Rocky and Bullwinkle

Rocky and Bullwinkle are the main protagonists of the TV series and the 2000 film of the same name.

They appeared in Universal Studios Florida in the show and as the meet-and-greet characters.

## About the characters

### Rocket "Rocky" J. Squirrel

Rocky's personality is meant to be that of an upstanding, if slightly naive, all-American youth. As the brains and straight man of the "moose and squirrel" duo, Rocky is often shown as coming up with creative solutions to the various situations the duo found themselves in on their adventures. However, he is no less gullible toward Boris Badenov's and Natasha Fatale's disguises than Bullwinkle. The best he can do is to occasionally remark, "Those two look familiar!" or "That voice, where have I heard it before?"

Rocky share's a house with Bullwinkle, in the fictional small town of Frostbite Falls, Minnesota, a parody of the real-life American town of International Falls, Minnesota. Rocky and Bullwinkle would often have various adventures that usually saw them thwart the various schemes of the series' villains, Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale (and also occasionally Boris and Natasha's superior, Fearless Leader).

Rocky's most frequently used catchphrase was "Hokey smoke!"

Voice artist June Foray was the voice of Rocky, as well as the voice of Natasha Fatale and other characters. Foray continued to voice the character in current media depictions of Rocky and Bullwinkle until her retirement in 2014 and then her death in 2017, including in the 2000 live-action/animated movie *The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.* In a 2014 GEICO commercial with Rocky and Bullwinkle, Lauri Fraser took over the voice Rocky. Starting with the new Amazon Prime series The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2018 Series), Tara Strong took over the voice Rocky.

### Bullwinkle J. Moose

Bullwinkle was noted for being well-intentioned, but also quite foolish, which made for a source of jokes and plot devices during the show's run. Despite this, the so-called "moronic moose" often aided the brains of the "moose-and-squirrel" duo, Rocky, during their various adventures. Although on opposite ends of the I.Q. scale, he and the "plucky squirrel" had a shared sense of optimism, persistence and traditional ethics and moral standards. Although not as brainy as Rocky, Bullwinkle often made references breaking the fourth wall, so he was not always as clueless as he appeared. His apparent lack of brilliance also had positive side effects, making him immune to mind-numbing chemicals in "Goof Gas Attack" and being the only person able to properly handle the Kirwood Derby hat in "Missouri Mish Mash". His voice is nasally, with a slight lisp added.

Bullwinkle also hosted other segments of the program, including: "Mr. Know-It-All," where he tried to demonstrate his supposed (albeit nonexistent) expertise on a variety of subjects, such as disarming bombs, curing hiccups or escaping from Devil's Island; "Bullwinkle's Corner", where the moose would attempt to read poetry, notably "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" (The Daffodils) of William Wordsworth; and various interstitial drop-ins. In one running gag, Bullwinkle would attempt to pull a rabbit out of a top hat (to Rocky's dismissal: "Again?" or "But that trick *never* works.", and Bullwinkle's canonical rejoinder, "Nothing up my sleeve...Presto." or "This time, for sure. Presto."), only to pull out something unexpected instead such as a lion, tiger, bear, rhinoceros and occasionally even Rocky himself. After each failed attempt, Rocky segued to a commercial by saying, "Now, here's something we hope you'll *really* like."

Bullwinkle shared a house with his best friend Rocket J. Squirrel in the fictional small town of Frostbite Falls, Minnesota, a spoof of the real-life American town of International Falls, Minnesota. Bullwinkle attended college at "Wossamotta U" (a play on "What's the matter with you") on a football scholarship. He is a long-time supporter of the Bull Moose Party, and at one time was the part-owner, part-governor of the island of Moosylvania. Bullwinkle is shown at numerous times to be quite wealthy. In seasons 1 and 2, he makes reference to having an Uncle Dewlap, who bequeathed Bullwinkle vast amounts of wealth (in the form of a cereal boxtop collection and an Upsidaisium mine); he also has a large petty cash stockpile hidden in his mattress that he accumulated delivering newspapers (as revealed in "The Last Angry Moose"). In the half-cartoon, half-live-action movie *The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle*, Bullwinkle receives an Honorary Mooster's Degree from Wossamotta U, due to the nefarious plans of Boris Badenov.

Bill Scott, Ward's partner and head writer of the series, was the original voice of Bullwinkle. In the 2000 Universal Pictures film *The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle*, Bullwinkle was voiced by Ward fan Keith Scott (no relation to Bill), as Bill had died of a heart attack in 1985. At the time, he had finished the first season of voicing another Moose character, Moosel, for The Wuzzles. In some of the more recent commercials and projects, Frank Welker has voiced Bullwinkle. In the DreamWorks short, Bullwinkle was voiced by Tom Kenny of *SpongeBob SquarePants* fame. In the new Amazon Prime series *The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,* Bullwinkle is now voiced by Brad Norman.

## Gallery

rocky in his cartoon formbullwinkle in his cartoon form