The Huckleberry Hound Show

The Huckleberry Hound Show
Genre Comedy
Created by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Written by Joseph Barbera
Charles Shows
Dan Gordon
Michael Maltese
Warren Foster
Tony Benedict
Directed by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Voices of Daws Butler
Don Messick
Doug Young
Hal Smith
Julie Bennett
Red Coffey
Narrated by Don Messick
Composer(s) Hoyt Curtin[1]
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 69 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s) William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Running time 30 minutes
7 minutes per short
Production company(s) Hanna-Barbera Productions
Distributor Screen Gems (original)
Columbia Pictures Television (former)
Taft Broadcasting (former)
Worldvision Enterprises (former)
Great American Broadcasting (former)
Turner Program Services (former)
Warner Bros. Television (current)
Release
Original network First-run syndication
Boomerang
ABC
Picture format Color
(Originally syndicated in Black-and-white)
Audio format Monaural
Original release September 29, 1958 (1958-09-29)[2] – December 1, 1961
Chronology
Preceded by The Ruff & Reddy Show (1957)
Followed by The Quick Draw McGraw Show (1959)
Related shows Yogi Bear
Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks
Hokey Wolf

The Huckleberry Hound Show is a 1958 syndicated animated series and the second from the Hanna-Barbera studios following The Ruff and Reddy Show, sponsored by Kellogg's. Three segments were included in the program: one featuring Huckleberry Hound, another starring Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo, and a third with Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, two mice who in each short found a new way to outwit the cat Mr. Jinks.

The Yogi Bear segment of the show proved more popular than Huckleberry's, it spawned its own series in 1961.[3] A segment featuring Hokey Wolf and Ding-A-Ling was added, replacing Yogi during the 1960–61 season. The show contributed to making Hanna-Barbera Productions a household name, and is often credited with legitimizing the concept of animation produced specifically for television. In 1960, it became the first animated program to be honored with an Emmy Award.[4]

Background/production

Conception and development

Joseph Barbera went to Chicago to pitch the program to Kellogg's executives through their ad agency, Leo Burnett. "I had never sold a show before because I didn't have to. If we got an idea, we just made it, for over twenty years. All of a sudden, I'm a salesman, and I'm in a room with forty-five people staring at me, and I'm pushing Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear and 'the Meeces', and they bought it."[5]

Barbera once recalled about Daws Butler's voice acting versatility:

“ I can remember distinctly when I first met [Daws], I said, 'I kind of like this voice, but I think I'm gonna make it kind of a Southern voice because Southern voices are warm and friendly.' Daws said, 'Well, now I can do a Southern voice which is like North Carolina, or I can do a Southern voice that would be like Florida, that would be a cracker kind of voice, or if you want to get a little harder, we could get into Texas,' and by gosh, he had about twelve different Southerners.[5] ”

Format

The series featured three seven-minute cartoons, animated specifically for television. The first always starred Huckleberry, the next two featured other characters.[6]

Distribution

The show was originally distributed by Screen Gems in its network run and in syndication through the 1970s; it was later passed to Worldvision Enterprises, after it became a sister company to Hanna-Barbera. It was later distributed by Turner Program Services, after Turner's purchase of Hanna-Barbera; current distributor Warner Bros. Television picked up ownership of the show following the 1996 acquisition of Turner by parent company, Time Warner.

Plot and characters

Each of the three segments featured one or two main characters acting as a duo, and numerous one-off or supporting characters.

Huckleberry Hound

Main article: Huckleberry Hound

Huck's voice was one that Butler had already developed and used in earlier work, such as the dog character in The Ruff and Reddy Show, Smedley the Dog in Chilly Willy cartoons, and earlier characters in the MGM cartoon library. It was said to be based on the neighbor of his wife, Myrtis; Butler would speak with said neighbor when visiting North Carolina.

Yogi Bear

Main article: Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Art Carney) and his friend Boo Boo Bear (voiced by Don Messick) live in Jellystone Park and occasionally try to steal picnic baskets while evading Ranger Smith (voiced by Don Messick). Yogi also has a relationship with his girlfriend Cindy Bear (voiced by Julie Bennett).

Pixie & Dixie and Mr. Jinks

Pixie (voiced by Don Messick) and Dixie (voiced by Daws Butler) are two mice who every day end up being chased by a cat named Mr. Jinks (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Marlon Brando).

Hokey Wolf

Main article: Hokey Wolf

Hokey Wolf (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Phil Silvers) is a con-artist wolf who is always trying to cheat his way to the simple life (much like other Hanna-Barbera characters, Top Cat and Yogi Bear). He is accompanied in this by his diminutive, bowler hat-wearing sidekick Ding-A-Ling Wolf (voiced by Doug Young impersonating Buddy Hackett).

Voice cast

Additional Voices

Credits

Reception

In 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) briefly dons a mask of Huckleberry. The name for Rock et Belles Oreilles, a Québécois comedy group popular during the 1980s, was a pun on the name of Huckleberry Hound ("Roquet Belles Oreilles" in French). Australian prison slang vernacular includes "huckleberry hound", a term originated in the 1960s, meaning "a punishment cell, solitary confinement."[7] In January 2009, IGN named The Huckleberry Hound Show as the 63rd best in its "Top 100 Animated TV Shows". [8]

Media information

Home Media releases

On November 15, 2005, Warner Home Video released The Huckleberry Hound Show – Vol. 1 for the Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection, featuring the complete first season of 26 episodes (66 segments) from the series on DVD.

DVD Name Ep # Release Date Additional Information
The Huckleberry Hound Show – Volume 1 (The First Season) 26 episodes
(66 segments)		 November 15, 2005
  • A bonus collectible animation cel
  • Featurette on reconstructing the premiere episode
  • Never-before-seen bumpers and bridge
  • Segment tributing Daws Butler, voice actor

Licensing

The characters from The Huckleberry Hound Show spawned various product, publishing, and other licensing deals. No later than 1961, the characters began appearing "in person" at events across America. Hanna Barbera commissioned costumed characters of Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, and Quick Draw McGraw, which appeared at events like the Florida State Fair.[9]

Hanna-Barbera owner Taft Broadcasting started opening theme parks in 1972, beginning with Kings Island. These parks included areas themed to the company's cartoons, and included walk-around characters of Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, and others. The characters were also featured on rides, including carousels. Licensed Huckleberry products included an Aladdin-brand Thermos.[10]

Books based on the show include:

International broadcast

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Musicnotes.com: Huckleberry Hound". musicnotes.com. Madison, WI: Musicnotes, Inc. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  2. ↑ Tipton Tribune, Sept. 29, 1958, pg. 7
  3. ↑ Mallory, Michael. Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. New York: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 1998. ISBN 0-88363-108-3. p. 44.
  4. ↑ "Animation legend William Hanna dies at 90". CNN.com/Entertainment. 2001-03-23. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  5. 1 2 Tim Lawson; Alisa Persons (December 2004). "Daws Butler". The Magic Behind the Voices: A Who's who of Cartoon Voice Actors (Scan). Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. p. 367. ISBN 1-57806-696-4. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  6. ↑ Edward Stasheff, Rudy Bretz (1962) [1962]. The Television Program (Scan). Hill and Wang. p. 335. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  7. ↑ Green, Jonathon (2005) [2005]. Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (Scan). New York, New York: Sterling Publishing Company. p. 1565. ISBN 0-304-36636-6. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  8. ↑ "Video Games, Wikis, Cheats, Walkthroughs, Reviews, News & Videos - IGN". IGN.
  9. ↑ "Huckleberry Hound To Be At Gasparilla" (Scan). St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida: The Times Publishing Company. 1961-02-12. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  10. ↑ The United States Patents Quarterly (1962) at Google Book Search
  11. ↑ The Publishers Weekly at Google Book Search
  12. ↑ Huckleberry Hound: The Case of the Friendly Monster at Google Book Search
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