I'm sure most of you guys already know about this, but for those that don't, I thought I'd show you and maybe get a discussion started:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...?v=glance&s=dvd

I for one am very excited. What say you?

I hope to God this DVD set is as good as it sounds.

If anybody gets a copy, please report the details here. I'm a little skeptical... but I'm willing to be swayed!

People at the Termite Terrace Trading Post have some advance copies. Here is what they have said:
1. Some of the music has been changed; this was the choice of Ward's children.
2. Season 1 R&B shorts are there, but the other shorts are somewhat jumbled.
3. The banned DUDLEY DO-RIGHT short, STOKEY THE BEAR is on this DVD.

Having bought the DVD set, I must say...

GET IT NOW! Yes, the music and openings are wrong, but this was the choice of Ward's children. This DVD is definitely worth having. There is the banned "Stokey the Bear" segment on Disc 3. The restoration is excellent, makes it look almost brand new. That logo which is on for ten seconds is barley noticeable (I wouldn't have noticed it unless it had been pointed out to me). This is one great DVD set.

Yeah, I just got the set as well, and I am definitely satisfied. Any complaints I can think of (the music and titles, namely) are really just nitpicky.

The "Dear Bullwinkle" segments, with the Bullwinkle puppet giving advice, are particularly hysterical.

Of course, I'm just a fan, not a historian, so you may have other issues. But as far as I can tell, this is "something you'll really like".

I got the set Tuesday, and I've really enjoyed it. I had only seen the Rocky and Bullwinkle shows on Nickelodeon and on Cartoon Network, with the old, scratchy prints. This was a revelation to me! The color is superb, and the restoration is so good that you can see every detail...even the slight changes in color for mouth movements animated on separate cels and other corner-cutting strategies. It includes the seemingly endless 40-cartoon saga of the Jet Fuel Formula, the first Rocky and Bullwinkle serial. It also includes the second serial, "Box Top Robbery", a shorter storyline.

They did play around with the opening titles a bit, but the title sequence included on the episodes on this set is completely new to me (I've never seen it on television before). I believe it originally said "Rocky and his Friends" on the billboard, but to standardize it they superimposed "Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends". The booklet to the set explains that this opening was Jay Ward's personal favorite. It begins with a little man looking up at the sky, and a narrator booming "A thunder of jets in an open sky, a streak of gray and a cheerful (Rocky) 'HI!'" Rocky and Bullwinkle sign autographs from their car, but Boris Badenov changes the road sign and detours them into a tunnel, beginning the show with a crash.

In addition to the famous "sunflower" bumper and "Watch Me pull a rabbit outta my hat", there is one featuring Bullwinkle falling from a high tower and eventually landing next to rocky on a park bench, one with Rocky saving Bullwinkle from an avalanche, and several segments I have never seen. One has Rocky telling the audience: "And now it's time to meet Mister Peabody!"


It seems Peabody had several different opening sequences, as did the fractured Fairy Tales. Peabody's music is left alone, Fairy Tales has been dubbed over with a standard theme. There are some Dudley Do Right cartoons thrown in too, though I don't know if they actually went with the first season of Bullwinkle or not. The cartoons each have a very brief logo flash of "R&B" in the bottom corner, most likely to prevent unauthorized copying.

"Stokey the Bear" is included, a cartoon that was presumed destroyed because of complaints from the U.S. Government forest service. At the time it was a no-no for Dudley Do Right to make fun of Smokey the bear, a public service character. Instead of putting out forest fires, "Stokey" is hypnotized by Snidley Whiplash to SET them.

All in all, a fine set. Keep an eye out for the eye popping color in the Pottsylvania scenes on "Jet Fuel Formula". Fearless Leader's underground headquarters is surprisingly crisp and clear.

Moose and Squirrel never looked so good.

-Matthew

I LOVE the way you posted your NEWS about the ROCKY & HIS FRIENDS Season 1 DVD set OR should I say the NEW "ROCKY & BULWINKLE & FRIENDS" set.

Both parties that sent you their reviews were RIGHT! You have to take the good with the bad apparently on these CARTOON DVD sets. The series looks GREAT and even my 8 year old son wants to watch them now BUT they tampered with the titles, music and they even removed the LAUGH TRACKS which was unique to the first couple of episodes. AND the art on the packaging doesn't even resemble the first season ROCKY who did not have a black button nose.

Animation Historians like us are ignored by CLASSIC MEDIA for whatever reason and the set is released in it's so so state.

What I don't like about this type of release is....if it doesn't sell well, they assume the reason is the show itself or the characters...not the fact that they packaged it wrong. They issued THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF DANNY KAYE: THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES without DANNY KAYE on the cover (Who people recognize from HERE COMES PETER COTTONTAIL) and when it didn't sell...they blame it on the fact that it is little known. Not the fact that someone made an unwise selection for the packaging. Oh well......

Yeah, I agree Rick. The packaging is nice, but not really in line with what the actual cartoons look like. Still a nice set.

Packaging does seem to be a problem with cartoons on DVD and video now. They stick a cheap generic pose of a character or characters that has little or nothing to do with the cartoons in the product, and so people think it looks too generic or just like everything else they've seen. Take, for instance, the upcoming Looney Tunes Golden Collection. Warner and MGM used to have nice VHS covers, they all had original artwork.

But now look at the cover they decided on for this DVD...the characters are all clip art poses that have been appearing on T shirts and food products and greeting cards for over ten years now. I often do classic cartoon articles over at Toon Zone News, and whenever I can, I avoid using the promotional artwork sent to us by Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. for Looney Tunes stuff. They're all the same...Daffy Duck looking pissed off, that same smiling Bugs Bunny, the ubiquitous pose of Tweety looking effeminate. The sizes are wrong on this DVD cover too...look how small Taz is and how big Sylvester is. I can't blame Jerry or the fine folks working on the set, since they had nothing to do with the packaging. I know not to judge a book by its cover, but if sales aren't what they hope for this wonderful-sounding collection I'll suspect the cover, not the lack of demand.

I noticed that the little segment where Rocky and Bullwinkle pop outta the ground like flowers has different music - there's a little flourish added that isn't on the Buena Vista VHS tapes I have. The prints look much nicer than the tv prints that are out there; they don't have every teensy little thing scrubbed clean which is good in my book....

I don't know if this merits mention, but, in the end credits of the episodes when Bullwinkle lets the list unfold, there's a 1997 copyright date listed.

A review I read at Classics on DVD stated that these were syndicated prints. I don't ever remember seeing these air on any cable outlets and I don't remember reading anything about these at the time.

I love the set, but miss the laugh track from the early shows. It always sounded so subdued and out of place. I'm glad it got dumped from the series, but would have liked to have it on the episodes that originally aired with it. Nevertheless, I never thought I'd see this much Bullwinkle released at one time. Hope Classic Media keeps 'em coming!

Keith Scott sent me this update:

"The cartoons on the DVDs are from Universal Television's restored masters, used for their overseas sales package. (Unfortunately General Mills, who contractually still have the domestic US TV rights into perpetuity, couldn't get together with Universal, so any semblance to exact copies of the old shows was averted in order to avoid potential legal action).

The music rights were also in dispute, ever since the old Buena Vista video release in 1991, so the only music used are the tracks composed by Fred Steiner for "The Bullwinkle Show" in 1961 (Frank Comstock's music, heard in the original 1959-60 "Rocky and His Friends" shows on ABC, can't be used, as there is a fee involved. Lawyers strike again!).

Yes, when this package was beginning to be assembled in 1995, I had to go in and try to match Bill Conrad for the new title "ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE AND FRIENDS." So I guess they're using that track, but no-one attempted to match the equaliaztion from old Glen Glenn analog to modern Sydney digital.

The one good thing is that the actual cartoons finally look and sound excellent. I assisted with the restoration which took three years (1995-98) at the old Chace Audio in Burbank."

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS HOPPITY HOOPER?

I have not seen this Jay Ward gem of a series since the early seventies--- Did it ever get released on video in the first place?

----AND FRACTURED FLICKERS AND COMEDY CAPERS-- these live action old and reworked classics from Bill Scott, Jay Ward, and Wrong Way Feldman himself--- HANS CONREID! Have these ever been released on video-- ANY format? This is the show that introduced me to the Keystone Cops, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton just for starters! Woody Allen got more than an idea for "What's Up Tiger Lilly?" from this series! Well? Wha Hoppened? Where are these Twisted Classics?

Jerry once told me about Keith Scott and his rabid affection for all things Jay Ward,, He was still a teen when he paid his way from Australia to the Sunset Strip HQ of the Bullwinkle empire. He hung out with Bill Scott and Jay Ward and soaked up everything he could and years later became the voice of Bullwinkle and the Narrator in the Feature Flick, as well AS WRITING THE BEST TESTAMENT TO Those guys -- "The Moose That Roared" it's a must read for Jay Maniacs everywhere!

THANKS AND HATS OFF TO KEITH SCOTT!!!!! Let's watch him pull a rabbit out of his hat----- OH NO-- NOT AGAIN!

I bought the set based on teaser news.

I must say I am pleased overall.

It is disappointing about the music and other legal snafus, but the episode material is pristine.

How many of you guys have seen The Sex Book ?

It is not absolutely perfect, the wrapping is a bit shoddy from the editing and tinkering, but the filling is superb.