Mister Peabody
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Mr. Peabody is a fictional dog who appeared in the late 1950s and early 1960s television animated series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show (collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle). Peabody appeared in the segments entitled Peabody's Improbable History created by Ted Key. All were Jay Ward productions.
Peabody appeared in these segments alongside his adopted boy, Sherman (in a twist on the "a boy and his dog" stereotype). Peabody, who was a genius (and arguably a polymath), decided to adopt Sherman so he'd have some company in his life. Sherman's personality was that of a naive but fairly bright, energetic young boy. They both wore black, oversized horn-rimmed glasses, which was a popular type of eyeglasses most stereotypical movie and TV nerds wear. The voices of Peabody and Sherman were provided by Bill Scott and Walter Tetley, respectively.
In the series, Peabody constructed for his and Sherman's use the WABAC (pronounced "wayback") machine, its name also a play on early computers such as UNIVAC and ENIAC. The WABAC was a time machine which Peabody and Sherman would use to travel back in time to witness various historical events. However, on each visit, they would discover that things didn't happen the way they were supposed to (such as Paul Revere not being able to make his ride due to only having a statue of a horse instead of a real one), and would subsequently wind up working to fix whatever the problem was (using Peabody's great intellect to do so), so that history would be accurate. Mr. Peabody's technological genius also was able to tune any tongue to English, later referred in Star Trek as a universal translator. In addition to performing on-screen, Peabody would voice-over a narration of key events of each episode, as a way of moving the story along.
At the end of each episode, Peabody and Sherman would talk to each other about what had just transpired, with Peabody always offering a bad pun related to the events or people being discussed. For example, when the Battle of Little Big Horn was completed, Peabody directed Sherman's attention to a hot dog vending booth and said that was the real "Custer's Last Stand".
Trivia
- Mr. Peabody's first name is given as Hector in a rarely-seen episode produced to sell savings bonds.
- The actor Clifton Webb is said by some to be the inspiration for Peabody. [link]
- Singer Peter Noone's resemblance to Sherman is said to be the inspiration for the name for his band, Herman's Hermits.
- The Internet Archive [link]'s archive of web pages is called the Wayback Machine.
- In the episode "The Kiss Seen Around the World" of the animated series Family Guy, Peabody and Sherman are parodied when Peter and Brian travel back to 1492.
- In the episode "Treehouse of Horror V" of the animated series The Simpsons, Homer manages to construct a time machine out of his toaster, and on a trip through time, he encounters Mr. Peabody, who corrects how he's the second "non-Brazilian" person to travel through time. "That's right, Mr. Peabody!" Sherman pipes up, only for Peabody to snap back, "Quiet, you!"
- In the movie Back to the Future, Marty McFly's arrival in 1955 is on the Peabody ranch. The credits reveal that "old man Peabody's" son is named Sherman Peabody.
- Peabody's Improbable History segments also appeared in the short-lived Bullwinkle and Rocky comic book series published by Marvel Comics, with the same main characters and format.
- In Time Squad, a cartoon about a group whose goal is fixing mistakes in history as Peabody and Sherman always end up doing, the character of Otto (a young boy with thick rimmed black glasses and orange hair) is obviously based on Sherman.
Historic figures visited by Peabody and Sherman
- Ben Franklin
- Pancho Villa
- Buffalo Bill
- Christopher Columbus
- General George Armstrong Custer
- Francisco Pizarro
- William Shakespeare
- Ferdinand Magellan
- Ludwig van Beethoven
- Calamity Jane
- Jules Verne
- Lawrence of Arabia
- Jim Bowie
- The Charge of the Light Brigade
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
- Florence Nightingale
- Cleopatra
- Paul Revere
- Robin Hood
- John Holland
- Peter Cooper
- Francis Bacon
- Captain Matthew Webb, first to swim the English Channel, redubbed Captain Clift for this episode, a possible inside joke.
Memorable Lines
- John Holland: "Let's face it, we're trapped!"
- Sherman: "Don't worry Mr. Holland! Mr. Peabody will get rid of that octopus!"
- Mr. Peabody: "What do you think I am, Sherman? Marineland?"
- Sherman: "Do you think it was an inside job?"
- Inspector: "I should think so. Too foggy outside."
- Sherman: "Mr. Peabody! We just lost second base!"
- Mr. Peabody: "What happened to it?"
- Sherman: "The last time I saw it, it was falling towards Denver."
- Peter Cooper: "Well you see, I constructed the Tom Thumb, then I built the roundhouse around it. The problem is I neglected to provide an opening so that the Tom Thumb could get out."
- Mr. Peabody: "You mean there isn't any door?"
- Peter Cooper: "What's a door?"
- Mr. Peabody: "Quiet, you!"
External link
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