Product Description

Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 06/14/2005 Run time: 1160 minutes Rating: Nr

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3909 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-08-31
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Animated, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 1144 minutes

Amazon.com
Set your WABAC machine for 1960, and the further misadventures of Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose, the most illustrious citizens of Frostbite Falls, MN (population: 48; and that's during the summer rush). This four-disc set contains seven full-length serials, several of which loom large in the Rocky & Bullwinkle canon, including "Upsidasium," "Metal Munching Mice," and "Greenpernt Oogle," with the rare, reclusive oogle bird (sorry, you'll have to wait until the release of season 3 for the Kirwood Derby).

Perhaps emboldened by what they were able to get away with in season 1, producer Jay Ward, writer and the voice of Bullwinkle Bill Scott, Queen of Cartoons June Foray, "and a host of others," gleefully further broke with television convention. Rocky & Bullwinkle was at once very silly (for the kids) and slyly satirical (for mom and dad). Characters broke the fourth wall ("Don't look at me," a villain insists at one point, "I'm not giving up the plot"). Corporate America (television executives in particular) was mocked. In "Metal Munching Mice," news that robotic rodents are devouring television antennae causes panic when it is realized that the public are unable to watch commercials. And then there are the subversively funny "Fractured Fairy Tales," in which Puss 'n Boots gets skinned, Red Riding Hood is devoured, and no one lives happily ever after, and the time-travel adventures of cultured canine Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman, in which historical figures are revealed to be boobs. Just for laughs, there is the faux melodrama of forthright Mounty Dudley Do-Right, and the Bullwinkle segments, "Bullwinkle's Corner" and "Mr. Know It All." Still crazy after all these years, Rocky & Bullwinklerises like the anti-gravity Upsidasium above mere nostalgia. Like The Simpsons, this series rewards viewers who pay attention, and invites repeat viewings to catch all the jokes you missed. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

This set is why you own a DVD player
Unlike some reviews that are allowed here, I actually own this set of DVD's and have watched all of it.

Those of us who are die hard R&B fans wondered if we'd see more after the release of Season 1. Happily, our concerns are unfounded with the release of Season 2. The restoration treatment is as good as the first set. Some fans did not like the "watermark" of "R&B" in the corner on the first edition. I don't like that trend either but, at least here, it is transparent and only visable for a few seconds.

This set includes four double-sided discs with 52 shows, that include 36 episodes of "Upsidasium", 16 episodes of "Metal Munching Mice", 12 episodes of "Greenpernt Oogle", 8 episodes of "Rue Brittania", 14 episodes of "Buried Treasure" and 14 episodes of "Wailing Whale".

You also get 35 Fractured Fairy Tales; 34 Mr. Peabody's; 17 Aesop and Son's and 18 Dudley Do-Right's.
"Mr. Know-It-All" and "Bullwinle's Corner" are in plentiful supply as well.

Extras include "Classic TV Commercials" (3 Cheerios commercials that featured Bullwinkle); "June Foray Interview" (the voice behind many cartoon characters including Rocky's - from Sept. 2003); "Sneak Peak at Complete Season 3" (yes, the "Dirwood Kirby episode!); and "Moosecalls - The Best of Bullwinkle Sings" (a montage of R&B clips edited with voice-overs and graphics to spoof a TV record album pitch - which looks like it was put-together for this DVD set).

While I was pleased to see the content expanded, I was disapointed in the packaging. In a word - CHEAP. Sony Wonder should be ashamed of itself for releasing such a collector's item in a cheesy package. I returned two copies before I got one with un-broken plastic DVD holders! It also would have been more thoughtful if the double-sided discs were ordered, so that those of us with multi-disc changers could watch all the Side A's and then flip the discs to watch all of the Side B's. If you want to watch this set in order, you'll have to flip each disc after watching Side A.

The opening and ending titles for each "show" are modified to read "Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends", as was the first season release. It would be nice if one of the remaining sets had the original graphics/titles included (Ponsoby Britt where are you?).

Watching these classics again reminds us of why these were the first cartoons to appeal to adults and children alike. So stop reading this and buy it already!

r & B season 2
It's a shame they didn't use the original music during the credits. Jay Ward didn't own the rights to the music and the company putting out the DVD set didn't want to have to pay royalties for its use. Imagine seeing The Andy Griffith Show and not hearing the whistling theme song. It's also annoying that they used the opening credit segment that showed the name of the show as ROCKY & BULLWINKLE AND FRIENDS, when it was really ROCKY AND HIS FRIENDS. If you notice, when that segment plays, the voice is NOT that of William Conrad, but rather, someone who "sounds" like him. Other than these complaints about the opening and closing credits, the material on the set if great!

Fan Remembers Originals Opening Sequences & Commercials
I finally finished watching the second Rocky and Bullwinkle DVD set. Much to my very pleasant surprise, starting on show #44 on disc 4, they used the FIRST season opening and closing title/credits sequences! Like with the second year opening/closing sequences, this was the very first time I had seen these in color. Mind you, this is not the original theme music used, which I think was better synchronized with the action on the screen, still it is great to finally again see Rocky and Bullwinkle chased up and down the hill by the loosened pinwheels! The split-second shot showing their faces in horror as they realize the fireworks are coming loose is my favorite pose of the Frostbite Falls duo!

Those of you who probably saw Rocky and Bullwinkle on TV for the first time during the years of repeats are familiar with only the dancing moose opening title sequence. I saw "Rocky and His Friends" when it first aired in the late 1950s and early 1960s and I take sheer delight in seeing these original title sequences again.

Two other nice touches are: (1) On this DVD set we see several of the "Rocky and Bullwinkle Fan Club" cartoons which took the place of "Bullwinkle's Corner" or "Mr. Know It All" on some programs. In Keith Scott's book "The Moose That Roared" it says that there were only nine "Fan Club" cartoons. (2) We finally get to see a few of the Bullwinkle cereal commercials. There are SO MANY more!

I do wish, however, the booklet would have listed each "Bullwinkle's Corner", "Mr. Know It All", and "Rocky and Bullwinkle Fan Club" cartoon by title like all the other cartoons on each disc.

Additional comments added at a later date:

This DVD set contains all of the Rocky and Bullwinkle catoons from Season 2. There are 52 half-hour programs on this DVD set. No, they did not have a new program on the air every week that year. Referring again to Keith Scott's book "The Moose That Roared", during the second year that this program was on ABC television, there were new programs TWICE a week, Thursdays and Sundays. Production for this season began soon enough to produce this many episodes. There are twice as many episodes on this DVD set as on the Season 1 set but at no increase in price from most retailers. Quite a bargain.

I do wish the booklets included in this series would list the original broadcast dates for the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons if not the other features as well.