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 Bearsegment of the show proved more popular than Huckleberry's; it spawned its own series in1961.[2] A segment featuring Hokey Wolf and Ding-A-Ling was added, replacing Yogi Bearduring 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.
Concept and Creation[]
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 |
Huckleberry's name is a reference to classic American novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain. Hanna and Barbera almost named Yogi Bear as "Huckleberry Bear".[1]
He was voiced in the original cartoons in 1957 by Daws Butler, who had given a similar voice and characterisation to a wolf character in the 1954 Tex Avery MGM cartoon Billy Boy, and to the dog character in Ruff and Reddy. Butler denied he based the voice on Carolinian actor Andy Griffith, and had been using it since the late 1940s.[1] The voice for Huck was actually inspired by a neighbor of Butler's wife, Myrtis Martin, in Albemarle, North Carolina, her hometown. Butler would visit Myrtis and her family, and would talk to the neighbor who was a veterinarian. Butler found the man's voice amusing, and would remember it when it came time to voice Huck.
Role in Later Productions[]
Yogi, Boo Boo, Quick Draw McGraw, Magilla Gorilla, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry traveled around America in the half-hour series Yogi's Gang. Debuting in 1973, the characters traveled in Ark Lark, a hot air balloon. They solved problems including Mr. Waste and pollution, Mr. Bigot's bigotry, and other various issues.[1]
The Galaxy Goof-Ups segment of the 1978 series Yogi's Space Race featured new characters Captain Smerdley, Scarebear, and Quack-Up with returnees Huckleberry and Yogi, traveling through space to multiple planets. The series soon split off to its own half-hour program.[1] Huckleberry also appeared as a member of the Yogi Yahooeys team in Laff-A-Lympics from 1977–1979.
Syndicated series The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera included a segment in 1985 called Yogi's Treasure Hunt; Huckleberry appeared alongside characters including Yogi and Boo Boo, Snagglepuss, Dick Dastardly and Muttley, and Top Cat.[1] In 1987, he appeared in Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose, traveling around the world, saving animals and fending off the Dread Baron and Mumbley.[1]
With fuller (but not feature quality) animation Yogi's First Christmas featured Huckleberry and others helping Yogi Bear prevent Jellystone Lodge's owner from tearing it down.[1]
His main comeback was in the television film The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound released in 1988.
In Popular Culture[]
Later appearances[]
- After his original series ran its course, Huck continued to make appearances in other Hanna-Barbera series, mainly as a supporting character for his former co-star, Yogi. Huck appeared in Yogi's Gang (1973), the short lived Yogi's Space Race (1978), Laff-A-Lympics (1977–1978), and 1985–1988`s Yogi's Treasure Hunt.
- Huckleberry Hound appeared in the "Fender Bender 500" segment of Wake, Rattle, and Roll voiced by Greg Burson. He is paired up with Snagglepuss where they drive a monster truck called the Half Dog, Half Cat, Half Track.
- Huckleberry Hound appeared as a teenager in the series Yo Yogi! voiced by Greg Berg. Wee Willie was also featured as a teenager with his vocal effects done by Rob Paulsen.
- Cartoon Network's Boomerang channel plays a more recent Huckleberry Hound animated short that strays greatly from the animation and story style of the original, entitled "Sound Hound". Using cutout style animation, Huck simply makes everyone in a town be quiet so he can sing "Oh my Darlin'" in peace. It didn't follow the formula of the show which always gave him a career, and it made his singing seem more important to him than it ever did on the series where it seemed to simply be a tune he sang to himself during idle time. Like the 2002 Pixie and Dixie short, it used to air on Cartoon Network until the relaunch in 2004. He also appeared in various commercials and bumpers featured on Cartoon Network, voiced by Jeff Bergman.
- Evil Con Carne once alluded to him when The Lady of the Lake suggested that Hectar do an impression of "Huckleberry Hound fighting Mojo Jojo". When Hector did his impression of Huckleberry Hound, it was provided by Tom Kenny.
- Huckleberry Hound appeared in the Johnny Bravo episode "Back on Shaq" voiced by James Arnold Taylor. He was Seth Green's "good-luck charm" when Shaquille O'Neal was using Johnny Bravo as his "good-luck charm".
- Some of Huck's cartoons are also featured on various VHS and DVD MCA Universal home video releases.
- Huckleberry Hound made a cameo in a MetLife commercial entitled, "Everyone".
- In the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode "Nightmare on Wilson Way", an imaginary friend is dressed like Huckleberry Hound for Halloween.
Parodies and other gags[]
Multiple television series have included the character in their plots, usually as a quick gag:
- Huckleberry Hound appeared in The Simpsons episode "Behind the Laughter" voiced by Karl Wiedergott. Near the end of the episode, he confesses: "I was so gay, but I couldn't tell anyone."
- References have been made in Head of the Class, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, where the lead's memory of the series is erased, because his girlfriend shares the name Clementine with Huck's song.
- A Huckleberry Hound bobble head is seen on the dashboard of the Mystery Machine in Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins.
- Huckleberry Hound is mentioned in an episode of the NBC Television series Wings called "Let's talk About Sex", which originally aired on January 8, 1997. Boston talk show host Mary Pat Lee (Caroline Aaron) laments the fact that her show can't even beat reruns of Huckleberry Hound in the local ratings.
In Music[]
- Huckleberry Hound is briefly mentioned by George Clinton in the 1982 single, "Atomic Dog".
- Huckleberry Hound is mentioned by Janis Joplin in her song "Easy Rider" on the album Janis.
Reception[]
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".
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The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958) - Intro (Opening)
Shows Intro