Beany and Cecil

Last updated
Beany and Cecil
Beanie&Cecil.jpg
Characters from left to right: Crowy, Captain Horatio Huffenpuff, Cecil, Beany, Dishonest John.
Also known asThe Beany and Cecil Show
Created by Bob Clampett
Voices of
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes26
Production
Running time30 minutes
Production companyBob Clampett Productions
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseJanuary 6 (1962-01-06) 
June 30, 1962 (1962-06-30)
Related

Beany and Cecil is an American animated television series created by Bob Clampett for the American Broadcasting Company. [1] The cartoon was based on the television puppet show Time for Beany , which Clampett produced for Paramount Pictures company and its Paramount Television Network beginning 1949. The series was broadcast first as part of the series Matty's Funnies during 1962, later renamed Beany and Cecil. [2] A short-lived revival, The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil , was produced in 1988.

Contents

Although a children's show, it incorporated satirical references to current events and personalities that adults found entertaining, and the show also attracted adult viewers. Some of the plots and remarks were recognizable as lampoons of current political issues.

Along with The Jetsons and The Flintstones , it was one of the first three color television series by the ABC television network (the initial season, though, was originally shown in black and white, as ABC was unable to broadcast color programs until September 1962).

History

Beany and Cecil was created by animator Bob Clampett [3] after he quit Warner Bros., where he had been directing short cartoon movies. Clampett is said to have originated the idea for Cecil when he was a boy after seeing the top half of the dinosaur swimming from the water at the end of the 1925 movie The Lost World .

Clampett originally created the idea as a television series named Time for Beany , [4] which was broadcast from February 28, 1949, to 1955. Time for Beany, a puppet show, featured the talents of veteran voice actors Stan Freberg as Cecil and Dishonest John, and Daws Butler as Beany and Uncle Captain.

Clampett revived the series in theatrical animated form, though Freberg and Butler did not reprise their roles. On 11 October 1959, the animated series was introduced as Matty's Funday Funnies , named for "Matty Mattel" the animated spokesperson for its primary sponsor Mattel Toys company. However, the series at that time featured old Paramount theatrical cartoons. The new Beany and Cecil cartoon series took over Matty's Funnies (sans "Funday") in January 1962 and was broadcast prime time Saturdays during the remainder of the 1961-62 television season, by the ABC Television Network. The newer cartoons replaced the Famous Studios cartoons of Casper the Friendly Ghost and Little Audrey among other parts of Matty's Funday Funnies. The program was later retitled The Beany and Cecil Show.

After 1962, the 26 shows (including 78 cartoons) were repeated during Saturday mornings for the next two years and on Sunday mornings for three more. The cartoon featured characters Beany, a boy, and Cecil the Sea-Sick Sea Serpent embarking on a series of adventures, often to discover ancient civilizations and artifacts. These escapades were rife with cartoon slapstick and puns.

Before the animated series, but concurrent with the puppet show, Clampett created a comic-book series of Beany and Cecil adventures for Dell Comics. The artwork for this series of comics, published from 1951 to 1954, was drawn by Jack Bradbury.

In 1988, the show was revived as The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil by DiC Entertainment. Only eight episodes were made, and only five episodes broadcast. This version of the show was produced and directed by John Kricfalusi, who would later create The Ren and Stimpy Show , and made use of voices from Billy West, who also did voices for the characters Ren (for season 3 and later) and Stimpy.

Characters

Main characters

Minor characters

Music

Cecil often sang the Ames Brothers' song "Rag Mop" throughout the series. One episode ("Beanyland") featured Tchaikovsky's well-known celesta piece, Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy , from The Nutcracker . Other famed pieces of The Nutcracker were used in the series as musical interludes such as the Chinese Dance and Dance of the Reed-Flutes. Many other well-known classical music pieces were featured in the show as well, including The William Tell Overture (in the episodes "Beanyland" and "The Phantom of the Horse Opera"), Ride of the Valkyries and Flight of the Bumblebee . Some of the background music was also recycled from Leave It to Beaver , as well as some early Walter Lantz cartoons and incidental music from The Alvin Show . "The Can Can" was used in the episode Harecules Hare & The Golden Fleecing as the music for the Guided Muscle. The tune of "When The Saints Come Marching In" was used in several episodes, by the Singing Dinosaur, So What & The Seven What-Knots & the Boo Birds.

Influence

The AC/DC song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" is titled after the business cards of character Dishonest John, which read "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap. Holidays, Sundays and special rates".

Bob Dylan painted Beany in his 2017 Beaten Path painting Hamburger Stand, Long Beach, based on a home movie of Beany's Drive-in Restaurant in 1952. [6]

Marvel Comics has a minor character code-named Warstar who is two separate aliens named "B'nee" and "C'cil".

The puppet origins and the form of Cecil inspired the famous science fiction author Larry Niven to invent an important extraterrestrial race called Pierson's Puppeteer as part of his Known Space series of novels and short stories (as originally stated in the story "The Soft Weapon". [7] Beany and Cecil was also an inspiration for Joel Hodgson to create the show Mystery Science Theater 3000 . [8]

The artists

The credits of the series did not show traditional job titles, but pictorial symbols indicating their jobs. Bob Clampett's writing credit was indicated by a typewriter typing out the words "...by Bob Clampett", for instance. Clampett also made sure to include his name in the lyrics of the often-repeated B&C theme song to gain more recognition with viewers and from the animation industry. Clampett finally got the rights from ABC to market his Beany and Cecil cartoons by video during the 1980s.

Episodes

No.TitleOriginal air date
1"Spots Off a Leopard"
"Invasion of Earth by Robots"
"Cecil Meets the Singing Dinasor"
January 6, 1962 (1962-01-06)
2"Little Ace from Outer Space"
"Super Cecil"
"Wildman from Wildsville"
January 13, 1962 (1962-01-13)
3"Davey Crickett"
"Strange Objects"
"The Capture of Tear-a-long the Dotted Lion"
January 20, 1962 (1962-01-20)
4"A Trip to the Schmoon"
"Grime Doesn't Pay"
"Beany's Buffalo Hunt"
January 27, 1962 (1962-01-27)
5"Beany Meets the Monstrous Monster"
"Tommy Hawk"
"Yo Ho Ho and a Bubble of Gum"
February 3, 1962 (1962-02-03)
6"7th Voyage of Singood"
"Cecil Meets Cecilia"
"The Capture of Thunderbolt the Wondercolt"
February 10, 1962 (1962-02-10)
7"Rat Race for Space"
"Beany & the Boo Birds"
"B & C Meet Ping Pong"
February 17, 1962 (1962-02-17)
8"Greatest Schmoe on Earth"
"B & C Meet Billy the Squid"
"Capture of the 3-Headed Threep"
February 24, 1962 (1962-02-24)
9"Beany & the Jackstalk"
"Humbug"
"Custard's Last Stand"
March 3, 1962 (1962-03-03)
10"Hero by Trade"
"Illegal Eagle Egg"
"Cecil Gets Careless"
March 10, 1962 (1962-03-10)
11"Sleeping Beauty & the Beast"
"Quackers in Bed"
"D.J. Meets Cowboy Starr"
March 17, 1962 (1962-03-17)
12"Beany's Beany Cap Copter"
"Indiscreet Squeet"
"Phantom of the Horse Opera"
March 24, 1962 (1962-03-24)
13"20,000 Little Leaguers"
"Malice in Blunderland"
"Buffalo Billy"
March 31, 1962 (1962-03-31)
14"Dirty Birdy"
"Man Eater Skeeters"
"Leading Lady Bug"
April 7, 1962 (1962-04-07)
15"Rin Tin Can"
"Vild Vast Vasteland"
"Invisible Man Has Butterfingers"
April 14, 1962 (1962-04-14)
16"Here Comes the Schmoeboat"
"T'ain't Cricket, Crickett"
"Cecil Always Saves the Day"
April 21, 1962 (1962-04-21)
17"Ain't I a Little Stinger"
"Warring 20's"
"B & C Meet Invisible Man"
April 28, 1962 (1962-04-28)
18"Ain't That a Cork In the Snorkel?"
"Makes a Sea-Serpent Sore"
"So What & 7 Whatnots"
May 5, 1962 (1962-05-05)
19"Cecil's Comical Strip"
"Beany's Resid-jewels"
"Wot the Heck"
May 12, 1962 (1962-05-12)
20"Dragon Train"
"10-Foot Tall and Wet"
"Dirty Pool"
May 19, 1962 (1962-05-19)
21"Thumb Fun"
"Living Doll"
"Beanyland"
May 26, 1962 (1962-05-26)
22"Beany Blows His Top"
"Beany Flips His Lid"
"Fleastone Kop Caper"
June 2, 1962 (1962-06-02)
23"Mad Isle of Mad-hatten"
"Hammy Awards"
"Hare-cules & the Golden Fleecing"
June 9, 1962 (1962-06-09)
24"Cheery Cheery Beany"
"Nya-Ha Ha!"
"Swingin' Singin' Sea Serpent"
June 16, 1962 (1962-06-16)
25"There Goes a Good Squid"
"Ben Hare"
"Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow"
June 23, 1962 (1962-06-23)
26"Oil's Well That Ends Well"
"There's No Such Thing As a Sea Serpent"
"D.J. the Dee Jay"
June 30, 1962 (1962-06-30)

Home video

The entire series was released on VHS and Betamax as thirteen volumes (each containing two episodes) by RCA Columbia Pictures Home Video in 1984, with the final releases issued by their "Magic Window" children's subsidiary imprint.

Image Entertainment released "Bob Clampett's Beany and Cecil the Special Edition" DVD in 2000, with 12 cartoon shorts and various show bumpers remastered from their original 35mm camera negatives. Bonus features included four complete episodes of Time for Beany, audio tracks of original story sessions, backstage footage, lost animated works from Bob Clampett's studio, and a still gallery. After a considerable delay, Volume 2 was released by Hen's Tooth Entertainment during 2009, containing 11 cartoon shorts, plus two more Time for Beany episodes, archival audio interviews with Bob Clampett, video interviews with celebrity fans of the series as well as animator Bill Melendez, original bumpers from Matty's Funday Funnies and other special features. To date, the entire cartoon collection has not been released on DVD or Blu-Ray disc, nor has it been made available for digital download.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bugs Bunny</span> Looney Tunes character; mascot of Warner Bros.

Bugs Bunny is a fictional character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short films, produced by Warner Bros. Earlier iterations of the character first appeared in Ben Hardaway's Porky's Hare Hunt (1938) and subsequent shorts before Bugs's definitive characterization debuted in Tex Avery's A Wild Hare (1940). Bob Givens, Chuck Jones, and Robert McKimson are credited for defining Bugs's design.

<i>Porky in Wackyland</i> 1938 animated short film directed by Bob Clampett

Porky in Wackyland is a 1938 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated short film, directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on September 24, 1938, and stars Porky Pig venturing out to find the last do-do bird, which he finds in Wackyland, a land that makes no sense located in Darkest Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Clampett</span> American animator (1913–1984)

Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. was an American animator, director, producer and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecil. He was born and raised not far from Hollywood and, early in life, showed an interest in animation and puppetry. After dropping out of high school in 1931, he joined the team at Harman-Ising Productions and began working on the studio's newest short subjects, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.

An animated series is a set of animated television works with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either a finite number of episodes like a miniseries, a definite end, or be open-ended, without a predetermined number of episodes. They can be broadcast on television, shown in movie theatres, released direct-to-video or on the internet. Like other creative works, animated series can be of a wide variety of genres and can also have different target audiences: both males and females, both children and adults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goofy Gophers</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

The Goofy Gophers are animated cartoon characters in Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The gophers are small and brown with tan bellies and buck teeth. They both have British accents. Unnamed in the theatrical cartoons, they were given the names Mac and Tosh in the 1960s TV show The Bugs Bunny Show. The names are a pun on the surname "Macintosh". They are characterized by an abnormally high level of politeness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daws Butler</span> American voice actor (1916–1988)

Charles Dawson Butler, professionally known as Daws Butler, was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Auggie Doggie, Loopy De Loop, Wally Gator, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey, Snooper and Blabber, Dixie and Mr. Jinks, Hokey Wolf, Elroy Jetson, Peter Potamus, The Funky Phantom and Hair Bear. While at Walter Lantz, he did the voices of Chilly Willy, Smedley, Maxie the Polar Bear, Gooney, and Sam in the Maggie and Sam series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Kricfalusi</span> Canadian blogger and animator (born 1955)

Michael John Kricfalusi, known professionally as John K., is a Canadian illustrator and blogger, as well as a former animator and voice actor. He is the creator of the animated television series The Ren & Stimpy Show, which was highly influential on televised animation during the 1990s. From 1989 to 1992, he was heavily involved with the first two seasons of the show in virtually every aspect of its production, including providing the voice of Ren Höek and other characters. In 2009, he won the Inkpot Award.

The following is the 1961–62 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1961 through April 1962. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1960–61 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cecil Turtle</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Cecil Turtle is a fictional character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of films. Though he made only three theatrical appearances, Cecil has the unusual distinction in that he is one of the very few characters who were able to outsmart Bugs Bunny, and the only one to do so three times in a row and at the rabbit's own game. Cecil often gives Bugs the taunting nickname of "Speedy" when addressing the rabbit.

<i>Tortoise Wins by a Hare</i> 1943 film directed by Robert Clampett

Tortoise Wins by a Hare is a Merrie Melodies cartoon released on February 20, 1943, and directed by Bob Clampett. It stars Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle. It is a sequel to 1941's Tortoise Beats Hare, with footage from said cartoon briefly shown at the beginning. It is also the first short to feature Robert McKimson's design of Bugs Bunny.

<i>The Bob Clampett Show</i> American animation anthology television series

The Bob Clampett Show is an animated anthology television series which ran from 2000 to 2001. The show features animated theatrical shorts from the Warner Bros. library that were animated or directed by Bob Clampett, as well as a selection of shorts from the Beany and Cecil animated television series. It originally was produced by and aired on Cartoon Network, with reruns airing at the tail end of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block in the mid-2000s. Twenty-six episodes were made in all.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Colonna (entertainer)</span> American musician, actor and comedian (1904-1986)

Gerardo Luigi Colonna, better known as Jerry Colonna, was an American musician, actor, comedian, singer, songwriter and trombonist who played the zaniest of Bob Hope's sidekicks in Hope's popular radio shows and films of the 1940s and 1950s. He also voiced the March Hare in Walt Disney's 1951 animated feature film Alice in Wonderland.

<i>Mattys Funday Funnies</i> American animated television series

Matty's Funday Funnies is a 1959–1961 American animated anthology television series.

Matty Mattel was the boy mascot for Mattel Inc. Toymakers. As the "King of Toys," Matty was the host and sponsor of TV's Matty's Funday Funnies in the 1960s. Matty was part of Mattel's advertising from 1955 to 1970 and then renewed in the 1980s, printed in Mattel warranty information.

<i>Time for Beany</i> 1949 childrens television series

Time for Beany is an American children's television series, with puppets for characters, which was broadcast locally in Los Angeles starting on February 28, 1949, and nationally by the improvised Paramount Television Network from 1950 to 1955. It was created by animator Bob Clampett, who later reused its main characters for the animated series Beany and Cecil. The show won three Emmy Awards for best children's show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaky Buzzard</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Beaky Buzzard is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walker Edmiston</span> American radio, television actor (1926–2007)

Walker Edmiston was an American actor and puppeteer.

<i>The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil</i> American animated television series

The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil was a very short-lived revival of Bob Clampett's Beany and Cecil. It was produced in 1988 by DIC Animation City. Only five half-hour episodes aired out of the thirteen in production during its original run. This incarnation of the show was developed, produced, and directed by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi, who would later create Nickelodeon's The Ren & Stimpy Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casper the Friendly Ghost</span> Fictional cartoon ghost

Casper the Friendly Ghost is the fictional character who serves as the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a translucent ghost who is pleasant and personable, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio.

James Andrew MacGeorge was an American voice actor, puppeteer, stand-up comedian and writer. He is also credited Jim McGeorge and James MacGeorge.

References

  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 69–70. ISBN   978-1538103739.
  2. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 124–127. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  3. "Matty's Funday Funnies" (1959) at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  4. "Time for Beany" (1949) at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg [ unreliable source? ]
  5. Yowp (2018-07-27). "Tralfaz: Say, That Looks Like..." Tralfaz. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
  6. Beaten Path Series Hamburger Stand, Long Beach Archived 2017-10-17 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 16 October 2017.
  7. and repeated in other Known Space works.
  8. In Marvel Comics Universe, there is a spacefaring Imperial Guard unit with a member code named Warstar - who consists of two separate aliens, one smaller being riding on top of the other more massive one, named B'nee and C'cil, respectively. "20 Questions Only Joel Hodgson Can Answer about MST3K". Special Feature. Satellite News. January 1999. Archived from the original on 3 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-12.