Jay Ward facts for kids

Joseph Ward Cohen Jr. (September 20, 1920 – October 12, 1989), known as Jay Ward, was an American creator and producer of animated TV cartoon shows. He brought to life many famous characters. These include Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Peabody and Sherman, Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, and Super Chicken.

His company, Jay Ward Productions, also created characters for popular breakfast cereals like Cap'n Crunch. They made TV commercials for these products. Jay Ward also produced a non-animated show called Fractured Flickers. This show featured funny re-voiced versions of old silent films.

Jay Ward's Life Story

Growing Up and Early Career

Jay Ward was born Joseph Ward Cohen Jr. in San Francisco, California. He grew up in Berkeley, California. He went to the University of California, Berkeley for his first degree. Later, he earned a business degree from Harvard University.

His first job was in real estate. Even when his animation company was very successful, he kept his real estate business. He saw it as a backup plan. In 1943, Ward married Ramona "Billie" Ward. They had three children named Ron, Carey, and Tiffany.

Starting in Animation

Jay Ward entered the world of television with help from his childhood friend, Alex Anderson. They worked together to create a TV show. They took a character named Crusader Rabbit to NBC-TV and a TV program distributor named Jerry Fairbanks.

They made a short pilot film called The Comic Strips of Television. It featured Crusader Rabbit, Hamhock Bones, and Dudley Do-Right. NBC-TV and Fairbanks liked Crusader Rabbit the most.

The animated series Crusader Rabbit first aired in 1950. It ran until 1952. The show was like an adventure story, following Crusader and his tiger friend, Rags. This show's style was very similar to the famous series Ward would later create.

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show

Ward and Anderson faced a legal issue and lost the rights to Crusader Rabbit. So, Jay Ward started working on a new idea called The Frostbite Falls Revue. This show was set in a TV studio in the North Woods.

It featured many funny characters. Among them were two minor characters: Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose. Bullwinkle was described as a "French-Canadian moose."

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show first aired on ABC in 1959. It moved to NBC two years later. The show was known for its smart and silly humor. Jay Ward's partner, Bill Scott, helped write the scripts and voiced Bullwinkle.

The show loved using puns and jokes about itself. For example, the announcer might give away the villain's plans. Then the villain would grab the announcer from off-screen! The show also made fun of popular culture. It joked about advertising, sports, and even TV itself.

Rocky and Bullwinkle, from Frostbite Falls, Minnesota, often got into strange adventures. They were always chased by "no-goodnik" spies, Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. These spies were always trying to "keel moose and squirrel."

Many of Jay Ward's cartoon characters had the middle initial "J." This was a funny tribute to Jay Ward himself. Later, cartoonist Matt Groening (who created The Simpsons) also gave many of his characters the middle initial "J." as a tribute to Ward.

Jay Ward often had disagreements with the TV network and sponsors about his show's content. He was known for his unusual sense of humor. For example, he named a silly hat in the show, the "Kirward Derby," after a TV host named Durward Kirby. When Kirby threatened to sue, Ward joked, "Please do! We need the publicity!"

Ward was also known for doing funny public stunts. Once, he bought an island in Minnesota and called it "Moosylvania." This was the home of his Bullwinkle character. He and his publicist traveled across the country. They gathered signatures on a petition to make Moosylvania a U.S. state.

They even visited the White House in Washington, D.C. They wanted to meet President John F. Kennedy. But they arrived on the morning the Cuban Missile Crisis was happening. They were told to leave right away.

Early in his career, Jay Ward had a few scary incidents. He was hit by a car outside his office. He also had a medical issue on an airplane. After these events, he developed a fear of open spaces.

Jay Ward's Legacy

Jay Ward passed away from kidney cancer on October 12, 1989. He is buried in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Today, Jay Ward Productions is run by his family. Their offices are on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. For a long time, the building was easy to spot because of a statue of Bullwinkle and Rocky out front.

In 2013, the statue was removed by DreamWorks Animation, which now owns the rights to Jay Ward's characters. DreamWorks said they would fix and return the statue. Its location was unknown for a while, but it was temporarily displayed at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills in late 2014.

After Ward's death, Alexander Anderson Jr. sued Ward's family. Anderson had helped create the first ideas for Dudley Do-Right, Bullwinkle, and Rocky. He felt he hadn't received enough credit. In the end, Anderson received money and a court order. This order recognized him as "the creator of the first version of the characters of Rocky, Bullwinkle, and Dudley."

On June 21, 2000, Jay Ward received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This honored his contributions to television. The star was paid for as part of the publicity for the live-action movie The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.

In 2002, Jay Ward Productions teamed up with Classic Media to form Bullwinkle Studios. This partnership released DVDs of the Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends show. The Dudley Do-Right Emporium, a store that sold souvenirs based on Ward's characters, was open on Sunset Boulevard until 2004. Ward and his family often worked there.