Who would have ever thought, when this show came out, in 1959, that between this cartoon, and its successor, The Bullwinkle Show, that these cartoon characters would have five years of episodes?......kind of modelled in the old radio episodic format, I would say.
I wonder if Jay Ward would have also been surprised that his creation had lasted that long. He had done Crusader Rabbit, back in 1949---TV's first animated show ever----but certainly that cartoon could not hold a candle to this one.
From what I have read, there were no other cartoon TV series, up until this point, which had lasted 5 years (shortly AFTER this series began, The Flintstones ran 6 years---1960-1966). After Rocky, Bullwinkle (and Hanna Barbera's Flinstones) I think that it was EXTREMELY RARE that any animated series lasted 5 or more years......Until The Simpsons came along!.....
The story that I have read, as to why Jay Ward switched the name, from Rocky and His Friends, to The Bullwinkle Show, is very simple. In 1961 the show switched networks. The new station would only pick the series up if Ward renamed it The Bullwinkle Show (for what reason, I will never know). The rest is history......
I wonder if Jay Ward would have also been surprised that his creation had lasted that long. He had done Crusader Rabbit, back in 1949---TV's first animated show ever----but certainly that cartoon could not hold a candle to this one.
From what I have read, there were no other cartoon TV series, up until this point, which had lasted 5 years (shortly AFTER this series began, The Flintstones ran 6 years---1960-1966). After Rocky, Bullwinkle (and Hanna Barbera's Flinstones) I think that it was EXTREMELY RARE that any animated series lasted 5 or more years......Until The Simpsons came along!.....
The story that I have read, as to why Jay Ward switched the name, from Rocky and His Friends, to The Bullwinkle Show, is very simple. In 1961 the show switched networks. The new station would only pick the series up if Ward renamed it The Bullwinkle Show (for what reason, I will never know). The rest is history......