Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!
Encyclopedia
Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! is a 1964 American animated feature film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and released by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...

. The film stars the voices of Daws Butler
Daws Butler
Charles Dawson "Daws" Butler was a voice actor originally from Toledo, Ohio. He worked mostly for Hanna-Barbera and originated the voices of many famous animated cartoon characters, including Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry Hound.Daws Butler trained many working actors...

, Don Messick
Don Messick
Donald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....

, Julie Bennett, and Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...

. Based upon Hanna-Barbera's syndicated animated television show The Yogi Bear Show
The Yogi Bear Show
The Yogi Bear Show is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions about a fast-talking picnic basket stealing bear named Yogi. The show debuted in syndication on January 30 and ran for 33 episodes until December 30 in 1961 and included two segments, Snagglepuss and Yakky...

, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! was the first theatrical feature produced by Hanna-Barbera, and the first feature-length theatrical animated film based on a television program.

Plot

It starts with Boo-Boo Bear waking up to Spring. He wakes up Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear is a fictional bear who appears in animated cartoons created by 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 Hanna-Barbera, and was eventually more popular than...

, but he only cares about finding food to eat. Cindy Bear
Cindy Bear
Cindy Bear is a cartoon character created by Hanna-Barbera.-History:Cindy Bear is the girlfriend of Yogi Bear. She speaks with a pronounced Southern accent, and carries a parasol....

 however tries to woo Yogi into marrying her. Time after time Yogi tries to trick people, but Ranger Smith
Ranger Smith
Ranger John Francis Smith is a fictional character in the Yogi Bear cartoon series.-Character:A former US Army soldier, he is the serious and stern authority figure in Jellystone Park, in contrast to the antics of the troublesome Yogi, and he greatly disapproves of Yogi's picnic basket thievery.In...

 outsmarts him at everything. Yogi gets angry and decides to transfer out of Jellystone National park. Ranger Smith is first reluctant to do so until Yogi tries to make a deal. So Smith prepares Yogi to be sent over to the San Diego Zoo
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, is one of the most progressive zoos in the world, with over 4,000 animals of more than 800 species...

 along with an identification tag. Yogi first says goodbye to everything, but tricks another bear named Cornbone into going to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 instead of him. Soon Yogi is stealing food from all over the park, but Smith believes it to be another bear. He threatens whoever does it to be sent to the zoo. Cindy, believing Yogi to be at the zoo, angers Smith into sending Cindy away. However, The San Diego Zoo didn't need anymore bears, and sent Cindy to the St. Louis Zoo without telling her. But on the train she finds out from the other bears that she's being sent to St. Louis. She then cries herself to sleep. In the middle of the night, Cindy falls out of the train and becomes lost. Next, a circus who is losing customers is thinking about quiting unless they can find a good act. Soon their dog runs off and scares Cindy into walking on the telephone wires, prompting the circus to use it as their new act. Soon Yogi and Boo-Boo escape from Jellystone and try to bring Cindy home. They break her out of the circus and try to get back to Jellystone before anybody finds out, while Ranger Smith decides to let them find their way home by themselves so not to get fired. Soon

Cast

  • Daws Butler
    Daws Butler
    Charles Dawson "Daws" Butler was a voice actor originally from Toledo, Ohio. He worked mostly for Hanna-Barbera and originated the voices of many famous animated cartoon characters, including Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry Hound.Daws Butler trained many working actors...

     as Yogi Bear
    Yogi Bear
    Yogi Bear is a fictional bear who appears in animated cartoons created by 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 Hanna-Barbera, and was eventually more popular than...

  • Don Messick
    Don Messick
    Donald Earl "Don" Messick was an American voice actor best known for his work for Hanna-Barbera. Perhaps his most well-known voice creations include Scooby-Doo, Papa Smurf, and Dr. Benton Quest....

     as Boo Boo Bear
    Boo Boo (Yogi Bear)
    Boo-Boo Bear is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character on The Yogi Bear Show. Boo-Boo is an anthropomorphic bear cub in a bow tie, who is a friend to Yogi Bear. Boo-Boo often acts as Yogi Bear's conscience. He tries to keep Yogi from doing things he should not do, and also to keep Yogi from getting...

    , Ranger Smith
    Ranger Smith
    Ranger John Francis Smith is a fictional character in the Yogi Bear cartoon series.-Character:A former US Army soldier, he is the serious and stern authority figure in Jellystone Park, in contrast to the antics of the troublesome Yogi, and he greatly disapproves of Yogi's picnic basket thievery.In...

    , Ranger Jones, Mugger
  • Julie Bennett as Cindy Bear
    Cindy Bear
    Cindy Bear is a cartoon character created by Hanna-Barbera.-History:Cindy Bear is the girlfriend of Yogi Bear. She speaks with a pronounced Southern accent, and carries a parasol....

  • Mel Blanc
    Mel Blanc
    Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...

     as Grifter Chizzling
  • J. Pat O'Malley
    J. Pat O'Malley
    James Patrick O'Malley was an English singer and character actor, who appeared in many American films and television programs during the 1940s–1970s, using the stage name J. Pat O'Malley...

     as Snively
  • Hal Smith
    Hal Smith
    Hal Smith may refer to:* Hal Smith , American actor* Hal Smith , American baseball player * Hal Smith , American baseball player [catcher/third baseman]...

     as Corn Pone
  • Bill Lee
    Bill Lee (singer)
    Bill Lee was an American playback singer who provided a voice or singing voice in many films, for actors in musicals and for many Disney characters. He was born in Johnson, Nebraska and died in 1980 in Los Angeles, California, of a brain tumor.Lee was part of a popular singing quartet known as The...

     as Yogi Bear (singing, "Ash Can Parade" and "Whistle Your Way Back Home")
  • James Darren
    James Darren
    James William Ercolani , known by his stage name James Darren, is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer.-Career:...

     as Yogi Bear (singing, "Ven-e, Ven-o, Ven-a")
  • Ernest Newton
    Ernie Newton
    Ernie Newton was an American actor and voice actor who has been seen and heard in several roles including that of Pierre the French Parrot in the Disneyland attraction Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.-Filmography:...

     as Boo-Boo (singing)
  • Jackie Ward as Cindy Bear (singing)
  • Jonah and the Wailers as the zoo-bound bears performing "St. Louis"

Production

The animated musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...

 was produced and directed by William Hanna
William Hanna
William Denby Hanna was an American animator, director, producer, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of people for much of the 20th century. When he was a young child, Hanna's family moved frequently, but they settled in Compton, California, by...

 and Joseph Barbera
Joseph Barbera
Joseph Roland Barbera was an influential American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of fans worldwide for much of the twentieth century....

, with a story by Hanna, Barbera, and former Warner Bros. Cartoons
Warner Bros. Cartoons
Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was the in-house division of Warner Bros. Pictures during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, Warner Bros. Cartoons was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical...

 storyman Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster , was a writer, cartoonist and composer for the animation division of Warner Brothers and later with Hanna-Barbera....

. When the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio closed in May 1963, several of its animators, including Gerry Chiniquy
Gerry Chiniquy
Germain Adolph "Gerry" Chiniquy was an American animator. He is best known for his work with Friz Freleng, at both Warner Bros. and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises....

, Friz Freleng
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....

 and Ken Harris
Ken Harris
Ken Harris was an American animator who worked for several film studios. He is widely considered as one of the master animators of his time....

, joined Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...

 to work on this film.

Release and reception

A review from the May 27, 1964 issue of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

 pointed out that the scarcity of theatrically released feature animated films made Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! highly marketable. The review called the film "artistically accomplished in all departments". The review commented that the script was a bit redundant, but that the songs were "pleasant, if not especially distinguished".

After its mildly successful 1964 release, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! found extended life as a popular summer matinée feature. The film was reissued on January 17, 1986, as part of Atlantic Releasing
Atlantic Releasing
Atlantic Entertainment Group, also known as Atlantic Releasing Corporation was an independent film production and distribution company founded by Tom Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt in 1974...

's short-lived Clubhouse Pictures program.

DVD release

On December 2, 2008, Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...

 released the film on DVD in Region 1 (The United States, Canada, and Japan). http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Flintstones-The-Man-Called-Flintstone/10265
A R2 DVD was released in the UK on January 31st, 2011.

Credits

  • Produced and Directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
  • Associate Producer: Alex Lovy
    Alex Lovy
    Alex Lovy was an American animator, who spent the majority of his career as an animator and director at Walter Lantz Productions, later being a producer at Hanna-Barbera, and also supervising the cartoon unit at Warner Bros...

  • Story: William Hanna. Joseph Barbera, and Warren Foster
  • Music Composed and Conducted By Marty Paich
  • Original Songs By Ray Gilbert and Doug Goodwin
  • Art Directors: Richard Bickenbach, Bruce Bushman, Jerry Eisenberg, Willie Ito, Zigamond Jablecki, Ernest Nordli, William Perez, Jacques W. Rupp, Tony Sgroi, Iwao Takamoto
    Iwao Takamoto
    Iwao Takamoto was a Japanese-American animator, television producer, and film director. He was most famous as being a production and character designer for Hanna-Barbera Productions shows such as Scooby-Doo....

  • Story Supervisor: Friz Freleng
    Friz Freleng
    Isadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....

     (uncredited)
  • Story Sketches: Dan Gordon
  • Animation Director: Charles A. Nichols
    Charles August Nichols
    Charles August "Nick" Nichols was an American animator and film director.-Biography:Nichols was born in Milford, Utah....

  • Animators: Edwin Aardal, Gerry Chiniquy, George Goepper, Ken Harris
    Ken Harris
    Ken Harris was an American animator who worked for several film studios. He is widely considered as one of the master animators of his time....

    , Jerry Hathcock, Harry Holt, George Kreisl, Don Lusk, Kenneth Muse
    Kenneth Muse
    Kenneth Lee Muse was an American animator. He is best known for his work on the Tom and Jerry series at MGM.-Biography:...

    , Ed Parks, Don Patterson
    Don Patterson
    Don Patterson may refer to:*Don Patterson , former head college football coach for the Western Illinois University Leathernecks*Don Patterson , American animator and director...

    , Ray Patterson
    Ray Patterson
    Ray Patterson may refer to:*Ray Patterson *Ray Patterson *Lyman Ray Patterson, copyright scholar...

    , Grant Simmons, Irv Spence, Fred Wolf
    Fred Wolf
    Fred Wolf is an American animator. His works include the 1967 short subject The Box, for which he won an Academy Award; television specials such as The Point! and Free to Be... You and Me, and television series such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, James Bond Jr., and Sarah Ferguson's Budgie the...

  • Background Designers: Bob Abrams, Fernando Arce, Ron Dias, Robert Gentle, Bob Gribbroek, Dick Kelsey, Art Lozzi, F. Montealgre, Tom O'Loughlin, Curtiss D. Perkins, Don Peters, Richard H. Thomas, Dick Ung
  • Continuity: Evelyn Sherwood
  • Ink and Paint Supervisor: Roberta Greutert
  • Sound Recordist: Bud Myers
  • Film Editors: Larry Cowan, Donald A. Douglas, Warner Leighton, Tony Milch, Ken Spears, Greg Watson
  • Camera: Charles Flekal, Frank Paiker, Norman Stainback, Roy Wade
  • Production Supervisor: Howard Hanson
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