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Although Rocky and His Friends remains the cleverest and best-loved cartoon series of the baby boom era, information about the creation of the program is notoriously hard to come by. Jay Ward declined to give interviews in his later years, key artists have died, and virtually nothing survives from the hastily organized studio in Mexico City where much of the animation was done. Despite these handicaps, Australian actor Keith Scott, the voice of Bullwinkle in the 2000 film, has assembled an impressively complete studio history.
Unlike other television cartoon producers, Ward and his partner, writer and voice actor Bill Scott, insisted on making shows they thought were funny. The witty scripts, read by a cast of superb voice artists, remain as entertaining today as they were when Rocky debuted in 1959. And, as Scott documents, what occurred off-camera was often just as zany. The Coney Island Film Festival, a lavish publicity stunt to promote "Fractured Flickers," Ward's send-up of silent films, turned into a spectacular disaster when a rainstorm drenched the park--and the guests. The book has some weaknesses: there are only a few black-and-white illustrations, and Scott fails to address the impact of the cartoons--Matt Groening has frequently cited them as an influence on The Simpsons. The often repetitious text would have benefited from judicious editing. These caveats aside, The Moose That Roared will delight the legions of vociferous fans whose love for Rocky, Bullwinkle, Boris, Natasha, Dudley Do-Right, George of the Jungle, Super Chicken, Fred, and the rest of the Jay Ward characters continues, 40 years after Rocky began its initial run. Also available: the original cartoons on VHS, the large-format episode guide The Rocky and Bullwinkle Book, and Fractured Fairy Tales, updated by an Entertainment Weekly writer. --Charles Solomon
From Publishers Weekly
Cross-marketing efforts are seldom worthwhile, but this cartoonish history of Rocky and Bullwinkle is a fabulous exception. Scott, a lifelong "cartoon junkie" and the voice of Bullwinkle in the upcoming film from Universal Pictures, delves deep into animation lore to reveal the magic and mayhem that went into the most irreverent and grown-up cartoon until The Simpsons. Rocky and Bullwinkle were invented in 1957 by two perpetually goofy guys named Jay Ward and Bill Scott (no relation to the author). When the two men persuaded a distribution company to fund a series based on their characters, a legend was born. The Rocky and Bullwinkle adventures were unlike any cartoon on TV: topical (the Cold War was a favorite subtext), self-referential ("Have you forgotten, BullwinkleAwe're TV heroes!" cries Rocky in one episode) and unapologetically sophisticated (references to Dostoyevski and Aesop were not atypical). But above all, Scott insists, the Rocky and Bullwinkle show was often outrageously, sometimes painfully, funny. The mismatched duo (a squirrel and a moose) entertained adults and children alike for six years and 326 episodes. Although Jay Ward and Bill Scott created a gaggle of other popular cartoon charactersAincluding Dudley Do-Right, George of the Jungle and Cap'n CrunchARocky and Bullwinkle were always their favorites. Scott's enthusiasm for his subject is infectiousAwhen he veers into giddiness, it's forgivable, perhaps even appropriate to this delightful salute to the most famous flying squirrel and dimwitted moose in history. (July) FYI: The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, starring Robert De Niro, Rene Russo, George Alexander and the author, will be released June 30. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose, Frostbite Falls, MN!s most popular residents, are returning to active duty this summer in a feature-length film combining live action with animation. This book is not just the inside story of their animated adventures but the whirlwind tale of the creative successes and frustrations of Jay Ward and Bill Scott, the duo who introduced them. Behind-the-scenes information about Jay Ward Productions (both before and after Rocky and Bullwinkle) makes this book valuable to both animation historians and ordinary cartoon buffs. A superlative reference section serves up convenient and detailed episode information not only on each Rocky and Bullwinkle feature but on all of Jay Ward!s creations from the 1940s through the 1980s, including Dudley Do-Right and George of the Jungle. Actor and cartoon historian Scott will supply the voice of Bullwinkle in the movie. A logical purchase for most public libraries."David M. Lisa, Mercyhurst Coll. Lib., Erie, PA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The New York Times Book Review, Carolyn T. Hughes
Keith Scott chronicles the colorful history of Jay Ward productions and analyzes their various cartoon shows.
From Booklist
Jay Ward was a budding realtor when a runaway truck changed his plans. Crashing into his office, the lory injured him severely and spurred him toward a different career path. To the delight of cartoon fans, he set out in animation, of all things, and created Crusader Rabbit ("TV's first original cartoon star"), Dudley Do-Right, Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose, Hoppity Hooper, and other hip cartoon stalwarts. He didn't do it all by himself, though. "Without Bill Scott there might never have been a Rocky and Bullwinkle." Scott was the "head writer, coproducer, and undisputed creative force" at Jay Ward Productions. This is his story, too, and also that of June Foray--then and now the voice of Rocky--and the rest of Ward's merry band. Overall, it is the crazy story of how cartoons that appealed to adults as well as children came to be on TV, and even, for a while, in prime time, decades before The Simpsons. This is essential animation history. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
From Kirkus Reviews
Rocky and Bullwinkle aficionados, rejoice: here's a ripsnorting celebration of the cartoon characters and their human creators.A voice actor who works mostly in Australia, Scott has been an ardent admirer of Bullwinkle T. Moose and Rocky Squirrel since childhood--the kind of fan who pestered the cartoon's production company until it finally gave in and allowed him access to the key players, led by Jay Ward and Bill Scott. (He also got to do his beloved moose's voice in the forthcoming Rocky and Bullwinkle movie.) His history of the series, written over many years, is full of anecdotes about the team's improbable success with their sarcastic parody of Cold War–era politics, a pun- and double entendre–riddled send-up of intrigues, spies and history that first aired in 1959 and enjoyed a cult following for years to come. Born from the ashes of an earlier (pretty primitive) cartoon series called Crusader Rabbit, Rocky and His Friends (those friends being, of course, the likes of Dudley Do-right, Sherman and Peabody, Boris and Natasha), the show was startlingly fresh, even downright subversive. Its corporate sponsors, chief among them the food-production giant General Mills, didn't quite know what to make of the proceedings and raised frequent objections to matters of content (demanding, for instance, that the word darn be removed from a script on the grounds that its use would inspire young viewers to take up swearing). Ward and company, however, generally prevailed, and they inspired others to raise the kiddie-show bar. Their enduring work, writes Scott, reminds us of a time when the sole purpose of cartoons was laughter--not tie-ins with unprepossessing plush toys, or the dictums of network censors concerned with cutting jokes and substituting tedious ‘new age' relevance.Thoroughly researched and brightly written, this is fine tribute to the famed moose and squirrel duo and their creators -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"His enthusiasm is as infectious as that of his subjects." -New York Times Book Review
"Rocky and Bullwinkle aficionados rejoice: here's a ripsnorting celebration of the cartoon characters and their humon creators.... Thoroughly researched and brightly written, this is a fine tribute to the famed moose and squirrel duo and their creators." -Kirkus Reviews
Book Description
Dudley Do-Right.
George of the Jungle.
Rocky and Bullwinkle.
For those of us who love The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, these names conjure up memories of some of the wittiest, most inspired, and relentlessly hilarious half-hours of animation ever produced. There was a kind of gleeful magic to the shows, a cumulative joy that transcended the crude animation and occasionally muddy sound, and it's this quality that was the essence of the legendary Jay Ward and Bill Scott. Jay Ward was the magnificent visionary, the outrageous showman who lobbied Washington for statehood for Moosylvania, and invited the press to a picnic on the floor of the Plaza Hotel's august Grand Ballroom. Bill Scott was the genial, brilliant head writer, coproducer, and all-purpose creative whirlwind, often described as the "soul" of the shows. In fact, Scott even provided the voices for most of the star characters, giving life to Bullwinkle J. Moose, Mr. Peabody, Dudley Do-Right, and George of the Jungle. From their tiny, oddball animation studio, Jay Ward Productions, they created some of the most memorable animation of all time, and gave birth to a family of characters whose undying popularity has cast them forever into the pop culture firmament. With their distinctively unorthodox, artist-friendly philosophy, Ward and Scott attracted some of the most talented writers and voice actors in the industry, and for a time, Jay Ward Productions was a kind of Camelot of cartoons. Now, through exclusive interviews with Bill Scott, Tiffany Ward, June Foray, and dozens of others intimately involved with the Ward epoch, as well as access to original scripts, artwork, story notes, letters, and memos, Keith Scott has created the definitive history of Jay Ward Productions, including episode guides and voice credits for all the Jay Ward cartoons. From the first "Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat!" to the last "Watch out for that tree!" this is not only the record of a legendary chapter in animation history, but also the story of a rare and magical relationship between two artists who were wildly, exuberantly ahead of their time, and the fascinating story of the struggle to bring their vision of bad puns and talking animals to unforgettable life.]
About the Author
Keith Scott is a veteran voice artist and animation historian who, beginning in his late teens, became friends with his childhood idols Jay Ward and Bill Scott. He has worked extensively in animation and radio as an expert voice mimic. He recently narrated Disney's live action movie based on the Jay Ward creation George of the Jungle, and is now starring as the voice of Bullwinkle J. Moose for Universal Pictures' Summer 2000 motion picture.
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