Quick Draw McGraw

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Quick Draw McGraw

Quick Draw McGraw title card
Country of origin USA
Production
Running time 30 min
Broadcast
Original run September 19, 1959 – September 3, 1966
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Quick Draw McGraw is the anthropomorphic cartoon horse starring in The Quick Draw McGraw Show, the third cartoon television production created by Hanna-Barbera following their success with The Ruff & Reddy Show and The Huckleberry Hound Show. The show debuted in 1959; voice actor Daws Butler performed the lead character, Quick Draw. Michael Maltese crafted most of the episode stories. Screen Gems originally syndicated the series, followed later by Worldvision Enterprises, then Turner Broadcasting, and now Warner Bros. Television (through their 1996 purchase of Turner).

Quick Draw was usually depicted as a sheriff in these short films set in the American Old West. Each episode was approximately six minutes long; this allowed four episodes per half-hour program with commercial advertisements in between. Quick Draw was often accompanied by his deputy, a Mexican burro named Baba Looey, who spoke with a stereotypical Mexican accent, and was also voiced by Butler.

Quick Draw satirized the westerns that were popular among the American public at the time. His character was well-intentioned, but somewhat dim. Often, Baba Looey was a more astute judge of the problem at hand than Quick Draw. Baba Looey would start to tell Quick Draw what he was thinking: "Qeeks Draw, I theen...", whereupon Quick Draw would interrupt with his catchphrase: "Now hoooooold on thar, Baba Looey! I'll do the "thinnin'" around here, and doooon't you forget it!" Quick Draw spoke with a heavy drawl, as shown by his catchphrase.

Despite the stereotyping of Baba Looey, it was clear that he was much smarter than Quick Draw, but loyal to a fault, similar to the earlier Hanna-Barbera pairing of the whimsical Yogi Bear and his practical sidekick Boo-Boo.

Although Quick Draw was himself a horse caricature who walked on two legs like a human (as did Baba Looey), this did not stop the show's producers from depicting him riding into town on a realistic horse, or, as seen in the show's opening credits, driving a stagecoach pulled by a whole team of realistic horses. This aspect was made light of in the 1980s made-for-television film The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound, which featured Quick Draw.

In a series of episodes, Quick Draw would also assume the identity of the masked vigilante, "El Kabong" (a parody of Zorro). As El Kabong, Quick Draw would attack his foes by swooping down on a rope with the onomatopoeiac war cry "OLAYYYYEEEE!" and hitting them on the head with an acoustic guitar which is always referred to as a "kabonger", producing a distinctive kabong sound and sometimes destroying the guitar in the process. The "guitar" was usually drawn as a four stringed quatro. On the cartoon's soundtrack, the "kabong" sound was produced by a foley artist striking the detuned open strings of a cheap acoustic guitar.

Quick Draw McGraw's supporting characters in The Quick Draw McGraw Show's two other segments were Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy, father-and-son dogs (the father played as a parody of Jimmy Durante), and Snooper and Blabber, cat and mouse detective partners.

Contents

[edit] Trivia

After the original show ran its course, Quick Draw occasionally appeared in other Hanna-Barbera productions, including Yogi's Gang, Yo Yogi, Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics and Casper's First Christmas as well a cameo in Samurai Jack; and also in an episode from Yogi's Space Race.

Quick Draw was the mascot for Honey Smacks in the early 1960s.

In the Latin-American version, Quick Draw (Tiro Loco McGraw) speaks in a very English accent, and Baba Looey (Pepe Trueno) speaks in a very Mexican accent. So it was clear that Quick Draw was the alien, and there was no need to adapt any feature of the story.

Quick Draw also made an appearance on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law where he was arrested for carrying a guitar in a satire of American gun politics. In the story "The Yabba Dabba Don" his severed head appears in Harvey Birdman's bed, an obvious parody of The Godfather.

More recently, Snuffles, Quick Draw's dog, made a special guest appearance on an episode of Johnny Bravo in which Johnny follows a woman who he mistakes for his mother. In the episode, Snuffles is assigned by the police to help find Johnny - provided, of course, he is given doggy snacks along the way.

Currently, the show is aired on the Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang.

[edit] Quick Draw McGraw in popular culture

Quick Draw's "El Kabong" alter-ego has made an impact in the professional wrestling world; the name "El Kabong" was first used by then-Extreme Championship Wrestling commentator Joey Styles to describe when a popular ECW wrestler, New Jack, used an acoustic guitar as a weapon during a match. The act is also used by former World Wrestling Federation employee The Honky Tonk Man and current Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Vice President and wrestler Jeff Jarrett.

There are also references to "El Kabong" in the TV series The Critic- Jay Sherman's father, Franklin Sherman, imitates El Kabong, swooping from chandeliers dressed as Zorro and hitting people over the head with a guitar.

Quick Draw McGraw is referred to in Busta Rhymes' song "When Disaster Strikes." The relevant lines are "So hardcore like Quickdraw McGraw / **** what you heard you ain't heard this before."

Quick Draw McGraw is also referred to in MF Doom's Viktor Vaughn song Modern day Mugging in which an old lady is said to have "pulled out and let off like Quick Draw McGraw"

A clip of a Quick Draw McGraw episode can be seen in Class of 3000 episode Home, where "El Kabong" hits an impostor with a guitar, only the impostor and Quick Draw's voice change every time their hit each other.

Quick Draw McGraw is also referred to in House of Pain's song "Boom Shalock Lock Boom (-Butch Vig Mix)." The song appeared on the EP, "Shamrocks And Shenanigans." The relevant lines are, "I'm quick on the draw / like the horse named McGraw / from the cartoon / Boom shalock lock boom."

The Game's "One Blood (Remix)" refers to Quick Draw McGraw. T.I. raps, "I'm prepared, in the mall and all with two tools. You can call me Quick Draw McGraw."

In the TV series El Tigre, in the episode "Zebra Donkey!", the villan, Sartina of the Dead, makes a plucking sound that sounds like Quick Draw McGraw hitting an enemy with his guitar.

[edit] DVD releases

Warner Home Video announced a planned DVD release of the series in 2006 which was later cancelled due to the poor condition of the masters. A possible 2007 release is being considered, conditional upon the restoration of the masters. [1]

[edit] Quick Draw McGraw in other languages

[edit] External links

In other languages