This article is about the title character. For the 2010 film of this name, seeYogi Bear (film). For the original show and all other works featuring the character, seeYogi Bear (disambiguation).
Yogi was one of the several Hanna-Barbera characters to have acollar. This allowedanimators to keep his body relatively static, redrawing only his head in eachframe 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.[21]
Yogi sign advising youngNational Park visitors not to feed the bears (1961)
Like many Hanna-Barbera characters, Yogi's personality and mannerisms were based on a popular celebrity of the time.Art Carney'sEd Norton character onThe Honeymooners was said to be Yogi's inspiration;[22][23] his voice mannerisms broadly mimic Carney as Norton.[24] Carney, in turn, received influence from theBorscht Belt and comedians ofvaudeville.[23]
Yogi's name was similar to that of contemporary baseball starYogi 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.[25] At the time Yogi Bear first hit TV screens, Yogi Berra was ahousehold name.[26] JournalistWalter Brasch once wrote that "whether coincidence or not, it is difficult to find anyone else in the [animation] industry who believes it."[26] 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."[27]
The plot of most of Yogi's cartoons centered on his antics in the fictional Jellystone Park, a variant of the realYellowstone National Park. Yogi, accompanied by his constant companionBoo-Boo Bear, would often try to steal picnic baskets from campers in the park, much to the displeasure of ParkRanger Smith.[28] Yogi's girlfriend,Cindy Bear, sometimes appeared and usually disapproved of Yogi's antics.
Besides often speaking inrhyme, Yogi Bear had a number ofcatchphrases, including his famous chant of excitement and greeting ("Hey, hey, hey"), hispet name forpicnic baskets ("pic-a-nic baskets"), and his favorite self-promotion ("I'm smarter than the av-er-age bear!"),[29] 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 hissidekick, Boo Boo. Yogi would also often use puns in his speech and had a habit of pronouncing large words with a long vocal flourish.
From the time of the character's debut until 1988, Yogi was voiced by voice actorDaws Butler. Butler died in 1988; his last performance as Yogi was in the television filmYogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears.
In 1983, a Yogi Bear balloon made its first appearance in theMacy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, becoming the final balloon that year. That same year, he appeared on a float namedA 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 byMel 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.[30]
Yogi's current voice actor isJeff Bergman. Bergman andBilly West also performed the character throughout the 1990s and early to mid-2000s for variousCartoon Network andBoomerang commercials and bumpers.
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 inSeason 5, Episode 3, butPeter Griffin brutally kills him using ahunting 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.
Appearing in the form of short cameos inSpace Jam: A New Legacy, Yogi and Boo-Boo can be seen with otherWarner Bros. owned characters beside them watching the basketball game between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad.
Yogi appears with Boo-Boo in theRobot Chicken episode "Ban on the Fun", voiced byDan Milano. In a segment that parodiesLaff-A-Lympics in the style of theMunich 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 theRambo 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 creatorSeth Green.
Yogi and Boo-Boo, along with other Hanna-Barbera andLooney Tunes characters make cameo appearances in the "Suffragette City" song on theAnimaniacs revival. They were previously parodied in theoriginal 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 forGEICO raiding a family cookout in "bear country".
Teen Titans Go! (2013), Yogi appeared in the episode, "Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary" as a supporting character.
A live-action/animated film titledYogi Bear was released byWarner Bros. Pictures in December 2010. The movie featuredDan Aykroyd as the voice of Yogi Bear. The film, adapting the television series, follows the adventures of Yogi Bear and his pal Boo-Boo in Jellystone Park, as they team up with Ranger Smith to save Jellystone Park from being shut down and logged.
In 2002, Spümcø created another Boo Boo cartoon,Boo Boo and the Man, which was made withMacromedia Flash and released on Cartoon Network's website.[citation needed]
A music video (known as a "Cartoon Groovie") for Yogi Bear used to air on Cartoon Network andBoomerang. It showcases clips of Yogi and Boo Boo stealing picnic baskets and annoying Ranger Smith.[citation needed]
Over the years, several publishers have released Yogi Bear comic books.
Dell Comics first published Yogi Bear comics starting in 1959 as part of theirFour Color Comics line. The Four Color issue numbers were #1067Yogi Bear (December 1, 1959), #1104Yogi Bear Goes to College (June 1, 1960), #1162Yogi Bear Joins the Marines (April 1, 1961), #1271Yogi Bear's Birthday Party (November 1, 1961), #1310Huck and Yogi Winter Sports (1962) (also featuringHuckleberry Hound), and #1349Yogi Bear Visits the U.N. (January 1, 1962).[37] In March 1961, Dell also published a 116-pageone-shot entitledHuck and Yogi Jamboree (also featuring Huckleberry Hound).[38] Starting in September 1961, Dell began publishing a regular comic under the titleYogi Bear which ran for six issues. The last Dell issue being July–September 1962.[39]
Gold Key Comics took over publishing theYogi Bear title in October 1962, continuing the issue numbering from the last Dell issue. Gold Key published 33 issues from 1962 to 1970.[39]
Harvey Comics then did several titles for a total of ten issues in 1992–94.[39]
Archie Comics regularly featuredYogi Bear stories in the anthology comicsHanna-Barbera All-Stars andHanna-Barbera Presents. After the cancellation of both titles, Archie Comics put out one issue of aYogi Bear comic in 1997.[39]
TheYogi Bear comic strip began February 5, 1961.[40] Created byGene Hazelton and distributed by theMcNaught Syndicate, it ran from 1961 to 1988.
Hanna-Barbera has also produced giveaway instructional Yogi Bear comics onfirst aid (Creative First Aid: Yogi's Bear Facts (1986)) andearthquake preparedness (Yogi, the Be-Prepared Bear: Earthquake Preparedness for Children (1984) andYogi's Bear Facts: Earthquake Preparedness (1988)). These were issued in connection with Yogi Bear being used as the mascot for Earthquake Preparedness Month in California, an annual campaign that ran each April for over ten years and also utilized Yogi in earthquake preparedness posters, advertisements, a cartoon, and other promotions including a special "Quakey Shakey Van" exhibit.[41][42]
^abAnthony 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 Honeymooners – itself a character heavily influenced by the Borscht Belt and vaudeville comics."
^Ehrbar, Greg; Matheson, Tim; Maltin, Leonard (2024).Hanna-Barbera, the recorded history: from modern stone age to meddling kids. Jackson (Mississippi): University Press of Mississippi.ISBN978-1-4968-4098-1.[page needed]
^"1961 Timeline: February 5. Animation sensationYogi Bear is the star of a new comic strip overseen by Gene Hazelton."American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-64 by John Wells, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2012, page 42.
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