63 years ago Rocky and Bullwinkle premiered

[Penny Lane]

63 years ago today, November 19, 1959, The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show premiered. (known as Rocky & His Friends during the first two seasons and as The Bullwinkle Show for the last three seasons) It originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the ABC and NBC television networks. Produced by Jay Ward Productions, the series is structured as a variety show, with the main feature being the serialized adventures of the two title characters, the anthropomorphic moose Bullwinkle and flying squirrel Rocky. The main adversaries in most of their adventures are the Russian-like spies Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. Supporting segments include Dudley Do-Right (a parody of old-time melodrama), Peabody's Improbable History (a dog and his pet boy Sherman traveling through time), and Fractured Fairy Tales (classic fairy tales retold in comic fashion), among others.
Rocky & Bullwinkle is known for quality writing and wry humor. Mixing puns, cultural and topical satire, and self-referential humor, it appealed to adults as well as children. It was also one of the first cartoons whose animation was outsourced;

[Alan Brady's Hair]

Also Aesop and his fables.

I remember watching Bullwinkle when I past 40, suddenly understanding a joke I had been hearing for 30 years.

[Penny Lane]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Also Aesop and his fables.

I remember watching Bullwinkle when I past 40, suddenly understanding a joke I had been hearing for 30 years.

The writing was brilliant!

[howilu]

One of my all-time favorite cartoons. Even my parents enjoyed watching the show. Happy Birthday Moose and Squirrel.

[cd637299]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Also Aesop and his fables.

I remember watching Bullwinkle when I past 40, suddenly understanding a joke I had been hearing for 30 years.

Truly for all ages. Silly stuff for kids, and topical stuff for adults.

In the “Bumbling Bros Circus” story, there was even a joke that wasn’t uttered by anybody!

Boris appears to moose & squirrel as Gunga Drain, the water boy. Rocky even refers to an earlier storyline: “Heyyyyy! Weren’t you in another one of our adventures?” Boris: “No sense in wasting costume!”

The obscure part was a few seconds later where Boris recites the poem “Gunga Din,” Bullwinkle recites it with him, disgustedly, “OK OK I know the poem!”
Rocky: Don’t you like Kipling?
Bullwinkle: I don’t know, I never—NO, I JUST CAN’T SAY IT!

That’s a reference to an old joke. When someone asks if you like Kipling, the answer is “I don’t know, I’ve never kippled!”

Gotta love that.

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[stevea]

The animation was around C grade but the brilliant writing made up for it, so you really didn't notice or care. The Dudley Do-Right segments were a favorite of mine.

I remember those closing credits on the Bullwinkle Show version that played on ABC on Sunday mornings. They flashed quickly on the screen, with animated blinking lights. It was modern-looking, for its time.

[cd637299]

Originally Posted by stevea

The animation was around C grade but the brilliant writing made up for it, so you really didn't notice or care. The Dudley Do-Right segments were a favorite of mine.

I remember those closing credits on the Bullwinkle Show version that played on ABC on Sunday mornings. They flashed quickly on the screen, with animated blinking lights. It was modern-looking, for its time.

^ This, on the first sentence.

I have always been confused about the actual time (or during which R&B storyline) Dudley made his debut. I’d think it was right at the time “Rocky & His Friends” moved to NBC and became “The Bullwinkle Show”…but I swear that Dudley appeared about two or three times during my local independent station’s run of “R&HF.” It’s possible that when ABC originally had R&HF, it was NEVER shown, and only in the rerun package it showed.

Very confusing…not to mention when ABC had “The Dudley Do-Right Show” on Sunday mornings in 1969, and Total Television cartoons (Tooter Turtle & McBragg) were included!!

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[stevea]

I think the original shows were cut up into numerous versions over the years. It's not only Dudley segments, but the Fractured Fairy Tales, the Sherman and Mr. Peabody segments, etc. that were cycled into various full programs.

I think I've read that the by-season DVD sets don't even represent how the show originally aired.

Total Television and Jay Ward have the cheap animation in common, a la Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, etc. I didn't know they shared episode segments though.

[cd637299]

Originally Posted by stevea

I think the original shows were cut up into numerous versions over the years. It's not only Dudley segments, but the Fractured Fairy Tales, the Sherman and Mr. Peabody segments, etc. that were cycled into various full programs.

I think I've read that the by-season DVD sets don't even represent how the show originally aired.

Total Television and Jay Ward have the cheap animation in common, a la Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, etc. I didn't know they shared episode segments though.

Ya know what? Yeah, I do recall that when the very first R&B episode (ep 1 Jet Fuel Formula), the Peabody shoulda been their “Show Opening” episode (where Peabody meets Sherman), and the Fairy Tale would be “Rapunzel”.

However the Peabody was “Leonardo da Vinci” & Fairy Tale was “Slow White and Nose Red.” So yeah it wouldn’t be a shock to see Dudley where he didn’t belong.

There will be a test on this later. Ha ha

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[stevea]

Interesting. I don't recall seeing an episode where Peabody meets Sherman.

[merlinjones]

Me-TV should bring it back

[cd637299]

Originally Posted by stevea

Interesting. I don't recall seeing an episode where Peabody meets Sherman.

Oh yes. “Show Opening” is the title. Sherman is Peabody’s adopted son. In this first episode, Peabody fought in court to adopt.
Prosecutor: He cannot adopt this boy! Why, he isn’t even human!
Peabody: I, sir, take that as the highest compliment.

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