| The Huckleberry Hound Show | |
|---|---|
Huckleberry Hound's title card |
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| Genre | Comedy |
| Format | Cartoon series Variety show Comedy |
| Created by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Written by | Joseph Barbera Warren Foster Dan Gordon Michael Maltese Charles Shows |
| Directed by | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Presented by | Huckleberry Hound |
| Starring | Huckleberry Hound Pixie & Dixie and Mr. Jinks Yogi Bear Hokey Wolf |
| Voices of | Daws Butler Don Messick Doug Young Hal Smith |
| Narrated by | Don Messick |
| Composer(s) | Hoyt Curtin[1] |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 69 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Running time | 30 minutes 7 minutes per short |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Screen Gems |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | First-run syndication |
| Picture format | Color (Originally syndicated in Black-and-white) |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original run | October 2, 1958 – April 24, 1962 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Ruff & Reddy Show (1957) |
| Followed by | The Quick Draw McGraw Show (1959) |
| Related shows | Yogi Bear Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks Hokey Wolf |
The Huckleberry Hound Show is a 1958 syndicated animated series and the second from Hanna-Barbera following The Ruff & Reddy Show, sponsored by Kellogg's. Three segments were included in the program: one featuring Huckleberry Hound; another starring Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo; and a third with Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, two mice who in each short found a new way to outwit the cat Mr. Jinks. The Yogi Bear segment of the show proved more popular than Huckleberry's; it spawned its own series in 1961.[2] A segment featuring Hokey Wolf and Ding-A-Ling was added, replacing Yogi Bear during the 1960-61 season. In 1961, the series became the first animated program to be honored with an Emmy Award.[3] The Huckleberry Hound Show contributed to making Hanna-Barbera a household name, and is often credited with legitimizing the concept of animation produced specifically for television.
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Joe 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."[4]
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.[4] | ” |
The series featured three seven minute cartoons, animated specifically for television. The first always starred Huckleberry, the next two featured other characters.[5]
The show was originally distributed by Screen Gems in its network run and in syndication through the 1970s; it 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 its 1996 acquisition of Turner.
Each of the three segments featured one or two main characters acting as a duo, and numerous one-off or supporting characters.
Huck's voice was one that Butler had already developed and used in earlier work, such as the dog character in The Ruff & Reddy Show, Smedley the Dog in 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.
Yogi Bear (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Art Carney) 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 (voiced by Don Messick). Yogi also has a relationship with his girlfriend Cindy Bear (voiced by Julie Bennett).
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 Marlon Brando).
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).
In 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's, 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."[6]
In January 2009, IGN named The Huckleberry Hound Show as the 63rd best in its "Top 100 Animated TV Shows". [7]
On November 15, 2005, Warner Home Video released The Huckleberry Hound Show - Vol. 1 for the Hanna-Barbera classics collection, featuring the complete first series of 26 episodes from the series on DVD. The other remaining 43 episodes are yet to be released.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Huckleberry Hound Show - Volume 1 The complete first season | 26 | November 15, 2005 |
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The characters from The Huckleberry Hound Show spawned various product, publishing, and other licensing deals.
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.[8] 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 a Aladdin-brand Thermos.[9]
Books based on the show include:
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