Happy 50th birthday, 'Rocky & Bullwinkle'
Mr. Hole The Magnificent: An ABC Studios Production
(CNN) -- Fifty years ago, Jay Ward's animated moose and squirrel duo,
"Rocky & Bullwinkle," debuted on ABC, forever changing the way the
world looked at animated television.
His daughter, Tiffany Ward, continues her father's legacy as executive
producer of the feature films "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle,
"Dudley Do-Right" and "George of the Jungle," and Cartoon Network's
(sister channel to CNN) new "George of the Jungle" animated TV series.
"My dad was a true eccentric," Ward said. "His studio was a wonderland
for me. It had a soda fountain, ice cream sundaes, a snow cone
machine, a popcorn maker and candy bars everywhere."
Tiffany Ward grew up in Berkeley, California, and didn't move to
Hollywood until 1959 at age 13 when her dad set up his television
studio.
"Dad was always doing fun things," Ward said, recalling a 1961 Sunset
Boulevard block party her father hosted to promote "The Bullwinkle
Show." The show was originally named "Rocky and his Friends," but was
renamed "The Bullwinkle Show" when the program went from ABC to NBC.
Ward was a one-man public relations machine, churning out first-rate
promos in the days before PR companies were entrenched in the system.
In another promotional stunt, Jay Ward tried to buy an island between
Minnesota and Canada that he named Moosylvania (he leased it instead).
In efforts to have Moosylvania made into the 51st state, Ward traveled
cross-country by bus, collecting signatures along the way.
When Ward reached the White House gates, he asked to speak to
President John F. Kennedy about statehood for Moosylvania, but guards
brusquely turned him away. As it turned out, Kennedy was dealing with
the Cuban Missile Crisis on that exact day.
Jay Ward did not have a favorite character, his daughter said, because
to him it would have been like selecting a favorite child
(Incidentally, Ward had three kids). Of all the characters he created,
Ward didn't have a favorite per se, but Tiffany Ward does recall his
partiality to Dudley Do-Right, the slow but well-meaning Canadian
Mountie.
When asked about "Rocky & Bullwinkle's" everlasting appeal, Ward said
she thinks it struck such a chord and remains popular today because
her father never wrote for children, he wrote for adults. Jay Ward
wanted kids to enjoy the pictures while grown-ups laughed at the quick
wit and inside jokes.
In one episode, Rocky and Bullwinkle are propelled to the moon when
their oven explodes while the pair are following Bullwinkle's
grandmother's recipe for mooseberry fudge cake. Fun for kids for
obvious reasons, but adults certainly got a chuckle when the moose
griped about still having to make payments on the oven.
Bullwinkle also mentions having graduated from MIT -- the Moose
Institute of Toe-Dancing, that is. Furthermore, Mr. Peabody the dog, a
Harvard graduate, lives in a Manhattan penthouse, practices yoga and
has an adopted son, because as he puts it: "Every dog should have a
boy." Peabody chooses an orphan because he "always roots for the
underboy." It's these little jokes that set the show apart from
typical children's programming of its time.
Today those jokes may not have us rolling on the floor laughing (or
ROTFL, as the kids say), but they were the 1960s equivalent of
Stewie's reaction to being rejected by "American Idol" on "Family
Guy."
The 50th anniversary of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" also means that spy duo
Boris & Natasha, Mr. Peabody & Sherman and the Fractured Fairytales
are celebrating birthdays as well.
Fractured Fairytales offered a skewed take on traditional children's
stories. The moral was the same, but modern, funny dialogue was tossed
in with slapstick humor. Rapunzel, for example, visits a barber shop
and laments about having "no future."
"Incredible writing is the reason the show resonates to this day,"
Ward said.
Today, cartoons are more popular than ever. There are cable networks
devoted to animation, and it is commonplace for cartoons to be written
specifically for adults. Fox's Sunday night animation domination block
featuring "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" comes to mind. "Rocky &
Bullwinkle" was among the first animated series to hit prime time
television.
Matt Groening even paid special homage to Jay Ward when he created
"The Simpsons" by giving Bart, Homer and Grandpa Simpson the middle
initial "J," as in Rocky's full name: Rocket J. Squirrel.
Tiffany Ward said she is thrilled there's such a wide array of
animation available to viewers today, especially since in her father's
era it was difficult to even get airtime for the genre. New projects
are always coming the duo's way, and an animated Dreamworks feature
film is in development.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/26/rocky.bullwinkle.anniversary/index.html
Taylor
Anyone else think Nell's father was a big lispy condescending flaming
faggot? You ever listen to him? Had to be _something_ going on behind
those tall walls of the surrounding the base while Nell was getting
kidnapped by Snidely Whiplash and getting tied to traintracks and
while Dudley was out fucking up.
Gay.
Ubiquitous
Production" <classic.mr.h...@gmail.com> wrote:
> (CNN) -- Fifty years ago, Jay Ward's animated moose and squirrel duo,
> "Rocky & Bullwinkle," debuted on ABC, forever changing the way the
> world looked at animated television.
Fifty years lready?
--
It is simply breathtaking to watch the glee and abandon with which
the liberal media and the Angry Left have been attempting to turn
our military victory in Iraq into a second Vietnam quagmire. Too bad
for them, it's failing.
Ubiquitous
> Anyone else think Nell's father was a big lispy condescending flaming
> faggot? You ever listen to him? Had to be _something_ going on behind
> those tall walls of the surrounding the base while Nell was getting
> kidnapped by Snidely Whiplash and getting tied to traintracks and
> while Dudley was out fucking up.
Yes, we know; In fact, you posted an article here about it last month!
Taylor
> On Nov 27, 9:21 am, Taylor <lukebenw...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Anyone else think Nell's father was a big lispy condescending flaming
> > faggot? You ever listen to him? Had to be _something_ going on behind
> > those tall walls of the surrounding the base while Nell was getting
> > kidnapped by Snidely Whiplash and getting tied to traintracks and
> > while Dudley was out fucking up.
>
> Yes, we know; In fact, you posted an article here about it last month!
>
I know, eh? I can't find it. Dumb Google Groups and their slack-jaw
archive procedures (couldn't c&p the original to your reply). I should
have waited until today to post it.
Ubiquitous
> On Nov 27, 9:43 am, Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
> > On Nov 27, 9:21 am, Taylor <lukebenw...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Anyone else think Nell's father was a big lispy condescending flaming
> > > faggot? You ever listen to him? Had to be _something_ going on behind
> > > those tall walls of the surrounding the base while Nell was getting
> > > kidnapped by Snidely Whiplash and getting tied to traintracks and
> > > while Dudley was out fucking up.
>
> > Yes, we know; In fact, you posted an article here about it last month!
>
> I know, eh? I can't find it. Dumb Google Groups and their slack-jaw
> archive procedures (couldn't c&p the original to your reply). I should
> have waited until today to post it.
Hmmm, I'll have to look later.
Adam H. Kerman
>On Sat, 28 Nov 2009, Ubiquitous wrote:
>>>With the great Edward Everett Horton narrating "Fractured Fairy Tales."
>>Who?
>I think so, I certainly thought of "Horton Hears a Who".
Hans Conried, actually, the voice of which character on Bullwinkle?
No idea if Mr. Horton would have been considered for narrator, but he would
have died around the time that was in production.
Without looking it up, who narrated "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"?
Ubiquitous
>Ubiquitous <web...@polaris.net> wrote:
>>>With the great Edward Everett Horton narrating "Fractured Fairy
>>>Tales."
>
>>Who?
>
>Edward Everett Horton was an extremely well known comic character actor
Never heard him.
Ubiquitous
>On Sat, 28 Nov 2009, Ubiquitous wrote:
>>> With the great Edward Everett Horton narrating "Fractured Fairy Tales."
>>
>> Who?
>
>I think so, I certainly thought of "Horton Hears a Who".
I guess the joke went over some people's heads.
William Baldwin
news:hesctg$gn6$1...@news.albasani.net:
> Without looking it up, who narrated "How the Grinch Stole
> Christmas"?
Without looking it up, I think it was Boris Karloff.
Steve Newport
<<<Ubi: Edward Everett Horton. Never heard him.>>>
----------------------------
Please tell me you're kidding.
----------------------------
As "mikey" on another group, he didn't know who Margaret Whiting is,
either.
marcus
> --
> It is simply breathtaking to watch the glee and abandon with which
> the liberal media and the Angry Left have been attempting to turn
> our military victory in Iraq into a second Vietnam quagmire. Too bad
> for them, it's failing.
Tell that to the loved ones of thousands of US service men and women
who died or were permanently maimed in the name of an unnecessary war
built upon lies.
If you find that breath-taking, you are one sick puppy.
marcus
Production"
>
> she thinks it struck such a chord and remains popular today because
> her father never wrote for children, he wrote for adults. Jay Ward
> wanted kids to enjoy the pictures while grown-ups laughed at the quick
> wit and inside jokes.
>
so hard that tears are running down my cheeks...there is stuff in
those cartoons that are only meant for grown-ups.
20 years ago, "Pee Wee's Playhouse" was like that...a kid's show for
grown-ups.
Dano
"marcus" <marc...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:81e341af-1c3e-47eb...@r5g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
--------------------------------------------------------
Oh stick around. There are far, far worse in here.
David E. Powell
As opposed to the many more who would have died otherwise?