Dreamworks Animation will release a Rocky & Bullwinkle short film with the legendary June Foray playing Rocky, the company announced Monday.  Foray, who played Rocket J. Squirrel for Jay Ward (as well as many other major voice roles throughout a long career), will play Rocky; and Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob Squarepants, will play the role of Bullwinkle. 

It is impossible to overstate Foray’s importance in the history of animation.  Chuck Jones once said of Foray, "June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc.  Mel Blanc was the male June Foray" (according to Animation World). 

Behind the camera, the team is also impressive.  Gary Trousdale (Beauty and the Beast) will direct, from a script by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant, who wrote the Night at the Museum series and co-created and wrote the under-appreciated and offbeat Reno 911. 

No plan for release was announced, other than a 2014 date.  But Mr. Peabody & Sherman releases March 7 (see "First 'Mr. Peabody & Sherman' Trailer"), and a short might be a great lead-in to the feature. 

But regardless of how it releases the short, it seems clear now that Dreamworks is planning more for the Jay Ward characters than the Mr. Peabody & Sherman movie, a positive sign for the future.