I enjoyed this so much that I copied it to
my hard drive, and have lost the original URL source. I offer it
to you in hopes that you'll find it interesting and amusing. Thank
you to the author.
Congratulations to Joe Horecny, Mark Klimek, and
Jeff Rech as high scorers in "Jay Ward Cartoons".
Prompted by the announcement of the filming of the
live-action version of "George of the Jungle" starring Brendan Fraser.
1. Hanna-Barbera was so successful from so early on
that most people think they created the first animated cartoons for TV.
But that distinction actually belongs to this Jay Ward series, which premiered
in 1949 (on NBC, I think). Extra credit: the series featured an early
appearance by a character who would go on to much greater fame in the future.
Who?
"Crusader Rabbit", which was actually conceived
by a Terrytoons employee named Alex Anderson. Anderson, the nephew
of Terrytoons boss Paul Terry (the creator of Mighty Mouse), saw the potential
of doing limited animation for TV, but was unable to get Uncle Paul to
go along with the idea. Anderson resigned from Terrytoons to set
up his own cartoon shop, hiring college buddy Jay Ward, a real estate salesman,
to be the unit's business manager. Ward's role in the company quickly
grew beyond simply business: his wacky sense of humor (particularly his
penchant for shameless puns) soon injected itself into the scripts, and
it was Ward who selected the title character's name. The success
of "Crusader Rabbit" inspired Hanna and Barbera to go forward with "Ruff
and Reddy", their first made-for-TV cartoon.
Bullwinkle J. Moose made his television debut on
"Crusader Rabbit". See #7 for another Ward character dating from
the "Crusader Rabbit" years.
"Crusader Rabbit" set the tone for Ward's next two
series, "Rocky and His Friends" and "Hoppity Hooper". In all three
of these series, the title character was small but was the more aggressive
member of the team (and each, although supposedly male, got "his" voice
from a female actor: Lucille Bliss, June Foray, and Chris Allen respectively).
The sidekicks -- Ragland T. Tiger, Bullwinkle, Fillmore the Bear -- were
much larger, but basically passive and dimwitted. Alex Anderson gets
the credit for being the first to appreciate how effective this type of
partnership could be for limited animation, but Bill Scott's handling of
the setup with Rocky and Bullwinkle was, according to cartoon historians,
far superior. Waldo Wigglesworth was such a wild card that he threw
off the chemistry of the "Hoppity Hooper" team -- part of the reason for
the comparative failure of the series (see #10).
The distributor of "Crusader Rabbit" went bankrupt,
and the sponsor claimed ownership of the main characters, eventually reviving
Crusader and Rags in a color cartoon series (the Anderson/Ward version
was in black and white). Anderson was left with the rights to the
minor characters -- including Bullwinkle and Dudley Do-Right; Ward came
out of it with nothing, but eventually persuaded Anderson to sell him 50%
of the rights to those characters. After Ward's death, his estate
began selling various rights to the characters. Anderson sued --
successfully -- for his 50% share, and the estate (run by Ward's widow,
Tiffany Ward) was forced to acknowledge in court that Anderson had created
the characters. The estate nevertheless continues to publicly assert
complete ownership to Bullwinkle and Do-Right.
"Rocky And His Friends/The Bullwinkle Show"
2. In what town do "Moose and Squirrel" live?
Extra credit: name the two citizens who often comment laconically on the
strange goings on they see. Extra extra credit: please give Rocky's
and Bullwinkle's middle initials.
Frostbite Falls, Minnesota; loosely based on International
Falls, Minnesota. The population was listed at varying sizes in different
episodes, but it was always a small town.
"Now there's something you don't see every day,
Chauncey." "What's that, Edgar?"
J. -- as in Jay Ward -- for both of them.
J. was the middle initial of virtually every character who had one.
The funniest instance of this came when Boris showed up in one of his perpetual
disguises, under the name of Avaricious J. Wardheeler!
Matt Groening gave many characters on "The Simpsons" the middle initial J. in honor of Jay Ward.
3. On many of their adventures, our heroes were guided
to their destination by history's most misguided sailor -- namely?
Extra credit: what was the name of his boat in the first adventure in the
series?
Captain Peter "Wrong Way" Peachfuzz (voiced by Paul
Frees, who also did Boris Badenov).
The S. S. Andalusia, which Peachfuzz purchased with
the large fortune he inherited from his aunt. He later piloted the
S. S. Athabasco when they set out in search of the Wailing Whale, Maybe
Dick, at the behest of shipping magnate Pericles Parnassus.
Captain Peachfuzz turned up in various ways during the series; once Rocky and Bullwinkle went to meet a man from the U. S. government intelligence service, who turned out to be Peachfuzz. Bullwinkle remarked, "Hmmm, you must be that mess in Washington I keep hearing about."
4. Can you name Boris Badenov's boss? Extra credit:
what country are Boris and Natasha from? Extra extra credit: What
is the highest point of elevation in that country?
Fearless Leader (pronounced "Fee'-lis Lee'da"; voice
by Bill Scott), a caricature of silent movie actor/director Erich Von Stroheim
as a Gestapo officer.
Pottsylvania -- the name was apparently some kind
of combination of Pennsylvania and Spotsylvania (a town in Virginia, the
site of a major battle during the Civil War).
Whydonchataka Peak, the only place in the world
other than Moosesylvania where the mooseberry bush grows.
Extra points for Joe Horecny, who correctly remembered that Fearless Leader reported to a man known only as Mr. Big. Mr. Big appeared in the adventure "Upsi-daisium", and was only a voice with a large, menacing shadow for most of the adventure. After Rocky and Bullwinkle have finally obtained the world's supply of upsi-daisium (an anti-gravity metal), Mr. Big appeared in person to take it for himself -- and was revealed to be a midget. Mr. Big nevertheless made off with the upsi-daisium -- and refused to let go of it as it slowly carried him up into the air. Mr. Big disappeared into the sky, never to return (he did, however, come back in a later series of episodes to master-mind the invasion of the metal-munching Moon Mice from his new vantage point in outer space).
5. Rocky and Bullwinkle often encountered two little
green aliens from the Moon. Can you name the Moon Men? Extra
credit: on one occasion, the Moon Men came in search of a fabulous item
which made its possessor the smartest person in the world. What was
it?
Gidney (Bill Scott) and Cloyd (Paul Frees), who
made their first appearance in Rocky's very first adventure.
A hat called the Kurwood Derby. The name was
derived from Durward Kirby, a TV personality of the time remembered (if
at all) for appearances on "Candid Camera". Kirby was not at all
amused by the gag and sent a cease-and-desist letter to Ward threatening
to sue. Ward replied, "GREAT!! Please sue us!" -- and offered
to pay all Kirby's legal costs if he did take Ward to court! To Ward's
chagrin, there was no lawsuit and therefore no publicity.
6. Where exactly is Moosesylvania? Extra credit:
in one adventure, Bullwinkle entered the annual Frostbite Falls boat race;
his entry turned out to be the "Ruby Yacht of Omar Khayyam". Where
was the race held?
It is an island in Lake of the Woods on the U. S.-Canada
border -- "The United States claims Moosesylvania lies on the Canadian
side of the border; the Canadians say it belongs to the United States"
-- about 75 miles from International Falls. Jay Ward purchased the
island and gave it its name. He and Bill Scott once began a crazy
campaign to earn statehood for Moosesylvania: they set off from California
for Washington D. C. on a cross-country barnstorming tour publicizing the
idea. Unfortunately, they arrived at the White House during the height
of the Cuban Missile Crisis and were escorted away at gunpoint.
The race was held where it always was: in Lake Veronica
(Veronica Lake was a movie actress of the '40s) just outside town.
7. "The Bullwinkle Show" featured a segment about a
Mountie. For full credit, name the Mountie, his superior officer,
the woman he loves, and the villain. Experts Only extra credit: can
you tell me the title of the episode in this series which was shown only
once, in 1961 -- and never since?
Dudley Do-Right (Bill Scott) was a parody of the
early silent film star Elmo Lincoln, the first screen Tarzan, who after
his vine-swinging years starred as Mountie Elmo Armstrong in a cliff-hanger
movie serial similar to "The Perils of Pauline". Dudley loved red-headed
Nell Fenwick (June Foray), the daughter of his superior officer Inspector
Fenwick (Paul Frees), but in a twist on movie Westerns, Nell preferred
Dudley's horse (named Horse). Dudley's bete noire, Snidely Whiplash
(Hans Conreid), is forever tying Nell (or any other handy female) to train
tracks or to logs going into a saw mill.
The third episode, "Stokey the Bear", was shown
exactly once. Like Smokey the Bear, Stokey guards the forest from
fires -- until Snidely Whiplash hypnotizes him and makes him a firebug!
The "Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires" campaign was in full swing at the
time; those behind that campaign were outraged, and stirred up enough outcry
that sponsor General Mills, who owned all rights to the cartoons, pulled
it: it was never rerun or released to syndication, and it isn't certain
whether any copies of the cartoon still exist.
Ward was a big fan of silent films, which showed
up nowhere better than in "Dudley Do-Right": the title cards, iris head
shots, and melodramatic situations were all spoofs of the movie serials
of Ward's youth. Ward also ran a series called "Fractured Flickers"
on TV during the mid-'60s: it consisted of clips from classic silent comedies
with hilarious soundtracks added in.
Dudley Do-Right never appeared in "Crusader Rabbit",
but he was created at about that time -- for a show tentatively titled
"Frostbite Falls Follies", which would emerge as "Rocky and His Friends"
almost a decade later. Dudley did not make his debut until the series
switched to NBC and was renamed "The Bullwinkle Show". Dudley later
got his own Saturday morning cartoon show, around 1969-70; but it contained
no new animation, just re-packaged cartoons from other Jay Ward efforts.
8. I'm sure you can tell me the name of the ingenious
inventor and his sidekick who travelled through time to see -- and assure
the proper outcome to -- the great events of history. Extra
credit: what was the time machine called?
Brilliant dog Mr. Peabody (Bill Scott) had a boy
named Sherman (Walter Tetley). Peabody invented the Wayback Machine
in which they took their excursions into history.
For those who remember the '60s rock-and-roll band Herman's Hermits: lead singer Peter Noone was nicknamed Herman by the other band members, who thought he resembled Sherman.
9. Name the executive producer of "The Bullwinkle Show",
who also appeared in the same role in the credits of "George of the Jungle".
Extra credit: when "The Bullwinkle Show" originally aired, it featured
a hand puppet of Bullwinkle linking the cartoons together! Who worked
the puppet?
Ponsonby Britt, O. B. E.; there was no such person.
Bill Scott, the voice of Bullwinkle -- also the
show's head writer and co-producer, as well as Jay Ward's business partner.
Apparently, Scott's sense of humor had a tendency to get the better of
him: one week, the Bullwinkle puppet urged children to take the dials off
their TVs and hide them so the adults would be unable to turn away
from NBC. Reportedly, some 20,000 children complied, setting off
a wave of protest. So the following week, Bullwinkle told them to
put the dial back on -- and stick it on good with glue! When this
also generated a protest, the puppet was discontinued for the remainder
of the series at the sponsor's request.
10. A year or so after "Bullwinkle" went off the air,
Ward was back with another animated series along much the same lines --
this time, the hero was a young frog, who travelled the country with the
medicine show of his uncle (a fox) along with his uncle's sidekick, a bugle-playing
bear. Extra credit: what town was the frog from? Extra extra
credit: the best-remembered adventure was a takeoff on what famous science
fiction show of the early '60s?
Hoppity Hooper (Chris Allen, who also did a recurring
character called Susie Swivelhips in the show) of Foggy Bottom, Wisconsin,
was the title character in the original series, but in syndication it was
retitled "Uncle Waldo" to highlight the snake oil selling fox, Professor
Waldo Wigglesworth (Hans Conreid). Fillmore the Bear (Bill Scott)
rounded out the regular cast.
"Hoppity Hooper" was a bit too jazzy and bizarre
for the kids of the '60s; it never achieved much of a following.
Some of the episodes were so far out, they actually frightened children
-- for example, the series' best offering, "The Traffic Zone", a takeoff
on "The Twilight Zone". Everyone I know who remembers "Hoppity Hooper"
remembers "The Traffic Zone", even if they've forgotten all the other episodes.
This cartoon evoked Rod Serling's original so well that watching it was
extremely unsettling; when the weird situation (all the characters turned
into giant vegetables after entering another dimension) was finally resolved
(trapped in the Traffic Zone, they planted themselves in the ground --
and grew out in the real world, back to their normal selves again), it
evoked only gasps of relief, not laughter.
In the never-shown pilot episode, Fillmore's voice
was done by Alan Reed, the voice of Fred Flintstone.
"George of the Jungle"
11. Name George's mate, his simian sidekick,
his faithful pet, and his sharp-eyed forest friend who often warns George
of trouble. Extra credit: in what province of Africa does George
live?
Ursula (but George was much more likely to call
her Fella -- or even Max) voiced by June Foray; Ape (Paul Frees) was the
brains to George's brawn; Shep was an elephant, but he (and George) believed
he was a dog; and last, the Tooki-tooki Bird, whose warnings to George
usually went something like this:
Bird: "Tooki-tooki"
George: "Tooki Tooki?"
Bird: "Tooki-tooki"
George: "You kiddin'. Hey Ape!"
Ape: "What is it, George?"
George: "Bird say 'Tooki-tooki'."
Bird: "Tooki-tooki"
Ape: "Ursula? Captured by the Bumbashootie
tribe?"
George: "Right. There only one question."
Ape: "How do we save her?"
George: "No, who is Ursula?"
Ape: "George! Ursula is your mate!"
George: "Oh, him!"
Ape: "Her."
George: "Her!"
Ape: "If she's in the hands of the Bumbashooties,
there's not a moment to lose!"
George: "Right! George go now to rescue, um, what's-'is-name!
A-a-a-a-AAA!"
(crashes into tree)
George: "Oooooo!!"
Bird: "Tooki-tooki"
Ape: "Yes, isn't he?"
George, voiced by Bill Scott, lived in Mbwebwe Province -- a province evidently administered by Great Britain, judging by the accent of the District Commissioner (Paul Frees, using much the same voice he gave to Inspector Fenwick in "Dudley Do-right").
"George, George, George of the Jungle,
Strong as he can be;
A-a-a-a-A-a-A-a-a-a-A!
Watch out for that tree (Oooo!)
George, George, George of the Jungle,
Lives a life that's free;
A-a-a-a-A-a-A-a-a-a-A!
Watch out for that tree!
When he gets in a scrape,
He makes his escape
With the help of his friend,
An ape named Ape;
Then away he'll schlep
On his elephant Shep
While Fella and Ursula stay in step!
Well, George, George, George of the Jungle,
Friend to you and me,
A-a-a-a-A-a-A-a-a-a-A!
Watch out for that tree!
Watch out for that
A-a-a-a-A-a-A-a-a-a-A! Ooooo!
Treeeee!
George, George, George of the Jungle,
Friend to you and me!"
12. George faced many different villains, but the pair
who opposed him most often were parodies of the Great White Hunter.
Name them! Extra credit: these two hunters appeared in the very first
episode, stealing the Sultan's 300 lb. Pearl -- but under different names
than they had later. What were they called?
Tiger and Weevil; in the first episode, Titheridge
and Plumtree respectively. The Sultan's 300 lb. Pearl, incidentally,
turned out to be a 300 lb. woman named Pearl.
Tiger and Weevil had their finest moment when attempting
to capture George to sell him to a circus. They set a cunning trap,
which George sailed straight into -- and then straight out of. "Weevil,
you left the back door open! When will you learn to keep your trap
shut?"
On another occasion, the hunters captured the Commissioner
in order to steal the map to the Treasure of Sarah Madre (which the Commissioner
had obtained by trading away his favorite blue donkey beads).
Commissioner: "Now all we have to do is --- uurrkkhh!!"
George:
"Yes, but that not as easy as it sounds."
Commissioner: "Help, George, I've been captured by these ruffians!"
George:
"What ruffians?"
Tiger:
"Us ruffians!"
George:
"You really from Ruffia?"
George and the Commissioner nevertheless reach the
Treasure ahead of the villains -- and Sarah Madre turns out to be an old
school chum of the Commissioner's ("Alistair! I didn't recognize
you without your blue donkey beads!")
Other villains included Little Scissor, the sinister Dr. Chicago, the Boondockie tribe ("Drums say Boondockie tribe restless!" "What do you suppose got into them?" "TV Nairobi showing late night jungle movies again!" "Oh dear, that ALWAYS makes them restless!"), and self-described "simple country witch doctor" Dr. Kill-a-man-jaro. But George's most serious challenge came from Seymour Noodnik, the world's richest typhoon ("Tycoon!"). When George turned down Noodnik's offer to buy all of Mbwebwe Province (Seymour wished to strip-mine it for whatchacallium, the world's most valuable mineral), Noodnik took to the trees to try to displace George as King of the Jungle. Armed with superior technology and having placed hefty bribes, the businessman repeatedly excelled George at the tasks the King of the Jungle had to perform. Ape became quite worried, but George assured him he had a secret weapon. Matters were brought to a head when the Commissioner announced that an election for King of the Jungle was imminent ("Haven't had one for donkey's years"). For his re-election campaign, George challenged Noodnik to a trial of skills -- but again the plutocrat was well prepared and bested the ape man every time. The last challenge was to call hippos. Noodnik had helicopters full of hippos waiting around the village; when he called, thousands rushed in ("George! We're up to our expectations in hippos!") Then George called -- but instead of more hippos, HIPPIES emerged from the jungle. Noodnik smirked, "Well, I guess you lose, George," but to the rich man's befuddlement, George replied, "No: now we have election!" It was a landslide: the hippie vote went solidly for George, and so, "The winner, and still King of the Jungle, George!" Noodnik departed for home, and George confided to Ape, "Told you George had secret weapon: dumb luck!"
13. "George of the Jungle" featured two other regular
segments besides the title cartoon. One of these followed the adventures
of a race car driver. Name the driver, his girlfriend, their chaperone,
and the race car! Extra credit: name the German-accented adversary
who would stop at nothing to win a race! And for extra extra credit,
name this villain's assistant!
Tom Slick, who was voiced by Bill Scott (sounding
very much like his Dudley Do-right voice)-- who also did Gertie Growler,
the owner of the garage where Tom kept his race car, the Thunderbolt Grease
Slapper. June Foray was Tom's girlfriend, Marigold. Paul Frees
played Slick's arch-enemy, the evil Baron Otto Matic, whose flunky was
Clutcher (Daws Butler, best remembered as the voice of Huckleberry Hound
and Yogi Bear).
Slick's opponents other than the Baron were few: I only remember vampire Count Bloodcount (at the Monte Karloff Monster Rally), sneaky Sheik Howya Ben Bubby (who bore a distinct resemblance to actor Phil Silvers), submarine racer "Lucky" Poole (aided by Sonia Nar and her AquaNuts), and the drag-racing alien, Dranko the Dragster (named for animator Ralph Dranko). But one of Tom's most memorable encounters was with a boat racer (whose name, alas, I've forgotten) who spent the entire episode bickering with his whiny girlfriend (but I think her name was Winifred), who kept telling him what a loser he was and that Tom Slick was sure to beat him -- and indeed, the villain's dirty tricks failed, one after the other. His last ditch ploy was to summon a colossal sea monster (one with a classic Daws Butler voice), who told Slick "I'm going to swallow you!" But Tom managed to turn the monster against his master; the monster confronted the villain with the words, "You tried to cheat me, so I'm going to swallow you!" When the girlfriend starts to blame him, the hapless racer forcefully tells her to shut up -- and she melts over how manly he's suddenly become! Reconciled, the now happy pair sails for home. Gertie reminds the sea monster, "I thought you were gonna swallow him." The sea monster swims off with the words, "Even I couldn't swallow a happy ending like that!"
14. Arguably the best section of "George of the Jungle"
involved the crime-fighting adventures of an unlikely super-hero.
Name the title hero, his Bruce Wayne-like normal identity, and his assistant.
Extra credit: in what city do they live? Extra extra credit: when
the hero dashes off to fight crime, his sidekick has a standard reply which
sounds like a proper name -- what does he say? Experts Only extra
credit: during the title sequence of this cartoon, 4 movie actors playing
heroic roles are shown in still photos. Name them!!!
Millionaire playboy Henry Cabot Henhaus III becomes
the heroic Super Chicken (Bill Scott) when he drinks the Super Sauce whipped
up by his faithful sidekick, a lion named Fred (Paul Frees). They
live in a penthouse apartment in Pittsburgh. Whenever Super Chicken
says, "To the Super Coop!", Fred replies, "Roger Wilcox!" The four
actors are John Barrymore (I believe the photo is from "Don Juan"), Douglas
Fairbanks, Sr. (I THINK from "The Black Pirate", but I'm not positive),
Rudolph Valentino (probably as "The Son of the Sheik", although it might
be from the original "The Sheik") -- and Boris Karloff as the Frankenstein
Monster!
Super Chicken faced a different opponent every week:
Rotten Hood, evil magician Merlin Brando (who lived on the Isle of Lucy
["I Love Lucy"]), Wild Ralph Hiccup (modelled on John Wayne), Prince BlackHole
of Calcutta, The Muscle, the Oyster, the Fat Man (taken from Sydney Greenstreet
in "The Maltese Falcon"), the Zipper, Louie the Lapin, and Dr. Gizmo.
But my personal favorite was Salvador Rag-Dolly, who created toys which
committed crimes: "A few more robberies and I'll be the world's richest
evil toymaker! Of course, there's very little competition."
According to Joe Horecny, Don Knotts was the voice
of Super Chicken in the original pilot episode for which a soundtrack was
laid down, but it was never animated.
All together now!
"When you find yourself in danger,
When you're threatened by a stranger
When it looks like you will take a lickin' (Bc-bc-bc-bc);
There is someone waiting who will hurry up and rescue you,
Just caaaallll for Super Chicken. (Bc-Ack!)
Fred, if you're afraid, you'll have to overlook it,
Because you knew the job was dangerous when you took it. (Bc-Ack!)
He will drink his super sauce
And throw the bad guys for a loss
And he will bring them in alive and kickin' (Bc-bc-bc-bc);
There is one thing you should learn,
When there is no one else to turn
To, caaaallll for Super Chicken (Bc-bc-bc-bc);
Caaallll for Super Chicken. (Bc-Ack!)"
The four actors' photos show during the lines,
There is someone waiting who will hurry up and rescue you,
and
There is one thing you should learn,
When there is no one else to turn
15. After "George of the Jungle", new animation from
Jay Ward Productions was limited to TV commercials, mostly for cereals
from Quaker Oats. The best such series of ads is still using the
character Ward's company devised for the cereal, who has not been remodeled
in over 30 years -- although most of the other characters devised for the
commercial series are long gone. Extra credit: Quaker also put out
basically the same cereal (shaped differently) in two other product lines.
Ward's troupe created an entertaining series of ads portraying the title
characters of the two cereals as friendly competitors. Can you tell
me the names of these cereals/characters?
Captain Crunch (Daws Butler); his now-absent crew
was Dave (Bill Scott), Brunhilde (June Foray), little Alfie (Butler again),
and the mascot Sea Dog; his nemesis was Jean LaFoote (Scott), the barefoot
pirate. The original Captain Crunch commercials were inspired to
some degree by the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operetta, "H. M. S. Pinafore";
Ward's writers took this to its logical conclusion by penning a jingle
to the tune of "The Ruler of the Queen's Navee" from "Pinafore":
"I sing a song of Captain Crunch
That sugar-sweet cereal that's fun to munch;
It's great for breakfast or even lunch:
No amount of milk will make it lose its crunch,
No amount of milk will make it lose its crunch! (Sea Dog howls,
temporarily stopping song)
So all ashore that's going ashore,
Get Captain Crunch at your grocery store!"
Space alien Quisp (Daws Butler) and powerful miner
Quake (William Conrad); Bill Scott portrayed Quisp's sidekick Quunchy in
a few commercials, while June Foray came in as Quake's momma Mother Lode
a couple times. The informative Mr. Horecny volunteered the information
that Quaker Oats has revived Quisp cereal in 3 U. S. cities.
If anyone remembers the "King Vita-man" cereal commercials
(actor Joe Flynn supplied the King's voice), those also were done by Jay
Ward Productions. There were others as well, but those were the most
noteworthy.