The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle Prime Video

[Narcisa Flierl]

OnNov. 19, 1959, "Rocky and His Friends" premiered on ABC, bringing to television the adventures of Bullwinkle J. Moose, Rocket J. Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Mr. Peabody and his pet boy Sherman, and, of course, Badenov, the world's rottenest spy.

"Luckily, we have that baby boomer audience that grew up with it and introduced it to their kids," said Ward, daughter of Rocky and Bullwinkle creator Jay Ward and president of Ward Productions Inc., the caretaker company of her father's handiwork.

One of the first cartoon shows to air in prime time, "Rocky" - which had several different titles, many of which added Bullwinkle's moniker to the proceedings - aired from 1959 to 1964 before going into endless reruns in syndication and on cable.

Although Rocky and Bullwinkle bounced between two networks and through a slew of time slots - from weekday afternoons to prime time to Saturday mornings - their smart, smart-alecky show inspired a generation of animators.

"It's good writing, good voices, good music that made 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' so much fun to watch," "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening told Louis Chunovic, author of "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Book." "In fact, it was those shows that encouraged me to go into animation myself.

Which led to many fights with the show's sponsor, General Mills, which bankrolled the show as a way to sell breakfast cereal to younger viewers. (Not that Ward was above selling products: In addition to the show's characters, he created the animated "spokesmen" for such sugar-laden day-starters as Cap'n Crunch, Quisp and Quake.)

The late 1950s and early '60s were part of a golden age of comedy of sorts, with smart, sharp comics Bob Newhart, Shelley Berman, Mort Sahl, Vaughn Meader, Stan Freberg and Bill Cosby topping the album charts.

For a show that started airing after school, "Rocky and Bullwinkle" was riddled with puns, double entendres and topical references. The back story for "Rocky and Bullwinkle" was the Cold War, with all-American Rocky and big-hearted doofus Bullwinkle squaring off against vaguely East European-accented Boris and Natasha over the latest whatsit, from a new jet fuel to the legendary "Kirward Derby," a hat that gave its wearer super-intelligence.

The "Kirward Derby" was a joking reference to Durwood Kirby, a sidekick on the then-popular TV show "Candid Camera." But the joke wasn't so popular with Kirby, whose lawyer sent the show a cease-and-desist letter, claiming the gag was damaging his reputation, according to unofficial show historian Keith Scott in "The Moose That Roared."

Ward loved tweaking anyone and everyone. Walt Disney was a favorite target; he even appears as Prince Charming in Ward's daughter's favorite installment of "Fractured Fairy Tales," in which Sleeping Beauty is turned into a theme park.

Even though Jay Ward delighted in challenging viewers with topical references and double entendres, he was mindful that animation drew kid viewers. That's why, his daughter said, he always said everything on "Rocky and Bullwinkle" had to be "J-rated" - no swearing, no coarseness.

There have been a few attempts to revive Jay Ward's legacy since his death, from cancer, in 1989: live-action movies "Boris and Natasha," "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle," "Dudley Do-Right" and "George of the Jungle," the latter two both starring Brendan Fraser in the title role; and a re-engineered animated version of "George of the Jungle," which premiered on Cartoon Network last year.

Tiffany Ward says the production company is in talks with DreamWorks about an animated version of "Sherman and Mr. Peabody," with director Rob Minkoff, who co-directed "The Lion King." IMDB.com lists the movie as possibly opening in 2012.

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