KEY CREW BEHIND THE STAR: Daws Butler (voice), Willian Hanna and Joseph Barbera (directors), Warren Foster and Michael Maltese (writers)

CAREER HIGH: HEY THERE, IT'S YOGI BEAR! (1964) - Yogi is chosen to star in Hanna-Barbera's first theatrical full-length feature.

Yogi Bear was smarter than the average bear and certainly more popular as well. While many animated bears have appeared over the years, Yogi stands out as a favorite for all age groups.

Yogi was a big brown bear who wore a hat with the brim upturned in the front. He also wore a white shirt collar with a long, wide green tie. This suggestion of clothing immediately made him highly distinctive and established that he was more human than bear.

Despite this distinction, Yogi definitely did "bear" like things. He lived in a cave (usually with his smaller friend, Boo Boo), even though it had items like a bed, sheets, lamps, etc. that could be found in a simple home. He tried to hibernate, though was often interrupted by anything from the shooting of a TV western to the arrival of the seven dwarfs.

However, he was intelligent and was able to talk, not only to other animals but to people. Yogi often talked in a sort of rhyming pattern. "I think I spy a pizza pie!" or "I have a hunch, here comes my lunch" are two examples of this pattern.

Yogi lived in Jellystone National Park. Although supposedly confined to the park, Yogi would make occasional trips outside the boundaries usually resulting in major problems. There was the time Yogi mistook a sports page headline about a baseball battle between the Chicago Bears and Giants, so Yogi headed to Chicago to even up the score. When Yogi went to Paris, he was mistaken for an Ambassador and declared war on the country after an outraged chef kicked the catsup loving bruin out of an elegant restaurant.

In the beginning, Yogi's primary motivation was food. Unlike other bears, Yogi didn't like "nuts and berries." He had a taste for the goodies that visiting tourists would bring to the park. He prided himself on actually stealing these picnic baskets until parent groups expressed concern that such a demonstration of thievery might be a bad influence on young viewers. Judging by Yogi's stomach, he was highly successful in his goal as a glutton.

Yogi's not a bad bear. He just believes he can interpret the rules liberally if they happen to interfere with his activities or his appetite. Yogi realizes the rules are for his own protection. He's just not sure he wants to be that protected. Yogi is even sometimes patronizing to authority. Yogi's challenging of Ranger Smith is seen more as a game than an actual act of rebellion. Yogi is genuinely fond of people, especially Ranger Smith who is almost a father figure.

Yogi was not always successful in his many schemes yet always seemed to be the winner no matter what the final outcome. Yogi was actually the first of many good guy "con men" created by Hanna-Barbera. He certainly was the most successful and effective. Yogi performed his cons without malice and never hurt or deprived another character intentionally. He was a very positive and upbeat character who rarely if ever admitted defeat. Generally, he was happy and enjoyed his life which really had few complications.

Although he is not the most law abiding of bears, he seems to follow his own code of ethics. However, his impish spirit and pride sometimes get in the way of his making a good decision. In some ways, although he enjoys the fringe benefits of being a ward of the government, he feels that he has certain inherited rights that supersede everything else. In the early days, the term most often used to describe Yogi was "non conformist." Perhaps it was that independence that made him such an audience favorite at a time when most people had to conform.

HANNA-BARBERA PUT ON THE DOG: THE BIRTH OF YOGI

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera had been working at MGM since 1938 when they turned out the first Tom and Jerry short. In the mid-Fifties movie studios closed their animation units and phased out theatrical shorts. Hanna and Barbera left MGM and decided to start up their own studio.

"The movie cartoon business was dead," recalled William Hanna in a 1961 interview. "The only alternative was television. But everyone we talked to told us we were out of our minds. No one could afford good animation on television!"

In desperation, Hanna and Barbera created a process they called "planned animation," and today is known as "limited animation." When a character spoke, only his mouth moved. When he walked, only his legs moved. Working with former Warner Brothers animation storymen Warren Foster and Michael Maltese, they tried to create stories that depended more on dialog than action.

Their first success was THE RUFF AND REDDY SHOW. It debuted on NBC as a series for Saturday morning. (Saturday morning had not yet become an animation battlefield.) THE RUFF AND REDDY SHOW was treated like the reruns of old movie cartoons that were being aired at the time. A live host sold products, talked to the audience and showed cartoons.

Hanna-Barbera had proved that they could produce new cartoons for TV in a cost effective manner. Their next series established a major change in TV animation. The format of the show was three separate cartoons, each starring a different character. Instead of a live host, like other cartoon shows, the show was "hosted" by the animated characters via opening and closing animation. These animated stars even hawked the sponsor's product.

THE HUCKLEBERRY HOUND SHOW officially premiered on October 2, 1958. It was sponsored by Kellogg's Cereals and syndicated to local stations by Screen Gems. It became Hanna-Barbera's first big hit, garnering an Emmy award for its first season. The star of the show was a blue, slow talking dog known as Huckleberry Hound, who was often a hero in spite of himself. The second of the three cartoon segments featured the adventures of two Southern accented mice, named Pixie and Dixie, who battled a cat named Mr. Jinks. The third segment introduced a character who would quickly eclipse the main star of the show, Yogi Bear.

INTRODUCING YOGI BEAR

The character of Yogi was born out of many elements. The name Yogi Bear was most likely inspired by the name of the popular baseball player, Yogi Berra. (Many of Hanna-Barbera's early series are "pun" heavy.) However, there were several other names considered, including "Yo-Yo Bear." In Yogi, there's a bit of Art Carney's sewer worker Ed Norton, from the highly popular THE HONEYMOONERS. Voice artist Daws Butler, who supplied Yogi's voice, captured a similar tone and rhythm pattern to the Norton character when he did Yogi's voice. (Even Ed Norton's upturned hat made it on to Yogi's head.) But Yogi's personality is far different from Ed Norton. In fact, Yogi had more in common with Norton's fat friend, Ralph Kramden, who was always scheming unsuccessfully to improve his lot in life.

Whatever his inspirations, Yogi transcended these beginnings to become a recognizable and loved character on his own. Audiences loved the character whose only goal in life seemed to be getting as many goodies as he could from the "pic-a-nic" baskets that tourists would bring into the park. Feeding the bears, or rather not feeding the bears, was a concept familiar to many Americans who had vacationed in national parks.

The first year of the series found the writers and artists still developing the character. The most visible change in Yogi comes in his face coloring. Yogi's color seperation between the brown and light tan sometimes occurred on only his muzzle, while other times it included his entire face. However Yogi's character was nailed down fairly fast.

Yogi didn't like being cooped up. In the first short produced, YOGI'S BIG BREAK, he is seen trying to escape from the park because he feels trapped. Once outside, though he discovers it is hunting season and desperately tries to get back in. In this very first short, he tells already faithful Boo Boo that he is "smarter than the average ranger." (He would substitute "bears" to that line later.) Yogi is always interrupted in his napping. SLUMBER PARTY SMARTY (short #2) has his winter nap disturbed by an annoying duck. (The debut of a character to be eventually called Yakky Doodle.) Yogi constantly craved food. In PIE PIRATES (short #3) Yogi attempts to get a huckleberry pie out of a house guarded by a dog. He and Boo Boo end up eating innertube minestrone. Yogi can do anything. BIG BRAVE BEAR (short #6) features gangsters hiding out in Yogi's cave and making Yogi drive the getaway car. He ends up driving over an erupting geyser.

Though Boo Boo appears in these early shorts, their relationship varies. Sometimes he lives with Yogi, other times he visits Yogi's cave. However, Boo Boo is always playing the part of Yogi's conscience. Boo Boo frequently reminds Yogi that "the ranger isn't going to like this." He also finds the ranger when Yogi needs rescuing because a plan has gone wrong.

The success of the cartoons in THE HUCKLEBERRY HOUND SHOW was due to the fact that they were double-leveled. Children enjoyed the slapstick action while adults chuckled over the clever lines. When Yogi pulled Boo-Boo aside to talk about the birds and bees, Boo Boo asked, "Sure, Yogi, what do you want to know?" When awakened by a continual pounding on the door, Yogi states, "It can't be opportunity, opportunity only knocks twice." Shortly before he is shot by Cupid's arrow, Yogi tells Boo Boo, "Do you think for one moment they would let a curly-headed kid in short shorts run around and shoot people with arrows?" When he and Ranger Smith talk their way into bit parts of a TV western, one of the crew worries until the director tells the staff "who could ruin a TV western!"

"Our dialog," explained Joseph Barbera at the time, "explains why our animal cartoons have a 40 percent adult audience." That clever dialogue was supplied by two of the top storymen who had worked at Warner Brothers, Warren Foster and Michael Maltese. These writers even recreated variations on some of their classic shorts. For example, Yogi's OINKS AND BOINKS is almost a remake of Bugs Bunny's THE WINDBLOWN HARE (1949), both written by Foster.

Yogi's popularity was so great that there was a national campaign to nominate him for President of the United States. In some areas, he actually became a write-in candidate. There were Yogi Bear clubs springing up on college campuses. He became an offical mascot for numerous military bases.

YOGI ON HIS OWN AND THE BIG SCREEN

So successful was Yogi that it was decided to give him his own show. THE YOGI BEAR SHOW premiered on January 30, 1961, frequently playing in early evening time slots. It followed the same format as THE HUCKLEBERRY HOUND SHOW and 1959's QUICK DRAW McGRAW SHOW. There were three separate cartoons with animated hosts. To fill out the half hour, two new series were developed. Yakky Doodle, an irritatingly talkative duck, first seen in a Yogi cartoon, was always being protected from Fibber Fox by Chopper, the bulldog. Snagglepuss, the thespian mountain lion, often had to "exit stage left" in order to avoid his nemesis. He also had appeared earlier, in a Quick Draw McGraw cartoon as a sheep stealing lion.

New titles for this season included BEARS AND BEES which found Yogi selling honey to raise money. Yogi caught to crooks disguised as old ladies in DISGUISE AND GALS. In TOUCH AND GO-GO-GO, Yogi's fairy godmother gives him the power to turn anything he touches into a picnic basket... even Boo Boo! THE YOGI BEAR SHOW lasted until 1963.

By 1962, Hanna-Barbera was receiving at least $1 million a year from its licensing contracts of Yogi and friends. Over $40 million worth of Yogi merchandise was sold each year. Yogi was the spokesbear, and cover feature, of Kellogg's OK cereal. With Yogi being perhaps the major reason for H-B's merchandising success story, plans were made to expand his career.

HEY THERE, IT'S YOGI BEAR was released in 1964. It was the first full length animated cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera. It was patterned after the highly successful Disney features. The film offered lusher animation than the regular YOGI BEAR TV series. A number of songs were written by Ray Gilbert (who had contributed to a number of Disney features) and Doug Goodwin (who did the songs for a number of top Christmas specials) including the catchy "Whistle Your Way Back Home."

Rather than follow the TV formula of simple situations and gags, the feature was a somewhat complicated string of plot twists. It begins in the Spring as Cindy tries to lure Yogi into her clutches. However, Yogi is too busy stealing picnic baskets. When he's caught and tagged to be shipped to the St. Louis Zoo, Yogi tricks another bear to go in his place.

Yogi becomes a masked bandit and steals more picnic baskets than ever. Cindy, missing Yogi, confesses to the crimes hoping to be sent to the zoo. Once on the train though, she discovers she is headed for a different zoo and is heartbroken. That night her cage falls off the train and she is freed. However it doesn't last long as she gets kidnapped by the mean Chizzling Brothers Circus.

Yogi, feeling lonely and missing Cindy decides to come out of hiding. He reveals himself to Boo Boo and the pair go to the Ranger station in time to learn that Cindy has been lost on the way to the Zoo. Yogi and Boo Boo break out and track Cindy to the Circus where they manage to escape, but end up in New York. It's up to the Ranger to rescue them from the top of a skyscraper under construction.

YOGI'S REBORN ON SATURDAY MORN

Despite Yogi's popularity, it was almost a decade before he again appeared in new adventures on TV. His debut on Saturday morning would open a new career for Yogi. No longer would he be the solitary bear at odds with authority. From this time forward he would be mostly seen as a team leader for other classic characters in the Hanna-Barbera library.

In 1972, he appeared in an hour special entitled YOGI'S ARK LARK. It appeared on ABC's SATURDAY SUPERSTAR MOVIE and of all the films shown in this catch all program, only Yogi's was developed into a TV series. The movie was eventually re-edited into two episodes for a new series called YOGI'S GANG.

The series debuted on ABC in 1973. Yogi had commissioned Noah Smith to construct a huge balloon ship named the "Ark Lark." Yogi rounded up many of his animal friends to join him as he journeyed across the world to fight for environmental and moral issues. Joining Yogi was Huck Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw, Peter Potamus, Wally Gator, Magilla Gorilla and other Hanna-Barbera characters. Yogi no longer stole picnic baskets. Now he battled foes with names like Mr. Bigot, Mr. Waste, Mr. Vandal, Mr. Smog and Mr. Cheater. This series also included an element missing from the previous Yogi series: a laugh track so that people would know what was supposed to be funny. Only 17 episodes were made but they were repeated the following year in an earlier time slot.

Yogi didn't need to wait long for his next revival. In 1977, the first two-hour Saturday morning cartoon show premiered: SCOOBY'S ALL-STAR LAFF-A-LYMPICS. The series was composed of different segments with a separate half hour devoted to a comedic athletic competition between the Yogi Yahooeys, the Scooby-Doobys and the Really Rottens. The Yogi Yahooeys were composed of Yogi as team leader, Boo Boo, Cindy, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Pixie, Dixie, Mr. Jinks, Auggie Doggie, Doggy Daddy, Yakky Doodle, Hokey Wolf, Snooper, Blabber, Wally Gator and Grape Ape. Other than the large purple gorilla, all of these characters were from the early Hanna-Barbera hits and were a nostalgia team competing against the more modern characters in the Scooby-Doobys and some even newer characters created especially for the Really Rottens. As might be suspected with all these characters crammed into 30 minutes, even Yogi could barely get a brief moment in the spotlight. (Later these episodes became part of SCOOBY'S ALL-STARS in 1978 and were later rerun under SCOOBY'S LAFF-A-LYMPICS in 1980.)

The Scooby show was an experiment in "umbrella" packaging where a strong character would appear in a segment or two and the remaining segments would introduce the adventures of other characters. This type of "umbrella" format was used in Yogi's next TV outing, YOGI'S SPACE RACE. This series premiered on NBC in 1978 in a 90 minute format. One 30 minute segment was devoted to the race itself, where five teams competed for an all expense paid vacation to Mars. Yogi was teamed not with Boo Boo, but with a new character, Scare Bear, who had frizzy stuck out hair and was a coward. Their interplanetary craft was dubbed the "Supercharged Galactic Leader." The premiere episode had the teams in a five hundred lap race around the rings of Saturn.

Another segment of YOGI'S SPACE RACE was a 30 minute episode devoted to "The Galaxy Goof-Ups" which featured Yogi, Huckleberry Hound, Scare Bear and Quack-Up (a Daffy Duck inspired character) as a bumbling squad of outer space policemen. They were under the command of Captain Snerdley and did their best to earn their reputation as goof-ups. Buford, a mystery solving hound, and The Galloping Ghost, a comical spirit, were the other elements. This umbrella split apart quickly leaving three separate series which were quickly canceled as well. (However, it did give Yogi the distinction of having two different starring series on during the same season.)

YOGI BECOMES A HOLIDAY BEAR ON THE AIR

Yogi once again appeared in syndication, and once again in the early evening as the star of a two hour TV special in 1980. Advertised as "more colorful than FANTASIA," YOGI'S FIRST CHRISTMAS, got back toward Yogi's roots. Yogi, Boo Boo, Cindy and Ranger Smith were back in Jellystone. However, they still had their nostalgic friends in tow as Snagglepuss, Huckleberry Hound, Augie Doggie and Doggy Daddy helped convince Mrs. Throckmorton not to tear down Jellystone Lodge. Even Herman the hermit who is causing trouble gets Christmas spirit in the end.

1982 saw Yogi invade prime time with a network special, YOGI BEAR'S ALL-STAR COMEDY CHRISTMAS CAPER. A plot filled half-hour, the story concerned Yogi and Boo Boo going to the city to spend the holidays with the old buddies, Huckleberry, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, etc. However, that gang has gone to Jellystone to meet the bear pair. Once in the city, Yogi and Boo Boo team up with a little rich girl who only wants to spend time with her father. The father thinks his daughter has been kidnapped and a chase ensues. Needless to say, at the end the father sees the error of his ways and all have a happy holiday. Variety called the special a "half-hour of animated boredom," and it does not pop up with the other TV Christmas specials rerun each year.

In 1983, Yogi began to change from just being a cartoon star to being an animated spokesbear for important topics. His first venture was to assist Southern California residents in getting ready for the big quake. Starring in a special comic book and promotional material, Yogi warned, "An earthquake is no picnic, so be ready and don't panic." His likeness even appeared in the Los Angeles Museum of Science and Industry.

Yogi went back to the syndicated market with new animation in 1985. THE FUNTASTIC WORLD OF HANNA-BARBERA tried the umbrella concept of three different cartoon segments in a 90 minute slot. One of those segments was YOGI'S TREASURE HUNT which again featured Yogi leading some classic Hanna-Barbera characters but this time they used clues to locate hidden treasures. Yogi, as a costumed character, was one of several costumed characters that bridged the show with a series of live action bits featuring them working a TV studio control panel.

In the Fall of 1987, "Hanna-Barbera's Superstars 10" debuted. Hanna-Barbera announced that they would produce ten two-hour movies for syndication featuring their classic characters. Yogi appeared in three of these efforts. YOGI'S GREAT ESCAPE (1987) had Yogi and Boo Boo along with three abandoned cubs make a cross-country escape in the mistaken belief that Jellystone would close and they would all be sent to the zoo. YOGI AND THE MAGICAL FLIGHT OF THE SPRUCE GOOSE (1987) had Yogi and his friends touring the famous plane when it magically takes off. The little remembered YOGI AND THE INVASION OF THE SPACE BEARS aired in 1988.

Yogi truly returned to his roots in 1988 when THE YOGI BEAR SHOW debuted as a daily syndicated series. This new series incorporated the classic Yogi shorts with newly animated shorts in the early style. Yogi, Boo Boo, Cindy and Ranger Smith were once again roaming Jellystone and beyond. These new shorts had Yogi voiced by Greg Burson. (Daws Butler died in the Spring of 1988.)

As the decade ended, Yogi once again stepped into the spotlight to aid a cause. Yogi became the national symbol of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) campaign. He starred, along with other H-B characters, in a series of comic books directed at young people. August 16, 1989 saw the debut of a five-minute rap video featuring the famed bruin. The tape was distributed to schools.

Fall of 1990 will find Yogi, again, returning to syndication in Hanna-Barbera's WAKE, RATTLE AND ROLL. This daily mix of live action comedy, music and cartoons plans to include "Fender Bender 500," featuring Yogi and other classic H-B characters in 4x4 races around the world.

SUPPORTING CAST

Boo Boo was a bear who was much smaller than Yogi. Despite this childlike appearance, he was obviously meant to be older, perhaps more of a teenager. He certainly spoke more like an adult. Although he was often an unwilling participant in Yogi's many schemes, he acted as a voice of reason. He felt the rules should be followed not bent nor broken. His nasal, slow voice almost seemed to predict doom for Yogi's adventures. Still, his affection and respect for Yogi was unquestioned. Despite his own fears and standards, he stood by Yogi even on the wildest of escapades. He shared the cave with Yogi. He wore a bow tie that varied in color and he was usually a lighter brown than Yogi.

Cindy Bear was a female bear about Yogi's size who wore a little skirt and a flower in her hair. She spoke in a Southern accent and cared about Yogi. She was classified as Yogi's girlfriend. It was clear that while Yogi cared for Cindy, he was having too much fun as a bachelor to settle down.

Ranger Smith was a black haired, thin park ranger. Originally the Ranger was only identified as "Mr. Ranger, sir," but by 1962 he had acquired a last name. He took his job seriously including enforcing the rules. Despite the many problems Yogi gave him, Ranger Smith liked Yogi. When the ranger said, "I'm sorry, Yogi," he really meant it. In some ways he was like a father to Yogi in the ways he established and enforced discipline. In one episode, he even forsakes a life of wealth because Yogi seems to be in trouble and needs his help.

OTHER MEDIA

Along with Huckleberry Hound, Yogi was one of the early merchandising goldmines for the new Hanna-Barbera studio. Thanks in particular to the characters' connection with Kellogg's cereals, many toys and related promotional items appeared.

A Yogi costumed character appeared at many retail promotions and traveling shows, such as the Ice Capades. For a while he also appeared at amusement parks owned and operated by Taft such as Kings Island, Kings Dominion and Carowinds. He also appeared in Southern California' Marineland. The costume still appears in Northern California's Great America park. Yogi has also appeared in parades and TV commercials. Starting in 1990, Yogi and the Hanna-Barbera characters began appearing at Universal Studios Florida (even in a "thrill" ride) where they help guests rescue a kidnapped Elroy Jetson.

For many years, there have been Jellystone Camp Sites, with Yogi's image, where campers could spend some time. Recently New Zealand introduced a line of Yogi dairy products including Yogi Yogurt.

As an educational tool, Yogi has been used to promote earthquake awareness and bike safety among other issues.

Beginning in 1959, Yogi has appeared in dozens of comic books published by Dell, Gold Key, Charlton and Marvel. Besides these appearances, he has appeared in related Hanna-Barbera comic books and his own comic strip.

SUPERSTAR QUALITY

Yogi Bear remains one of the few animated superstars to come exclusively from TV. His free spirit, con-man ways won the hearts of million. Even when his material in later years didn't always support him, Yogi could come off like a millionaire. As he would often say to someone being kind to him, Yogi was "one of the good ones, sir."

CREATOR QUOTES

"Hanna and Barbera are creating children's visual shows and adult radio shows. Turn off the sound and children will enjoy what they see. Turn off the picture, and adults will enjoy what they hear." - Buffalo Bob Smith, creator of Howdy Doody

"It's been my experience that it's almost always the original characters who rise to the level of perennial superstar... (Huck and Yogi) are superstars who never grow old, whose continuing popularity makes possible the creation of starring vehicles for them decades after they first appeared." - Joe Barbera

"Yogi bear lives better than a millionaire. That's because he's smarter than the average bear." - Yogi Bear theme song

"Fan letters arrive even from behind the Iron Curtain requesting photos of... Yogi Bear." - Hanna-Barbera press release, Mid 1970s

"Because of the over-whelming acceptance of Yogi Bear, we feel that we're witnessing the making of a modern day legend... we're confident a bear named Yogi will take his place alongside of Rip Van Winkle, Johnny Appleseed and even Robin Hood!" - William Hanna

"At first Yogi was just another pen and ink cartoon creation doing the conventional antics common to cartoons. Gradually, however, Yogi's character projected itself so strongly that we found ourselves recording the doings of a real bear in a real Jellystone Park." - Joe Barbera

"He's the joy of the jet set, the hero of the hipsters, the sweetheart of sophisticates." - Ad copy for HEY THERE, IT'S YOGI BEAR