Magilla Gorilla
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Magilla Gorilla was the main character from The Magilla Gorilla Show, an animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera between January 14, 1964, and 1967. The show also had other recurring characters, including Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse, and Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long. Like many of the Hanna-Barbera animal characters, Magilla was dressed in human accessories, sporting a small hat and a bow tie.
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In Magilla Gorilla, the protagonist spent his time languishing in the front display window of Mr. Peebles' pet shop, eating bananas and being a drain on the businessman's finances. Mr. Peebles marked down Magilla's price considerably, but Magilla was invariably only purchased for a short time, typically by some thieves who needed a gorilla to break into a bank or (ironically; see below) by an advertising company looking for a mascot for their new product. The customers always ended up returning Magilla, forcing Mr. Peebles to return their money. Magilla ended each episode with his catchphrase, "We'll try again next week."
The only customer who was truly interested in obtaining the trouble-prone ape for good was a little girl named Ogee ("Oh Gee!"), who lamentably never had enough money. (During the cartoon's theme song, "We've Got a Gorilla for Sale", Ogee would always ask hopefully, "How much is that gorilla in the window?" a twist on the (then not-so) old standard, "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?").
Magilla Gorilla also appeared on Yogi's Gang and as a teenage gorilla on Yo Yogi.
On the Adult Swim cartoon series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, in the episode "Free Magilla," Magilla Gorilla was "liberated" by a parody of PETA called PAFF (the People's Animal Freedom Front), whom Mr. Peebles proceeded to sue.
The great ape's name may have been inspired by the Hebrew/Yiddish word megillah, which means scroll, and is often used in a joking way to indicate a long, drawn out story.
As pointed out on the Rhino Records' CD liner notes for their collection of Hanna-Barbera theme tunes, part of Magilla's purpose was to sell likenesses of himself. The show was sponsored by Ideal Toys, which produced a Magilla stuffed toy.
[edit] Cast
- Allan Melvin as Magilla Gorilla
- Howard Morris as Mr. Peebles
- Jean Vander Pyl as Ogee
[edit] Trivia
- Mr. Peebles' physical appearance was based on that of an earlier Hanna-Barbera character from The Jetsons, Mr. Spacely (George Jetson's boss).
- In X-men, Hank McCoy (Beast), was nicknamed "Magilla Gorilla" in High School.
- In Family Guy: Live in Vegas Brian learns that Magilla was responsible for giving the world AIDS
[edit] DVD release
Warner Brothers announced plans to release the entire Magilla Gorilla series, together with the Ricochet Rabbit & Droop-a-Long andPunkin' Puss & Mushmouse shorts in a boxed DVD collection on August 15, 2006.[1] The DVD set doesn't include the 1964 Magilla Gorilla Show main/end title sequences.
[edit] Magilla Gorilla in other languages
- Brazilian Portuguese: Maguila, o Gorila
- Spanish: Maguila, el Gorila
- Japanese: ゴリラのゴンちゃん (Gorira no Gon-chan)
