Trivia for
"The Bullwinkle Show" (1961)

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• Mr. Peabody was modeled on actor Clifton Webb.
  
  
• Production budget and time restraints were so tight, that many times when actors flubbed a line and ad-libbed around it, it was included in the finished cartoon. In one infamous incident, announcer William Conrad couldn't finish the closing lines to the episode with the time limits. Producer Jay Ward then had Conrad read the script once again, and set fire to the bottom of the script as he read. He quickly finished the lines before the flames reached his fingers.
  
  
• The animation was done in Mexico.
  
  

• Mr. Peabody's first name is Hector.
  
  
• The first story of the season was an epic multi-part adventure about the moose and squirrel's search for the elusive Kirwood Derby. In November 1961, Durward Kirby threatened to file suit. Jay Ward reportedly responded to the threat, in his usual style, by offering to let Kirby name any hat of his choosing after any character from his show.
  
  
• The show has gone under several names. "Rocky and His Friends" was the name of the pilot produced by Jay Ward, "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show" was the more popular title but it is also known as "The Bullwinkle Show."
  
  
• Jay Ward was a real estate agent with an MBA from Harvard when he began work on Rocky and Bullwinkle.
  
  
• Because different segments were animated and produced independently, the animation styles don't always match up (Watch the early Bullwinkle episodes and compare the quality to that of Mr. Know-It-All)
  
  
• "The Great Boxtop Caper" storyline (Boris planned to control the world's economy by counterfeiting cereal boxtops) had to be resolved early because of objections from cereal manufacturer General Mills, the show's sponsor and owner.
  
  
• Jay Ward was able to avoid network interference by working close to the deadline. Prints of the show would reportedly arrive at the network only hours before broadcast.
  
  
• New episodes of The Bullwinkle Show played for three years (1961-1964). Network reruns lasted until 1973, at which time the shows went into syndication.
  
  

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