No, it’s Santa stealing the gifts!
Where have I heard that voice before?
Santa and his elves divide up the haul. The elves aren’t happy.
Nothing says “Ho! Ho! Ho!” better than Rocky and Bullwinkle, still one of the funniest series ever put on television.
Producer Jay Ward was probably even more irreverent off the screen than his cartoons were on it. He celebrated the Christmas season with a gag. Here’s one recorded for posterity by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune of December 20, 1961. Come to think of it, Rocky’s bankroller, General Mills, is based in Minneapolis.
Passing Fancy
By Will Jones
The mailings from Jay Ward Productions, producers of "The Bullwinkle Show," continue to be funnier than the show itself.
This week's mail brought an Office Christmas Party Kit, including a paper wassail cup to be cut out and assembled, a paper Santa hat with ersatz mistletoe instead of a fuzzy ball on top, do-it-yourself confetti ("Cut along dotted lines, then toss gaily in air!"), some tiny gift-wrap paper ("for small expensive gift to secret love"), a cut-out Santa beard, and an official office-party roadblock pass that reads as follows (written in a drunken scrawl): Roadblock Pass
To the Officer in Charge:
The bearer of this card is a personal friend of the Mayor, and you will be back walking a beat if you give him trouble!
Jay Ward
Footnote instructions for use of the pass include these: 1. If detained at police roadblock, present pass with driver's license & $5.00. 2. Do not offer officer a drink or refer to him as "dirty flatfoot."
The incorrect-aspect ratio frames in this post come from the Riki-Tiki adventure, where Boris plots to make the tropical island the new North Pole. This is the one where Bill Conrad takes over as the voice of Sam the Native halfway through it. Someone has posted part of it on-line and you can watch a good hour’s worth of Rocky and Bullwinkle below. It’s the kind of Christmas gift Boris Badenov would never give you.
"Now, there's something you don't see every day, Chauncey."
ReplyDelete"What's that, Edgar?"
"There's a grouch stealing Christmas."
"Oh, I don't no about that, Edger. This Geisel fellow across the street told me the same story. I'm sure it'll all work out in the end."
Happy Christmas, Yowp.