The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends

This article is about the original television series. For other uses, see The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (disambiguation).
"Boris & Natasha" redirects here. For the movie by that name, see Boris and Natasha: The Movie. For Boris, see Boris Badenov. For Natasha, see Natasha Fatale.

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
The show's modern title card, used on home video releases in the 21st century
Also known as
  • Rocky and His Friends (ABC)
  • The Bullwinkle Show (NBC)
  • The Rocky Show (Syndication)
  • The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (Syndication/Cartoon Network)
  • The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (Syndication)
  • The Adventures of Bullwinkle and Rocky (Syndication)
  • Bullwinkle's Moose-O-Rama (Nickelodeon)
Genre
Created by
Voices of
Narrated by
Theme music composer
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes163 (685 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersPonsonby Britt, O.B.E.
Producers
Running time23 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkABC[5]
ReleaseNovember 19, 1959 (1959-11-19) –
July 10, 1961 (1961-07-10)
NetworkNBC[6]
ReleaseSeptember 24, 1961 (1961-09-24) –
June 27, 1964 (1964-06-27)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends (commonly referred to as simply Rocky and Bullwinkle) is an American animated television series that 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 flying squirrel Rocket J. ("Rocky") Squirrel and moose Bullwinkle J. Moose. The main antagonists in most of their adventures are the two Russian-like spies Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, both working for the Nazi-like dictator Fearless Leader. Supporting segments include "Dudley Do-Right" (a parody of old-time melodrama), "Peabody's Improbable History" (a dog named Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman traveling through time), and "Fractured Fairy Tales" (classic fairy tales retold in comic fashion), among others.[7] The current blanket title was imposed for home video releases more than 40 years after the series originally aired and was never used when the show was televised; television airings of the show were broadcast under the titles of Rocky and His Friends from 1959 to 1961 on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons on ABC (and again in Canada in 1963), The Bullwinkle Show from 1961 to 1964 on Sunday evening and then late Sunday afternoon on NBC, and The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (or The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle) as repeats from 1964-73 on Sunday mornings on ABC and in syndication following this.[8]

Rocky and 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.[7][9] It was also one of the first cartoons whose animation was outsourced; storyboards were shipped to Gamma Productions, a Mexican studio also employed by Total Television. The art has a choppy, unpolished look and the animation is extremely limited even by television animation standards at the time, yet the series has long been held in high esteem by those who have seen it; some critics described the series as a well-written radio program with pictures.[10]

The show was shuffled around several times during its run, airing in afternoon, prime time, and Saturday-morning cartoon timeslots, and was influential to other animated series from The Simpsons to Rocko's Modern Life.[11] Segments from the series were later recycled in the Hoppity Hooper show. There have been numerous feature film adaptations of the series' various segments, such as the 2000 film The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, which blended live-action and computer animation;[12] and the 1999 live-action film Dudley Do-Right.[13] Both films received poor reviews and were financially unsuccessful. By contrast, an animated feature film adaptation of the "Peabody's Improbable History" segment, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, was released to positive reviews in 2014. A rebooted animated series also based on "Peabody's Improbable History", The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show, debuted on Netflix in October 2015.[14][15]

Another reboot animated series based on the main and final segments, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle premiered on Amazon Prime Video on May 11, 2018. In 2013, Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show were ranked the sixth-greatest television cartoon of all time by TV Guide.[16]

  1. ^ Christon, Lawrence (November 13, 1988). "Tales of Jay Ward and the Bullwinkle Gang". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 4, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  2. ^ Folkart, Burt (October 13, 1989). "Artist created TV's Rocky and Bullwinkle". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  3. ^ McLellan, Dennis (October 26, 2010). "Artist created TV's Rocky and Bullwinkle". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 8, 2016. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  4. ^ "Unsung Creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle Dies". Time. Archived from the original on October 24, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  5. ^ "Of Moose And Men". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  6. ^ "TV writer C. Hayward, of cartoon Bullwinkle". Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Jay Ward: Masterful Humorist". Los Angeles Times. October 15, 1989. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  8. ^ "Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends – The Complete First Season". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on October 13, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  9. ^ Holz, Jo (2017). Kids' TV Grows Up: The Path from Howdy Doody to SpongeBob. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-1-4766-6874-1.
  10. ^ "Alex Anderson interview". Hogan's Alley. October 26, 2010. Archived from the original on October 26, 2010.
  11. ^ Marsh, Jeff; Dan Abrams (1997). "Contributors". The Rocko's Modern Life FAQ. Retrieved November 9, 2011. It was always our intent to create shows that would be entertaining on many levels. Rocky and Bullwinkle are still funny to me now, but on a new level. There were jokes that I didn't get as a child that I now understand the references to. They were able to create shows that were funny to both groups without sacrificing anything. That is a hard job to do and we always strove to emulate that quality
  12. ^ "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle – Rotten Tomatoes". Flixster. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  13. ^ "Dudley Do-Right". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  14. ^ Hulett, Steve (August 14, 2014). "Animation Work In And Around Los Angeles". The Animation Guild. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  15. ^ Spangler, Todd (August 6, 2015). "Netflix Reboots 'Mr. Peabody and Sherman' in Series from DreamWorks Animation (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  16. ^ "TV Guide Magazine's 60 Greatest Cartoons of All Time". tvguide.com. September 24, 2013.