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Snagglepuss

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Snagglepuss
File:Snagglepuss.jpg
Snagglepuss's Title Card
GenreComedy
Created byHanna-Barbera
Directed byWilliam Hanna
Joseph Barbera
StarringSnagglepuss
Voices ofDaws Butler[1]
Country of origin United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes32 (list of episodes)
Production
ProducersWilliam Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Running time7 Minutes Per Short
Production companyHanna-Barbera Productions
Original release
NetworkFirst-Run Syndication
ReleaseJanuary 30 (1961-01-30) –
December 30, 1961 (1961-12-30)
Related
The Yogi Bear Show

Snagglepuss is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character created in 1959[2], a pink anthropomorphic mountain lion voiced by Daws Butler.[1] He is best known for his famous catchphrase, "Heavens to Murgatroyd!"[1], along with phrases such as "Exit, stage right!"

Summary

Snagglepuss first appeared in several episodes of The Quick Draw McGraw Show[2] and became a regular segment on The Yogi Bear Show, starring in a total of 32 episodes. (See the list of episodes.) He also appeared in other Hanna-Barbera series such as Yogi's Gang in 1973, as a co-host for Laff-A-Lympics in 1977 and 1978, Yogi's Treasure Hunt in 1985 and as a teenager on Yo Yogi! in 1991.

Snagglepuss lives in a cavern, which he constantly tries to make more habitable for himself. No matter what he does, however, he always winds up back where he started or worse off than he was before. In some episodes, Snagglepuss is chased by Major Minor (voiced by Don Messick), a tiny-sized hunter, whose chases seem similar to the ones which involve Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny.

In his earliest roles, before getting his own cartoons, Snagglepuss was orange instead of pink and occasionally called "Snaggletooth", though not always. Confusion reigns in part because his first appearance, Lamb Chopped (an early Quick Draw McGraw short), actually calls him Snagglepuss but has him refer to an unseen "Snaggletooth" as his brother.

Character

Butler's voice characterization is reminiscent of the more soft-spoken aspect of Bert Lahr's broad-ranging characterizations, specifically the Cowardly Lion in the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz.[1]

Snagglepuss has three signature catchphrases. Before dashing off (whether to escape or for some other reason), he exclaims "Exit, stage left!" (or stage right, and sometimes even up or down), a phrase used in theatrical stage directions. Snagglepuss typically appends the adverbial focus particle "... even" to seemingly every phrase. His most famous is his perpetual exclamation, "Heavens to Murgatroyd!" - a line first uttered by Bert Lahr in the 1944 film Meet the People.[1]

When the character of Snagglepuss was used for a series of Kellogg's cereal television commercials in the 1960s, Lahr filed a lawsuit, claiming that the similarity of the Snagglepuss voice to his own might cause viewers to falsely conclude that Lahr was endorsing the product. As part of the settlement, the disclaimer "Snagglepuss voice by Daws Butler" was required to appear on each commercial, thus making Butler one of the few voice artists to receive a screen credit in a TV commercial.[1]

Other appearances

In other languages

  • Spanish: El león Melquíades
  • Portuguese: Leao da Montanha
  • French: Alcibiade[3]
  • Italian: Svicolone

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Martin, Gary (1996–2009). "Heavens to Murgatroyd". Retrieved 2009-08-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  2. ^ a b "Cartoon Scrapbook". Snagglepuss
  3. ^ http://en.allexperts.com/e/s/sn/snagglepuss.htm
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