The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show consists of two American television series, Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show. Despite the use of abrupt, limited animation, the show was very popular in the 1960s. The episodes were focused around the adventures of Rocket "Rocky" J. Squirrel, a flying squirrel, and his best friend Bullwinkle J. Moose. Various other shorts were included with the Rocky and Bullwinkle shorts, including Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties, Peabody's Improbable History, Fractured Fairy Tales, Aesop & Son, Bullwinkle's Corner, Mr. Know-It-All, the Rocky and Bullwinkle Fan Club, and The World of Commander McBragg.

Animation Style
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show utilized very limited, cost efficient animation. The abrupt animation was complemented with almost continuous narration. In this sense, the show was structured very similarly to radio programs. The show is a good example of Chuck Jones' description of much contemporary animation as illustrated radio.

The characters were all drawn in a very iconic style. The backgrounds used abstract artistry and a minimal amount of necessary objects, which was quite similar to the style of UPA and much 1960s animation. Also, the colors used on the background and characters varied little in scenes. Backgrounds typically used one prominent color, while the objects in front of them had more various colors, but still usually had a complementing color scheme.

Anti-communism Themes
The show was created and aired during the Cold War and because of this exhibited many anti-communist themes. The two primary antagonists of the Rocky and Bullwinkle shorts were stereotypically Russian spy characters. During almost every episode, these two characters failed at their mission to sabotage the Americans Rocky and Bullwinkle. Despite elaborate schemes, the spies were always unable to outwit the very simple-minded moose or constantly distracted squirrel.