Tuesday 12 November 2013

The Moose Who Fell to Earth

Bullwinkle comes in for a crash landing before the closing credits of “Rocky and His Friends.” Everyone says how lousy the Jay Ward animation is but I really like these drawings.



Judging by Keith Scott’s book The Moose That Roared, the original opening and closing animation was done by freelancers in Hollywood, meaning Ward hired veteran theatrical animators who knew what they were doing. Bullwinkle has long, slender fingers that whoever animated this used to his advantage.



Even Rocky twiddles his fingers.



Mind you, Rocky really didn’t need interesting poses or even good animation. The quickly-paced comedy and top voice acting carried the cartoons. That’s why they’re loved today. And the Ward studio’s political satire could be used today, too.
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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous12 November 2013 at 07:38

    Could it have been Gerard Baldwin?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous28 November 2013 at 19:13

      Nope, It's Jack Ozark, I am sure.

      Asim

      Delete
  2. Anonymous12 November 2013 at 14:43

    I always loved that surreal bumper that ends with Rocky and Bullwinkle popping up out of the ground like flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. J Lee12 November 2013 at 15:15

    Similar to the developmental process in the earlier theatrical cartoons (or the early Yogi Bear) the designs for Rocky, Bullwinkle, Boris & Natasha evolved from the initial efforts into the now-familar looks by the end of Season 1. The initial episodes and bumpers (including this) give the moose a thinner design and a thinner, more extended and more graceful (if you can say that about a Jay Ward cartoon design) snout.

    ReplyDelete