DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends: Complete 1st Season (1 Viewer)

[James_Garner]

Folks, I have received a copy of "Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends" ("Hokey Smoke, Bullwinkle! One store just couldn't wait until the 12th for us!")
Anyone Expecting the "Bullwinkle in the Spotlight" opening & closing Credits will be disappointed (Maybe Possonby Britt's estate wanted too much money, wink), as they are nowhere to be found. Instead, We get a more appropiate credit sequence of Moose & Squirrel riding in a parade with the narrator commenting on the action. Some of the shows even have The original pre-commercial bumpers & some rarely-seen "Something you'll really like" intros OTHER than Rocky, Tiger, & Rhino.

Some minor quibbles: the actual "The Adventures of R&B&F" title on the beginning of the shows seems too clean & "CGI" compared to the rest of the episodes (& I wished they found the original "Rocky & His Friends" Title card for the opening of each individual R&B cartoon within the show). I also find the little R&B watermark (on the lower right corner of the screen) at the actual start of each individual cartoon a little annoying; but it doesnt appear for long. The set is a good effort from Sony.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Are the Bullwinkle's Corner segments the interplay between Rocky and Bullwinkle? "Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat! Didn't know my own strength!" That kind of thing?

 

[James_Garner]

"Bullwinkle's Corner" is the segment where Bullwinkle tries to recite Poetry ("Little Miss Muffet," "Jack Be nimble," etc. The interplay sequences are also here, including some that are brand new to me ("Bullwinkle and... [Why spoil the suprises?]", that must have been a part of the original broadcasts. Oh, one more thing, The Music featured on certain sequences are different than what we are used to on the re-runs, but fear not. Tiffany Ward writes in the booklet that the the music has been replaced "With themes he specifically produced for the first two seasons," so also don't worry about hearing the lame music that was used on the Buena Vista releases in the mid-'90s

 

[Ronald Epstein]

James,

While all of us appreciate the information you
have provided, I want you to know that I came very
close to deleting your post.

Michael did an exceptional job with material that
he was somewhat unfamiliar with -- not to mention
the fact that he is just getting his feet wet as
a reviewer of this forum.

While I am certain you were only trying to be
informative, I am not so sure it was very tactful
to nitpick at Michael's review. If you think I am
the only person who has noticed this, you might
want to know I received email on this matter.

As an ex-reviewer myself, I know how easy it is
to make a mistake now and then, and how embarrasing
it can be to have someone blatantly point out those
mistakes.

Just giving you and everyone else food for thought.

 

[James_Garner]

I never intended to nitpick. I was trying to be helpful. I apologize to everybody if they thought i was trying to be disrespectful and tactless. I meant no harm to anyone. I should have phrased things better In my post, & will do so in the future. I agree That Michael did an excellent job & he should keep up the good work. I have completely removed the offending sequence from my original post, to show I meant no ill will.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Based on Michael's overall reaction, I think I'll stick with my Laserdiscs of the show.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

James,

I understand you meant no ill will. I made
that very clear.

I'll also admit I am being very overprotective
of our reviewers right now. Most all of them
have never done reviews like this before. We
weren't looking for professional reviewers -- we
were looking for people who were enthusiastic
about this format and what they watch.

Thanks for the very kind reply, James.

 

[Garysb]

I believe the original Rocky and His Friends was only 15 minutes long and did not become a half hour until it switched networks and became The Bullwinkle Show.

I also remember one of the promos for Rocky and His Friends
having the announcer(William Conrad) telling people to be sure to watch the show, then Boris sneaks across the screen
and remove the "R" from Friends so the announcer says so be sure and watch Rocky and His Fiends. I was wondering if anyone knows if this or other promos are included.

As for the openings appearing new they apparently
are since the program was never called Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends until this release.

 

[James_Garner]

I also remember one of the promos for Rocky and His Friends
having the announcer(William Conrad) telling people to be sure to watch the show, then Boris sneaks across the screen
and remove the "R" from Friends so the announcer says so be sure and watch Rocky and His Fiends. I was wondering if anyone knows if this or other promos are included.

 

[Matthew_V]

.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Is there a "play-all" feature ?

Yes, on the main menu you can select "play all" or go to any select episode.

 

[James_Garner]

What about during those tiny 30second-ish segments that introduced what the viewer was about to watch ?

There are no watermarks on those sequences

 

[Matthew_V]

.

 

[Matthew_V]

.

 

[Steve Phillips]

When I pay good money for a DVD I do not expect it to have watermarks.

 

[Josh Sieg]

HOW bad is this? Screenshot anyone?

 

[Jeff Swearingen]

Leaving the watermark discussion aside (which looks like it was because of the Jay Ward contract from the links I've read here)....

Does anybody know if the future seasons will have some of the other openings for the show? Such as "The Bullwinkle Show" with all the flashing lightbuls signs during the opening and closing credits?

Also I could have sworn that there was a different narrator for the R&B segments than the one I hear on the DVDs. Of course I'm trying to remember because the last time I watched these episodes was at least 10 years ago on broadcast tv and never had a copy of the episodes on tape.

 

[Josh Sieg]

I bought the set today. These watermarks are nothing to sweat over. It's just a small transparent 'R & B' logo at the bottom.

 

[Kajs]

Just about one second per cartoon. Not worth sweating over

As said before, 10 seconds, but its every segment, not every episode. And how does this present bootleging? Now if we buy a bootleg, we'll know its from the DVD...so what?

I also could have sworn that there was a different narrator than the one I hear on the DVDs.

 

[Josh Sieg]

I also could have sworn that there was a different narrator than the one I hear on the DVDs.

Me too dude. But I don't remember if I ever saw any of the season 1 episodes when I was a kid. Maybe theres a different narrator as the show progresses? I know the insert says that some of the music was changed though.