The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose

By Keith Scott

Book Overview

For those of us who love The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, these names conjure up memories of some of the wittiest, most inspired, and relentlessly hilarious half-hours of animation ever produced. There was a kind of gleeful magic to the shows, a cumulative joy that transcended the crude animation and occasionally muddy sound, and it's this quality that was the essence of the legendary Jay Ward and Bill Scott. Jay Ward was the magnificent visionary, the outrageous showman who lobbied Washington for statehood for Moosylvania, and invited the press to a picnic on the floor of the Plaza Hotel's august Grand Ballroom. Bill Scott was the genial, brilliant head writer, coproducer, and all-purpose creative whirlwind, often described as the "soul" of the shows. In fact, Scott even provided the voices for most of the star characters, giving life to Bullwinkle J. Moose, Mr. Peabody, Dudley Do-Right, and George of the Jungle. From their tiny, oddball animation studio, Jay Ward Productions, they created some of the most memorable animation of all time, and gave birth to a family of characters whose undying popularity has cast them forever into the pop culture firmament. With their distinctively unorthodox, artist-friendly philosophy, Ward and Scott attracted some of the most talented writers and voice actors in the industry, and for a time, Jay Ward Productions was a kind of Camelot of cartoons. Now, through exclusive interviews with Bill Scott, Tiffany Ward, June Foray, and dozens of others intimately involved with the Ward epoch, as well as access to original scripts, artwork, story notes, letters, and memos, Keith Scott has created the definitive history of Jay Ward Productions, including episode guides and voice credits for all the Jay Ward cartoons. From the first "Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat!" to the last "Watch out for that tree!" this is not only the record of a legendary chapter in animation history, but also the story of a rare and magical relationship between two artists who were wildly, exuberantly ahead of their time, and the fascinating story of the struggle to bring their vision of bad puns and talking animals to unforgettable life.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312199228
• ISBN13: 9780312199227
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.77 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.7" x 1.5" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

Memories

This book is one of the only things I have left of my grandfather, Howard Brandy. He was Jay Ward's longtime publicist and friend who inspired Dudley Do-Right. I love that it mentions their publicity stunt to get Moosylvania into statehood. Jay and my grandfather went across the country with my grandpa dressed as a Canadian Mountie and Jay in a sailor uniform of some kind. They were attempting to gather signitures to bring to the White House to get Moosylvania (an area Jay bought) to be a state. Well they showed up to the White House on the day of the Cuban Missle Crisis lol. I'm glad to see all these good reviews of this book. It makes me feel good that there are still Rocky & Bullwinkle fans that keep the memory alive. It really is a great book and good insight into Jay's life and creation. I hope many more will buy it.

An Excellent Overview of Jay Ward

This is an excellent overview of Jay Ward and his cartoons and it definitely inspired me to write my book Created and Produced by Total TeleVision Productions, which I would humbly recommend to you as a companion volume to this, to find out the "rest of the story".

Natasha! Moose and Squirrel have their own book!

This is the best reference to "Rocky and Bullwinkle" out there. In it is information about the show itself, Jay Ward (the show's creator), Bill Scott (coproducer and voice of Bullwinkle), and info on the other voice actors (Paul "Boris Badenov" Frees, June "Rocky" Foray, Daws Butler ("Fractured Fairy Tales"), Hans "Snidely Whiplash" Conried, and others). Throughout the book, you see information about Jay Ward's pre "Bullwinkle" show, "Crusader Rabbit", along with "Fractured Fairytales," "Dudley Do-Right," "Peabody and Sherman," "George of the Jungle," "Super Chicken," "Tom Slick," and a variety of other Ward productions such as "Hoppity Hooper" and "Fractured Flickers."This is the best reference guide to Jay Ward and "Rocky and Bullwinkle," and it includes a full list of episodes of all of Jay Ward's cartoons, which includes voice credits (as you know, Bill Scott, June Foray, Paul Frees, and Daws Butler did many a character on the Ward cartoons).

Wonderful book for Rocky, Bullwinkle, Jay Ward fans

If you are a fan of Jay Ward and Bill Scott's zany animated creations, you really owe it to yourself to read this book. "The Moose That Roared" is filled with entertaining and enlightening quotes, observations, tales and all kinds of enjoyable information about the voice artists, writers, musicians and other folks responsible for these unforgettable programs. I can't imagine any author doing a better job at presenting the vast amount of material Keith Scott has compiled. In short, this is a terrific book.

THE MOOSE IS LOOSE!-- Jay Ward + Bill Scott = GENIUS

I am probably one of the top 25 Jay Ward officiannados in the world -- And it's a fact I'm really proud of-- The man was an absoloute genius storyteller and cartoonist, who created the first made for TV cartoon series--(now they all are!) Crusader Rabbit was emersed in red tape though right from the beginning--- But Jay prevailed--his next endeavors became even bigger and even more embedded in the nation's psyche---Rocky and Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle, Cap'n Crunch, Quisp, Quake--- the list goes on--- Keith Scott's book is truly a BIBLE for Ward-ites like myself-- He knew Bill Scott and Jay Ward , as a teen he flew himself to America--from his native Australia - because of his love for their incredible cartooning style and productions! This book has it all! Keith is also the official voice of Bullwinkle now-- portraying him in cartoon form in the new movie---even!Who better to write this gem?--- probably no one. The pages are filled with pictures and material that will appeal to EVERYONE.Remember the Kerwood Derby? and "you knew the job was dangerous when you took it Fred" and "A cereal so good they named it after me"-- it all came from the moose --er house (of ideas)that Jay built.---I cannot tell you enough---BUY THIS BOOK!--It is the best book on the subject--EVER!--Thanks Keith Scott!But most of all--- THANKS JAY WARD AND BILL SCOTT!--GO AHEAD< PULL A RABBIT OUT OF THE HAT!--- review by Bill Field