Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!
| Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster |
|
| Directed by | Joseph Barbera William Hanna |
| Produced by | Joseph Barbera William Hanna |
| Screenplay by | Joseph Barbera Warren Foster William Hanna |
| Based on | The Yogi Bear Show |
| Starring | Daws Butler Don Messick Julie Bennett Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Ray Gilbert Doug Goodwin (Songs) Marty Paich (Score) |
| Editing by | Larry C. Cowan Douglas A. Douglas Warner E. Leighton Anthony Milch Ken Spears Greg Watson |
| Studio | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures (current) |
| Release date(s) | United States/Canada June 3, 1964 Japan July 3, 1965 United Kingdom August 12, 1966 |
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,130,000 (US/ Canada)[1] |
Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! is a 1964 animated feature film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and released by Columbia Pictures. The film stars the voices of Daws Butler, Don Messick, Julie Bennett, and Mel Blanc. Based upon Hanna-Barbera's syndicated animated television show The Yogi Bear Show, 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.[2][3]
Contents |
Plot [edit]
The plot is based on the life story of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi or to put it simply, Yogi Bear. Boo-Boo Bear wakes up from winter hibernation, excited about the new Spring. Then Yogi Bear wakes up, his only interest finding some food to eat. Cindy Bear unsuccessfully tries to woo Yogi. After Ranger Smith thwarts Yogi's latest attempts to grab some food, Yogi gets angry and convinces Ranger to transfer him out of Jellystone National park. Smith prepares Yogi to be sent over to the San Diego Zoo along with an identification tag. Yogi first says goodbye to everything, but tricks another bear named Cornbone into going to California instead of him and Boo-Boo and Cindy remain unaware of this, thinking Yogi departed for good.
Soon, Yogi is stealing food from all over the park under the alter ego "The Brown Phantom", but Smith believes its another bear. He threatens whoever it is to be sent to the zoo. Cindy, wishing to be with Yogi at the zoo, angers Smith into mistakenly sending her away. However, she gets sent to the St. Louis Zoo instead, as the San Diego Zoo don't need anymore bears. When she realises her true destination, she gets very sad, crying since she knows she'd be far from Yogi now.
Late that night, Cindy falls out of the train and becomes lost. A travelling circus is looking for a great act to raise their ratings, when suddenly, their dog runs off and scares Cindy into walking on the telephone wires, the perfect opportunity for the circus.
Yogi has recently missed Boo-Boo and above all Cindy. Yogi goes to Ranger Smith and hears about her disappearance. Soon, Yogi and Boo-Boo escape from Jellystone to find Cindy. Meanwhile, Ranger Smith decides to let them find their way home by to avoid trouble with the commissioner. After an extensive travel, Yogi and Boo-Boo locate Cindy, who is being kept a prisoner for the greedy manager's nest egg. As Yogi confronts the manager, he is made to join the circus, too. Boo-Boo releases Yogi and Cindy and they make their exit. As they are make their way home, they crash a barnyard party somehow escaping afloat a river with the barn's door. Then, while Cindy & Yogi dream about a honeymoon in Venice, they find themselves suddenly being chased and hunted by the police, as they somehow became fugitives, but make their escape.
They hitch a ride, but find themselves in the middle of a busy city and make a run from the police to the top of a hotel and across to a high rise. The next morning, Ranger Smith sees the three bears on television and decides to pick them up in a helicopter. All the commotions have made a great publicity for Jellystone and Ranger Smith gets promoted to Chief Ranger.
Cast [edit]
- Daws Butler as Yogi Bear
- Don Messick as Boo Boo Bear, Ranger Smith, Ranger Jones, Mugger
- Julie Bennett as Cindy Bear
- Mel Blanc as Grifter Chizzling
- J. Pat O'Malley as Snively
- Hal Smith as Corn Pone
- Jean Vander Pyl as the Barn Dance Woman
- Bill Lee as Yogi Bear (singing, "Ash Can Parade" and "Whistle Your Way Back Home")
- James Darren as Yogi Bear (singing, "Ven-e, Ven-o, Ven-a")
- Ernest Newton as Boo-Boo (singing)
- Jackie Ward as Cindy Bear (singing)
- Jonah and the Wailers as the zoo-bound bears performing "St. Louis"
Production [edit]
The animated musical film was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with a story by Hanna, Barbera, and former Warner Bros. Cartoons storyman Warren Foster. When the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio closed in May 1963, several of its animators, including Gerry Chiniquy, Friz Freleng and Ken Harris, joined Hanna-Barbera to work on this film.
Release and reception [edit]
A review from the May 27, 1964 issue of Variety 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".[4]
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,[5][6] as part of Atlantic Releasing's short-lived Clubhouse Pictures program.
DVD release [edit]
On December 2, 2008, Warner Home Video released the film on DVD in Region 1 (The United States, Canada, and Japan). [1] A R2 DVD was released in the UK on January 31, 2011.
Credits [edit]
- Associate Producer: Alex Lovy
- 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, Ernie Nordli, William Perez, Jacques W. Rupp, Tony Sgroi, Iwao Takamoto
- Story Supervisor: Friz Freleng (uncredited) [7]
- Story Sketches: Dan Gordon
- Animation Director: Charles A. Nichols
- Animators: Edwin Aardal, Gerry Chiniquy, George Goepper, Ken Harris, Jerry Hathcock, Harry Holt, George Kreisl, Don Lusk, Kenneth Muse, Ed Parks, Don Patterson, Ray Patterson, Grant Simmons, Irv Spence, Fred Wolf
- 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
- Production Supervisor: Howard Hanson
References [edit]
- ^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, 6 January 1965 p 39. Please note this figure is rentals accruing to distributors not total gross.
- ^ Beck, Jerry (2005). The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. p. 113. ISBN 1-55652-591-5.
- ^ Heitmueller, Karl (2007-04-10). "Rewind: Will Big-Screen 'Aqua Teen' Be Next 'South Park' — Or 'Scooby-Doo'?". MTV. Retrieved 2008-10-29.
- ^ "Hey There, It's Yogi Bear (film review)". Variety. May 27, 1964.
- ^ Solomon, Charles (1989). Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation. Alfred A. Knopf. p. 277. ISBN 0-394-54684-9.
- ^ "Hey There, It's Yogi bear (Re-issue)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
- ^ Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood Cartoons. New York: Oxford University Press.. Pg. 562-563. ISBN 0-19-516729-5.
External links [edit]
- Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! at the Internet Movie Database
- Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! at AllRovi
- Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! at Rotten Tomatoes
- Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! at the Big Cartoon DataBase
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
