Customer Reviews

Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends: Complete Season 1

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I won't speak for the content, if you like Moose & Squirrel, you'll want this set. But you (and the makers) should know the Pros and Cons of the set, to whit:

PROS:
* Remastered sound and video - there are still imperfections in the video, but the color is more vivid than I've seen on TV broadcasts

* Two complete stories: Rocket Fuel Formula and Box Top Conspiracy

* Play All - Watch all episodes on each of the four discs in succession

* Entire episodes shown - including all periphral cartoons (Dudley Do-Right, Peabody, Aesop & Son, and Fractured Fairy Tales) as well as commercial lead-ins

* Nice packaging - when the first thing you see on opening a DVD set is a moose saying, "Hello Low IQers!", you know the makers respect the Jay Ward tradition!

CONS:
* Altered Title - The title sequence is altered in the middle to change it from the original to "Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends", with an obvious switch in voice and animation quality. The alteration is cheap and unnecessary

* Season Two Intro - The documentation says that the intro to each episode was the one used in the second season, which was Jay Ward's favorite. If this were a collection, that would be a good decision, but as a "season one", it should have the season one intro. This makes me think there may not be a season two set in which to display Ward's favorite intro, which would be sad indeed. All I know is I sure would have preferred to see Season One EXACTLY as it was originally presented.

* Dubious accuracy - All the tampering (season 2 intro) has achieved is to ensure that the Rocky And Bullwinle show will never be accurately reproduced.

BOTTOM LINE:
* The only way to enjoy watching Rocky Bullwinkle is to see the episodes in proper sequence

* This DVD set provides the first two stories in their entirety that comprised the first season

* Each of the four discs provides almost 3 hours of uninterrupted Jay Ward & Friends brand hilarity, what more could you want? After all, you searched for "bullwinkle", didn't you?

* You read this far? Buy it already!

Pop-culture historians can draw a line from "Bullwinkle" to "MASH," "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons." Matt Groening did just that when he paired Bullwinkle and his Homer Simpson on the cover of TV Guide's issue celebrating the "50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time."

Those who missed out on the fun need not fret. Sony Wonder finally has brought the show's first season to DVD. The four-disc set packs in 26 shows, more or less as they aired back in the day. The first season of "Rocky and His Friends" -- as it was called at the time -- covered two "R&B" arcs: the epic "Jet Fuel Formula" (40 episodes) and "Box Top Robbery" (12). The "R&B" adventures have been returned to twice-a-show cliffhangers, unlike on past videos that mashed together the segments.

Hard-case nostalgists will note that intros and some music come from the second season, a decision apparently based on Jay Ward's preference. The addition of modern watermarks during intros will inspire some head-scratching. And dashing Dudley Do-Right makes a premature entrance. But all in all, the "R&B" experience remains intact. Only the Cap'n Crunch ads are missing.

"R&B" animation was done on the cheap in Mexico, so it's hard to say how much quality has been lost. The DVDs' images are colorful and reasonably sharp, but with non-stop minor wear. Audio sounds crisp, with some odd variations in volume. The presentation is probably as good as it's going to get -- and it's good enough.

Extras are fun, but seem thrown together. The rarely seen Bullwinkle puppet dispenses advice to the lovelorn in unaired live-action bits. Black-and-white promos hype "Rocky and His Friends" while "The Bullwinkle Show" sports color bumpers. Moose and squirrel do their patriotic bit for U.S. bonds. Season 2, expected next year, is teased in two episodes about moon mice. A short but sweet booklet surveys the show and its creators.

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.

Three cheers for making this TV classic available in nicely cleaned-up prints. BUT... when I pay this much money to buy a TV series on disc, I expect an *unobstructed image*. I want to be able to sink into the era the show is from, and pretend I'm watching it during the original airing. That's impossible to do with this box set.

For one thing, there's a modern "bug" in the corner of the screen -- an "R&B" logo that fades up and down every few minutes. Then, to add insult to anachronistic injury, the DVD company has changed the series' title... not just on the box, but on screen during the show. During the opening of each episode and at the top of each R&B cartoon within the episodes, the screen cuts jarringly to a newly-created title card. The series (originally "Rocky and His Friends") and the R&B shorts (originally "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle") have inexplicably become "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends." How do the copyright holders hope to stem the commerce in bootleg recordings if the legitimate, licensed discs aren't going to contain what the box says -- "The Complete First Season" as aired WayBack when? Utterly stupid.

I am FED UP with those who just can't resist the temptation to MESS AROUND with historical documents. WHY did the producers of this set feel the need to ALTER the title sequences? WHY did the producers of this set feel the need to ALTER the music? The reasons I have heard sound dubious and inadequate. If there were unavoidable copyright issues involved I can see where there MIGHT be a decent excuse. Otherwise there is NO excuse. After seeing the JARRING modern insert of the new title and hearing the changed music intros, I found myself suspicious of the rest of the contents of the set. I couldn't help but wonder if the cartoons themselvesd had been "altered". This same problem infected the Underdog sets. For pete's sake, LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE!!!

Now you can relive the nostalgia all over again whenever you want with Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends on this new DVD. The producers have taken into account who would buy and ultimately watch this and other Rocky & Bullwinkle DVD's by painstakingly compiling content in the exact order that it first aired on television back in the 70's. The quality is pristine and looks even better that I originally watched it as a kid on my rabbit ear'd TV set. The packaging has original-style artwork and the accordian packaging keeps all enclosed disks managable. The DVD's are 2-sided play however with no labeling to show which side is which except for the small print around the inner ring which makes it difficult to know which disk is first, second, third etc. Overall, the Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends DVD is one of my most prized DVD possessions in my collection.

The title of this DVD set is a bit misleading. Although it does have the first season's Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes, and all of them, it also has a number of other shorts that weren't from the first season at all - like a couple of Dudley Doright episodes, which weren't shown on TV until the third season. So that means that some of the material that was in the first season won't be seen until later DVD sets. But that's okay; they're all still funny, and as a little bonus, one of the Dudley Doright episodes on this set is "Stokey the Bear", which had been thought by many to be gone forever - the Forest Service threatened to put Jay Ward in jail because of the parody of Smokey the Bear, and General Mills ordered all of the prints destroyed. Luckily, this wasn't the case. But this is nitpicking. Any fan of Rocky and Bullwinkle will love this set instantly, and it's well worth the price - and more. The thing that struck me most while I was watching it was how well I remember all of these cartoons, even though I hadn't seen some of them in twenty-five years. And, despite the fact that I've seen some of them literally hundreds of times, they still have the power to leave me helpless with laughter. Six words: "Stroke, stroke, stroke" "Bail, bail, bail".
All of the cartoons were remastered, and the sound remixed, so you probably haven't seen Rocky look this good before. You really can't go wrong with this set of DVDs, except for dying of frustration waiting for the second season to appear.

What an irritant. I love the series and enjoy the shows immensely. I even purchased several sets and gave them as gifts BEFORE seeing it myself! I trusted them too much.

I am severely dissappointed that they changed the music from the original. I actually anticipate the moments when they use the "new" music and fast forward through them.

Sad commentary on how one views a classic show!

Sorry guys, you shouldn't have messed with "memories". It really leaves a black mark on your tribute to R & B.

I actually find myself apologizing to the people I gave these to as gifts that it isn't true to the original.

I just love Bullwinkle, and the treasures on this disc would easily merit five stars, if it wasn't for the producers' tampering with the cartoons themselves. Nearly all of the original background music in the cartoons themselves have been replaced with unauthentic, unspectacular & intrusive canned music. Worse, some short scenes have had music added where none existed before.

I cannot understand why they would have done this, except maybe the producers couldn't guarantee that they had all of the proper clearances to avoid a possible lawsuit with some music writer. That would be understandable, except for when they tampered with scenes that called for trumpets or bugles, which lasted 2 or 3 seconds. Do they really think someone will file a lawsuit over a 3-second bugle call?!

If they do a volume 4 and they have to remove the music, please don't bother finding replacement music. Just leave the vocals and I'll understand.

This catchphrase will strike a chord for all lovers of Moose and Squirrel (as Boris and Natasha call them) and so will this excellent DVD! The original opening (pre-dancing moose) is here as well as the first two serials (Jet Fuel & Box Top Robbery). This is of special interest to Bullwinkologists as the latter serial was not seen in reruns for many years as sponsor General Mills objected to the theme. Speaking of Banned Bullwinkle, we have the long-suppressed Dudley Do Right cartoon "Stokey the bear". The creators of Smokey the Bear objected to the satirizing of their character as a pyromaniac bear (I won't spoil it, but it will help to be a history buff to get the punch line of this episode).

Additionally, we have some ultra-rare footage of the legendary Bullwinkle puppet sequences. This is only to satisfy your curiousity if you've read/heard about this because these segments are VERY bad. This Bullwinkle appears as a sarcastic smart-alec as opposed to the lovably idiotic innocent we are accustomed to seeing. But they should be here for good moose history.(The notorious Bullwinkle puppet segment where he tells the kids to pull off their television knobs and some real kids actually obeyed this does not appear here). Some nice circa 1960 commercials for the show appear with some amusing twists by Boris Badenov (the classic General Mills commercials are not included) and an intriguing episode on US Savings Bonds features the only actual joint appearance of R&B, Boris & Natasha, AND Sherman and Peabody in the same episode. It would be nice to have had a couple of rare episodes of "Crusader Rabbit," the Jay Ward show that started it all in 1949, but I'm sure that will eventually come on DVD. A few nitpickers will notice the replacement logo for R&B in the introductory titles,but that is an extrememly minor complain.

Fractured Fairy tales (including a wicked Sleeping Beauty lampoon of Walt Disney himself), Sherman and Peabody (including their bizarre debut where "If a boy can adopt a dog, why can't a dog adopt a boy?") and the hero of the great white north Dudley Do-Right appear in all of their wild puns, imaginative stories, inside jokes (although you really don't have to get all the inside references to enjoy this show-most of it is funny enough on its own) and overall wonderfulness. Now here's something we KNOW you'll REALLY like!