ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.6 - SEPTEMBER 2000

Straight from the Moose's Mouth
(continued from page 1)

Author Keith Scott and his cartoon crony, Bullwinkle J. Moose. Photo courtesy of Keith Scott.

Details, Details, Details
Anyone fascinated with the industry should enjoy the account of how Rocky and his Friends ended up being animated in Mexico (the original plan called for the production to go to Japan). The show's first production budget was miniscule compared to the cost of a Hanna-Barbera production from the same time. Keith Scott interviewed the Americans who oversaw the production in Mexico and their accounts explain the numerous problems that resulted. His detailed account even hints at an under-the-table deal that resulted in the show going to Mexico in the first place. (Apparently people with the show's ad agency and/or sponsor owned shares in the Mexican facility.)

The text also covers Ward's later productions including George of the Jungle, Super Chicken, Dudley Do-Right, Hoppity Hopper, Tom Slick, Fractured Flickers, numerous commercials and much more. As the story unfolds you also get a delightful picture of the good times at Jay Ward Productions. There are accounts of zany parties and publicity stunts, surprise company outings to unusual places and other unexpected moments. Anderson, who had gone into advertising, occasionally re-appears as do several other life-long friends of Ward.

Trivia fans will enjoy much of the information in the text. My favorite "stupid" fact is that when Action for Children's Television (ACT) pressured TV into adopting politically correct guidelines/censorship in 1977, Cap'n Crunch, a 500-year-old pirate, could no longer wear a sword. One fact overlooked by the author is: who sang the George of the Jungle song? He gives us the names of the composer and song writer, but not Donnie Brooks, who sang, "George, George, George of the Jungle, watch out for that tree." (I saw him sing it at a county fair in the 1980s.) The book also explains why several non-Ward productions were once included with Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes on TV. This led fans to believe Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, King Leonardo and His Short Subjects, Go Go Gophers, Commander McBrag, etc., were produced by J. Ward Productions. They were actually made by Total Television, a company owned by Peter Piech. Piech also had an interest in the distribution of Ward products on TV.

As I read the text I kept noticing that the book didn't give a clear picture as to what Ward was like as a person. Scott saved this complex subject for the next to the last chapter. His account of who Ward was is an excellent piece of research. He quotes extensively from those who best knew the man and he reveals uncomfortable incidents that help explain this man's unusual psyche. The statements sometimes contradict each other, but the confusion helps explain who this wonderful man was.

Proof is in the Pudding
When I finished reading the book I wondered how accurate it was so I called two people who worked closely with Ward. Alex Anderson said, "It was pretty much the way I remembered it." Lucille Bliss, the voice of Crusader Rabbit, enjoyed the book and said Scott came close to guessing her age when he writes "circa 1927." Bliss said the date is wrong, "but I can live with it." (June Foray, the voice of Rocky, like Bliss never reveals her age. Scott made no attempt to guess it.) Bliss felt Scott simplified the complex history of Crusader and that he didn't fully capture the negative personality of the man who ended up with the rights to the show. She was also surprised at how much he knew about her, yet they had never met or talked on the phone.

My only negative criticism of the book is minor. It would have been better had there been a few well-placed footnotes. Scott was not present when most of the events in the book took place, so footnotes would have been useful. Scott identifies in the text the person he is quoting, but he does not say how he obtained information not in quotes. Had there been footnotes, Bliss would have known from where the information about her came.

We are fortunate that St. Martin's press was willing to publish Scott's account of the studio. It is an exceptional contribution to our knowledge of early TV animation, a subject ignored by most authors. Fortunately Scott got to interview almost everyone connected with the studio (several of the key figures are no longer alive) and is an excellent writer.

The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, A Flying Squirrel and a Talking Moose, by Keith Scott. New York, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000. Approximately 460 pages with 35 or 40 black and white illustrations. ISBN: 0312199228 (hardbound $27.95).

Karl Cohen is President of ASIFA-San Francisco. His first book, Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators, is published by McFarland Publishers. He also teaches animation history at San Francisco State University.

 
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