat complicated production and distribution agreement when NBC bought the series in 1949 (after passing on Jay Ward and Alex Anderson's other ideas, including the original incarnation of "Dudley Do-Right")- the network insisted a "formal" producer supervise it, as they felt Jay and Alex didn't have enough "experience" {this was their first animated cartoon series}. So Jerry Fairbanks, who was supposedly in charge of the network's filmed programming department at the time, became their producer...and distributor when NBC decided not to schedule "CRUSADER" as a network series, allowing Fairbanks to syndicate it to their owned & operated stations (including KNBH in Los Angeles and WNBT in New York) and other stations not affiliated with the network. The series was in production for two years, and 195 five minute episodes {ten stories, or "crusades", were serialized in various lengths, from 10 to 30 episodes}. NBC decided enough episodes were filmed, and decided not to order any further ones, so Ward's animation unit disbanded. Another idea Ward and Anderson tried to sell at the time was "The Frostbite Falls Review", featuring a group of North Woods animals producing their own TV show, including two characters named "Rocky the Flying Squirrel" and "Bullwinkle, the French-Canadian Moose". It only got as far as a set of elaborate storyboards. In 1953, Jerry Fairbanks declared bankruptcy, and sold off his TV library, including "CRUSADER", to other distributors, a deal of which Jay and Alex were not informed of. They sued Fairbanks and the network, but ultimately to no avail. The rights to "CRUSADER" were then acquired by Shull Bonsall in 1955 [he produced a new series of 260 color episodes in 1957-'58], who "convinced" Ward [who tried to sell a new "CRUSADER" series in 1956, with William Hanna as co-producer, until Bonsall found out] to settle with him for $50,000, or be tied up in litigation for years. As part of the settlement, Jay kept the rights to his previously rejected ideas, including the characters from "The Frostbite Falls Review", and "Dudley Do-Right"...which he successfully revived several years later, as "ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS" and "THE BULLWINKLE SHOW". In the interim, Alex Anderson decided to abandon animation for advertising, briefly serving as a production consultant during the first season of "ROCKY"....eventually breaking off his professional and personal relationship with Jay when he discovered he was officially the sole copyright owner of those characters [Ward Productions, Inc.].

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by TV Knowledge Fan

...has a very "rocky" history, as there was a somewhat complicated production and distribution agreement when NBC bought the series in 1949 (after passing on Jay Ward and Alex Anderson's other ideas, including the original incarnation of "Dudley Do-Right")- the network insisted a "formal" producer supervise it, as they felt Jay and Alex didn't have enough "experience" {this was their first animated cartoon series}. So Jerry Fairbanks, who was supposedly in charge of the network's filmed programming department at the time, became their producer...and distributor when NBC decided not to schedule "CRUSADER" as a network series, allowing Fairbanks to syndicate it to their owned & operated stations (including KNBH in Los Angeles and WNBT in New York) and other stations not affiliated with the network. The series was in production for two years, and 195 five minute episodes {ten stories, or "crusades", were serialized in various lengths, from 10 to 30 episodes}. NBC decided enough episodes were filmed, and decided not to order any further ones, so Ward's animation unit disbanded. Another idea Ward and Anderson tried to sell at the time was "The Frostbite Falls Review", featuring a group of North Woods animals producing their own TV show, including two characters named "Rocky the Flying Squirrel" and "Bullwinkle, the French-Canadian Moose". It only got as far as a set of elaborate storyboards. In 1953, Jerry Fairbanks declared bankruptcy, and sold off his TV library, including "CRUSADER", to other distributors, a deal of which Jay and Alex were not informed of. They sued Fairbanks and the network, but ultimately to no avail. The rights to "CRUSADER" were then acquired by Shull Bonsall in 1955 [he produced a new series of 260 color episodes in 1957-'58], who "convinced" Ward [who tried to sell a new "CRUSADER" series in 1956, with William Hanna as co-producer, until Bonsall found out] to settle with him for $50,000, or be tied up in litigation for years. As part of the settlement, Jay kept the rights to his previously rejected ideas, including the characters from "The Frostbite Falls Review", and "Dudley Do-Right"...which he successfully revived several years later, as "ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS" and "THE BULLWINKLE SHOW". In the interim, Alex Anderson decided to abandon animation for advertising, briefly serving as a production consultant during the first season of "ROCKY"....eventually breaking off his professional and personal relationship with Jay when he discovered he was officially the sole copyright owner of those characters [Ward Productions, Inc.].

Nice.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

..in Keith Scott's book, "The Moose That Roared", 'zone'.

Thanks.