Rocky and Bullwinkle

Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle the Moose were great stars when those two characters made their first-ever appearance in an animated TV series in the early 1960s. Although the series lasted only a handful of years, the two characters were pretty much TV classics. Yes, they were classics until their catastrophic entry to the big screen. And when their big screen attempt made such underwhelming numbers, they pretty much disappeared from people's minds. With these outings, Rocky and Bullwinkle are indeed characters that aged badly.

And then came this animated short subject. This was to be released in cinemas as a preview to featuring two other characters who appeared in segments of their classic TV series. But for some reason, it was not included, and therefore became direct-to-video instead. I don't know how viewers received the short movie, although it didn't seem to help Rocky and Bullwinkle regain some lost popularity.

Perhaps if a young boy were selected to be in Rocky's speaking role, then that might have pave the road to redemption for the flying squirrel and the moose.

Rocky the flying squirrel, and Bullwinkle the moose made their debut in a TV series in the late 1950s. The series lasted a few seasons over five years. How those two appeared in that series has since been their only moments of fame. Fast forward to the year 2000, Rocky and Bullwinkle appeared in their first and only feature film. Unfortunately, that film was a commercial failure as the film's box office numbers were less than its budget. The two guys were pretty much forgotten after this.

After not being heard of for a number of years, Rocky and Bullwinkle would have another shot to regain some lost fame as they are featured in this short film. This short was to appear as an opener for the Mr. Peabody and Sherman feature film. But for some reason, the short was not featured.

As for the short itself, I guess I should be impressed as I have some liking for cutesy stuff. However, I can't say that I'm entertained. What might have been done to make this short movie more appealing? Maybe they should have used a young actor to be Rocky.

Rocky was initially popular in his first few years in the original TV series. Perhaps the use of an old drag king to do his words led to his being eventually upstaged by Bullwinkle.

One of the greatest cartoon shows in the 1960's was "Rocky and His Friends" (aka "The Bullwinkle Show"), which had a center of gold hidden under its primitive exterior of unchecked art and cheap animation. The show was a true family cartoon for all to enjoy: the silly cartoon art and action could be enjoyed by the kids, while the adults in the room would find great amusement in the witty and satirical dialogue that gave it a special intelligence, removing it from being "just another Saturday morning cartoon". It has since become a classic after all these years, and is now remembered as the best Jay Ward cartoon above other shows like "Hoppity Hooper" because of this extra layer that caused it to stand the test of time.

"Rocky and Bullwinkle" (2014) revives the series in a fresh and new way by updating all the aspects of the old show for new generations - including the use of 3D animation. While I recognize the other three reviewers of this nine-minute short film have given it a 1/10 for their various reasons, I honestly can't say this brief animation is horrible even despite the fact it does show enough flaws for me to subtract one star. Even if it is nothing at all like the original 1959-1964 series in many additional ways (hence another star subtracted) "Rocky and Bullwinkle" contains plenty of charm and entertainment that makes it a fun short to see overall, so long as one doesn't look for it to be a reboot of any kind.

"Rocky and Bullwinkle" continues Boris and Natasha's typical plans to "kill moose and squirrel" with their latest idea that is guaranteed to work this time: a lady moose robot run by Boris that will kill Bullwinkle through various methods. Of course Bullwinkle falls for the robot despite it obviously being a fake, and it is not long before the two are to be married. The ending is history - not to say it's unoriginal but just along the same lines that one would find in a regular R&B episode.

The first flaw one might pick with the film is the animation style. Changing from traditional cartoon animation to CGI 3D animation is obviously a harsh contrast and might not go over well with many viewers, especially the die-hards. For me personally, I would have to say that while I would agree with those who side with the original visual style, I can also say that technically it is extremely well-done and despite being somewhat flashy does a nice job 'updating' the original series' admittedly cheap style. It would have been good if they'd stuck with trying to look like the original, but for what they did here I can't call it bad even if it does give the whole thing an extremely different and more immature feel.

The other flaws I noticed were more minor nitpicks, yet inexcusable considering the source material. The first one would be Rocky's voice, which, like the original is done by June Foray, but has clearly aged and sounds a little off compared to how it used to sound. Obviously, this cannot be criticized too far considering it had been half a decade since she had voiced Rocky originally, but it does show and feels a little different for die-hard fans (of which I belong to, having seen four out of five of the seasons of the original show). Ironically, the other voice actors that are different from the originals, while not perfect, felt a lot better-sounding.

This first flaw is petty compared to the second flaw, which is a plot hole more than anything else. At the wedding, Rocky's fight with Natasha is entirely out of place if you look at it technically, when one takes into account that in the series both Rocky and Bullwinkle were entirely oblivious to Boris and Natasha's plots, with only the slightest of suspicions ("That voice! Where have I heard that voice?"). For Rocky to address Natasha by name and talk to her while having a rather unorthodox sword fight is definitely a flaw since he was never supposed to be aware of their presence in the first place. The writing style as a whole is admittedly different without much in the way of puns or humor crammed into the script - a huge part of what made the original so good. This evidences how writing in animated films (and movies in general) has gone down in recent years over special effects and CGI.

In terms of pros, the short does a good job, the main plus being that it does a good deal of homages to the original cartoon throughout the brief runtime. Not only do they keep Boris Badenoff's poor English (which was always hilarious and a much-needed trademark) but they also thought to place a humorous "Bullwinkle's Corner" segment in the middle of the film. A similar-sounding narrator is included at intervals and gets to deliver his "be sure to be with us next time" shtick which I applaud for keeping in the spirit of the original. The ending is both comical and enjoyable, and feels like it could have been part of a genuine story arc in the TV show with the typical mayhem that results in Boris and Natasha always losing at the last minute. It is also great seeing cameos of Cap'n Peach Fuzz, Dudley Do-right, and other members of the gang at the ceremony.

Of course, the entire plot of the film is heavily contrived and squeezed within the eight minutes of story (the ninth being entirely credits) but this cannot be helped unless they were to make it into a feature-length film like the one from 2000 which I have yet to see. Overall though, I thought it was a fun little R&B adventure despite its flaws and the fact it is nothing like the original, with enough enjoyable ideas and a creative enough plot to make it good.

I have been a huge fan of the Moose and Squirrel practically all my life, mostly because of the cleverness and originality that set their show apart from anything by Disney or Warner Brothers. Unfortunately, the makers of this short don't have nearly as much love for either the characters or the series.

There is nothing clever anywhere in this work; all the gags, and even the overall plot, are recycled from other cartoons and are all-too-easily predictable. For example, in one brief scene the villain uses extra-sharp skates to cut a line around Bullwinkle on a frozen lake; is there anyone out there who can't predict what happens one second later? And even the spoken humor feels forced, like too much effort was made for too little payoff.

If you are a fan of R & B, don't watch this short and don't tell other people about it; let it fade into obscurity, which is the fate it deserves.