| Linus the Lionhearted | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animated television series |
| Created by | Ed Graham |
| Directed by | Ed Graham |
| Voices of | Sheldon Leonard Ed Graham Sterling Holloway Carl Reiner Ruth Buzzi Bob McFadden Jesse White Jonathan Winters Gerry Matthews "Bashful Bigshots" |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Ed Graham |
| Production company(s) | Ed Graham Productions, in association with General Foods |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS, ABC |
| Picture format | Black-and-white (CBS) Color (ABC) |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | September 26, 1964 – September 7, 1969 |
Linus the Lionhearted was an animated cartoon featuring a main character of the same name. The character was created in 1960 by the Ed Graham advertising agency, originally as a series of ads for General Foods' Post Cereals. At first, Linus was the spokesman for the short-lived Post cereal "Heart of Oats" (a Cheerios imitation). Eventually, the lion was redesigned and reintroduced in 1963 to sell Crispy Critters, which featured Linus on the box. The ads were so popular that a television series was created in 1964 (with General Foods as sponsor) and ran on the CBS network until 1966, then reruns [in color] aired on ABC from 1966, until it was cancelled three years later. A coloring book was published which detailed the adventures of So-Hi going on a scavenger hunt in order to break a curse on a two-headed bird, who is then transformed into a boy due to So-Hi's dedication.
In addition to Linus, a rather good-natured "King of the Beasts" who ruled from his personal barber's chair and voiced by Sheldon Leonard, there were other features as well, all based on characters representing other popular Post cereals (Sugar Crisp, Alpha-Bits, Rice Krinkles, Post Toasties, etc.). The best-known of these was Sugar Bear, who sounded like Bing Crosby and was voiced by actor Gerry Matthews. There was also a postman named Lovable Truly, a young Asian boy named So Hi, and Rory Raccoon.
A long-play record album was also released as a premium in the year of the show's debut featuring the characters (voiced by the same stars as the animated cartoon) singing with re-written lyrics familiar songs such as "Jimmy Cracked Corn."
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The show was perhaps best noted for its abundance of well-known vocal talent. In addition to Leonard, Carl Reiner voiced several characters, most notably Linus' friend Billy Bird; Ruth Buzzi voiced an old woman who'd befriended Lovable Truly, as well as Sugar Bear's sometime nemesis, Granny Goodwitch; and veteran Bob McFadden voiced So Hi, Rory and Lovable Truly. Jonathan Winters made a number of guest appearances, as did Jerry Stiller and his wife Anne Meara. Also credited was the later "Maytag Repairman," Jesse White.
As opposed to the standard cartoon opening, which promoted "Linus the King, Linus the Star, Linus the Lionhearted," the end theme was an unusual, nearly-operatic form. (This was likely by the Johnny Mann Singers.) As the theme played, the cartoon characters packed a trunk within a spotlight. As the lyrics ended, the Billy the Bird character "mopped up" the white spotlight circle until it faded to black.
"Linus and his friends must go, so we leave you with a song,
We're all kind of sad to go, glad to know it won't be long...
Lion-hearted friendships don't end, we'll all be back and then...
Linus and his friends will go, on with the show a-gain!"
The FCC made a ruling in 1969 that forbade children's show characters from appearing in advertisements on the same program and ABC was forced to cancel the program.
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