| King Leonardo and His Short Subjects | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Animation |
| Voices of | |
| Narrated by |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes |
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| Production | |
| Executive producer | Peter M. Piech |
| Producers |
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| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | October 15, 1960 (1960-10-15) – December 23, 1961 (1961-12-23) |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 28, 1963 (1963-9-28) – March 21, 1964 (1964-3-21) |
King Leonardo and His Short Subjects (also known asThe King and Odie Show) is an AmericanSaturday-morninganimated television series that aired onNBC from October 15, 1960 to December 23, 1961; the originalShort Subjects package last aired on the network on September 28, 1963, when new segments ofThe King & Odie andThe Hunter aired as part ofTennessee Tuxedo and His Tales. The show was initially sponsored byGeneral Mills. It was produced byTotal Television Productions andLeonardo Productions, named after the main character, and has been referred to as the second original color Saturday-morning cartoon program after "The Ruff and Reddy Show". Leonardo Productions was actually Producers Associates for Television, aka P.A.T.[1]
The show focuses on Leonardo Lion (voiced byJackson Beck), the well-meaning but often inept king of Bongo Congo, a fictional African nation notable for itsbongos.[2] King Leonardo is assisted in all things by a calm, competent skunk named Odie Cologne (a play onEau de Cologne) or "Odie O. Cologne" (voiced byAllen Swift impersonatingRonald Colman).[3] Odie, the one who really keeps the kingdom on an even keel, has been by the king's side since they were children.[4]
King Leonardo's main archenemy is thegangster-type character Biggie Rat (voiced by Jackson Beck impersonatingEdward G. Robinson), who routinely attempts to overthrow Leonardo and take over Bongo Congo for himself, with Leonardo's dimwitted sibling Itchy Brother (voiced by Allen Swift) being hispuppet king. On occasion, Biggie and Itchy are assisted by an evil German inventor named Professor Messer (voiced by Jackson Beck). Biggie and Itchy's schemes always end with them either landing in the dungeon or escaping.
Episodes ofThe King and Odie that were exclusive toTennessee Tuxedo and His Tales feature Biggie Rat and Itchy Brother employed by Mr. Mad (voiced byNorman Rose), amad scientist with a domineering personality. Mr. Mad has his own plans for Bongo Congo and indulges in his diabolical studies of behavior where he collected different types of people whilst lacking a King for his studies. Mr. Mad also threatened to throw Biggie and Itchy in "The Room" which contains unseen stuff that frightens both of them should they fail him. When his schemes fail, Mr. Mad disappears "as if by magic" before he can be apprehended.
Each half-hour episode ofKing Leonardo consisted of five animated segments. Each half-hour included a two-partKing and Odie episode, with other characters featured in between:
Another segment of the originalKing Leonardo show wasTwinkles, an orange elephant who served as the mascot ofTwinkles Cereal, a product of the show's chief sponsor,General Mills.[6] The 90-secondTwinkles segments continued to air in syndication during the 1960s, and were presented in a 15-minute format under the titleThe King and Odie withGeorge S. Irving narrating each segment. It later phased out after afirefighter character replaced the elephant as the cereal's mascot. The segments also appeared during some NBC network rebroadcasts ofUnderdog. TheTwinkles segments were not included whenKing Leonardo And His Short Subjects was syndicated in a half-hour format during the 1980s.
Early in the series'NBC run, selectedColumbia Pictures theatrical cartoons were aired on the program, some featuringThe Fox and the Crow andLi'l Abner; these shorts were added to fill time when production of the early shows was delayed. The Columbia cartoons were featured during NBC showings ofHanna-Barbera'sThe Ruff and Reddy Show, but not included in subsequent syndicated versions of the series.
The animation for the show's early segments was produced byTV Spots, with later episodes byGamma Productions, the same Mexican studio that did much of the work forJay Ward Productions. For this reason, and due to shared sponsorship by General Mills, Gamma has often been associated with bothTotal Television andJay Ward Productions.TV Spots was primarily a producer of animated commercials, but also was contracted for some segments ofRocky and His Friends for Jay Ward Productions.
AfterKing Leonardo and his Short Subjects ended, one season of new segments of "The King and Odie" and "The Hunter" continued to be produced and aired on Total TV'sTennessee Tuxedo and His Tales from September 1963 to March 1964. The following year, Total TV launched its most popular series,Underdog. WhenUnderdog premiered in 1964, it featured repeats ofThe Hunter, whileThe Hunter's former spot on theTennessee Tuxedo program was filled by repeats ofTooter Turtle.
In reruns, Total Television shorts often have been packaged alongside Jay Ward cartoons. Despite similar limited-animation styles, they were two separate studios. The animation for both studios was done by a small startup company called Gamma Productions; hence, the similar "look."
King Leonardo, despite its earlier episodes repackaged for syndication asThe King and Odie during the mid-1960s, never attained the popularity of Total Television's other series,Underdog andTennessee Tuxedo, and is rarely seen on television today. Beginning in 2006,[7] theBlack Family Channel aired this show on itsBFC Kids TV programming block until the channel's demise a year later. The characters of this show were also featured in an eight-issue comic book produced byDell Comics andGold Key. Currently, select episodes ofThe King & Odie,The Hunter, andTooter Turtle are showcased as part of a 1996Underdog syndication package distributed by Golden Books, which currently airs onMeTV Toons.