Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows, and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show.
He was created by Hanna-Barbera and was eventually more popular than ostensible star Huckleberry Hound.Mallory, Michael. Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. New York: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 1998. . p. 44. In January 1961, he was given his own show, The Yogi Bear Show, sponsored by Kellogg's, which included the segments Snagglepuss and Yakky Doodle.Sennett, Ted. The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. New York: Viking Penguin, 1989. . pp. 63–64. Hokey Wolf replaced his segment on The Huckleberry Hound Show.Sennett, p. 52. A musical animated feature film, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear, was released in 1964.
Yogi was one of the several Hanna-Barbera characters to have a collar. This allowed animators to keep his body relatively static, redrawing only his head in each frame when he spokeone of the ways Hanna-Barbera cut costs, reducing the number of drawings needed for a seven-minute cartoon from around 14,000 to around 2,000."Hanna Barbera's golden age of animation", BBC, December 19, 2006
Personality
Like many Hanna-Barbera characters, Yogi's personality and mannerisms were based on a popular celebrity of the time. Art Carney's Ed Norton character on The Honeymooners was said to be Yogi's inspiration;Sennett, p. 60.Anthony Breznican. "Yogi Bear gets a digital makeover". USA Today, August 24, 2010. "Yogi, as voiced by Daws Butler in the early 1960s, was a takeoff on Art Carney's Ed Norton from The Honeymoonersitself a character heavily influenced by the Borscht Belt and vaudeville comics." his voice mannerisms broadly mimic Carney as Norton.Sennett, p. 59. Carney, in turn, received influence from the Borscht Belt and comedians of vaudeville.
Yogi's name was similar to that of contemporary baseball star Yogi Berra, who was known for his amusing quotes, such as "half the lies they tell about me aren't true." Berra filed a defamation lawsuit against Hanna-Barbera, but the company argued that any resemblance was purely coincidental. Berra withdrew his suit, but the defense was considered implausible. At the time Yogi Bear first hit TV screens, Yogi Berra was a household name.Bradle, Laura. "The Relationship Between Yogi Berra and Yogi Bear, Explained", Slate (September 23, 2015). Journalist Walter Brasch once wrote that "whether coincidence or not, it is difficult to find anyone else in the [animation] industry who believes it." Berra himself said, "I was going to sue the Yogi Bear program for using my name until somebody reminded me that Yogi isn't my real name. It's Lawrence."
The plot of most of Yogi's cartoons centered on his antics in the fictional Jellystone Park, a variant of the real Yellowstone National Park. Yogi, accompanied by his constant companion Boo-Boo Bear, would often try to steal picnic baskets from campers in the park, much to the displeasure of Park Ranger Smith. Yogi's girlfriend, Cindy Bear, sometimes appeared and usually disapproved of Yogi's antics.
Catchphrases Besides often speaking in rhyme, Yogi Bear had a number of catchphrases, including his famous chant of excitement and greeting ("Hey, hey, hey"), his pet name for picnic baskets ("pic-a-nic baskets"), and his favorite self-promotion ("I'm smarter than the av-er-age bear!"),Mallory, p. 44. although he often overestimates his own cleverness. Another characteristic of Yogi was his deep and silly voice. He often greets the ranger with a cordial, "Hello, Mr. Ranger, sir!" and uses "Hey there, Boo Boo!" as his preferred greeting to his sidekick, Boo Boo. Yogi would also often use puns in his speech and had a habit of pronouncing large words with a long vocal flourish.
Voice actors
From the time of the character's debut until 1988, Yogi was voiced by voice actor Daws Butler. Butler died in 1988; his last performance as Yogi was in the television film Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears.
In 1983, a Yogi Bear balloon made its first appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, becoming the final balloon that year. That same year, he appeared on a float named A Hanna-Barbera Christmas alongside many other Hanna-Barbera characters, as they cleaned up the streets of Broadway. The performance was bookended with animated segments featuring Yogi and Boo-Boo, voiced by Mel Blanc and Butler, respectively.
After Butler's death in 1988, Greg Burson stepped in to perform the role; Butler had taught Burson personally how to voice Yogi as well as his other characters. Worsening alcoholism and a legal incident led to Burson's firing in 2004 and eventually his death in 2008.
Yogi's current voice actor is Jeff Bergman. Bergman and Billy West also performed the character throughout the 1990s and early to mid-2000s for various Cartoon Network and Boomerang commercials and bumpers.
Australian voice actor, animation historian and impressionist Keith Scott provided Yogi's voice in a Pauls commercial and the live show Hanna-Barbera Gala Celebrity Night at the Wonderland Sydney amusement park in Australia, where Yogi and other Hanna-Barbera characters including Huckleberry Hound, Scooby-Doo, George Jetson, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Wilma Flintstone, and Betty Rubble make guest appearances.
In the 2010 Yogi Bear film, the character is voiced by actor Dan Aykroyd.
In a Müller commercial in 2011 titled "Wünderful Stuff", Lewis MacLeod performed the voice of Yogi.
In the animated stop motion sketch comedy show Robot Chicken, Dan Milano and Seth Green (creator of the show) voiced Yogi Bear.
Scott Innes performed the voice of Yogi, along with Boo-Boo, in At Picnic, Forest, and Honey Lesson.
Media
Television series Series numberTitleBroadcast runOriginal channelTotal # episodesTotal # seasons1The Huckleberry Hound Show1958–1960 Syndication35 episodes 22The Yogi Bear Show1961–196233 episodes3Yogi's Gang1973–1975ABC15 episodes 14Yogi's Space Race 1978–1979 NBC 13 episodes5Galaxy Goof-Ups6Yogi's Treasure Hunt1985–1988 Syndication27 episodes37The New Yogi Bear Show1988–198945 episodes 18Yo Yogi!1991NBC13 episodes9Jellystone!2021–2025Max77 episodes3 Notes:
Other appearances
Top Cat (1961), Yogi along with Huck appear in front pages of comics books in "King for a Day". The Flintstones (1963), Yogi and Boo-Boo steal Fred and Wilma Flintstone's "pic-a-nic basket" in "The Swedish Visitors". The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972), guest cameo on the giant balloon in "The Caped Crusader Caper". Laff-A-Lympics (1977–1978), this show had Yogi Bear as captain of the Yogi Yahooeys team, with Boo-Boo and Cindy also part of the team. Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo made guest appearances at 3 ShowBiz Pizza Place restaurants in 1987, voiced by Daws Butler and Don Messick, although no known footage exists. Yogi was originally slated to make a cameo in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Wake, Rattle, and Roll (1990–1991), he and Boo-Boo appear in the Fender Bender 500 segment. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, guest cameo in "The Story Stick". Tom & Jerry Kids, guest cameo on television in "Tyke on a Hike". Family Guy (1999), a random spoofed version of Yogi and Boo-Boo's appearance is seen in Season 5, Episode 3, but Peter Griffin brutally kills him using a hunting knife as a favor to the Park Ranger, before telling Boo-Boo to "Tell the other bears what you just saw". The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2003–2008), Yogi and Boo-Boo have a guest appearance in Season 2, Episode 7. And also, they made brief cameos in Season 4, Episode 3. Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, a crazed feral bear resembling Yogi Bear appears near the end of "Howl of the Fright Hound". Appearing in the form of short cameos in Space Jam: A New Legacy, Yogi and Boo-Boo can be seen with other Warner Bros. owned characters beside them watching the basketball game between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad. Yogi appears with Boo-Boo in the Robot Chicken episode "Ban on the Fun", voiced by Dan Milano. In a segment that parodies Laff-A-Lympics in the style of the Munich massacre, the Really Rottens shoot the Yogi Yahooeys to death as retribution to losing to them so many times. Yogi later appeared in a movie trailer segment that parodies the Rambo franchise from the episode "President Evil", voiced by Milano once again. He was later featured in the sketch "Power Forest Rangers" of the show's 100th episode "Fight Club Paradise", voiced by series creator Seth Green. On February 27, 2018, Yogi appeared in an ad for Rocket Mortgage along with Boo Boo and Ranger Smith. Yogi and Boo-Boo, along with other Hanna-Barbera and Looney Tunes characters make cameo appearances in the "Suffragette City" song on the Animaniacs revival. They were previously parodied in the original show as "Calhoun Capybara and Lew-Lew" as the Warner siblings were loaned out to appear in their cartoon. On May 10, 2021, Yogi and Boo-Boo appeared in a commercial advertisement for GEICO raiding a family cookout in "bear country". Teen Titans Go! (2013), Yogi appeared in the episode, "Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary" as a supporting character.
Animated films and specials Hey There, It's Yogi Bear, a 1964 animated feature released by Warner Bros. Pictures and Columbia Pictures Yogi's Ark Lark, a 1972 made-for-TV movie for The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue, a 1978 TV special honoring Fred Flintstone on his 48th birthday Casper's First Christmas, a 1979 TV special featuring the characters from Casper and the Angels meeting Yogi and his gang Yogi's First Christmas, a 1980 made-for-TV movie for syndication Yogi Bear's All Star Comedy Christmas Caper, a 1982 TV special starring Yogi and friends Yogi's Great Escape, a 1987 made-for-TV movie for syndication Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose, a 1987 made-for-TV movie for syndication Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears, a 1988 made-for-TV movie for syndication The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound, a 1988 made-for-TV movie for syndication Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration, a 1989 musical TV film Yogi the Easter Bear, a 1994 TV special for first-run syndication Arabian Nights, a 1994 TV special for TBS (Aladdin segment) Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon, 2013 direct-to-DVD (cameo as picture) Space Jam: A New Legacy, a 2021 animated feature released by Warner Bros. Pictures (cameo)
Educational films Hanna-Barbera Educational Filmstrips Yogi Bear: Play it Safe (1979) Yogi Bear Visits His Medical Friends (1980) Learning Tree Filmstrip Set Learning About Citizenship with Yogi Bear (1982) Learning About Groups and Rules with Yogi Bear (1982) Earthquake Preparedness (1984) D.A.R.E. Bear Yogi (1989)
Video games Yogi's Frustration (Intellivision), 1983 Yogi Bear (Amstrad CPC, C64, ZX Spectrum) (1987) Yogi Bear & Friends in The Greed Monster (C64), 1990 Yogi Bear's Math Adventures (MS-DOS), 1990 Yogi's Great Escape (Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Atari 8-bit, C64, ZX Spectrum), 1990 Yo Yogi Bear (Tiger handheld), 1991 Yogi's Big Clean Up (Amiga), 1992 Adventures of Yogi Bear / Yogi Bear's Cartoon Capers (Super NES, Genesis), 1994 Yogi Bear's Gold Rush (Game Boy), 1994 Yogi Bear: Great Balloon Blast (Game Boy Color), 2000 Yogi Bear: The Video Game (Wii, Nintendo DS), 2010
Albums Howl Along with Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear (1960) Huckleberry Hound for President (1960) Hanna-Barbera's Yogi Bear and His Pals (1961) Hey There, It's Yogi Bear, a 1964 music from the original motion picture soundtrack Songs from Hey There, It's Yogi Bear Yogi Bear and Boo-Bop Tell the Stories of Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and The Beanstalk (1965) Yogi Bear and the Three Stooges Meet the Mad, Mad, Mad Dr. No-No, a 1966 comedy album Yogi Bear, a 2010 score soundtrack by John Debney
Live action/animated feature film