What A Cartoon! - The Adventures of Rocky And Bullwinkle "Rue Britannia Finale"

An interesting anecdote mentioned in Keith Scott's book was DePatie-Freleng was in talks with Jay Ward to make a rebooted Rocky and Bullwinkle series. The arrangement was production would be handled at DFE but Jay Ward got to assemble the writing team and pick the voice actors. DePatie-Freleng was deep into adapting licensed properties in the '70s such as The Fantastic Four and Planet of the Apes, so I guess this was just Friz Freleng seeing another property to make a show for. They were in talks with UPA to produce more Mr. Magoo TV cartoons at this time, so it wasn't a completely strange deal for them. Before the 2018 Amazon series, it's just so fascinating how many failed attempts there were to bring back R&R. Even Disney tried and failed to make their own adaption. In fact, this failure how Thad Stones was able to pitch Darkwing Duck to Disney. http://michaelperaza.blogspot.com/2010/08/bullwinkled.html

tiny crow

Oh man, this episode really brought me back. I have very strong memories of being sick for a week or two in middle school and there, for some reason, just happened to be a DVD set of S2 of Rocky & Bullwinkle in my house. I hadn't seen the show since random airings on Nick or Cartoon Network, so this was my first time watching the show as a cognizant older TV viewer and man oh man, I could believe how well the writing held up. Even listening to this episode I found myself having that same realization all over again. I must admit, the show's one major shortcoming is that it is FULL of time killers with credits, bumpers, and intros probably taking up half of the time, but honestly, watching it on DVD helps a lot where you could very VERY conveniently skip these bits in marathon watching. The show was on Netflix for some time where I did try watching it, only to find that not being able to easily skip around without chapter select made it a total slog. After this one, I think I might buckle down and finally buy a complete DVD set since a recent reprint of it seems to go for way way less than the original box set did for some time

John-Charles Holmes

What a great show. I’m so glad you guys have finally gotten to one of the major building blocks of animation comedy. My only gripe is that you say the animation “sucks”... I mean I get why people would think that, but I just think it is perfect for what it is. To me it is an excellent pair with the style of the show. With Bullwinkle as well as Charlie Brown, I feel they they would feel odd with more fluid animation. Either way this was a great episode boys, can’t wait for the next one.

Oh know Bob, you've awoken my inner pedant! Buttermilk isn't fattier milk. It's generally lower fat than common 2% milk. Traditionally it's the leftover liquid from butter churning, hence it's name. It's notably tangy due to high lactic acid concentration and not particularly palatable, at least to Americans. It is served as a beverage in India, however: often with spices or fruit flavoring. It is indispensable for scratch made pancakes and waffles, and the South wouldn't have biscuits without it.

Ron Sterling

This podcast really reminded me why when it came to animated prime time TV shows of this era it was always Rocky and Bullwinkle > Anything Hanna Barbera. Looking back the only thing I find really annoying about Rocky and Bullwinkle was all the reused footage. I know the show was cheap but it's really a drag to sit through the same 2-3 minutes of animation every episode. ALSO AP AP AP... HENRY. Lemme put on my pedantic nerd hat and say that Underdog, Commander Mcbrag and Tennessee Tuxedo were NOT made by Ward but by a man named W. Watts Biggers. He used very similar production styles to Rocky and Bullwinkle so the shows do run together a bit, confounding the issue further is that some of those shorts did appear on Rocky in Bullwinkle in syndication, probably tied up in all sorts of legal bull crap. I do agree however that Underdog is definitely a lesser show to Rocky.

Devin Hoffarth

Hi bob and henry just wanted to say that i really enjoyed this episode of wac however this is a friendly reminder that no one is immune from cop agenda since that is what the Dudley do right is. He works for the royal Canadian mounted police. Canada’s police force and even if Dudley is a god dam idiot he still is competent enough to beat snidely at the end of cartoons. The real rcmp (which have only been around for about 100 years) is just as racist as the one in the US and was made only because a workers strike broke out in Winnipeg and the provincial police were so incompetents' that the government made the rcmp for that reason of squashing anything like that happening again. just thought it was worth brining up. also at least in my experience if you bring Dudley up to a Canadian that isn't 50 years old or watched the live action movie then they probably have no idea what your talking about since it didn't get played a lot in Canada

y2kpodcst

I always get a kick out of the WAC subjects that are still entertaining as just audio clips. I remember watching the reruns of this show as a kid, but at that time I didn't look at it as being any different from most other old cartoons I watched, like Yogi Bear. Now, I feel like I can better appreciate the quality of the writing, especially compared to everything else from the same time period. One obscure spin-off of Rocky & Bullwinkle that I've learned about recently is a series of Chuck E. Cheese-style family fun centers called Bullwinkle's Restaurant that started popping up in the eighties, complete with animatronic versions of the characters. The only reason I know about it is because an older coworker of mine has told me stories of being employed as the guy wearing the full Bullwinkle costume. Shockingly, there are two or three locations still open in the US.

Christmas Ape

As a Canadian, I usually enjoy jokes about Canada. And the Dudley Do-Right jokes are never mean spirited in the way some Canadian Jokes can be. Jokes about Canadian weather in particular always work for me, like the episode where Dudley Do-Right has to go to Quebec (which is only a block and a half away) but unfortunately it's summer, so he gets caught in a blizzard.

Graeme Black Robinson

Growing up, my parents allowed me Rocky & Bullwinkle on VHS but I had to wait until the DVDs came out and I had a job (unmonitored income) to get the Simpsons. From that very esoteric metric, I can say that the joke density is definitely what made R&B so delightful to me, and I was ecstatic to hear you cover it. Between that and Spongebob next week, I'm only saddened that we can't afford more WAC all the time forever (while understanding that you both need time to recharge between recordings). Way to go, and thank you much.

Byron Lagrone

Canadian millennial here. Yeah, we got reruns of the show in the 80s and 90s too, so we're as aware as anyone about Dudley Do-Right. I don't recall feeling insulted or anything about Canadian representation at the time. If anything, any time a popular American comedy thing even acknowledged Canada, it was a treat to feel included.

Ryan Kertai

I kind of hated this show when I was a kid. As was pointed out, this was often in the 7:30 timeslot on Nick so it was the last "kid" show of the day. I watched a lot of this and Speed Racer on MTV despite not really liking either because it was on and I only had dominion over the TV for so long before my parents took over. Revisiting it as an adult though is a lot more entertaining. There's a lot of corn present, but it's chuckle-inducing and I love that the voice cast did work for Rankin Bass as it conjures memories of Christmas specials in my head. Every time you guys touch on one of these old shows that had some air play on Nickelodeon in the 90s it just reminds me how weird of a channel that thing used to be and it definitely hits me right in the nostalgia feels.

Joe Hodgson

I never liked this show as a kid (or rather I didn't "get" it) but listening to clips of it now on this podcast, I'm impressed by how funny the writing is. The narrator really makes it.

nina matsumoto

Jessie and James were inspired by the villains of the Time Bokan anime series from the mid-70s, so it's a slight possibility.

Bob Mackey

First of all, I've really been enjoying the Henry impressions lately. Very good Bullwinkle, and your Marge just keeps getting better. Or at least funnier. Does anyone know what kind of impact Rocky and Bullwinkle had in Japan? Maybe it was all the talk of rockets blasting off in this episode, but I couldn't help but see a line between Boris & Natasha and Pokemon's Jesse and James. Specifically with the heroes never seeing through the paper thin disguises and the villains ability to construct elaborate machines. I found some reference to the show being syndicated in Japan. I wonder if it had a big influence on the anime creators of subsequent generations?

Graeme Black Robinson