What's the Deal with Boo Boo?

In Hanna-Barbera's YOGI BEAR cartoons from 1958 and onward, Boo Boo played Yogi's sidekick.  But here's one thing about Boo Boo that has been strange from the very beginning:  his design seems to change from one cartoon to the next.  He might have a round head in a cartoon, and then be blocky in another.  He might have no forehead at all in one segment, and then he'll have a long tall forehead in the next.  The point is this:  early on, the folks at Hanna-Barbara were not terribly concerned about having a consistent model sheet for Boo Boo.  (Nor one for Ranger Smith.) 

Steven Spielberg Bop Bag by Bruce Timm

Here's a caricature of Steven Spielberg as drawn with markers by Bruce Timm on the back of a Yogi Bear Bop Bag.  Circa 1992, back in the Tiny Toons/Batman era.   

The inflated version...it has been inflated since '92!

And below, the deflated version. 

 ....and signed by Bruce Timm. 

 

The Huckleberry Hound Show

Here's the cast of The Huckleberry Hound Show in September 1961.  By this point, Hokey Wolf and his sidekick Ding-A-Ling had taken over the slot vacated by Yogi and Boo-Boo, who have moved over to The Yogi Bear Show, premiering that fall. 

               Hokey Wolf, Ding-A-Ling, Huckleberry Hound, Pixie, Dixie and Mr. Jinks

The People Who Made "Tiny Toons" and "Animaniacs" -- Part Three

Earl Kress

Earl Kress and his wife Denise

Earl Kress was a major contributor to the writing of both Animaniacs and Pinky & the Brain.   Earl wrote or co-wrote many episodes which have become fan-favorites of the Animaniacs series, including the Slappy cartoon “Smell Ya Later” (co-starring Sherri Stoner and Jonathan Winters) and that Christmas gem "Little Drummer Warners" (directed by Lenord Robinson).  Earl was also part of the team that wrote the DVD animated feature “Wakko’s Wish.”

During the 90’s at Warner Bros, Earl also scripted some great segments for Tiny Toon Adventures (“Turtle Hurdle,” “Class Cut-up,” “Day for Knight”) and a handful of Road Rovers episodes.   Earl took home Emmy Awards for his writing on both Pinky and the Brain and  Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain.”  

I’ve known Earl since the early 80’s and have had the pleasure of working with him on a bunch of different animated series over the years, including Pound Puppies and Yogi’s Treasure Hunt during our time together at Hanna-Barbera.

Of course, Earl has worked on many cartoons outside of the Warner Bros./Hanna-Barbera spheres.  At Disney, for instance, he co-wrote the animated feature film “The Fox and the Hound.”

Earl and I grew up during the same era, and we were both big fans of the early Hanna-Barbara series starring Huck and Yogi and Quick Draw.  Earl is one of the world’s leading experts on Hanna-Barbara history and lore, and also studied voice-over acting with the legendary voice of Yogi, Huck and Quick Draw, Daws Butler.  Beyond these studies, Earl and Daws became good friends.    

You can hear some of Earl’s voice work on “Hanna-Barbera’s Pic-A-Nic Basket,” the definitive 3-CD collection of music and sfx from Hanna-Barbera shows of the late 50’s to the 70’s.  Earl not only performs on the album, he also hunted down and preserved many of the rare tracks, and produced the album as well.   

I’ve known Earl for 31 years and I’m proud to call him one of my best friends in this world of cartoons. 

 

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 18 --Daffy, Yogi, Scooby and Gossamer

Two more images from the "Mixed Nutz" pitch.

Daffy and Yogi argue over their own respective studliness and the kind of music they want to listen to during a cross-country trek in this segment from "Mixed Nutz."

Scooby encounters Looney Tunes monster star Gossamer, who's the pet of the local mad scientist veterinarian, in this "Mixed Nutz" sequence.

More to come...

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 14 -- Daffy Vs. Everyone

A few more images from "Mixed Nutz," the animated TV series I pitched to Warner Bros back in 2008.  In "Mixed Nuts," the cartoon worlds of Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera characters come together, resulting in some unique pairings and some new variations on the classic themes.

Of course, Daffy Duck would demand plenty of air time on "Mixed Nuts."   As he put it, "A star of my stature should expect nothing less."   But in this show, Daffy would find himself constantly outflanked by scene-stealers like Yogi Bear...

  ...and upstaged by spotlight-hogging hams like Snagglepuss.  

More to come...

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nuts" -- Part 9 -- Yogi with Daffy and Taz

More images from "Mixed Nutz" (2008), the animated TV series I proposed to Warner Bros. that would have teamed up Looney Tunes characters with Hanna-Barbera stars.

In "Mixed Nutz," Yogi was cast in a starring role... and his laid back demeanor would prove to be a source of great frustration for Daffy.

In this segment (above) from "Mixed Nutz," the Bugs/Daffy/Elmer "Hunting Season Trilogy" gets a new chapter during "Bear Season."  

Even Yogi can learn a few lessons about the consumption of edible goodies when Taz makes an unscheduled stop at Jellystone Park.
 

More to come...

The Cartoon Shows That Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" -- Part 2

More images from my 2008 pitch to Warner Bros. for a new animated TV series starring not only the Looney Tunes but the Hanna-Barbera stars as well:  "Mixed Nutz."

In "Mixed Nutz," Yogi's pic-a-nic basket filching has brought him fame as "the world's most successful moocher."  He travels the globe giving seminars on pan-handling, like a grifter-version of  Tony Robbins.  Above:  When Yogi overstays his welcome at Bugs' Malibu beachfront home, the rabbit gives the bear a nudge toward the door.  

I kept Daffy and Porky together as a team for this parody of "The Terminator."  Rosey the Robot returns from the future to prevent Daffy from screwing up the world.

In the southwest, El Kabong is hired by the Highway Patrol to put the kibosh (and the "kabong") on the freeway speeder...the Roadrunner.

(I do so love El Kabong's rope from nowhere.)

More to come... 

The Cartoon Shows that Never Were #2 -- "Mixed Nutz" (2008) -- Part 1

Back in 2008, I proposed an animated TV series to the powers-that-be at Warner Bros.   

The basic concept of the show:  cartoon universes collide, resulting in Looney Tunes characters and Hanna-Barbera characters appearing in cartoons with each other.  

Bugs Bunny and Yogi Bear in the logo from "Mixed Nutz," an animated TV series I pitched to Warner Bros. back in 2008

I called the show "Mixed Nutz" and pitched it to Brad Globe, head of Warner Bros. global licensing.   Brad loved the concept and my pitch.  In fact, at my first meeting with him, three minutes into the pitch, after he had seen a few pieces of the art, he looked at me and, with a huge smile, said:  "We're making this show.  I've been waiting for someone to walk in with a concept like this for at least three years.  And now you've done it.  We're going to make this show."

Bugs Bunny makes a wrong turn in Albuquerque and arrives in Bedrock where he drives Fred Flintstone nuts in this segment from "Mixed Nutz," a TV series pitched to Warner Bros. by Tom Ruegger in 2008.

Pitches normally don't go this well.     

I was on cloud nine.  

A week or so later, there was a follow-up pitch with Brad, Warner Bros. Television Animation President Peter Roth, and the President of the Warner Bros. Television Group Bruce Rosenblum, and once again, "Mixed Nutz" received a very enthusiastic response, so much so that in the room that day, the three execs committed to making a pilot for the series.  Hand shakes all around.  

A very happy day.  

Daffy subs for Shaggy in this Scooby Doo segment from "Mixed Nutz," an animated TV series pitched by Tom Ruegger to Warner Bros. back in 2008. 

Over the next couple of weeks, I continued developing segments and story ideas for the show, I kept drawing and pulling artwork together, and I started to make calls in hopes of lining up some of the brilliant folks who helped make "Animaniacs" a success, funny people like Sherri Stoner, Deanna Oliver, Paul Rugg, John McCann, Alfred Gimeno, John McClenahan, Joey Banaskiewicz and others.  

Then, about a month after the initial pitch,  Sam Register was hired by Warner Bros. to be the executive in charge of Warner Bros. Television Animation, where he would be reporting directly to division prez Peter Roth.  Sam had his own plans for the Looney Tunes characters.  Soon after he arrived on the scene, my green-lit pilot became un-green-lit.  

Elmer has the title role and Quick Draw McGraw plays his equine sidekick in this movie parody from "Mixed Nutz," an animated TV series pitched to Warner Bros. by Tom Ruegger back in 2008.

"Mixed Nutz" was canceled before it could even get started.  

And I never heard another word from anyone at Warner Bros. 

Anyway, this post, and the subsequent posts about "Mixed Nutz," can be filed under the category "The Cartoon Shows that Never Were #2."  

Snagglepuss, Daffy, Yogi and Bugs in a spoof of "South Park" from "Mixed Nutz" (2008), an animated TV series pitched to Warner Bros. by Tom Ruegger.  

"The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound" – Part 2

Longtime pal and comedy-writer extraordinaire John Ludin has been good enough to send along some of his vivid (and funny) memories of Joe Barbera, Bill Hanna and many others during the making of “The Good, the Bad and the Huckleberry” at Hanna-Barbera Productions back in 1988.   

And here they are:  

"I was just reading your blog - and laughing out loud.  I so remember Joe telling us about the kids singing, "Look at the bears, look at the bears, look at the bears." We smiled and nodded and went back to work, thinking he would forget it in a day or two. Every week we had to give Joe an update on the script and where we were going with it next. 

The following week, we returned to his office and he brought it up again, acting out the entire scene.   "So, this group of kids in a bus sees Yogi and Boo Boo and yells 'Look at the bears, look at the bears, look at the bears.'" Heading back to your office, we wondered why Joe was insistent on this, especially since Yogi wasn't even in the story, and opted to just leave it out, especially because it was so senseless. The next week Joe had read the latest draft and asked why the scene wasn't in the script. And I think he was kind of bugged that we didn't see how funny it was. One of us asked why the kids were there, and why they were in a bus. Joe said it could be a tour bus. He then, of course, reenacted the whole scene. I remember going back to your office and saying we should see what would happen if we left it out once again. You were smarter than that and advised we had better just put it in, so we could make it work. We wrote it in, then I recall, in an homage to Groucho, having Huck turn to camera and deadpan, "That was a strange interlude, twern't it?" or something like that. 

Joe was only outdone by Bill, who slapped in the Dalton's "Gold, Gold, Gold" song without us knowing anything about it. "Our swimming pools are filled with gold, by heck, We got so much gold, around our neck," or some equally lame lyric.    

 

Howie Morris as Ernest T. Bass

Do you remember Joe telling us how the crazed brave Chuckling Chipmunk (I think that was his name) would laugh? Joe did the silliest little giggle and wanted to make sure that the character sounded just like that.  Howie Morris had been cast to do the voice and did it his own way, which was pretty funny. When it came time for pick-ups, (voice director) Andrea Romano asked if we had anything. We were in the other room and I was explaining to her what Joe wanted for the laugh. The actors were on the other side of the glass, watching us talk to Andrea, but I know I was the one discussing the laugh, asking to get one take, just so we would have it, the way Joe had done it. And I had to do the laugh, so Andrea would know what to tell Howie. She then went back in and asked Howie to redo the laugh, recreating what I had done. He was visibly upset about this. He begrudgingly did it the way he was asked, and then was cut loose from the session.

As Howie left, he took the time to open the door to where we sat, looked at me, pointed and yelled almost to the point of being unintelligible, "My laugh was a whole lot funnier than that dumbshit giggle you wanted, because I know what's god damn funny because I've been doing this for a god damn long time with people like Caesar and Brooks and Reiner and you don't know what the fuck you're doing." Or words to that affect. Do you remember that? What a great moment. And all because of Joe.
 
Also, you might recall, we were trying to beat Glenn Leopold (who was writing one of the nine other cartoon movie scripts – “Scooby Doo and the Ghouls School,” I think) in terms of finishing ours first.  I think he beat us by a day - but we worked hard to make every joke count.  I remember throwing out all sorts of stuff.   If it wasn't a set-up or a punch line, we jettisoned it.  It was the most streamlining that I had ever done to that point.  We were always asking, "Can we cut this out and it still makes sense?"  If yes, then we cut it.  Look at the arc in that story.  It's huge. What a crazy idea to fill up that much time with one character.

I sure had a great time while we were there pounding it out every day. And I'll stack up the jokes in "The Good, the Bad and the Huckleberry" against anything.    

Pat Buttram, Tommy Lester, "Green Acres"

So here's one more memory about the show...

I was delighted to meet Pat Buttram in the recording session, being a fan of old westerns and especially Green Acres. Pat played the referee in the boxing match where Huck was up against this behemoth, sure to be pulverized. The line was, "Let the massacre begin." Pat said, in that perfect cracking voice, "Let the mass-uh-cree begin." I really laughed and later, I mentioned it to him. He said in some Autrey movie, he had said it that way and Gene laughed, so he's said it that way ever since. Classic. And that's why, if you're recording a western, you hire Pat Buttram."

  

John Ludin with Wayne Kaatz and me  (1988)

Thanks for the memories, John!  

And, before signing off, here's one last quick anecdote from John Ludin about Joe Barbera, when Joe was working on an ambitious animated home video series called “The Greatest Adventure Stories form the Bible.”

“I still laugh when I think about Joe telling us that nobody has ever told the story of Noah and the ark properly, regarding what it was like inside that arc:  'And then the boat rocks and this elephant comes sliding right at you and Jesus Christ it's a big damn elephant.'"

As Joe used to say, “It was a helluva deal!”  

"The Yogi Bear Show" -- 50th Anniversary -- Part 2

 
A cell set-up of the stars from "The Yogi  Bear Show," Yogi and Boo Boo, signed by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.

"The Yogi Bear Show" -- 50th Anniversary

January 30, 2011 marks the 50th Anniversary of the premiere of "The Yogi Bear Show" (January 30, 1961) in syndication on TV stations around the nation.  

Yogi first appeared back in October 1958 as one of the costars of "The Huckleberry Hound Show." His popularity led to his own series, in which he was supported by sidekick Boo Boo, nemesis Ranger Smith, and costars Snagglepuss, Yakky Doodle and Chopper.  

The show featured the brilliant voice acting of Daws Butler, Don Messick and, as Yakky Doodle, Jimmy Weldon.

Of course, Yogi became one of Hanna-Barbera's most enduring cartoon stars.