Beany and Cecil
Beany and Cecil is a 1962 animated television series created by Bob Clampett for the American Broadcasting Company. The cartoon was based on the television puppet show "Time for Beany", which Clampett produced for Paramount Pictures company and its Paramount Television Network beginning 1949. The series was broadcast first as part of the series "Matty's Funday Funnies" during 1959, later renamed "Matty's Funnies with Beany and Cecil", and finally "Beany and Cecil" in the USA. Another season was produced during 1988. Although a children's show, it incorporated satirical references to current events and personalities  that adults found entertaining, and the show also attracted adult viewers. Some of the plots and remarks were recognizable as lampoons of current political issues. Along with "The Jetsons" and "The Flintstones", it was one of the first three color television series by the ABC television network (the initial season, though, was originally shown in black and white, as ABC was unable to broadcast color programs until September 1962). History. "Beany and Cecil" was created by animator Bob Clampett after he quit Warner Bros., where he had been directing short cartoon movies. Clampett allegedly originated the idea for Cecil when  he was a boy after seeing the top half of the dinosaur swimming from the water at the end of the 1925 movie "The Lost World". Clampett originally created the idea as a television series named "Time for Beany", which was broadcast from February 28, 1949 to 1955. "Time for Beany", a puppet show, featured the talents of veteran voice actors Stan Freberg as Cecil and Dishonest John, and Daws Butler as Beany and Uncle Captain. Clampett revived the series in theatrical animated form, though Freberg and Butler did not reprise their roles. On 11 October 1959, the animated series  was introduced as "Matty's Funday Funnies". named for "Matty Mattel" the animated spokesperson for its primary sponsor Mattel Toys company. However, the series at that time featured old Paramount theatrical cartoons. The new Beany and Cecil cartoon series took over Matty's Funnies (sans "Funday") in January 1962 and was broadcast prime time Saturdays during the remainder of the 1961-62 television season, by the ABC Television Network. The newer cartoons replaced the Famous Studios cartoons of "Casper the Friendly Ghost" and "Little Audrey" among other parts of "Matty's Funday Funnies".The program was later retitled "The Beany  and Cecil Show". After 1962, the 26 shows (including 78 cartoons) were repeated during Saturday mornings for the next two years and on Sunday mornings for three more. The cartoon featured characters Beany, a boy, and Cecil the Sea-Sick Sea Serpent embarking on a series of adventures, often to discover ancient civilizations and artifacts. These escapades were rife with cartoon slapstick and puns. Before the animated series, but concurrent with the puppet show, Clampett created a comic-book series of "Beany and Cecil" adventures for Dell Comics. The artwork for this series of comics, published from 1951–54, was drawn  by Jack Bradbury. During 1988, the show was revived as "The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil" by DiC Entertainment. Only eight episodes were made, and only five episodes broadcast. This version of the show was produced and directed by John Kricfalusi, who would later create "The Ren and Stimpy Show", and made use of voices from Billy West, who also did voices for the characters Ren (for season 3 and later) and Stimpy. Music. Cecil often sang the Ames Brothers' song "Rag Mop" throughout the series. One episode ("Beanyland") featured Tchaikovsky's well-known celesta piece, "Dance of the  Sugarplum Fairy", from "The Nutcracker". Other famed pieces of "The Nutcracker" were used in the series as musical interludes such as the "Chinese Dance" and "Dance of the Reed-Flutes." Many other well-known classical music pieces were featured in the show as well, including "The William Tell Overture" (in the episodes "Beanyland" and "The Phantom of the Horse Opera"), "Ride of the Valkyries" and "Flight of the Bumblebee". Some of the background music was also recycled from "Leave it to Beaver", as well as some early Walter Lantz cartoons and incidental music from "The Alvin Show". "The Can Can  was used in the episode Harecules Hare & The Golden Fleecing" as the music for the Guided Muscle. The tune of "When The Saints Come Marching In" was used in several episodes, by the Singing Dinosaur, So What & The Seven What-Knots & the Boo Birds. Influence. The AC/DC song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" is titled after the business cards of character Dishonest John, which read "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap. Holidays, Sundays and special rates." Bob Dylan painted Beany in his 2017 Beaten Path painting "Hamburger Stand, Long Beach", based on a home movie of Beany’s Drive-in  Restaurant in 1952. Marvel Comics has a minor character code-named Warstar who is two separate aliens named "B'nee" and "C'cil". The puppet origins and the form of Cecil inspired the famous science fiction author Larry Niven to invent an important extraterrestrial race called Pierson's Puppeteer as part of his Known Space series of novels and short stories (as originally stated in the story "The Soft Weapon". "Beany and Cecil" was also an inspiration for Joel Hodgson to create the show "Mystery Science Theater 3000". The artists. The credits of the series did not show traditional job titles, but  pictorial symbols indicating their jobs. Bob Clampett's writing credit was indicated by a typewriter typing out the words "...by Bob Clampett", for instance. Clampett also made sure to include his name in the lyrics of the often-repeated B&C theme song to gain more recognition with viewers and from the animation industry. Clampett finally got the rights from ABC to market his Beany and Cecil cartoons by video during the 1980s. Home video. The entire series was released on VHS and Betamax as thirteen volumes (each containing two episodes) by RCA Columbia Pictures Home Video during 1984, with the  final releases issued by their "Magic Window" children's subsidiary imprint. Image Entertainment released "Bob Clampett's Beany and Cecil the Special Edition" DVD in 2000, with 12 cartoon shorts and various show bumpers remastered from their original 35mm camera negatives. Bonus features included four complete episodes of "Time for Beany", audio tracks of original story sessions, backstage footage, lost animated works from Bob Clampett's studio, and a still gallery. After a considerable delay, Volume 2 was released by Hen's Tooth Entertainment during 2009, containing 11 cartoon shorts, plus two more "Time for Beany" episodes, archival audio  interviews with Bob Clampett, video interviews with celebrity fans of the series as well as animator Bill Melendez, original bumpers from "Matty's Funday Funnies" and other special features. To date, the entire cartoon collection has not been released on DVD or Blu-Ray disc, nor has it been made available for digital download.