SDCC 2014: Rocky and Bullwinkle Are Back!
Rocky and Bullwinkle are back with a brand new short film produced by DreamWorks! The short (Rocky and Bullwinkle) premiered at San Diego Comic-Con to a standing room only panel. The short will be released in October on the Mr. Peabody & Sherman Blu-ray/DVD along with the first episode of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. The original short brings back the lovable characters fans have known for years and introduces them to the next generation.
People liked the Rocky and Bullwinkle show for the story and the humor, not the animation, explained Gary Trousdale, the film’s director. Trousdale is known for having directed Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Atlantis. The original show’s animation was not that fluid. The new film is computer animated but Leonard Maltin (panel moderator) pointed out that it still looks like a cartoon; it did not try to be real. Trousdale mentioned the artists were used to doing big scale projects so they had to tone it down for Rocky and Bullwinkle.
Someone from the audience asked if it started out as a storyboard or a script and Trousdale said it started at as script. There was a table read and he let the actors play it out. Trousdale went on to say that it was easy to animate from the script because it was so well written. Originally, they were going to have a longer version but they cut it down. Maltin commented on the length of the short saying it, “seems just the right length.”
Some of the voices on the short are soundalikes and they sound “just like the original show” remarked Maltin. June Foray returns as the voice of Rocky. Bullwinkle is voiced by Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants, Adventure Time, CatDog and much more). The film is written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon (Night at the Museum and Reno 911!)
Rocky and Bullwinkle originally aired from 1959 to 1964 and there was a live action movie that came out in 2000. The movie was not well received, but Tiffany Ward (daughter of Jay Ward-creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle) felt it was “true in spirit” to the show and she liked it. Needless to say it has been some time since there was a new Rocky and Bullwinkle story which is actually joked about in the beginning of the short. The short itself is fun, playful and very true to the feel of the original show. Except for the fact that it is computer animated, it feels like nothing has changed. For fans of Rocky and Bullwinkle, you will want to check this out and hopefully new fans will discover this lovable and quirky duo!
