Paw Paws | |
---|---|
![]() Title card | |
Directed by | Art Davis Oscar Dufau Don Lusk Carl Urbano Rudy Zamora Alan Zaslove |
Voices of | Susan Blu Ruth Buzzi John Ingle Don Messick Howard Morris Thom Pinto Robert Ridgely Stanley Ralph Ross Alexandra Stoddart Frank Welker |
Theme music composer | Hoyt Curtin |
Opening theme | "Paw Paw Bears" |
Ending theme | "Paw Paw Bears" (Instrumental) |
Composer | Hoyt Curtin |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 21 |
Production | |
Executive producers | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
Producer | Berny Wolf |
Production company | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
Original release | |
Network | Syndicated |
Release | September 15, 1985 – February 2, 1986 |
Paw Paws (also known as Paw Paw Bears) is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that first aired in 1985 and 1986. [1] It debuted as part of the weekday/weekend morning programming block The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera . [2]
The series name is a play on the paw paw, a fruit cultivated by Native Americans and indigenous to North America, and a play on words with a bear's paw. Reruns of the show formerly aired on Cartoon Network and later Boomerang.
Deep in a forest somewhere, a group of Native American bear cubs defending themselves from their enemies The Meanos led by the evil sorcerer Dark Paw. Dark Paw and his henchmen were after the Paw Paws' three large wooden totems, Totem Bear, Totem Tortoise, and Totem Eagle. The totems also served as the tribe's protectors, coming to life when needed through means of Princess Paw Paw's Mystic Moonstone, which she wore around her neck, to defend the village.
Much like other Hanna-Barbera programs, such as The Smurfs , The Biskitts , Shirt Tales , Snorks and the Pound Puppies , the bears had names that denoted their personalities—Laughing Paw, Medicine Paw, Bumble Paw, etc. Brave Paw and Princess Paw Paw tended to be the leads, riding into adventures on their magical flying ponies, while aging Wise Paw served as tribal advisor. The mascot of the group was a tiny dog by the name of PaPooch.
A line of Paw Paws toys were produced by Applause in 1985. Princess Paw Paw, Brave Paw, Mighty Paw, Pupooch, Medicine Paw, the Meanos and other characters were produced as PVC figurines ranging from 2" to 3" tall. The figurines had accessories, like a canoe or a cart. Pupooch was also produced as a plush toy. These were only produced for a short time and are rare today.
One of many children's animated series of the 1980s, Paw Paws didn't leave a lasting impression on many viewers. In 2014, listing it among twelve 1980s cartoons that did not deserve remembrance, io9 characterized it as "Obviously, Hanna-Barbera was wrong. And kind of racist." [3]
On April 9, 2019, Warner Archive released Paw Paws: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection. [4]
Wacky Races is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with Heatter-Quigley Productions. It aired on CBS as part of its Saturday morning schedule from September 14, 1968, to January 4, 1969. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with all of the drivers hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer". The show was inspired by the 1965 comedy film The Great Race. This was the only non-game show produced by Heatter-Quigley; the show was intended as a game show in which children would guess the winner of each race, and those who answered correctly would win prizes, but CBS dropped these elements during development.
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