YOGI BEAR - #BLOGCHATTERA2ZCHALLENGE2022

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Yogi Bear is an American cartoon character, a popular character who walks and talks, clad in a porkpie hat and a necktie. He first appeared in various comics, like Dell, Gold Key, Charlton, Marvel, DC and Harvey, each showcasing his adventures and antics in the fictional Jellystone National Park, which mimicked the real Yellowstone National Park. Not surprisingly, these comics were avidly devoured by children across the world. In February 1961, the Yogi Bear comic strip was created by Gene Hazelton, and it ran successfully from then till 1988. The distributors were the McNaught Syndicate.

                                                          Yogi Bear -Wikipedia

Yogi Bear made his debut as a supporting character in the Huckleberry Hound show in 1958. Created by Hanna-Barbera, Yogi Bear was modelled on the character of Ed Norton in the television series ‘The Honeymooners’. Soon, he eclipsed Huckleberry Hound and was given his own show in 1961 called ‘The Yogi Bear Show’. In 1964, a musical animated film titled ‘Hey, There, It’s Yogi Bear’ was released.

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There is a reason why Yogi Bear wore a collar, like several other Hanna-Barbera characters. This kept his body stationary, and they only had to redraw his head to change shots when he spoke. This brought costs down reducing the number of drawings required for a cartoon that was seven minutes long from a gargantuan 14,000 to around 2000, which made perfect financial sense.

Yogi Bear had a companion named Boo-Boo Bear, a dwarf bear with a blue neck tie, an accomplice who supported him in all his antics, many of which ended in stealing food from the campers’ picnic baskets. Ranger Parker Smith kept a look-out but his efforts were often foiled by the two bears, much to his chagrin. Yogi Bear’s girlfriend, Cindy Bear, appeared in many of the stories, and ended up frowning at his misdemeanours.

                                                          Boo-Boo - Pinterest

What made Yogi Bear so loved was the way he spoke – the catch phrases he used. His normal greeting was an excitable ‘Hey, Hey, Hey!” He enjoyed pilfering picnic baskets, pronouncing the word as ‘pic-a-nic’. What sent his audiences into raptures was his assumption that he was cleverer than most, and the way he put that across – “I am smarter than the av-er-age bear!” He often tried to use long words and puns on his speech, often even resorting to rhyme.

For decades, Yogi Bear’s voice was done by Daws Butler. After he passed away, many others carried on, lending their voices to the popular character – Greg Burson, Billy West, Jeff Bergman and Scott Innes. In 2010, actor Dan Ackroyd did the honours in the ‘Yogi Bear’ film.

Hann-Barbera went a step further when they created instructional Yogi Bear comics on topics like first aid,  (Creative First Aid: Yogi’s Bear Facts) and earthquake preparedness (Yogi: The Be-Prepared Bear: Earthquake Preparedness for Children -1984 and Yogi’s Bear Facts: Earthquake Preparedness - 1988)

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