The Smokey Bear Show | |
---|---|
Written by | Romeo Muller William J. Keenan Shamus Culhane Frank Freda Hal Hackady Fred Halliday |
Directed by | Arthur Rankin Jr. Jules Bass |
Voices of | Jackson Weaver Carl Banas Billie Mae Richards Paul Soles |
Composers | Maury Laws Jules Bass |
Country of origin | United States Japan |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 17 (51 segments) |
Production | |
Producers | Arthur Rankin Jr. Jules Bass |
Editor | Irwin Goldress |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production companies | Toei Doga Rankin/Bass Productions |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | September 6, 1969 – September 5, 1970 |
The Smokey Bear Show is an American-Japanese animated television series that aired on ABC's Saturday morning schedule, produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. [1] The show features Smokey Bear, the icon of the United States Forest Service, who was well known for his 1947 slogan, "Remember... only YOU can prevent forest fires". [2] It aired for one season of 17 episodes starting on September 6, 1969, [3] then aired in reruns on Sunday mornings for the 1970–71 season, due to the show's inability to compete with CBS' The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour and NBC's The Heckle and Jeckle Show . [4] Copies of all 17 episodes were deposited at the Library of Congress, [5] but only 4 episodes from other sources have been made publicly available as of 2023.
The Smokey Bear Show was based on stories created for the Dell Comics Smokey the Bear comic books, which were published as part of Dell's Four Color anthology series from 1955 to 1961. [6] The comic featured anthropomorphic animals acting out fables of carelessness and greed, including a story about two bears who are Communist spies, and another about two cynical weasels who want to feed a baby bird to a bobcat in order to sell pictures of the "tragedy" to a magazine. [1] The series adapted the comic's tales for the show, but toned down some of the morbid content. [1] It did not garner high ratings. [7]
American broadcaster and voice-over artist Jackson Weaver performed the voice for the adult Smokey; the cub Smokey was voiced by Canadian actress Billie Mae Richards. [8] Other voices were provided by Carl Banas and Paul Soles. [1] The series' animation was outsourced to Japanese studio Toei Doga (now known as Toei Animation), who were also responsible for their overseas animation work on The King Kong Show (its international co-production with Rankin/Bass) in 1966, The Wacky World of Mother Goose in 1967, and the Thanksgiving special The Mouse on the Mayflower in 1968.
Previously, Rankin/Bass produced a General Electric Fantasy Hour television special for NBC in 1966, The Ballad of Smokey the Bear, which featured their trademark stop-motion animation called "Animagic".
While the character is often referred to in popular culture as "Smokey the Bear" (including in the Dell Comics series), the correct name is "Smokey Bear", [9] which is reflected in the cartoon's title and the spinoff Gold Key Comics series.
The theme song, written by Jules Bass and Maury Laws, tells a brief summary of the bear's history: he was saved as a cub from a forest fire in New Mexico by a ranger, who named him Smokey and brought him to Washington, D.C. [9] There, he became a ranger, and we see him wear a ranger hat and grab his trusty shovel as he grows to a full size, adult bear. Traveling through the city in a parade, he heads for the woods with an important job to do.
This reflects the true story of a real bear cub who was rescued from the May 1950 Capitan Gap Fire in New Mexico. [10] That cub was named Smokey after the already existing ad campaign, which began in 1944. [2] New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Ranger Ray Bell and his family adopted the cub, and nursed him back to health, with the help of a veterinarian. [11] The story was picked up by the national news service, and upon regaining his health, the bear was taken to the National Zoo in Washington and designated the "living symbol" of Smokey Bear. [10]
Each episode contains three cartoons: two featuring Smokey as an adult bear, with the middle cartoon showing Smokey in his cub days titled "Smokey Bear's Album." [3]
Smokey lives in the forest with his neighbors: Floyd the fox, Benny the hare, Bessie Boar, Hiram the snake, Mayor Owl, [12] Freddy Fume, the skunk, Smokey's cousin Griz, and Gabby the cougar. [8] He often has to remind his friends about the principles of fire safety, and the show also stresses other conservation themes. [8] Smokey's original catchphrase was "care will prevent 9 out of 10 Forest fires". [13]
A large part of Smokey Bear's image has come mainly from his campaigns with the U.S Forest Service originating in the 1940s. The Smokey Bear Show was a large part in connecting with influential youth. The show, though short in its lifetime, can be looked at as the start of a cultural bridge for Smokey Bear to become a symbol to kids and adults across the United States. An article states that "Smokey Bear has made appearances at events, schools, and community gatherings to spread awareness about the importance of preventing wildfires". [14] In the 1960's traction for wildlife problems were becoming widespread and the smokey the bear show was pivotal for educating the youth on such problems. While the show contributed to long-term wildfire suppression efforts, this suppression eventually resulted in forest fires that are now more prone to being highly flammable. [15] The absence of regular, low-intensity fires allowed for the accumulation of fuel, which, when ignited, can lead to more intense and destructive forest fires.
As a tie-in for the cartoon, Gold Key Comics published another Smokey Bear comic book series, this time a quarterly beginning with an issue dated February 1970. 13 issues were published, ending in March 1973. [6] In these stories, Smokey was aided by a coyote deputy named Clem. His TV show friends Bessie Pig, Benny Bunny and Mayor Owl appeared in the comic, along with Mr. and Mrs. Grizzly, Luke and Seth Coyote, Floyd Fox, Mayor Owl's niece Olivia, Lionel Lion and Sammy Skunk. [6]
The voice cast included: [12]
Adventures of the Gummi Bears is an American animated children's television series created by Jymn Magon and produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The series, loosely inspired by gummy bear candies, takes place in a fantasy world of medieval lands and magic, and focuses on the lives of seven mystical beings known as Gummi Bears. The series focuses on the exploits of the main characters, as they tackle a series of problems, as well as aid their human friends and thwart the plans of various evil characters. Episodes consisted of either a single story, or two 11-minute stories.
Smokey Bear is an American campaign and advertising icon of the U.S. Forest Service in the Wildfire Prevention Campaign, which is the longest-running public service announcement campaign in United States history. The Ad Council, the Forest Service, and the National Association of State Foresters, in partnership with creative agency FCB, employ Smokey Bear to educate the public about the dangers of unplanned human-caused wildfires.
Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usually done in stop motion animation. Rankin/Bass's stop-motion productions are recognizable by their visual style of doll-like characters with spheroid body parts and ubiquitous powdery snow using an animation technique called Animagic.
Woodsy Owl is a national symbol and advertising character for the United States Forest Service with the aim of motivating children to form healthy, lasting relationships with nature. Harold Bell of Western Publishing, along with Glen Kovar and Chuck Williams, originally created the mascot in 1970 as part of a United States Forest Service campaign to raise awareness of environmental protection. Woodsy Owl has been an integral part of the educational program of the US Forest Service for decades and is particularly active against littering and environmental pollution. Woodsy's original motto was “Give a hoot! Don't pollute” and has since been updated to “Lend a hand—care for the land!" Together with Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl has become an American environmental icon that has found its way into pop culture in numerous songs, comics, and television appearances.
Barney Bear is an American series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by MGM Cartoons. The title character is an anthropomorphic cartoon character, a sluggish, sleepy bear who often is in pursuit of nothing except for peace and quiet. 26 cartoons were produced between 1939 and 1954.
Jackson 5ive is a Saturday morning cartoon series that aired for two seasons on ABC from September 11, 1971 to October 14, 1972. Produced by Rankin/Bass and Motown Productions, it is a fictionalized portrayal of the careers of Motown recording group the Jackson 5. The series was rebroadcast in syndication in 1984–85, during a period when Michael Jackson was riding a major wave of popularity as a solo artist. It also briefly re-aired in 1999 on TV Land as part of their "Super Retrovision Saturdaze" lineup. The series was animated mainly in London at the studios of Halas and Batchelor, and some animation done at Estudios Moro and Topcraft.
Robert Frank Camp is an American animator, writer, cartoonist, comic book artist, storyboard artist, director, and producer. He has been nominated for two Emmys, a CableACE Award, and an Annie Award for his work on The Ren & Stimpy Show.
A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith is a stand-alone animated television special, and a parody of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Yogi Bear Show, which revolves around Ranger Smith. A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith was made by The Ren & Stimpy Show creator John Kricfalusi and his company Spümcø. A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith originally aired on Cartoon Network on September 24, 1999, along with Boo Boo Runs Wild, a similar Yogi Bear-themed stand alone special.
Billie Mae Richards was a Canadian actress who also appeared onstage and on television. She was the voice of Rankin/Bass' version of the Christmas character Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from 1964 to 1979, and of the Kid in the radio series Jake and the Kid.
Julius Caesar Bass was an American director, producer, lyricist, composer, and author. Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency, and then co-founded the film production company Videocraft International, later named Rankin/Bass Productions, with his friend, Arthur Rankin Jr. He joined ASCAP in 1963 and collaborated with Edward Thomas and James Polack at their music firm and as a songwriting team primarily with Maury Laws at Rankin/Bass.
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians is a 1970 American animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. After the Christmas special Frosty the Snowman (1969), it was Rankin/Bass' second hand-drawn animated work to be outsourced to Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production in Tokyo, Japan. The show aired on ABC on April 7, 1970 before the airing of that year's Oscars. It was a tribute to early vaudeville, and featured animated reworkings of various famous comedians' acts.
The Addams Family is an American animated sitcom adaptation of the Charles Addams single-panel comic for The New Yorker. The show was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for Saturday mornings in 1973, and was later rebroadcast the following season. Jackie Coogan and Ted Cassidy, who played Uncle Fester and Lurch, respectively, in the 1960s television series, returned in voice-over roles. The cast also included 10-year-old Jodie Foster, who performed the voice of Pugsley Addams. The show's theme music was completely different and had no lyrics or finger snapping, but retained a recognizable part of the four-note score from the live-action series.
Charlotte Louise Fullerton is an American writer of television, novels, comic books and video games.
Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows, and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show.
We Bare Bears is an American animated series created by Daniel Chong for Cartoon Network. The show follows three bear brothers, named Grizzly, Panda and Ice Bear, and their awkward attempts at integrating with the human world in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Grizzy & the Lemmings is a French animated television series produced by Studio Hari with the participation of France Télévisions, Cartoon Network and Boomerang. It is a silent comedy focusing on a grizzly bear, named Grizzy, having to deal with the group of the eponymous lemmings irritating him. The show has no real dialogue, as characters will speak gibberish. The three-dimensional designs are by Bertrand Gatignol for the characters and Édouard Cellura for the sets.
Roger Rabbit is a fictional animated anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in author Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? In the book, Roger is second banana in a popular comic strip, "Baby Herman". Roger hires private detective Eddie Valiant to investigate why his employers, the DeGreasy Brothers, have reneged on their promise to give Roger his own strip. When Roger is found murdered in his home, Valiant sets out to look for the killer, with the help of Roger's "doppel".
We Bare Bears: The Movie is a 2020 American animated adventure film based on the Cartoon Network television series of the same name. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios, it was released on North American digital theater platforms by Warner Bros. Television Distribution on June 30, 2020. Directed by series creator Daniel Chong from a story by Mikey Heller and Kris Mukai, We Bare Bears: The Movie stars the voices of series regulars Eric Edelstein, Bobby Moynihan, and Demetri Martin as the three titular bears Grizzly, Panda, and Ice Bear; joined by Marc Evan Jackson as Agent Trout and Keith Ferguson as Officer Murphy. This film serves as the series finale of We Bare Bears.