Yogi Bear

**Yogi Bear** is an anthropomorphic bear and the main fictional character of the *Yogi Bear* franchise.

## Development

Created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera of Hanna-Barbera Productions, he made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in *The Huckleberry Hound Show*. Yogi Bear was the first breakout character created by the duo and was eventually more popular than Huckleberry Hound. 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*. *Hokey Wolf* replaced his segment on *The Huckleberry Hound Show*.

During character development, several names such as Bumpkin Bear, Yucca Bear and Huckleberry Bear were considered, but didn't quite click with either Hanna or Barbera--until the name of New York Yankees star Lawrence "Yogi" Berra, who was known for his amusing quotes, such as "half the lies they talk about me aren't true", came up; in time, such would be adopted.

Berra sued Hanna-Barbera for defamation, but their management claimed the similarity was just coincidence. 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. Journalist Walter Brasch once wrote that "whether coincidence or not, it is difficult to find anyone else in the animation industry who believes it.

Yogi was one of 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 spoke – one 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.

## Background

### **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; his voice mannerisms broadly mimic Carney as Norton. Norton, in turn, received influence from Borscht Belt and comedians of vaudeville.

The plot of most of Yogi's cartoons centered on his antics in Jellystone 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 hypocorism for picnic baskets ("pic-a-nic baskets") and his favorite self-promotion ("I'm smarter than the av-er-age bear!"), although he often overestimates his own cleverness. Another characteristic of Yogi was his deep and silly voice. He often greets Ranger Smith with a cordial, "Hello, Mr. Ranger, sir!" and "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.

### **Physical Appearance**

Yogi is a big, tall and full-sized anthropomorphic bear with brown fur, a black nose, black eyes, black eyebrows and a tan muzzle. His unique features include a trademark green porkpie hat with a black center and a white collar with a green necktie.

In the series, *Laff-a-Lympics*, as part of the Yogi Yahooeys, he wears a red-orange T-shirt with a white "Y" on it.

As a teenager in *Yo Yogi!*, he wore a yellow green short-sleeved jacket with a yellow wide collar, yellow borders on his sleeves, and two yellow pockets, a green short-sleeved shirt, a white collar with a purple necktie, a purple porkpie hat with a white center, and purple sneakers with blue highlights and yellow shoelaces.

## History

### **Early life**

When he was a young cub, he was raised by his father, Pop Bear.

## Appearances

### **Television series**

* *The Huckleberry Hound Show* (1958-1961)
* *The Yogi Bear Show* (1961-1962)
* *Yogi's Gang* (1973)
* *Laff-a-Lympics* (1977)
* *Yogi's Space Race* (1978)
* *Galaxy Goof-Ups* (1978)
* *Yogi's Treasure Hunt* (1985-1988)
* *The New Yogi Bear Show* (1988)
* *Fender Bender 500* (1990)
* *Yo Yogi!* (1991)
* *Jellystone!* (2021)
* *The VeggieTales Show* (2024)

### **Films and specials**

* *Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!* (1964)
* *Yogi's Ark Lark* (1972)
* *Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue* (1978)
* *Casper's First Christmas* (1979)
* *Yogi's First Christmas* (1980)
* *Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper* (1982)
* *Strong Kids, Safe Kids* (1984)
* *Yogi's Great Escape* (1987)
* *Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose* (1987)
* *The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound* (1988)
* *Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears* (1988)
* *The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera* (1990)
* *Yogi the Easter Bear* (1994)
* *Arabian Nights* (1994)
* *Boo Boo Runs Wild* (1999)
* *A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith* (1999)
* *When Animals Nap*
* *Lullabye-Bye Bear (2001)*
* *Yogi Bear* (2010)

### **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. Yogi Bear* (1989)

### **Video games**

* *Yogi's Frustration* (1983), by Mattel for Intellivision
* *Yogi Bear* (1987)
* *Yogi's Great Escape*
* *Yogi Bear and Friends in The Greed Monster*
* *Yogi Bear's Math Adventures*
* *Yogi Bear visits... the National Parks*
* *Yogi's Big Clean Up* (1992)
* *Adventures of Yogi Bear* (1994)
* *Yogi Bear's Gold Rush* (1994)
* *Yogi Bear: Great Balloon Blast*
* *Yogi Bear: The Video Game* (2010)

### **Publications**

* *Yogi Bear (comic strips)* (1961-1981)
* *Yogi Bear (Dell Comics)*
* *Yogi Bear (Gold Key Comics)*
* *Yogi Bear (Charlton Comics)* and *Harvey*
* *The Flintstones (Marvel Comics)*
* *Yogi Bear (Marvel Comics)*
* *Yogi Bear (Archie Comics)* (Hanna-Barbera All-Stars, Hanna-Barbera Presents and Yogi Bear #1)
* *Cartoon Network Presents*
* "*Bear-ly Scared*" (*Scooby-Doo! Team-Up* #35)
* *Deathstroke/Yogi Bear Special #1*

## Portrayals

### **Television shows, films and specials**

* **Daws Butler** (1958-1988)
	+ *The Huckleberry Hound Show* (1958-1961)
	+ *The Yogi Bear Show* (1961-1962)
	+ *Yogi's Ark Lark* (1972)
	+ *Yogi's Gang* (1973)
	+ *Laff-a-Lympics* (1977)
	+ *Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue* (1978)
	+ *Yogi's Space Race* (1978)
	+ *Galaxy Goof-Ups* (1978)
	+ *Casper's First Christmas* (1979)
	+ *Yogi's First Christmas (1980)*
	+ *Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper* (1982)
	+ *Yogi's Treasure Hunt* (1985-1988)
	+ *Yogi's Great Escape* (1987)
	+ *Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose* (1987)
	+ *The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound* (1988)
	+ *Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears* (1988)
* **Greg Burson** (1988-2003)
	+ *The New Yogi Bear Show* (1988)
	+ *The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera* (1990)
	+ *Fender Bender 500* (1990)
	+ *Yo Yogi!* (1991)
	+ *Yogi the Easter Bear* (1994)
	+ *Arabian Nights* (1994)
	+ *A Day in the Life of Ranger Smith* (1999)
* **Jeff Bergman** (1992-present)
	+ *When Animals Nap*
	+ *Lullabye-Bye Bear (2001)*
	+ *Space Jam: A New Legacy* (2021)
	+ *Jellystone!*
	+ *The VeggieTales Show*

### **Other**

* Gilbert Mack
	+ *Quick Draw McGraw and Huckleberry Hound LP* (1959)
	+ *Yogi Bear Introduces Loopy De Loop/Let's Have a Song, Yogi Bear!* LP (1960)
* Jack Mercer - *Movie Wheels Present Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear* (1960)
* Frank Milano
	+ *Casanova Yogi Bear and Cutie Cindy Bear: Songs of the Cave Set* (1960)
	+ *Songs of Yogi Bear and his Pals* (1961)
	+ *A Hap-Hap-Happy Christmas from Yogi Bear* (1961)
	+ *How to Be a Better-Than-the Average Child Without Really Trying!* (1962)
	+ *Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!* LP (1964)
* James Darren and Bill Lee (singing voices in *Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!*)
* Allan Melvin - *Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo Tell Stories of Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk* (1965)
* Chuck McCann - *Wake Up, America!* (1965)
* Hal Smith - *Strong Kids, Safe Kids* (1984)
* Stephen Worth - *Boo Boo and the Man* (2002)
* Dan Aykroyd - *Yogi Bear* and *Yogi Bear: The Video Game* (2010)

## Notes/Trivia

* Yogi's freeloading characteristics were roughly copied from Humphrey the Bear by Disney.
* Yogi is mentioned at the end of the Hanna-Barbera-produced *Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt* short "*Mad, Mad Movies*", in which the director pleads with Sinbad to not go and tells him he would make him bigger Yogi.