History WesternAnimation / RockyandBullwinkle

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

** This exchange from "Goof Gas Attack" after a Pottsylvania scientist unsuccessfully tests his new death-ray on a bunch of Fearless Leader's flunkies during a flashback to the conception of the Goof Gas:

* BadlyBatteredBabysitter: Bullwinkle gets assaulted by three bratty kids in "The Children's Hour". Luckily for him, he punishes them by [[ComedicSpanking spanking them with his baby-sitting guidebook]].

* BadlyBatteredBabysitter: Bullwinkle gets assaulted by three bratty kids in "The Children's Hour". Luckily for him, he fights back by [[ComedicSpanking spanking them with his baby-sitting guidebook]].

** Bullwinkle ends a rather painful Mr. Know-It-All segment appropriately with "And so, in contusion..."

%%* MistakenForBadass: Bullwinkle.

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 plucky, upbeat flying squirrel who wore flight goggles, and Bullwinkle (Bill Scott), [[MooseAreIdiots 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''.

** Cloyd once calls Bullwinkle "a regular [[Music/ElvisPresley Elvis Pretzel]] in "Metal-Munching Mice".

** Boris Badenov even lampshades this in the "Buried Treasure" story. When his gang member comments on he's using the TNT to blow up the bank vault ''and'' get rid of Rocky, Boris comments "Well, it's low budget show!"

%%* MotionlessChin:

%%* NonFatalExplosions

%%* DuelingScar: Fearless Leader has one.

%%* TheFilmOfTheSeries

%%* HeelFaceDoorSlam

%%* LargeHam: Creator/RobertDeNiro in TheMovie.
* TheLastStraw: Happens to Boris and a massive barge-load of supplies he's swiped from Moosylvania. Twice. The second time he's a bit irate with the Narrator.
-->'''Narrator:''' Yes, incredibly, that tiny ounce of metal was enough to begin sinking the entire barge!\\
'''Boris:''' Oh, come on! Not twice in one episode!

** In "Wossamotta U", he gets angry and exclaims "My dandruff is up!"

** Earlier in in "Wossamotta U.," Rocky points out that the two guys that want to sign Bullwinkle to a scholarship are scouts.

** Mr. Peabody's entire outfit was OpaqueNerdGlasses and a bow tie.

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 Creator/{{Netflix}}).

* The last episode ends with Boris getting shot off-screen. While it is the last episode, Boris would show up in later things involving Bullwinkle.

* {{Catchphrase}}:

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), [[MooseAreIdiots 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''.

It continued with ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'' comics through the 1980s. In 2000, Creator/{{Universal}} released ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle'', TheFilmOfTheSeries produced in live action, apart from a CGI moose and squirrel voiced by Keith Scott and June Foray, and [[BookEnds hand-drawn opening and ending sequences]] mimicking the style of the 1950s cartoon. Creator/JasonAlexander and Creator/ReneRusso played Boris and Natasha. Creator/RobertDeNiro, a fan of the show from his youth, not only played Fearless Leader, but was also one of the film's producers.

* AbusiveParents: In a Fractured Fairy Tales version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", Papa Bear [[DopeSlap constantly punches Baby Bear in the face]] [[RunningGag when Baby Bear says something stupid]].

* InsistentTerminology: In the "Wossamatta U" arc, the Southerners insist on the Civil War being called the "War Between the States".

* KarmaHoudini: Snidley Whiplash starts the plots of the Dudley Do-Right shorts "Stokey the Bear" and "Mountie Without a Horse" but [[WhateverHappenedToTheMouse disappears after the plots get started]] therefore he faces no consequences (aside from his plots being foiled, sort of[[note]]At the end of "Mountie Without a Horse", [[spoiler:the real colonel shows up and announces a new regulation, [[HereWeGoAgain while on a rocking horse]].]][[/note]]).
* KitchenSinkIncluded: In "Wossamatta U":

** An episode of Peabody's Improbable History, the one about Pancho Villa, has one such gag, in which Peabody stops Pancho Villa and his gang from attacking by showing them a picture of a woman. The woman's name is Ester, and everyone knows that when you see Ester...[[note]]It's punning on ''siesta.''[[/note]]

** Boris Badenov even lampshades this in the "Buried Treasure" story. When his gang member comments on he's using the [=TNT=] to blow up the bank vault ''and'' get rid of Rocky, Boris comments "Well, it's low budget show!"

** In "Wossamotta U.," he gets angry and exclaims "My dandruff is up!"

* MissXPun: In "The Counterfeit Box Top Caper," Bullwinkle mistakes Boris and Natasha for professional printers and greets them with, "Howdy, Mister Printer! Hello, Miss Print!"
* MismatchedAtomicExpressionism: One of the [[TropeCodifier Trope Codifiers]] for the art style. Apparently Jay Ward did not like the style; it was produced cheaply in Mexico. The characters are usually [[ThickLineAnimation outlined in thick black lines]], with extremely limited animation. Backgrounds are extremely simplified (some being large swaths of color with single-color outlines representing objects). Every shape is simplified, or has unnecessary angles added in. Some scenes use offset outlines. Paint brush, pen strokes and sputtered paint are visible within almost every shot.

-->'''Narrator:''' For many years, all the men who go down to the sea in ships—sailors, fishermen, garbage scout captains—have heard and repeated the story of the legendary Wailing Whale, Maybe Dick. Maybe Dick was supposed to be big enough to swallow a whole ship—maybe. He could swim faster than any vessel in the sea—maybe. And he had been seen by sailors whose reputations for sobriety were beyond reproach—maybe.
* MoodWhiplash: In the "Wailng Whale" arc, the TV news announces that Rocky and Bullwinkle are lost at sea, fearing the worst for them. A TV viewer calmly shows passive concern. When the reporter announces that the Giants lost, the viewer suddenly has a hissy fit, destroying his TV.

* MoonLandingHoax: In a comic book story, Boris and Natasha fake a moon landing to claim ownership on Pottsylvania's name. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with the moon landing previously done by the Americans. Because the Americans never claimed ownership of the moon, it doesn't matter if Americans really landed on the moon or not.

** "Jet Fuel Formula" has Boris receiving orders to "keel moose," so he cuts a giant safe loose to fall on our heroes. When the orders wind up saying "''do not'' keel moose":

** Boris Badanov's voice and appearance are based on character actor Creator/AkimTamiroff, while Mr. Big's voice is Bill Scott doing a Creator/PeterLorre impersonation.

** This applies to both the live action films as well:

* NoPeripheralVision: In "Rue Britania", an arrow shoots through what appears to be Bullwinkle's head and Rocky reacts with horror. He then hears Bullwinkle from behind saying "it does look like me, doesn't it?", revealing that it's just a moose head on a wall. Rocky having not noticed it was attached to a wall or not attached to Bullwinkle's body.

* OutscareTheEnemy: When Rocky and Bullwinkle turn the tide and begin giving as much as they're taking from the Mud City Mangler's trench warfare, Boris calls for the Manglers to fallback. Fearless Leader causally informs Boris that they won't retreat, since other members of the team are lined up behind them with bayonets.

** While Boris's disguises have a bit more effort (including fake mustaches), Natasha's disguises are not as elaborate. In fact her disguises are rarely more than just a simple change in clothing, and yet Rocky never mentions her face looking familiar. In fact there are even instances where she is not disguised at all alongside Boris wearing a disguise, and never gets recognized by Rocky.

** In the "Jet Formula" serial, Boris and Natasha (in disguise as a wealthy yachtsman and his wife) disguise Rocky and Bullwinkle as them before sending them out from the ocean liner and into the vigilante hands of the Pottsylvania folk, who wants Boris' head on a silver platter. The Pottsylvanians actually believe our heroes are Boris and Natasha.

** In the "Bullwinkle's Testimonial Dinner" story when the narrator says the Chinese junk our heroes are in is "listing to port," Boris quips "That's better than Muscatel!"

** The Kirward Derby from the story ''Missouri Mish Mash'' is a parody name of Durward Kirby, cohost of the show Candid Camera. Durward tried to sue Jay Ward Productions because of it, but they didn't care. The legality of the case was not strong enough and Durward dropped it.

** "Boris Badenov" is a play on the name of Russian tsar Boris Gudenov.

%%* {{Narrator}}

* KarmaHoudini: Snidley Whiplash starts the plots of the Dudley Do-Right shorts "Stokey the Bear" and "Mountie Without a Horse" but [[WhateverHappenedToTheMouse disappears after the plots get started]] therefore he faces no consequences (aside from his plots being foiled, sort of[note]At the end of "Mountie Without a Horse", [[spoiler:the real colonel shows up and announces a new regulation, [[HereWeGoAgain while on a rocking horse]].]][/note]).

* MoodWhiplash: In the "Maybe Dick" arc, the TV news announces that Rocky and Bullwinkle are lost at sea, fearing the worst for them. A TV viewer calmly shows passive concern. When the reporter announces that the Giants lost, the viewer suddenly has a hissy fit, destroying his TV.

** The "Maybe Dick" arc featured a shipping magnate named Pericles Parnassus, a thinly-veiled parody of Aristotle Onassis.

-->'''Narrator:''' For many years, all the men who go down to the sea in ships—sailors, fishermen, garbage scout captains—have heard and repeated the story of the Legendary Wailing Whale, Maybe Dick. Maybe Dick was supposed to be big enough to swallow a whole ship—maybe. He could swim faster than any vessel in the sea—maybe. And he had been seen by sailors whose reputations for sobriety were beyond reproach—maybe.

* GallowsHumor: In the "Maybe Dick" arc:

* MegaMawManeuver / MobySchtick / NotTheNessie: Maybe Dick, the Wailing Whale, turns out to be [[spoiler:a pirate ship Boris uses to swallow ships so he can plunder them]].

* TakeThat: Way too many to list. Basically if it was popular in the early 1960s, the moose and squirrel took a jab at it. The [=IDW=] comics revived that tradition with things like describing Website/EBay as "the way everyone gets rid of junk that doesn't work".

* FeudingFamilies: In “Missouri Mish Mash” the heroes are drawn into the feud between 5r “Hatfulls” and the “Floys”… unaware that both sides are secretly controlled by Boris.