Wednesday 24 July 2013

Yowp Runs Wild

Those of you who have followed my career know that I, Yowp, co-starred in three Yogi cartoons, only to be banished to reruns starting in 1959 as new characters rose to fame at Hanna-Barbera. They wouldn’t even put me in “Yo, Yogi!” but I wouldn’t wish that on a dog.

Oh. Right.

Anyway, during the heyday of my career, I was drawn by some fine artists. Here I am by Mike Lah.



This is me by Lew Marshall. Eyes are well below the top of the body.



The great Carlo Vinci drew me, too.



And Gerard Baldwin, who spent time working for the Jay Ward studio where they made some ridiculously funny TV cartoons (evidently I gained a lot of weight before shooting this cartoon).



Now, you can add to the list: John K., the man you all know for “Ren and Stimpy.”



Hmm. Kind of abstract, isn’t it?

John has been enlarging and shrinking various body parts of old H-B characters in a bit of an exercise with the Toon Boom animation software. He’s testing out some walk cycles and dialogue movements and hopes to post some when he’s ready. You’ll recall John created a couple of shorts with Yogi and running-wild Boo Boo. Could John K. be bringing me out of retirement to star in a cartoon again? We’ll have to see.

I’m using this post to not only thank John (who I’ve never met) for the doodling shout out, but to do the same to all readers and contributors. Last year, I mentioned the blog was going to come to an end due to a lack of time. Unexpected time off for surgery last December gave me a chance to bang off months of posts. They’re banked until Labour Day. We’ll see what happens after that.

Oh, yes, I was also drawn by Dick Bickenbach. He came up with a model sheet which was sent to me by one of the most generous people you can meet, Mark Kausler. I’ve posted it before but I’ll post it again.



I appreciate Mark’s willingness to share his time and knowledge about animation. And I appreciate those of you who pop by and read what’s here. Next week, we’ll post another interview with the Voice of Yowp, Don Messick.

8 comments:

  1. Another great post, Yowp!

    My earliest awareness of the character was on a set of Yogi Bear playing cards (of course, there was Yogi Bear everything in the early 60's). If I recall correctly, I think you included a reference to the playing card set in one of your posts quite a while back. Evidently, at one time, Yowp was considered a member of the recurring cast of characters.

    Please keep up the excellent work, and I'm hoping you'll get some more time off--only not for surgery this time, I wouldn't wish that on anyone! These posts are witty, insightful, highly entertaining and extremely informative. Best wishes to you for a great summer, and here's hoping that Yowp can continue past Labor Day--without undue stress and strain, of course!

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  2. I just hoping if John K does try to revive you, even if he tinkers with the layouts, he doesn't change the dialogue. It just wouldn't be the same without the one-word vocabulary...

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  3. I hope John K. leaves Yowp alone. We don't need to see HB characters tweaking their own nipples again.

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  4. The Yowp I remember most was the one by Lew...and I thought he was saying "Yelp, yelp." Oh well...TV audio in the 60s was pretty tinny coming from a 4" speaker.
    Jack

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  5. Cartoons have been a sadder place without you, Yowp. Your range of emotions in that one scene from " Bare Faced Bare " about 27 seconds, is a performance wothy of " The Bard ".

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  6. The Yowp animated by Gérard Baldwin, appears with the Walter Clinton's design on the Yogi Bear episode Bareface Bear.
    The Yowp animated by Lewis Marshall, appears with the Dick "Bick" Bickenbach's design on the Yogi Bear episode Foxy Hound-Dog.
    And the Yowp animated by Carlo Vinci, appears with the Bick's design on the Yogi Bear episode Duck in Luck.

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  7. So much information I never would've known about Yowp!

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  8. John K.'s art is very, very, very disgusting and ugly.

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