The Dudley Do-Right Show

Like most good cartoons, there was humor for both kids and the adults who got stuck watching with them. When I was a kid, an episode that ended with Inspector Fenwick going to jail for sinking the Lusitania (as a bathtub toy) sent my grandparents into hysterics. But the best was the series-long joke that had Nell in a secret love relationship with Dudley Do-Right's horse, named Horse, I believe. They could never wait to for Dudley to leave town so they could be alone. They made goo-goo eyes at each other and the cartoonists used red love hearts busting out of their chests to underline what had to be the longest running bestiality joke ever inserted into a children's cartoon. One more reason to love Jay Ward.

For those writers whose comments appear here who don't know the actual chronology of how The Dudley Do-Right Show came to be, the story goes like this:

Dudley Do-Right was never conceived to be the star of his own show. Dudley was one of a number of segments which constituted Rocky His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show, both of which were essentially the same program, made during different consecutive seasons starting in 1959 by Jay Ward Productions of Hollywood, CA. Jay Ward also produced the "Fractured Fairy Tales", "Peabody"s Improbable History" and "Aesop and Son" segments for Rocky and Bullwinkle.

The Dudley Do-Right Show was a repackaging of several Jay Ward-produced elements, which were distributed by a New York company called P.A.T., later to be called Filmtel and headed by Peter Piech (after whom Captain Peter "Wrongway" Peachfuzz was named). Filmtel controlled the TV distribution of the fabulously funny animated output of Jay Ward Productions (who not only made the various incarnations of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" but also "The Hoppity Hooper Show" and "George Of The Jungle").

Filmtel also distributed the rather mediocre output of New York's Total Television, Inc. Total Television was owned by cereal giant General Mills and produced "The King Leonardo Show" and "Tennesee Tuxedo and his Tales", which included the short "Commander McBragg" segments as part of those two shows (hmmm...Total Television...Total cereal...NAH! Couldn't be a connection there. How about "The Big G stands for Garbage"?). General Mills was also the original sponsor of Rocky and Bullwinkle. The reason Dudley and the Total Television segments look so similar is that the animation was filmed in Mexico by a company called Gamma Productions. Hence, people often confuse them as coming from the same production company, which they did not. Once all these program segments were "in the can", General Mills decided there was no reason to create anything new. It would be much cheaper for the cereal company to simply repackage the existing material and milk it (pun intended!) for every last dime they could.

The complete story of all this can be found in a book entitled "The Moose That Roared", written by Keith Scott (who played Bullwinkle in the live-action Rocky and Bullwinkle theatrical film). For any fan of Rocket J. Squirrel, Bullwinkle J. Moose or Dudley Do-Right, this book is required reading...if you can find it.

"The Dudley Do-Right Show" traveled a lot. First it was its own show, then it became a side-track on "Rocky & Bullwinkle", and now it has its own show again. I wish Hans Conreid was still alive. I would loved to have met him. If you like funny cartoons, watch "Dudley Do-Right".

. . . SNIDELY WHIPLASH OF THE MOUNTED POLICE, as many of its episodes feature the sometimes-villain reversing roles with the Dud Wrong alleged title character. Take the animated short titled SNIDELY MOUNTED POLICE, for example. During this five-minute film, Mr. Whiplash proves himself to be a far more efficient organizer of a law enforcement squad than the so-called "Inspecter" Fen-wick ever is. Street crime virtually evaporates when Snide-Lee is running the show. The sometimes-bad guy proves himself to be the bane of lawless crooks, as it takes one to know one. This is why sleuths such as Mr. Holmes and Mr. Tracy often achieve overnight success when their minds turn to crime.

I don't really remember Dudley Do-Right as a show in itself. I only recall this show as part of the Rocky & Bullwinkle series. In any case, I came to really appreciate this show when I was older.

I do think that it was REALLY neat the way the Dudley Do-Right show seemed to have "vestiges" of the Silent Movie Era, despite the fact that it was a "talkie". Every now and then, they would pull up a frame, with a caption, describing what was going on in the scene (with a decorative background).

Another great touch, along those lines, was the piano, that played in the background, during the entire episode. The pianist, with his/her tunes, so often evoked a "Gay Nineties" or "vaudeville" aura, so germane to the Silent Movie genre. I often found myself picturing the live pianists (or organists) who used to play, for audiences, in those old movie houses, dating back to the tens, the teens and the twenties, while I watched Dudley Do-Right!

I often wondered where Dudley Do-Right's voice came from. I always assumed that the actor, who read his lines, stole it, from someone who was famous (or from a character in radio or the movies who was popular). I am glad that that voice was used, however. Do-Right just would not be Do-Right without that manner of speaking!

It was neat that we got to hear that same voice again, just a few years later, when that same actor used it for Tom Slick (from George of the Jungle)......and Dudley's girlfriend, Nell, also reprised her voice (as that actress also breathed life into Tom Slick's girlfriend, Marigold).

Of all the shows, from Rocky & Bullwinkle, this show was the one in which music held the greatest importance. I especially like the show's "signature sign-off" via piano.

Nearly always, the piano keys would build to a crescendo of a few high notes, when the story was ending. Those few high notes would just kind of flutter there, in place, for a few moments. Then, abruptly, the final five LOW notes would usher in: Dun, Dun, Dun, Dun, DUNN!.........that would signal the close of the episode......Gosh, I nearly feel a chill running right through me, as I recall these last five notes now!.......It's like I'm ten years old, all over again!