The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound

The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound
Title Card for The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound
Genre	Animation Comedy-drama
Directed by	Supervising: Ray Patterson Assisting: Bob Goe John Kimball Charles A. Nichols Jay Sarbry
Produced by	Executive Producers: William Hanna Joseph Barbera Assisting: Charles Grosvenor
Written by	John Ludin Tom Ruegger
Starring	Daws Butler Frank Welker Charlie Adler Michael Bell Daws Butler Pat Buttram Pat Fraley Allan Melvin Don Messick Howard Morris B.J. Ward
Music by	Sven Libaek
Editing by	Gil Iverson
Country	United States
Language	English
Original channel	First-Run Syndication
Release date	April 6, 1988
Running time	120 minutes
Preceded by	Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears
Followed by	Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf

The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound is a 1988 American animated television movie that stars Huckleberry Hound. It was a part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series of televised movies. This television feature is a parody of various western movies, the title is a take-off of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and a major plot point is lifted from High Noon. The constant references to Huckleberry as a "mysterious, steely-eyed, and silent-type stranger" (despite the fact that Huck's just being himself) spoof the western stock character of the Man with No Name. Several other plot points are lifted from well-known western films, such as High Plains Drifter.

Plot

During the California Gold Rush of 1849, Huckleberry Hound – referred to throughout the picture as a "mysterious, steely-eyed, and silent-type stranger" – rides west on his "faithful horsie" to start a small pig-and-goat farm (When Huckleberry first appears, he is singing Oh My Darling, Clementine, which has been a signature trait of this character since his first appearance in 1958). His journey takes him to the small western town of Two-Bit, California, where Hokey Wolf is the mayor; Snagglepuss plays the piano and entertains the customers in Rusty Nails' Saloon; Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey run the bank; and Yogi Bear and Boo Boo, who've run away from Jellystone Park to get away from children saying "Look at the bears! Look at the bears!" (which unfortunately still happens when stagecoaches pass by), live on handouts.

Two-Bit is being terrorized by the outlaw Dalton Brothers. Their leader, Stinky Dalton, has been caught and imprisoned for 90 days of hard labor, but the three remaining brothers – Dinky, Finky, and Pinky – are robbing and bullying everyone they come across. Indeed, as Huck approaches the town limits, the Daltons race past him and swipe his horse, saddle, and western outfit. Entering the saloon, Huck tries to buy a drink with a large gold nugget (that the Daltons somehow overlooked); seeing this, the brothers coerce Huck into a poker game, hoping to win the nugget from him, while Huck, upon learning they're the crooks who made off with his horse, saddle, and duds, tries to wins back what is rightfully his. After Huck accuses them of cheating (because each Dalton has four or more aces in his hand), they challenge him to a fight in a boxing ring with Huck's property as the prize. After 705 rounds, Huck wins with the aid of Betsy: an anvil concealed in his glove.

Having won back his horse and possessions, Huck goes to deposit his nugget in Quick Draw McGraw and Baba's bank, where he wins a prize, being able to choose either a complimentary fountain pen, a calendar, a toaster, a covered wagon, or a trip to Tahiti on a riverboat. Being partial to its blue ink, Huck selects the fountain pen (though as a running gag, the pen keeps squirting ink in his face). Moments later, the Daltons rob the bank, stealing Huck's nugget and pen. Upset, Huck demands to see the sheriff. When Quick Draw and Baba take him to a cemetery (the Daltons having gunned down the last one), Huck decides to see Mayor Hokey. At the same time, an emergency town meeting is taking place to discuss what to do about the Daltons, when Hokey and the citizens are informed that Stinky has broken out of jail and will be coming to Two-Bit to gun down the sheriff ... and if there is no sheriff (which there isn't), Stinky will go gunning for the mayor. Fearing for his life, Hokey quickly decides to appoint a new sheriff to handle the threat, and just as he and the citizens are wondering where they'll find someone dumb enough to take the job, in walks Huckleberry to complain about the bank robbery; he's unanimously appointed sheriff on the spot.

Sheriff Huck goes after the three Dalton Brothers and, after a number of confrontations where Huck was badly injured and bandaged, successfully jails them ... by using a crane to drop the jailhouse over them. The people of Two-Bit throw a party to celebrate Huck's victory and bid him farewell, believing Stinky (who's coming on the noon train) will kill him. Huck, however, feels he can win, believing that he will have help fighting Stinky. Unfortunately, everyone runs out on him; in fact, Hokey, Yogi, Boo Boo, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw, and Baba all take the trip to Tahiti Huck passed on until things calm down. Stinky arrives on schedule and looks forward to gunning down the sheriff, but Huck disarms him by using a giant magnet to pull the revolvers out of Stinky's holsters. After finishing the lines Huck set him to for playing with guns, Stinky tries to kill Huck with explosive "gifts". Unfortunately, each attempt literally blows up in his face so he decides to get help by breaking his brothers out of jail by disguising himself as their grandmother.

After the four Dalton Brothers demolish Huck's office with a stampede of bulls, they head out, only to be pursued by Sheriff Huck (who had gone downstairs to play billiards during the stampede), in a classic cartoon chase in which they cannot escape him no matter where they go. However, Stinky realizes that they have him outnumbered (something which Huck was hoping they wouldn't figure out) and the Daltons tie Huck up and take him to Cape Dalton and strap him to a homemade rocket. Despite trying to get there to save Huck in time, Huck's horse is too late and watches as the rocket with Huck launches into space and explodes.

With Huck out of the way, the Daltons are free to go on a crime spree, becoming the richest outlaws in the west, and (after much arguing) rename Two-Bit as Daltonville. Hokey and company return from Tahiti and discover the Daltons completely control their town with Finky in charge of the saloon, Dinky owning the bank, Pinky owning the parlor, and Stinky being both the mayor and the sheriff (much to the dismay of Hokey and Huck's horse). After learning what happened to Huck, the former residents of Two-Bit are thrown out of town by the Daltons on a freight train, knowing that they've only themselves to blame for what's happened to their town and to Huckleberry.

Meanwhile, at a campsite of a tribe of Native American hounds who look just like Huck except for their yellow fur, the chief's daughter, Desert Flower is out in the desert when she discovers the crashed rocket and Huck; still alive. Huck awakens in the tribe, but has amnesia as a result of his injuries. Desert Flower calls him 'the mysterious blue hombre with amnesia'. As the chief's daughter tends to the recuperating Huck, the two of them quickly fall in love. Huck proposes to Desert Flower, but her father disapproves of her marrying outside the tribe. To gain the chief's approval, Huck agrees to undergo a two-part initiation test to join the tribe, even though failure to pass either part would doom him to "a long walk off a short cliff." Desert Flower begs Huck not to take the test, for nobody has ever succeeded in passing it, but Huck is determined. The first part is a test of intelligence, in the form of a quiz show; by sheer luck (and, ironically, the chief's attempts to make him fail by pressing Huck's buzzer), Huck answers every question correctly and passes the first part of the test. The second part, however, is a test of strength consisting of wrestling with Chuckling Chipmunk, who, despite having a harmless sounding name, is the biggest, strongest member of the tribe, and Huck is defeated. Before Huck is forced to pay the "penalty", Desert Flower (who is heartbroken and standing at the edge of the cliff) falls in the river and is swept toward a waterfall. Acting quickly, Huck jumps in and rescues her. Grateful and impressed, the chief gives his blessing for the two of them to marry.

The wedding ceremony is interrupted by Huck's horse, who's finally found his master. The horse – who's able to talk, but had no reason to until now – restores Huck's memory by telling him that his name is Huckleberry Hound, and Huck realizes that he has to go back and take care of "unfinished business" with the Daltons. Promising to return and marry Desert Flower, Huck rides off on his faithful horsie (whose name is Bob) to find the Two-Bit residents who'd abandoned him before. Hokey and the others are trying to support themselves by operating a wild west circus, which is doing miserably. Huck sends them a message signed the "Blue Hombre" to give them a chance to redeem themselves and take back their town. At the meeting sight, the group encounters the 'ghost' of Huckleberry Hound, who reveals that he's still alive, using the ghostly disguise as part of his plan to beat the Daltons, but it'll only work if his friends agree to help this time. This time they stand with him.

Back in Daltonville, as the Daltons are celebrating their success, they are shown a movie film made by Huck and the others saying that the ghost of Huckleberry Hound is coming back to Daltonville on a midnight ghost train. Finky, Pinky, and Dinky are scared out of their wits, but Stinky refuses to be intimidated. Wearing his disguise, Huck arrives in Daltonville in a green painted train rigged with special effects.

Huck succeeds in terrifying the Daltons (including Stinky) by saying he will haunt them forever unless they fulfill his requests, starting with returning his gold nugget. The brothers give the nugget back, thinking they're squared, but the "ghost" also demands they pay their debt to society and go to jail. Scared or not, the Daltons refuse to be made to go to jail by a ghost. The former residents of Two-Bit, however, chase after them, and the Daltons run into what they think is their secret hideout ... but is actually the state prison in disguise. Later, the governor of California congratulates Huck on capturing the Daltons, and Huck says he couldn't have done it without the help of his friends. A boy asks for Huck's autograph, and Huck takes his pen back from the Daltons in order to sign it (which Dinky was hoping he wouldn't remember).

In the epilogue, the heroes of Two-Bit have all moved on to other things:

• Snagglepuss became an actor on Broadway.
• Quick Draw and Baba became the new sheriff and deputy of Two-Bit.
• Hokey opened the first used-wagon dealership in the west.
• Yogi and Boo Boo have moved back to Jellystone and returned to filching picnic baskets and being pestered by children saying "Look at the bears! Look at the bears!"

Huckleberry, meanwhile, had returned to marry Desert Flower, and the two of them have settled down on a little farm to raise goats and pigs ... and a family.

Cameo appearances

In addition to the characters mentioned above, the following H-B characters appear in the telecasted movie:

• Peter Potamus, captain of the ship that takes the Two-Bit residents to Tahiti.
• Super Snooper, Muttley, and Doggie Daddy, who are in the "audience" when Huck is trying to decide which prize to accept from the bank.
• Magilla Gorilla and Mr. Peebles, who appear as a reporter at the site of Stinky Dalton's breakout and the jailer bound and gagged by Stinky being interviewed, respectively.

Home media

VHS

On August 1, 1991 (1991-08-01), The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound was released on VHS videocassette in the United States. However, as of 2009, the videocassette is now out of print.

DVD

On August 9, 2011, Warner Bros. released The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound on DVD in region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the US.

Cast

• Daws Butler – Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Baba Looey, Snagglepuss, Hokey Wolf, Peter Potamus
• Charlie Adler – News Anchorman, Pig, Pinky Dalton
• Pat Buttram – Red Eye the Bartender
• Don Messick – Boo Boo Bear, Narrator
• Michael Bell – Bailiff, Laughing Donkey, Longhorn Steer, Station Announcer, Stinky Dalton
• Pat Fraley – Autograph Boy, Baby, Boy, Finky Dalton, Rooster
• Howard Morris – Chuckling Chipmunk, Goldminer/Dentist, Governor, Mr. Peebles, Photographer
• Allan Melvin – Devil, Dinky Dalton, Game Show Announcer, Magilla Gorilla, Spooky Movie Narrator
• B.J. Ward – Chieftess, Desert Flower, Elderly Lady, Girl, Rusty Nails
• Frank Welker – Bob, Huckleberry's Horse, Chief, Judge Tumbleweed Flopner, Mission Control, Race Track Announcer

See also

• Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10

External links

• The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound at the Internet Movie Database
• The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound at AllRovi
• "The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound" at TV.com