Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har
| Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har | |
|---|---|
 Walking on a ship's deck, Lippy (right) leads Hardy Har Har (left) | |
| Genre | |
| Directed by | |
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Hoyt Curtin |
| Opening theme | Theme from Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har |
| Ending theme | Theme from Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har |
| Composer(s) | Hoyt Curtin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
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| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributor |
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| Release | |
| Original network | Syndication |
| Original release | 1962 |
Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har is a animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and aired as a part of The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series starring the animated anthropomorphic lion and hyena pair in a series of goofy misadventures. Lippy, a lion wears a tattered top hat and vest while Hardy, a hyena wears a porkpie hat and bow tie. Lippy's voice, patterned after comic Joe E. Brown, is identical to that of Peter Potamus (both provided by Daws Butler). Hardy Har Har's name is ironic, as it suggests the sound of laughter associated with a hyena (see onomatopoeia) and Hardy is an eternal pessimist.
History
Lippy the Lion (voiced by Daws Butler) and Hardy Har Har the hyena (voiced by Mel Blanc) first appeared in The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series in 1962, along with Wally Gator and Touché Turtle and Dum Dum. Mel Blanc used the same voice, personality and expressions for Hardy Har-Har that he used playing the postman on the Burns and Allen radio show.
Their cartoons revolved around ever-hopeful Lippy's attempts to get rich quick, with reluctant Hardy serving as a foil. Whatever the consequences were to Lippy's schemes, Hardy would end up getting the worst of it — a fact he always seemed to realize ahead of time, with his moans of, "Oh me, oh my, oh dear". Although the intro shows them in a jungle setting proper for such beasts, most of the cartoons' stories took place in an urban setting.
Since then, the duo have been infrequently included in the cast of Hanna-Barbera's ensemble shows (e.g., Yogi's Gang). They were no longer constantly pursuing Lippy's get-rich-quick schemes, but their personalities were unchanged; Lippy was still the smiling optimist, Hardy the moaning pessimist.
Episode list
Cast
- Daws Butler - Lippy the Lion
- Mel Blanc - Hardy Har Har
Home media
The first episode, "Sea-saw," is available on the DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960's Vol. 2. There has yet to be a DVD of the complete series from Warner Archive.
Other appearances
- Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har were seen in Yogi's Ark Lark. In one scene, Lippy was fed up with Hardy's behavior when those that were on the Noah's Ark were getting bored looking for the perfect place. Though he did save Hardy when the Ark ended up in a storm. Both of them were also in the TV movie's spin-off series Yogi's Gang. In both appearances, Hardy Har Har was voiced by John Stephenson while Daws Butler reprised Lippy.
- Lippy and Hardy appeared in the 1977 Hanna Barbera comic book issue called "The Flintstones' Christmas Party."
- Lippy and Hardy had appeared in an episode of Yogi's Treasure Hunt.
- Lippy and Hardy were seen with the latter as a teenager in Yo Yogi!, voiced by Greg Burson and Rob Paulsen respectively. The former owns a jewellery store. The latter's appearance was in the episode "Tricky Dickie's Dirty Trickies" where Yogi ended up hanging out with Hardy after Dick Dastardly does something to get Yogi fired from the L.A.F. Squad so that Dick Dastardly can lead the L.A.F. Squad.
External links
- Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har on IMDb
- The New Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Series on IMDb
- Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on March 8, 2015.
- Episode guide at the Big Cartoon DataBase