On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Moose and squirrel! Be still my beating heart. :-) ~WaterGirl
?BillinGlendaleCA
For decades a statue of Rocky and Bullwinkle stood outside of Jay Ward Productions on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood. About 10 years ago the statue was removed as the building had changed ownership several times and Jay Ward Productions was no longer there. The statue was restored and was displayed for brief periods of time at the Paley Museum of Broadcasting and the West Hollywood City Hall while a permanent location was arranged.
I was under the impression that this location was at the corner of Crescent Heights and Sunset near its original location. So I headed out one fine Saturday afternoon to look for Moose and Squirrel. In the hills above Sunset Blvd. is another location that I’ve been planning to visit for several years, Blue Jay Way. In 1967 George Harrison spent a few days in a rented house on Blue Jay Way and while waiting for some friends to show up wrote a song. It was in the Magical Mystery Tour TV movie and on the same titled EP record.
Arriving at the intersection of Crescent Heights and Sunset, there was no sign of Moose and Squirrel, so I continued west down Sunset until I reached the turn to head up into the hills to see Blue Jay Way. After getting some shots of the street sign and driving up to the end of the street and back down twice passing the house where George wrote his song, I headed back to Sunset.
I decided to continue west on Sunset and turn around once I got to Beverly Hills and double back to see if I could find the elusive Moose and Squirrel. A few blocks down Sunset, I spotted Moose and Squirrel to my left on a traffic island. I found a parking space and recorded my triumph of finding Moose and Squirrel.
Wide shot of the street sign at the intersection of Blue Jay Way and Thrasher Street.
A closeup of the Blue Jay Way street sign. This area of the Hollywood Hills is called “The Bird Streets”.
Moose and Squirrel looking east down Sunset.
Rocky and Bullwinkle in IR.
Closeup looking up and Moose and Squirrel.
Tight shot of the Rocky and Bullwinkle statue.
mrmoshpotato
“Phooey!”
“You mean ‘Curses!’ dahlin’.”
“Please, Natasha. This is kiddie show.”
JPL
The pics are so cute!
Mary G
My favorite pair in childhood! Glad WeHo took them in.
Baud
Majestic.
Yutsano
“Look dahlink! Ees moose and squirrel!”
“Ees ALWAYS moose and squirrel!”
:D
p.a.
??????????
prostratedragon
Successful finish to a most worthy pursuit.
J R in WV
Great and successful expedition. I was never too much into cartoons, outgrew them pretty quickly.
Except for Rocky and Bullwinkle, who were earnest, well developed, lucky enough to be heroes, and funny as hell given the great scripts. Plus all the other cartoons on the show were great too.
So thanks so much for sharing Rocky and Bullwinkle with us!!
ETA: And many years later on, after we moved out to our current farm, I once was walking up our dusty road when I saw a squirrel hurl itself out of the top of big oak tree to certain death, only to see the “suicidal” squirrel whip out “wings” about 20 feet off the ground and sail out of sight up the hollow west, ahead of me as I was walking. Only sighting, they look just like a landlocked squirrel until they suddenly fly away… was such a wonderful thing to see.
evap
Thank you so for much that the morning cheer-up.
evap
@J R in WV: My brother and I loved Moose and Squirrel, but my heart belongs to Bugs Bunny. Those Looney Tunes guys must have had so much fun at their job!
M. Bouffant
Awreet. Glad some things are eternal, & nicely repainted.
So old that: I remember when the restaurant in the background was The Old World.
Sab
@evap: As I wander through grocery stores with my mask and my little white cotton gloves, I am increasingly fond of Minnie Mouse. I might acquire a red white spotted blouse this year, just for shopping.
Ken
Now I want to know what they use for paint, and apparently billboards, so that they’re the same colors in IR. Did you photoshop a bit?
Burnspbesq
In one of history’s underappreciated coincidences, a few seasons back the starting centers on Florida State’s men’s and women’s basketball teams were named Boris and Natasha.
HinTN
To this day I will occasionally make reference to the guy sweeping up after Mr Peabody’s parade.
Great show!
RepubAnon
I always wanted to have a pair of black cats named Boris and Natasha:
”Boris, dahlink- you hav fiendish plan?”
”Natasha! Ven do I NOT hav fiendish plan?”
Sarah Wenk
Great to see them. My parents live in W Hollywood and I remember when Jay Ward was there on a Sunset.
randy khan
A successful quest! Excellent.
cope
Fun stuff, this. I would have preferred to see Bullwinkle in his tux pulling Rocky out of a hat but he is still a smile-inducing character. Thanks for the memories.
bluefoot
Love the Moose and Squirrel. Having the Lucifer billboard in the background is hilarious.
A life-long Beatles fan, I didn’t know that George wrote the song whilst in LA. When I was young, I wasn’t a fan of the song, but it has definitely grown on me. If he was waiting for friends to come over, the lyrics now make a lot more sense. :) Shades of “Just a Song Before I Go.”
Wag
Thanks for the morning smile! Love the moose and squirrel!
And Mr Peabody, too. I need a Waybac Machine.
SkyBluePink
Takes me down memory lane….
Neat photos!
WaterGirl
@bluefoot: I, too, loved Lucifer in the background!
Mary Ellen Sandahl
@mrmoshpotato:That would be “You mean ‘curses’, dollink.” Natasha’s ersatz-Russki is flawless.
stinger
What fun! Thanks!
Yutsano
@Mary Ellen Sandahl:
June Foray was amazing. Mel Blanc called himself the June Foray of voice acting. That’s how much respect he had for her.
BigJimSlade
Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!
Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)
@evap: Bugs was our first hero in the Rasputin dacha. Mickey Mouse was cloying, but Bugs was cool! Still is.
Spider-Dan
Funny to think of some fundies in the heartland having palpitations at that billboard. In California, they LITERALLY have tributes to Lucifer proclaiming that this is ALL HELL!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@mrmoshpotato: Sir, this is a family friendly blog.
@JPL: Thanks, I thought a bit of whimsy would be appropriate.
@Mary G: I am too, I think they were always going to keep them in WeHo, but it took a while to find a location.
@Baud: It’s our Mt. Rushmore.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Yutsano: ?
@p.a.: Thanks.
@prostratedragon: I would have been bummed if I hadn’t found them, I’d have to go again.
@J R in WV: Unlike a lot of the Saturday morning cartoons, Rocky and Bullwinkle was written for both kids and adults.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@evap: I’d kind of forgotten about this shots, but I think the timing is perfect for this set.
@evap: Mel Blanc is buried a few miles to the east at Hollywood Forever, his headstone says “That’s All Folks”.
@M. Bouffant: They did a good job restoring the statue. I’m so old, I remember when Tower Records was across the street(the building is still there and still says “Tower Records”).
@Sab: What no mouse ears?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Ken: Unless you want orange skies, all IR is photoshopped. I include a visual shot in the mix to bring back some of the color, especially the reds and oranges that get lost in the regular IR processing.
@Burnspbesq: Heh.
@HinTN: The guy who cleans up afterwards, he’s a Democrat.
@RepubAnon: Cats always have fiendish plans. /Dog person.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Sarah Wenk: I don’t think I ever noticed them at their original location, but I didn’t go to West Hollywood that often. The new location is on a traffic island across from the old Tower Records.
@randy khan: All in all, yes; but it was a bit late in the day for the “Blue Jay Way” sign.
@cope: Hey, that’s what Jay Ward put out in front of his place.
@bluefoot: “There’s a fog upon LA…”. The house is still there and the only major changes to it is the swimming pool has been reshaped. The most recent pics of the inside still have the organ George wrote the song on. I wanted to take a pic of the house, but I’d be shooting into the sun.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Wag:
I think Obama has that.
@SkyBluePink: Thanks.
@WaterGirl: Pure chance of the moment.
@Mary Ellen Sandahl: The writting was always good.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@stinger: I posted the shot of Rocky and Bullwinkle on the local photography group FB page and got yelled at. Sometimes photographers take themselves too seriously.
@Yutsano: True.
@BigJimSlade: Are you sure that’s appropriate for a family friendly blog?
@Boris Rasputin (the evil twin): “What’s up doc?”
@Spider-Dan: It’s in West Hollywood, home to the LA Pride parade, I’m pretty sure that gives the fundies palpitations.
cope
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I must be missing something. Why would anyone object to your posting the pic on an FB page?
Still a fun project chronicled with wonderful pictures.
Judy Bass
When we had out-of-town visitors, one of the first things they always wanted to see was that statue. Thanks for the memories.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
Wonderful story and pics. Thank you! I always adored Rocky and his Friends, all of them (not to mention George and his Beatle friends). Watching that show was the first time I ever heard of Edward Everett Horton (even in those days, I read the credits) who later (for me) turned up in Fred Astaire movies. Wikipedia describes him as the “venerable narrator of Fractured Fairy Tales“. And in HS I was pleased to discover that one of the Russian tsars had been named Boris Godunov, realizing the origin of Boris Badanoff’s name. The writing on that show was so good!
A little odd that the status of Bullwinkle has him in an old fashioned bathing costume. That’s not how I think of him at all. Another commentor’s mention of top hat and tails (pulling Rocky out of his hat) would have been perfect.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@cope: These are “very serious photographers”, don’t go posting pics from Disneyland(wrong company).
@Judy Bass: Glad you liked it. It’s at the corner of Sunset and Palm/Holloway now, right across the street from the old Tower Records.