Amazon Video Kids and Dreamworks Animation recently announced the return of the dynamic duo of Frostbite Falls, Rocky and Bullwinkle.
The world-famous talking moose and flying squirrel are back in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, a comedy about two goofball friends who end up in harrowing situations but end up saving the day time and again. As their silly ambitions dovetail with Fearless Leader’s sinister plans to take over the world, they are set on a collision course with his notorious super spies Boris and Natasha.
Originally created by Jay Ward, Rocky and Bullwinkle made their debut in 1959, for two seasons on ABC originally as “Rocky And Friends”, then moving to NBC for three more seasons under the title “The Bullwinkle Show”. Today, the series is known as The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle Show. The series had aired on network television off and on thru the early 80’s, in addition to being shown in syndication. On cable, the show had aired on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, WGN, and VH1 Classics. Rocket J. Squirrel is perhaps the late June Foray’s most famous voice role.
In addition to stories featuring Rocky and Bullwinkle foiling the plans of Boris, Natasha, and Fearless Leader, the show also featured stories featuring Dudley Do-Right of The Mounties, Mr. Peabody and Sherman in Mr. Peabody’s Improbably History, Fractured Fairy Tales, and Aesop and son.
Over the years, the series had been adapted into comic books, video games, even a roleplaying game. In 1992, Boris and Natasha were featured in a live action film, called Boris And Natasha: The Movie, featuring Dave Thomas and Sally Kellerman as the duo. Brendan Fraser took on the title role of Dudley Do-Right in a live action adaptation in 1999. A live action/CGI film featuring Rocky And Bullwinkle was released in 2000, featuring Jason Alexander as Boris Badenov, Renee Russo as Natasha Fatale, Robert DeNiro as Fearless Leader, and June Foray reprising the role of Rocky. In 2014, Mr. Peabody and Sherman were featured in their own film, which led to a spin-off series currently streaming on Netflix.
The new series seems to focus only on Rocky and Bullwinkle, but we may get an updated version of classics like “Mr. Know-It-All” and “Bullwinkle’s Corner”. The voice cast features Tara Strong as Rocky and Brad Norman as Bullwinkle. Ben Diskin and Rachel Butera provide the voices of Boris and Natasha with Piotr Michael as Fearless Leader. Finally, in the role originally voiced by William Conrad, Daran Norris provides the voice of the unseen Narrator. The series was developed by Scott Fellows, creator of Cartoon Network’s Johnny Test.
Amazon Video will have the series streaming on May 11, 2018
Actually, I think the big question about this new series is…..will Bullwinkle finally pull a rabbit out of his hat? After 59 years, that trick SHOULD finally work, right?
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