Retro Saturday Morning: The Yogi Bear Show (1961-1962) | Hanna-Barbera

 Hanna-Barbera's Yogi Bear has proven to be one of the most successful and enduring animated characters ever created. Debuting as a supporting character on The Huckleberry Hound Show in 1958, Yogi Bear soon became the star of his own series, The Yogi Bear Show, which premiered in 1961 and featured the supporting segments Snagglepuss and Yakky Doodle.

Yogi, the famous resident of Jellystone National Park, kept park rangers on their toes with his mischievous antics. Driven by boredom, hunger, and the threat of hunters, Yogi spent much of his time conning campers out of their "pic-a-nic" baskets and snatching unguarded treats. While he occasionally tried to protect other woodland creatures from hunters, Yogi often boasted of being "smarter than the av-er-age bear" - a claim that didn't always hold true. Occasionally, Yogi even attempted to escape the confines of the park, only to realize that life inside the protected boundaries was far easier than the unforgiving habitat beyond.

Among the park rangers tasked with curtailing Yogi's mischief and enforcing park rules, Ranger Smith emerged as Yogi's primary adversary and the only ranger to be developed as a distinct character throughout the series. Yogi's constant companion was a small, bow-tie-wearing bear named Boo Boo, who served as the voice of reason in contrast to Yogi's impulsive nature, often trying to rein in his friend's reckless behavior.

Even after his own series ended, Yogi remained a major star. For decades, he was featured prominently in numerous Hanna-Barbera cartoons that brought together casts of characters from other popular shows.

Yogi starred in a variety of Hanna-Barbera productions over the years, including the specials Yogi's Gang (1973), Yogi's Space Race (1978) and its spin-off Galaxy Goof-Ups (1978), Yogi's Treasure Hunt (1985), The New Yogi Bear Show (1988), and Yo Yogi! (1991).

Additionally, Yogi served as the team leader for the Yogi Yahooeys in the 1977 series Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics.

Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear, voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Art Carney, and his sidekick Boo-Boo Bear, voiced by Don Messick, reside in Jellystone Park. The mischievous duo would frequently attempt to steal picnic baskets while evading the park's ranger, Smith, also voiced by Don Messick. Yogi also has a romantic relationship with his girlfriend, Cindy Bear, voiced by Julie Bennett.

Snagglepuss

Snagglepuss, a mountain lion voiced by Daws Butler imitating Bert Lahr, attempts to make his living conditions comfortable, all while sporadically evading a hunter named Major Minor, voiced by Don Messick.

Yakky Doodle

Yakky Doodle, voiced by Jimmy Weldon in the style of Donald Duck, is a duck who lives with his best friend Chopper the Bulldog, voiced by Vance Colvig impersonating Wallace Beery. Chopper would typically protect the hapless Yakky from being devoured by the villainous Fibber Fox, voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Shelley Berman, or the menacing Alfy Gator, also voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Alfred Hitchcock.

The Yogi Bear Show on Video

The Yogi Bear Show: The Complete Series DVD - $12.99 @ Amazon.com

With his Robin Hood antics and endlessly inventive schemes, Yogi Bear sets his eyes on the "pic-a-nic" baskets of Jellstone Park and sets out to frustrate the comic straight man, Park Ranger Smith, whose tireless but futile attempts to enforce Jellystone's "Do Not Feed the Bears" rule were always stymied by the industrious critter.

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