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Summary: Rocky & Bullwinkle Intact & Beautifully Resotred on DVD ! !
Review: At last! Rocky & Bullwinkle get the restoration treatment they deserve. I grew up with these guys. Loved them then, and now that I understand all the jokes, love 'em even more.This is a collectors and R&B fans dream come true. All 5 seasons are planned for release and this is the first. Four discs, 26 shows, that include the entire 40 episodes of "Jet Fuel Formula" and 12 episodes of "Box Top Robbery". You also get 20 Fractured Fairy Tales; 21 Mr. Peabody's; 6 Aesop and Son's and 5 Dudley Do-Right's. The video and sound from these shows is the best you've seen or heard yet. Bill Conrads naration was so clean I thought, at first, it was someone else! Extras include "Dear Bullwinkle" (footage of the Bullwinkle puppet originally planned as bumpers for the show); "Classic Commercials and Promo's" (used to promote the show); "Rocky & Bullwinkle Savings Stamp Club" (a rare episode to promote U.S. Savings Bonds); "The Many Faces of Boris Badenov" (a montage of Boris disguises) and a "Sneak Peak" at the release of "Complete Season 2" (two R&B episodes with the Metal Munching Mice). My only concern (a minor one I suppose) is the comment made in the intro by Jay Ward's daughter, Tiffany Ward (in the enclosed 16 page booklet). She says, "We've brought all the episodes together under one name, using the rare second-season opening (Dad's favorite), beautifully restored the original prints, and replaced the music as Dad later requested with themes he specifically produced for the first two seasons." I take that to mean that most of these shows do not use the original openings and music. If that's true, I would have preferred them "as shown on TV", but I've been waiting for this so long I will overlook that. Especially since the quality is so good. This is a MUST for your DVD library.
Rating:
Summary: "A Breath of Fresh Air" or "Life is good again"
Review: Whatever happended to well-written and entertaining television for children? Whatever happened to the real creativity? To find out, just pick up The Complete First Season of Rocky & Bullwinkle, and compare the features to the inane children's programs offered today. The stuff that's out today is incomrehensable, and lacks substance. It's not funny. And even if you sit through an episode, you certainly can't watch it over and over again. R&B was just the right mix of good humor and clever writing. Wacky enough for kids,and subtle enough for adults. I flipped when I saw R&B for sale, and bought it on the spot. I worried, though, whether the production was a quality one, and I was extatic to find that it was. Just like waking up early thirty-five years ago and savoring every minute of every cartoon. Sound and picture quality are excellent. All that was missing were the "Fluff" and "Slinky" commercials. If you watched as a kid you will not only recall how great it was to be a kid, but will find a new appreciation for the show, especially the Cold War rivalry between our heroes, and Boris and Natashia, and the fairly-tale parodies as told by Edward Everett Horton. Can someone please release the rest of the good stuff (not just bits and pieces) - Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, The Go-Go Goghers, Buggs Bunny, etc., etc., and so on.
Rating:
Summary: FINALLY!!!
Review: Throw away the VHS tapes, the DVD's are here! Excellent quality video, COMPLETE series. This is a MUST BUY for any R&B fans. Relive your childhood and appreciate the animation talents of Jay Ward all over again. The wife thinks I'm regressing, the kids love it. I will be buying Series 2 when they come out with it (and they better!).
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Summary: Now Here's Something I Hope You'll Really Like
Review: Finally, this wondrful, clever, and salvagely funny cartoon seres is available on DVD! Now we can set Peabody's Waybac Machine back to 1959, near the peak of the Cold War when Jay Ward and his new partner Bill Scott created the perfect panacea during those trying times. This TV series brought satire to a new level long before Saturday Night Live. It's all there, the jokes on popular culture, the space race, the government, and all those bad puns in a low-budget animated series. This 4-DVD set cotains the entire first season of the original "Rocky and His Friends" and R & B's first two adventures "Jet Fuel Formula" and "The Box Top Robbery" in their original serial format, meaning that all the segments are SEPARATE and not stitched together like the Underdog DVD's or Buena Vista's earlier VHS releases of R & B. All the episodes are played in their original airing order, along with their supporting cartoons: Fractured Fairy Tales, Peabody's Improbable History, Aesop & Son, Dudley Do-Right, Bullwinkle's Corner, and Mr. Know-It-All. Also included are all the "bumpers" which introduced the next cartoon ("Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!") and the next commercial break ("Look Bullwinkle, a message in a bottle!"). All 26 "programs" are played exactly like they were in their original airings, except that the program opening and end credits and the episode intros have been slightly altered. The program opening and closings are from season 2 of "Rocky and His Friends", except that the title now reads "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends". That new title is also inserted into the four episode intros. Originally, those titles read "Rocky The Flying Squirrel", then were later changed to "The Adventures of Bullwinkle and Rocky". The music was also changed to the themes that were Jay Ward's favorites. This set contains a 16-page booklet with a letter from Jay Ward's daughter Tiffany and a brief history of the show, along with the episode listings. Disc 4 contains several extras including the Bullwinkle puppet and ads featuring our favorite moose and squirrel. There's also an unexpected rarity on disk 3; a Dudley Do-Right episode that's been banned from TV since its original 1961 airing after complaints from the U.S. Forestry Service. Watch it and you'll see why. This set is a must-buy for R & B fans and anyone who likes quality television. I can't wait for the remaining seasons to be released so I can see episodes that haven't been on TV in ages! (Anyone remember Missouri Mish-Mash?)
Rating: 
Summary: FINALLY - BUT ????
Review: Finally my favortite cartoon is out on DVD and what a sight to behold.Vivid and bright colors.A shear joy to watch.The puns,satire and other humor hold up well over the years.And including the banned "Stokey The Bear" is a REAL treat.The alternate opening sequences for Bullwinkle,Peabody and Sherman and FFT were a joy to see again too.It is so nice to view these restored videos.Overall a wonderfull job.
HOWEVER- I was greatly disappointed with a few things.Why did Sony find it necessary to fool(tweak) with the original ?!?!
1. The sound track is NOT the original music I grew to know and love.(the "NEW" music should have been added as bonus material)I cringe when I hear the Peabody and Sherman and FFT intros.They may have been what JAY WARD intended but they are not the ORIGINAL tunes!
2.The laugh track is missing.(a blessing actually)
3. These shows are NOT as originally aired as stated on the DVD box.(probably done to appease the masses)
4. RB watermarks at the beginning of shows.
Aside from this bit of nitpicking this set is a MUST HAVE .
I hope Sony gets it right with the future releases.PLEASE add the old Capt'n Crunch,Quisp & Quake commercials as BONUS material too.
On a final note--my 8 year old son loves the Peabody & Sherman and Fractured Fairy Tales segments.Testament that kids will watch quality (older) cartoons along with their toonami anime.
BUY BULLWINKLE you won't be disappointed.(unless you want historical accuracy)
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Summary: Get moose and squirrel!
Review: Finally! The original programs, complete and as they were originally shown -- not the infamously chopped-up versions released by Disney. ("The Disney Version" of "Wossamotta U." was shortened by about seven minutes. I was the first to notice this and point it out in a letter published by Video.) In the decade since Disney introduced "quality" limited animation with "Duck Tales," there's been an explosion of well-written and well-drawn animated shows, mostly on "Cartoon Network." Some are aimed at kids, but many are written by adults, for adults. Of course, "Rocky & Bullwinkle" got there first -- thirty-five years earlier! Unlike the crap churned out by Hanna-Barbera (anyone who doesn't like "Rocky & Bullwinkle" probably thinks garbage like "The Flinstones" is uproariously funny), "R&B" was penned by talented writers who would later go on to classic live-action series (eg, "Mary Tyler Moore"). They didn't write for the kiddies, but to suit their own taste. (I had to ask my mother who Phil Spitalny was.) That taste included satire. True, "Animaniacs" and "Rokko's Modern Life" are often satirical, but their focus is principally pop culture. "Rocky & Bullwinkle" wasn't afraid of social and political barbs. The first dozen or so shows are tepid; those unfamiliar with "R&B" might wonder why TV Guide picked the show as one of the all-time-50-best programs. Everything is in place, but little of it jells. The writers haven't really "let go" and discovered just how crazy they could be. The "R&B" episodes haven't started ragging on society and politics, nor has William Conrad yet discovered his classic over-the-top delivery. (The statement by another reviewer that his voice is badly redubbed in early episodes is quite wrong.) "Fractured Fairy Tales" sticks too close to the originals (though one of the characters lives in a town named "Daniels on the Rocks"). Only "Mr. Peabody's Improbable History" has hit its stride, because the Waybac [sic] presents history as it "should" have been, inviting all sorts of historical lunacy and non-sequiturs. Things start falling into place around the dozenth program. The character designs become rounder and more pleasing (Boris and Natasha, especially, lose their crude ugliness), Fearless Leader morphs from Soviet apparatchik into scar-faced Nazi, and the satire starts hitting its mark. Captain Peachfuzz lands, though has yet to acquire his Ed Wynn voice. Speaking of which' "Rocky & Bullwinkle" had the best voice talent of its day -- June Foray, Daws Butler, Paul Frees, and the incredible Bill Scott, whose unbelievable range of voices are unidentifiable as coming from a single actor. Walter Tetley (The Great Gildersleeve's nephew) plays Sherman, Charles Ruggles (Gale Storm's father on "My Little Margie") is Aesop, and the inimitable Hans Conreid renders Snidely Whiplash (was there ever a better comic name?) in deliriously over-the-top style. Visually, "Rocky & Bullwinkle" was awful-looking, with weak, muddy colors, and a palette barely wider than brown, blue, and green. So the image quality of this release is shocking' shocking! The colors are far brighter and cleaner, and the color gamut finally acknowledges the long and medium wavelengths. Most of the dirt and scratches are gone, as well, so we can only assume we're seeing an element much closer to the source (the original negative, perhaps?). "Rocky & Bullwinkle" was vastly superior to just about anything else on the air at that time -- "The Simpsons" of its era. (Jay Ward would spin in his grave if he heard me say it, but "South Park" is the legitimate bastard grandchild of "Rocky & Bullwinkle.") In the later seasons, you'll see some timeless classics, such as R&B attending Wossamotta U., a magic hat that makes its wearer supremely intelligent, and "Riding Hoods Anonymous." Unreservedly recommended. Now if the producers would only pull the next four seasons out of their hat...
Rating:
Summary: Jay Ward: Creative Genius!
Review: Two words: WOO HOO! This cartoon can not be topped! Some might say it is even an inspiration for the current cartoon favorite, The Simpsons! (With the J's for middle initials and all...) I didn't even know this was being released until I read it in TV Guide of all places! I am going to buy this and watch it over and over again!!! Looking forward to having the complete series in my collection. Hopefully the same production house as The Simpsons DVD's isn't making these or I might have to go there and freak out on them for making me wait so darn long!!!
Rating:
Summary: Almost Perfect
Review: It's wonderful to see these episodes again, all cleaned up and pristine.
Well, almost pristine. On every segment (several times within each half-hour episode), there is a "bug" logo in the bottom corner of the screen for several seconds. This detracts a bit from allowing us to pretend it's 1960 again, and feels more like we're watching current broadcast TV.
Also, the original "Rocky and His Friends" titles have been replaced with the "Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends" title, sometimes a little awkwardly.
On the whole, though, it's great to see these again, and the humor is as sharp as ever, holding up very well.
I would have given the set a 5 rating if not for the "bug" on the screen.
Rating:
Summary: There is a God
Review: I think I've been waiting my entire life for this to come out. There's no possible way this could be anything but the best thing ever. I'm sure you'd agree if you've seen as much Rocky and Bullwinkle as I have. Here is what's on the DVD. The legendary, and hereto Long Lost complete Jet Fuel Formula saga, a titanic 40 episode opus. R & B fly to the moon, meeting spacemen Gidney and Cloyd, This saga has been trunicated elsewhere in collections, and it's be nice to have it all here. This is the longest storyline in the show's history, and introduces most of the recurring characters. Somehow the spacemen end up on earth, and with the help of the moose and squirrel, flunk their citizenship test and are deported back to the moon. Truely brilliant problem solving! Next is the Box Top Robbery (12 segments). Bullwinkle owns the worlds largest collection of Box Tops. Naturally, these are the backbone of the world economy, and he's set for life, until it's discovered that counterfeits are flooding the market... Those are the first two story-arcs, and the actual content of the DVD may be shorter or longer, depending. Regardless, this will surely be a jam-packed DVD set, which absolutely everyone should own. There's a few special features, such as a VERY rare glimpse of the Bullwinkle puppet giving advice to the lovelorn, in a segment called 'Dear Bullwinkle', along with lots of bumpers from bygone days. It's a super package, as a SUPER price. [A low price] for 4 discs, can't beat that with a pointed stick. It should be noted that it also includes the full original title sequence, AND the Peabody & Sherman, Aesop and Son, Dudley Do-Right, and Fractured Fairy Tales as they appeared, including the first ever episode of Peabody, wherein he adopts Sherman! Not to be missed.
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Summary: An Interview with June Foray please!
Review: Rocky and Bullwinkle! Boris and Natasha! Moose and Squirrel! Fractured Fairy Tales! Etc., etc. How I remember this show! The humor was always top class! This is one of the formative influences from my childhood. I would hope that they could get interviews with some of the talent who made this series. At least, June Foray(the voice actor for Rocky, Natasha Fatale, and innumerable witches, fair maidens, etc.)Update: Have received it and it IS a good set! The video remastering is excellent, I believe. Rocky and Bullwinkle have their normal healthy coloring. The puns are as bad as you remember them including some you probably didn't get the first time around-hence the appeal of this series to adults as well as to children!
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