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Rocky and Bullwinkle: Difference between revisions
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''A loop, a whirl, a vertical climb
''And once again you know it's time
''For [[Title Drop|Rocky! ...and his friends]]''
|'''The season two opening of Rocky and Bullwinkle'''}}
This cult cartoon series, produced by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, ran on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] Saturday evenings as ''[[Rocky and His Friends]]'' from 1959 to 1961. It featured the serialized adventures of Rocky (voiced by [[June Foray]]), a flying squirrel who wore flight goggles, and Bullwinkle (Bill Scott), a dimwitted moose. Their primary foes were Boris Badenov (Paul Frees) and Natasha Fatale ([[June Foray]] again), a pair of Slavic spies from the imaginary Soviet satellite of Pottsylvania. In 1961, the series moved to [[NBC]] and became ''[[The Bullwinkle Show]]''; it ran under that title until 1964. Both series have since been seen in syndication and on cable TV.
Bullwinkle also appeared in two other segments: ''Bullwinkle's Corner'', in which he gave poetry readings that usually degenerated into chaos, and ''Mr. Know-It-All'', in which his attempts to offer "how-to" advice on a variety of topics often met with similar disaster. Supporting segments were ''[[Dudley Do-Right]]'', ''Peabody's Improbable History'', ''[[Fractured Fairy Tale|Fractured Fairy Tales]]'' and ''Aesop and Son''. William Conrad was the [[Narrator]] in the main ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'' segments, and Edward Everett Horton performed that function in ''Fractured Fairy Tales'' and ''Aesop and Son''.
It continued on with ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'' comics through the 80s. In 2000, [[Universal]] released [[The Film of the Series]] produced in live action, apart from a CGI moose and squirrel voiced by Keith Scott and June Foray, and [[Book Ends|hand-drawn opening and ending sequences]] mimicking the style of the 1950's cartoon. Jason Alexander and Rene Russo played Boris and Natasha. [[Robert De Niro]], a fan of the show from his youth, not only played Fearless Leader, but was also one of the film's producers.
In 1992, there was a made-for-cable movie ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101500 Boris and Natasha]'' about the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|bad guy couple]]. Rocky and Bullwinkle were human in this film ("Agents Moose and Squirrel, genetically altered once again"), with a post-Cold War theme. [[Sally Kellerman]], like DeNiro in the later film, was a fan of the show and co-produced it, playing Natasha.
A "making of" special, called ''Of Moose and Men: The Rocky and Bullwinkle Story'' was aired in March 1990
{{tropenamer}}
{{quote|'''Rocky:''' [[Oh, No, Not Again|Again]]?}}▼
* [[Wayback Trip]]: The Peabody segments are the [[Trope Namer]] and possibly the [[Trope Maker]].▼
{{tropelist}}
* [[Accidental Athlete]]: Bullwinkle in the "Wossamotta U" arc.
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* [[Bat Deduction]]: In a "Mr. Peabody's Improbable History":
{{quote|'''Mr. Peabody:''' Sherman, how thick is this fog?
'''Sherman:''' It's as thick as pea soup.
'''Mr. Peabody (Narrating):''' And that's where we found him: in a shady diner behind a [[Rouge Angles of Satin|bowel]] of pea soup. }}
* [[Big Bad]]: Though Mr. Big is the ruler of Pottsylvania, Fearless Leader is shown to be more in charge.
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* [[Collective Groan]]: The [[Incredibly Lame Pun]] listed below got a sizable one.
* [[Comedic Hero]]
* [[Competition Coupon Madness]]: Boris and Natasha produce counterfeit box tops to get all the prizes and undermine the world's economy. General Mills (which not only sponsored the show, but owned it outright) was not amused and [[Executive Meddling|forced the producers to end the story earlier than planned]].
* [[Conspicuous Trenchcoat]]: Even more amusing in retrospect...
* [[Counterfeit Cash]]: Or rather Counterfeit Boxtops
* [[Crazy Prepared]]: Boris Badenov. He has been known to carry around a cardboard cutout with him in case moon men attack with freeze ray guns and a carrier pigeon attached to miniature rockets in case he cannot get to his radio and needs to send a message overseas.
* [[Creepy Changing Painting]]: One issue of the [[Comic Book Adaptation]] had a pawn shop in whose window was displayed a bust that seemed to grin one moment and scowl the next. It turned out to be connected to the auction in that story.
* [[Dinner Order Flub]]: <s>Bullwinkle</s> Mr. Know-It-All goes into a coffee shop and looks over the menu. Seeing that refills are
* [[Disability Immunity]]: You'd be surprised how many times Bullwinkle's lack of intelligence has protected him.
* [[The Ditz]]: Just about everyone, but especially Bullwinkle.
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* [[Either-Or Title]]: Almost every single chapter of every single story... and both titles were horrendous puns. While ''{{PAGENAME}}'' wasn't the Trope Maker, it certainly popularized this trope.
* [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"]]: Fearless Leader. His real name is unknown.
* [[Everythings Nuttier With Squirrels]]: Amazingly [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] with Rocky being the most clever character in the show. And even he gets stuck with the [[Idiot Ball]] whenever the plot calls for it (or whenever it might be funny).▼
* [[Evil Versus Evil]]: Boris and Fearless Leader briefly fought over the Kirward Derby in ''Missouri Mish Mash''.
* [[Explosive Cigar]]: In the story ''Mucho Loma'', Bullwinkle is put in jail after being mistaken for the villain Zero. Rocky gives Bullwinkle a explosive cigar to help him break out. Bullwinkle mistakes it for a real cigar and throws it out the window causing a [[Rube Goldberg Device]] that breaks the prison wall.
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'''Rocky:''' (under the influence of the gas) [[Of Mice and Men|Tell me about the rabbits, George]].
'''Bullwinkle:''' You see what I mean? }}
* [[Funday Pawpet Show]]: The 2000 Bullwinkle figures [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irYLh32_ee0 made an
▲* [[Fractured Fairy Tale]]: [[Trope Namer]].
▲* [[Funday Pawpet Show]]: The 2000 Bullwinkle figures [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irYLh32_ee0 made an appearence] on an early episode.
* [[Genius Ditz]]: Turns out Bullwinkle is ''really'' good at fencing (although he uses it to shish kebab). Good enough to not only be mistaken for one of [[The Three Musketeers (novel)|The Three Musketeers]] (by one of the ''actual'' Musketeers), but even to take on a small mob of swordsmen by himself.
* [[Go-Karting with Bowser]]: In the Rocky and Bullwinkle Fan Club segments, Boris and Natasha are members of said fan club.
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* [[Lemony Narrator]]
* [[Limited Animation]]: This is perhaps one of the most famous examples of a cartoon being very popular regardless of having very crappy animation.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: Mr. Big, {{spoiler|though only his shadow is big. What he really looks like is a subversion.}}
* [[Moose Are Idiots]]: Bullwinkle is practically the [[Trope Codifier]].
* [[Motionless Chin]]
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'''Pottsylvanian scientist''': What about that movie [[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?|Roger Rabbit]]?
'''Fearless Leader''': ''[[Big "Shut Up!"|SHUT UP]]''! This is totally different!" (''Rocky and Bullwinkle'') }}
{{quote|'''Natasha''': We have been blown back clear to beginning of movie! (''Boris and Natasha'')}}
* [[No Sense of Direction]]: The aptly named Capt. Peter "Wrong Way" Peachfuzz.
* [[Non-Fatal Explosions]]
▲* [[
* [[Off-Model]]: This was one of the first animated shows to have its production outsourced to an overseas company (in Mexico). There were some...''bugs'' in the animation, let's just say.
* [[Once
{{quote|'''Rocky:''' That voice. Where have I heard that voice?
'''Bullwinkle:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|In about 364 other episodes. But I don't know who it is, either]]. }}
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* [[Parody Names]]: The Kirward Derby from the story ''Missouri Mish Mash'' is a parody name of Durward Kirby, cohost of the show Candid Camera. Durward tried to sue Jay Ward Productions because of it, but they didn't care. The legality of the case was not strong enough and Durward dropped it.
** Also, in the first episode, news of an "alien landing" is broadcast by [[Orson Welles|"Dorson Belles"]].
* [[Party Line Telephone]]: One episode "Painting Theft" (15 June 1962) depicts Boris Badenov listening in on a phone call on a party line, then uttering "The party line is my country's answer to the thinking man's filter" as an obvious play on words: under a Soviet-backed communist dictatorship, citizens would have to stick to the "party line" (as opposed to being a "thinking man") or face retribution.
* [[Planet of Steves]]: Throughout the series, there are always two different guys (and two fish in one episode) named Chauncey and Edgar pointing out something that's out of the ordinary.
* [[The Power of Love]]:
* [[Puppet Shows]]: In one of the network runs the segments were introduced by a Bullwinkle puppet. The puppet suddenly disappeared shortly after Bullwinkle said "Say kids, you know [[Technology Marches On|that knob that changes the channel]] on your
▲* [[Pull a Rabbit Out of My Hat]]: [[Trope Namer]].
▲{{quote|'''Rocky:''' [[Oh, No, Not Again|Again]]?}}
▲* [[Puppet Shows]]: In one of the network runs the segments were introduced by a Bullwinkle puppet. The puppet suddenly disappeared shortly after Bullwinkle said "Say kids, you know [[Technology Marches On|that knob that changes the channel]] on your tv comes off? Why dont you pull it off right now! Then you'll be sure to be here next week! And the week after that! And the week after that! And the week....."
* [[Recruiting the Criminal]]: Rather than sending him to jail, Zero is sent to do a job where his skill at making [[Zorro Mark|zero marks]] is useful. What is this job? [[Take That|Scorekeeper for the New York Mets]].
* [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]]: Boris initially had magenta-colored eyes. They turned white in the fifth chapter of ''Jet Fuel Formula'' and stayed that way for the rest of the series.
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* [[Take That]]: Way too many to list. Basically if it was popular in the early 1960s, the moose and squirrel took a jab at it.
* [[Taken for Granite]]: Gidney the moon man fits this trope as he has a [[Freeze Ray]] which can turn a person into a solid statue for unknown amounts of time.
* [[Tenement Clotheslines]]: One of the earlier segment openings for ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'' has Bullwinkle being prevented from falling to his death by falling into an outfit on such a clothesline.
* [[Time Passes Montage]]: Bullwinkle invokes one to shorten a long airplane flight (he forgot the sandwiches), but overshoots and grows a long white beard. His response was to put some of the leaves back on the calendar and turn himself back to normal.
* [[Tiny Guy, Huge Girl]]: Boris and Natasha.
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{{quote|'''Boris''': You were saying?
'''Narrator''': Duh, gee whiz, I don't remember. Dehh, be with us next time for--well just be with us next time anyway...gee... }}
* [[Those Two Guys]]: "[[Catch Phrase|Now there's something you don't see every day, Chauncey.]]"/"[[Phrase Catcher|What's that, Edgar?]]"
* [[Those Wacky Nazis]]: Fearless Leader taps into some of the imagery, particularly his monocle, prominent facial scar and uniform decorations. That, and he's also fond of the phrase "''Schweinhund''".
* [[Took a Level in Badass]]: Surprisingly, Bullwinkle fulfilled this trope in [[The Movie]] when he fought off a whole gang of Pottslyvania spies and even sent Fearless Leader flying.
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* [[Villain Episode]]: More like villain movie. Boris and Natasha starred in their own movie eight years before Rocky and Bullwinkle did.
* [[Vocal Evolution]]: In the beginning of the show, everyone (including the narrator) spoke in a very low tone. Also, Captain Peachfuzz had a high-pitch squwak-like voice that sounded like a typical cartoon parrot in ''Jet Fuel Formula''. After that story, his voice was then based on Ed Wynn.
▲* [[Wayback Trip]]: The Peabody segments are the [[Trope Namer]] and possibly the [[Trope Maker]].
* [[Who's on First?]]: In a ''Bullwinkle's Corner'' segment where Bullwinkle and Boris perform ''Simple Simon'', they transition into this over the word "ware".
* [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?]]: For someone called Fearless Leader, it is shown that Pottsylvanian TV is too much for him.
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{{reflist}}
{{TV Guide's 50 Greatest}}
[[Category:Prime Time Cartoon]]
[[Category:Western Animation]]
[[Category:Nickelodeon]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 1950s]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 1960s]]
[[Category:Multiple Works Need Separate Pages]]
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