The Best of Rocky & Bullwinkle Vol. 2 (2007)

The Squirrel Can't Help It

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy The Best of Rocky & Bullwinkle Vol. 2 on DVD

Anyone familiar with the TV show "Rocky and His Friends" knows that each half hour episode starts with a section of a serialized "Bullwinkle" cartoon, then either "Dudley Do-Right," "Peabody & Sherman," or "Fractured Fairy Tales," followed by another chapter of "Bullwinkle." The entire storyline might be spread out over five or more half-hour shows. This new DVD takes three storylines and edits them together without any other interruptions. The highlight here is "Wossamotta U." (1965), considered by many to be the finest "Bullwinkle" cartoon ever produced. And, indeed, it's a pretty clever satire of academia and its real values. In the story, the failing title college decides to assemble a winning football team, and Bullwinkle is scouted and asked to join. The problem is that he can only throw with a hearty rallying cry from Rocky. Even worse, Boris and Natasha try to fix the game so that they can win a bundle in bets. Edited together, this serial runs about 45 minutes. Also included here are "The Treasure of Monte Zoom" and "Goof Gas Attack" (both 1963).

Starring: (voices) Bill Scott (Bullwinkle J. Moose, Fearless Leader), June Foray (Rocket J. Squirrel, Natasha Fatale), Paul Frees (Boris Badenov), William Conrad (Narrator)
Written by: George Atkins, Al Burns, Jim Critchfield, Chris Hayward, Chris Jenkyns, Jim MacGeorge, John Marshall, Paul Mazursky, Jack Mendelsohn, Bill Scott, Larry Tucker, Lloyd Turner
Directed by: Gerard Baldwin, Frank Braxton, Pete Burness, Sal Faillace, Paul Harvey, Jim Hiltz, Bill Hurtz, Lew Keller, Ted Parmelee, Gerry Ray, Dun Roman, Bob Schleh, George Singer, Ernie Terrazas, John Walker, Rudy Zamora
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 132 minutes
Date: November 5, 2007