History WesternAnimation / RockyandBullwinkle

'''Rocky:''' No, that was [[MickeyMouse somebody else]]...\\

* OffModel: This was one of the first animated shows to have its production outsourced to another country (in Mexico). There were some...''bugs'' in the animation, let's just say. Among the more common problems were Boris losing his mustache, Bullwinkle losing an antler, or incidental characters up and changing color for no reason.
** Inverted in the ''Rocky & Bullwinkle Savings Stamps'' special which was animated in-house by Gerard Baldwin. Sherman, normally a redhead, is turned into a blond.

'''Boris:''' Oh come on! Not twice in one episode!

--> '''Boris:''' "Have you heard of RussianRoulette?"\\
'''Natasha:''' "Yes..."\\
'''Boris:''' "Well, this is Russian TabletopGame/{{Scrabble}}!"

-->'''Bullwinkle:''' [[SelfDeprecation Can you believe we used to get paid for this routine?]]

* CoincidentalDodge: In "Goof Gas Attack", Boris watches Rocky and Bullwinkle go into their house. He stretches a rope across the door and ties one end to the trigger of a shotgun, reasoning that when Bullwinkle opens the door, the gun will fire and do him in.

--->'''Fearless Leader:''' ''[throwing the death ray at the scientist]'' You idiot, it didn't even faze them!!\\

'''Fearless Leader:''' ''[glaring daggers]'' What was that?!\\

-->'''Bullwinkle:''' [[SelfDeprecation "Can you believe we used to get paid for this routine?"]]

** Bullwinkle was the only one immune from goof gas in "Goof Gas Attack". As Boris says, "Goof gas effects the brain. No brain, no effect!"

-->'''Bullwinkle''' [''pulls a kitchen sink out from behind his back'']: What do you suppose ''this'' is?

'''Natasha''' [''to Narrator'']: You have just signed death warrant for moose, dahlink!\\

In the summer of 1986, selected cities had ''An Evening With Rocky and Bullwinkle,'' a theatrical screening of Jay Ward features which included R&B, ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle'', ''WesternAnimation/HoppityHooper,'' and Ward's first creation, ''WesternAnimation/CrusaderRabbit''. In 1992, there was a made-for-cable movie, ''Film/BorisAndNatasha'', about the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad bad guy couple]]. Rocky and Bullwinkle were human in this film ("Agents Moose and Squirrel, genetically altered once again"), with a post-Cold War theme. Sally Kellerman, like [=DeNiro=] in the later film, was a fan of the show and co-produced it, playing Natasha. A feature film adaptation and ContinuityReboot of ''Peabody's Improbable History'' as ''WesternAnimation/MrPeabodyAndSherman'', produced by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, who acquired Jay Ward's library via its Classics subsidiary, was released on March 7, 2014, which then spunoff into a TV series, ''WesternAnimation/TheMrPeabodyAndShermanShow'', on October 9, 2015. Asides that, ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle'', a ContinuityReboot starring the titular squirrel-moose duo would follow in May 2018 as an [[Creator/AmazonStudios Amazon Prime]] original (and was the first time [=DreamWorks=] created a streaming series not on Netflix).

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Played with in the case of Natasha. It was not uncommon for both Boris and Natasha to be injured in some way, but Natasha never got injured on her own, while Boris often did.

* CrapsackWorld: [[{{Ruritania}} Pottsylvania]], the only nation where the Cold War never ended and whose culture centers around espionage. The locals are AlwaysChaoticEvil, meaning they are {{Card Carrying Villain}}s who believe in BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad. The government is a corrupt dictatorship that relies on trickery and theft to keep its barely functioning economy afloat, having no raw materials or even a culture to export.

-->'''Chancellor:''' Our enrollment has dropped eighty percent, our buildings are crumbling away, and what's even worse...\\

-->'''Boris:''' He's doing a guest shot in this sequence. ''[off-screen gunfire]'' [[GallowsHumor There goes a guest now!]]

--> '''Boris:''' What luck! Someone down there likes me!

-->'''Fearless Leader:''' ''[throwing the death ray at the scientist]'' You idiot, it didn't even faze them!!\\

-->'''Bank President:''' Yes sir. What kind? Just checking?\\

-->'''Bookie:''' World War III, 6-5 and pick 'em.

-->'''Bullwinkle:''' Well, let's see 'em rub two sticks together!\\

-->'''Printer:''' How about a shot of adrenalin?

-->'''Bullwinkle:''' Uh-oh! What are those things, Rock? ''[points to a pair of {{tank|Goodness}}s]''
-->'''Rocky:''' [[WhatsAHenway Tanks]], Bullwinkle.
-->'''Bullwinkle:''' Hmm?
-->'''Rocky:''' I said ''tanks'', Bullwinkle.
-->'''Bullwinkle:''' Oh, do I ''[[YouJustHadToSayIt have to say it]]''?
-->'''Rocky:''' You better. The show is almost over!
-->'''Bullwinkle:''' Oh very well. You're welco-- ''[tank nozzle gets Bullwinkle's nose into it]''
-->'''Narrator:''' Too late.

-->'''Boris:''' Oh, Boris, you impetuous boy! What have you done?!\\

-->'''Fearless Leader''': There has never been a way to actually kill a cartoon character until now.\\

-->'''Bullwinkle:''' What's he wanted for?\\

-->'''Rocky:''' Now where have I seen that face before?\\

-->'''Bullwinkle:''' It looks like Warner Baxter.\\

-->'''Natasha:''' Are you sure this--this is good for the figure, Boris?\\

--> '''Rocky:''' Hokey smoke! It's our old nemesis!

-->'''Rocky:''' I must say I'm disappointed.\\

Bullwinkle also appeared in two other segments: ''Bullwinkle's Corner'', in which he gave poetry readings that usually degenerated into chaos, and ''Mr. Know-It-All'', in which his attempts to offer "how-to" advice on a variety of topics often met with similar disaster. Supporting segments were ''WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight of the Mounties'', ''Peabody's Improbable History'', ''{{Fractured Fairy Tale}}s'' and ''Aesop and Son''. William Conrad served as the {{Narrator}} for the main ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'' segments, while Creator/PaulFrees and Creator/EdwardEverettHorton performed that function in ''Dudley Do-Right'' and ''Fractured Fairy Tales'' respectively.

* HurricaneOfPuns: Even the ''episode titles'' are puns and [[UpToEleven each episode gets two titles]]. Which, in and of itself, has been invoked by Bullwinkle to get more puns into the episode (and serve as a distraction).

This cult cartoon series, produced by Creator/JayWard and Bill Scott, first ran as ''Rocky and His Friends'' on Creator/{{ABC}} Thursday evenings from 1959 to 1961. It featured the serialized adventures of Rocky (voiced by Creator/JuneForay), a flying squirrel who wore flight goggles, and Bullwinkle (Bill Scott), a dimwitted moose. Their primary foes were Boris Badenov (Creator/PaulFrees) and Natasha Fatale (Foray again), a pair of Slavic spies from the [[FictionalCountry imaginary]] Soviet satellite of [[{{Ruritania}} Pottsylvania]]. In 1961, the series moved to Creator/{{NBC}} and became ''The Bullwinkle Show''; it ran in prime time under that title until 1963 then moved to Saturday morning. It moved to ABC Sunday mornings a year later and ran till 1973. It re-appeared on NBC Saturday afternoons in 1981 and in prime time on CBS in 1990 for a two-week run ("The Last Angry Moose" arc). Both series have since been seen in syndication and on cable TV with the title changed to ''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends''.

->''"A thunder of jets and an open sky,\\

For the adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends!"''
-->-- '''The altered Season 2 opening narration of ''Rocky and His Friends'' '''

* BigShutUp: Boris to Natasha whenever his latest fiendish plan fails.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Invoked in-universe in an episode that ends with Boris getting into a physical fight with Fearless Leader over the Kirwood Derby. The LemonyNarrator asks, "Oh, who win this epic fight?" Boris and Fearless Leader [[NoFourthWall both respond in unison]]: "What difference will that make? We're both bad guys."