History
A pink puma known as "Snaggletooth", featuring the eventual character's general manner and Bert Lahr–inspired voice but without collar or cuffs, first appeared on television in The Quick Draw McGraw Show in 1959. [8] [9] The character subsequently appeared in a supporting role in Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy and Snooper and Blabber . [9] Under the revised name of Snagglepuss, the character appeared in his own series of shorts in 1961 as a regular segment on The Yogi Bear Show , featuring in 32 episodes. [11] He later appeared in other Hanna-Barbera shows, including Yogi's Gang (1973), as a co-host in Laff-A-Lympics (1977–78), Yogi's Treasure Hunt (1985), and as a teenager in Yo Yogi! (1991).
Snagglepuss's appearance in a 1960s run of Kellogg's cereal television commercials prompted legal action by actor Bert Lahr, who said the similarity of the character's voice to his own could lead viewers to the false conclusion that Lahr himself had endorsed the product. As part of the settlement, the disclaimer "Snagglepuss voice by Daws Butler" was required to appear on each commercial. This made Butler one of the few voice artists to receive screen credits in a TV commercial. [12]
Butler reused his Snagglepuss voice for two other Hanna-Barbera characters: Jonathan Wellington "Mudsy" Muddlemore in The Funky Phantom and Brutus the Lion in The Roman Holidays .
Character description
Snagglepuss lives in a cavern, which he constantly tries to make more habitable for himself. No matter what he does, however, he always winds up back where he started or worse off than he was before. In some episodes, Snagglepuss is chased by Major Minor (voiced by Don Messick), a tiny-sized hunter. A few episodes involved him trying to court a lioness named Lila (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl) but who always rejected his advances for being too boorish or pathetic.
Butler's voicing of the character recalls the work of actor Bert Lahr, especially the more mellow moods of Lahr's Cowardly Lion in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz . [1]
Snagglepuss has three signature catchphrases. His most famous is his perpetual exclamation "Heavens to Murgatroyd!" [1] Before dashing offscreen to make an escape or run an errand, Snagglepuss announces the move in the form of a theatrical stage direction, saying "Exit, stage left/right/up/down!". Finally, Snagglepuss tends to add the word "even" for emphasis at the ends of sentences:
- After emphasizing a previous statement ("Somebody hurt! In dire pain, even!").
- After stating a synonymous phrase ("On account of I must be a little rusty. Stale, even").
- In a grammatically correct way, though out of order in the sentence ("I wonder if he knows my telephone number, even").
- Simply added as an exclamation ("Heavens to Murgatroyd! A veritabububble frankenmouse monster, even!"). [13]
The character's pink color, lilting voice, and theatrical manner led some viewers to interpret Snagglepuss as stereotypically gay. [14] This implication was echoed over the years in many parodies, then seriously explored in the 2018 comic miniseries Exit, Stage Left!: The Snagglepuss Chronicles from DC Comics, part of their Hanna-Barbera Beyond initiative. [15]
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