Dudley Do-Right was the eponymous hero of a segment on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show which parodied early 20th century melodrama and silent film (by using only a piano as a musical background) in the form of the Northern genre. Dudley Do-Right was a Canadian Mountie who was always trying to catch his nemesis Snidely Whiplash, invariably without success. He romantically pursued Nell Fenwick, the daughter of Inspector Fenwick, the head of the Mountie station. However, a running gag throughout the series was Nell's interest in his horse (called Horse), to the point that she scarcely noticed Dudley's interest. In 1969, Dudley Do-Right was featured in his own show, The Dudley Do-Right Show, which consisted primarily of existing episodes from the series, produced by Jay Ward Productions and Total Television. In 1999, a live-action film starring Brendan Fraser (as Dudley), Sarah Jessica Parker (as Nell), and Alfred Molina (as Snidely) was released. According to the Box Office Mojo website (http://www.boxofficemojo.com), the movie had an opening weekend gross (domestically) of $3,018,345, which then went on to have a "domestic total gross" of $9,974,410. According to the website, the movie was made on a budget of $70 million. Dudley Do-Right was probably based lightly on the writer's neighbor, Dennis Dudley. Dennis was a Canadian man who never had much luck with the ladies, was a strict Christian, and who always did what he thought was right, thus Dudley Do-Right.
Dudley Do-Right Show
The Dudley Do-Right Show was an animated television series assembled by P.A.T. Film Services, consisting of cartoons produced by Jay Ward Productions and Total Television, which aired Sunday mornings on ABC-TV from April 27, 1969 to September 6, 1970. Each half-hour show included two segments each of Dudley Do-Right Of The Mounties and The World Of Commander McBragg, along with one segment each of Tooter Turtle and The Hunter. Dudley Do-Right was a Jay Ward production, while the other segments were products of Total Television. Both companies used Gamma Productions, a Mexico-based animation studio. The U.S. syndicated version of the show, called Dudley Do Right And Friends, differs from The Dudley Do-Right Show, featuring most of the same recurring cartoon segments, but a different episode selection. The syndicated package features Dudley Do-Right Of The Mounties, The World Of Commander McBragg, The King And Odie, and The Hunter. The latter two originally appeared as part of King Leonardo And His Short Subjects, a series that aired between October 15, 1960 and September 28, 1963 on NBC-TV. Twenty-six new segments of both series were produced for CBS-TV's Tennessee Tuxedo And His Tales in 1963, and these later segments are included in the syndicated Dudley Do Right And Friends.
Actors included:
- Bill Scott - Dudley Do-Right
- June Foray - Nell Fenwick
- Hans Conried - Snidely Whiplash
- Paul Frees - Inspector Fenwick
In Pop Culture
The character is mentioned in the 1991 Tony Scott film The Last Boy Scout starring Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans. In one scene, Wayans' character accuses Willis's character of pretending to be a Dudley F---ing Do Right when, in fact, he is a lowlife.
Theme Park Ride
Universal created a Dudley Do-Right flume attraction for its Islands of Adventure theme park titled "Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls". Guests enter a queue themed to resemble a theater, with Dudley, Nell, Snidely and Horse presented as actors. Riders board cartoon logs and journey "into" the story, where Snidely has sinisterly captured Nell Fenwick. Horse and Dudley make their first appearance in front of a cyclorama backdrop, theatrically "charging" to the rescue. The ride system contains three drops, the last and tallest of which is 75 feet and steeper than Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World. It is a hybrid flume/coaster that utilizes steel track to not only shoot guest-filled logs down the final drop, but under the water's surface and over a bunny hill. The ride system was designed and built by Mack GmbH and opened in 1999. In 2006, the final drop was made less intense to prevent injury of guests and in 2007 they installed lap bars for the same cause.
