The Huckleberry Hound Show

Last updated
The Huckleberry Hound Show
Huckleberry Hound Title Card.jpg
Genre Comedy
Created by
Written by
Directed by
  • William Hanna
  • Joseph Barbera
Voices of
Narrated by
  • Daws Butler
  • Don Messick
Composer Hoyt Curtin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes68 (list of episodes)
Production
Producers
  • William Hanna
  • Joseph Barbera
Running time22 minutes (7 minutes per segment)
Production company Hanna-Barbera Productions
Original release
Network Syndication
ReleaseSeptember 29, 1958 (1958-09-29) –
December 1, 1961 (1961-12-01)
Related

The Huckleberry Hound Show is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, and the second series produced by the studio following The Ruff and Reddy Show . The show first aired in syndication on September 29, 1958, and was sponsored by Kellogg's. [1] Three segments were included in the program: one featuring Huckleberry Hound, another with Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, which starred two mice who in each short found a new way to outwit the cat Mr. Jinks, and a third starring Yogi Bear and his friend Boo Boo. [2] The series last aired on December 1, 1961.

Contents

The Yogi Bear segment of the show became extremely popular, and as a result, 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 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] Each of three cartoons were in between the wraparound segments, which originally set in the circus tent where Huck acts like a showman in the late 1950s.

Distribution

The show was originally intended to be part of a line-up of kid programmes sponsored by Kellogg and broadcast on ABC-TV, joining Woody Woodpecker , Superman and Wild Bill Hickok in an early evening, weekday line-up. [7] However, Kellogg's agency, Leo Burnett, decided instead to syndicate the show and buy air time on individual stations. [8] The show was originally distributed by Screen Gems, which held a part-ownership of Hanna-Barbera at the time, over 150 stations. In April 1967, Screen Gems announced the show had been released from advertiser control, and would be made available to stations on a syndicated basis with available bridges to create 92 half-hour shows. [9]

The distribution 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.

Original Syndication

The show was not broadcast on the same day of the week, or the same time, in every city; airing depended on the deal for time that the Leo Burnett Agency brokered with individual stations. However, the first time the Huck series appeared on television was on Monday, September 29, 1958; it was first seen at 6 p.m. on WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which also served Battle Creek, home of Kellogg cereals. [10] A few other stations airing it that day were WLWI in Indianapolis (at 6:30 p.m.) [11] and WTAE in Pittsburgh (at 7:30 p.m.). [12] The show debuted on other days that same week in other cities; Huck originally aired in Los Angeles on Tuesdays on KNXT, [13] Chicago on Wednesdays on WGN-TV, [14] and New York City on Thursdays on WPIX. [15] The show first aired in Canada on Thursday, October 2, 1958, at 7 p.m. on CKLW-TV in Windsor, Ontario. [16] The show first aired in Australia on Monday, February 16, 1959, on the National Television Network (now the Nine Network), and the show first aired in the United Kingdom on Friday, July 3, 1959, on ITV.

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

Huck's voice was one that Butler had already developed and used in earlier work, such as Ruff in The Ruff and Reddy Show , Smedley the Dog in the 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.

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 Frank Fontaine).

Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Art Carney's Ed Norton character from The Honeymooners ) 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 (also voiced by Don Messick).

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

Episodes

SeasonSegmentsEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 6626September 29, 1958 (1958-09-29)March 23, 1959 (1959-03-23)
2 3913September 14, 1959 (1959-09-14)February 22, 1960 (1960-02-22)
3 3913September 11, 1960 (1960-09-11)December 4, 1960 (1960-12-04)
4 3416August 18, 1961 (1961-08-18)December 1, 1961 (1961-12-01)

Reception

In the film Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), 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." [17] In January 2009, IGN named The Huckleberry Hound Show as the 63rd best in its "Top 100 Animated TV Shows". [18]

In 1960s Hungary, the series - there called Foxi Maxi - gained an instant following, also among adults. The reason for this was the fact that legendary scriptwriter József Romhányi had penned dialog with his trademark puns and humor, and some of the most popular actors of the day had supplied the voices. Romhányi and some of the same actors later worked on the Hungarian version of The Flintstones .

Media information

Home media

On November 15, 2005, Warner Home Video (via Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and Warner Bros. Family Entertainment) released The Huckleberry Hound Show – Volume 1 for the Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection, featuring the complete first season of 26 episodes (66 segments) from the series on DVD, all presented remastered and restored. However, the episodes in the Volume 1 DVD set were the edited versions, instead of the uncut and unedited, original network broadcast versions due to expensive licensing issues.

DVD NameEp #Release DateAdditional 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. Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems' record arm, Colpix, released the first Huckleberry Hound album in October 1958, with stuffed animals and games also hawked in record stores. [19]

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. [20]

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. [21]

Books based on the show include:

See also

Related Research Articles

<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, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey, Auggie Doggie, Loopy De Loop, Wally Gator, Snooper and Blabber, Dixie and Mr. Jinks, Hokey Wolf, Lippy the Lion, 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">Don Messick</span> American voice actor (1926–1997)

Donald Earle Messick was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snagglepuss</span> Fictional cartoon character

Snagglepuss is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character who debuted in prototype form in 1959 and established as a studio regular by 1961. A light pink anthropomorphic puma sporting an upturned collar, shirt cuffs, and bow tie, Snagglepuss enjoys the fine things in life and shows particular affinity for the theatre. His stories routinely break the fourth wall as the character addresses the audience in self-narration, soliloquy, and asides. As originally voiced by Daws Butler, Snagglepuss seeks quasi-Shakespearean turns of phrase. Some of his campy verbal mannerisms became catchphrases: "Heavens to Murgatroyd!", "Exit, stage left/right/up/down!", and a fondness for closing sentences with the emphatic "even".

<i>Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks</i> American animated television series by Hanna-Barbera

Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions as part of The Huckleberry Hound Show from 1958 to 1961.

<i>Hokey Wolf</i> American animated television series

Hokey Wolf is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions as part of The Huckleberry Hound Show. It details the adventures of Hokey Wolf, a con-artist wolf who is always trying to cheat his way into the simple life. He is often accompanied alongside by his young, diminutive sidekick Ding-A-Ling Wolf, both of whom are featured as part of The Huckleberry Hound Show in their own segment.

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<i>Laff-A-Lympics</i> American animated television series

Laff-A-Lympics is an American animated comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series premiered as part of the Saturday-morning cartoon program block Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics which consists of 24 episodes, on ABC in 1977. The show is a spoof of the Olympics and the ABC primetime series Battle of the Network Stars, which debuted one year earlier. It featured 45 Hanna-Barbera characters organized into teams which competed each week for gold, silver, and bronze medals. In each episode, the Really Rottens would try in each event to cheat only to get caught by Snagglepuss each time. One season of 16 episodes was produced in 1977–78, and eight new episodes combined with reruns for the 1978–79 season as Scooby's All-Stars. Unlike most cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, Laff-A-Lympics did not contain a laugh track. Scooby’s Laff-a-Lympics was originally owned by Taft Broadcasting, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution currently owns the series through its two in-name-only units, Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and Turner Entertainment.

References

  1. ↑ Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. pp. 144–146. ISBN   0-8108-1557-5 . Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  2. ↑ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 418–421. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  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. Archived from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  5. 1 2 Tim Lawson; Alisa Persons (December 2004). "Daws Butler" (Scan). The Magic Behind the Voices: A Who's who of Cartoon Voice Actors. 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. ↑ Weekly Variety, June 26, 1958, pg. 7
  8. ↑ Daily Variety, June 26, 1958, pg. 1
  9. ↑ Broadcasting magazine, Apr. 10, 1967, pg. 64
  10. ↑ Lansing State Journal, Sept. 27, 1958, pg. 20.
  11. ↑ Tipton Tribune, Sept. 29, 1958, pg. 6.
  12. ↑ The Morning Herald (Uniontown, Pennsylvania), Sept. 29, 1958, pg. 12
  13. ↑ Los Angeles Times, Sept. 30, pg. A6
  14. ↑ Chicago Tribune, Sep. 27 1958, pg. c16.
  15. ↑ New York Herald Tribune, Sep 28, 1958, pg. G-12
  16. ↑ Toronto Globe and Mail, Oct. 2, 1958, pg. 39
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ "Video Games, Wikis, Cheats, Walkthroughs, Reviews, News & Videos - IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on 2009-03-01.
  19. ↑ The Billboard, Oct. 20, 1958, pg. 4
  20. ↑ "Huckleberry Hound To Be At Gasparilla" (Scan). St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida: The Times Publishing Company. 1961-02-12. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  21. ↑ The United States Patents Quarterly (1962) at Google Book Search
  22. ↑ The Publishers Weekly at Google Book Search
  23. ↑ Huckleberry Hound: The Case of the Friendly Monster at Google Book Search
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