I’ll Do the Drawin’ Around Here

Forty-five Quick Draw McGraw cartoons were churned out between 1959 and 1961, assembled as part of a half-hour show for Kellogg’s. They later found their way to television stations to be used on cartoon compilations or live, hosted kids shows, and each cartoon featured a title card revealing who did the art and story work.

Somewhere along the way, the opening credits were chopped for time and out went the title card. So Quick Draw was broadcast for quite some time without anyone knowing who painted the backgrounds or rushed with their pencil to get their footage out. This fate befell pretty well all of the Hanna-Barbera shorts of that era but many have had their credits restored, especially for DVD release.

Recently, your favourite TV cartoon dog of the 1950s (certainly I must rank ahead of Chopper) happened upon almost full runs of Huckleberry Hound and Pixie and Dixie cartoons from Italian television. Most of them had full credits. I was hoping for the same Italo-TV discovery with Quick Draw McGraw and, indeed, it has happened. However, it’s disappointing that only about half of them have a title card with drawing and story credits. So that’s what I’m going to bring you.

The first 26 cartoons were originally broadcast on the first season, followed by 13 in the second season and the remaining six in the third. They’re in order of copyright though, as far as I can tell, they’re also in broadcast order; certainly the first season is. As you can see, the cartoons weren’t aired in the order they were produced.

Ex Warners’ layout man Bob Givens worked on at least two Quick Draws before vamoosing in the first season. It’s possible he also did layouts on others which don’t have credits available. Gerard Baldwin, who bolted for the Jay Ward studio in 1959, also animated a couple.

There were never any voice or music credits, but Hoyt Curtin’s underscores replaced the stock music for the third season, which is the reason four of that season’s cartoons are on DVD (though The Mark of El Kabong has the title cards for Lamb Chopped). And it took awhile for Joe Barbera to settle on new voices for his cartoons. The first Quick Draw in production featured Elliot Field, the original voice of Blabber Mouse; the second had Vance Colvig, who returned to the studio the following year to play Chopper, and the third had Peter Leeds, who lost the Doggie Daddy role to Doug Young. Young, Hal Smith, Julie Bennett and Jean Vander Pyl also provided incidental characters in the first season. And Don Messick, of course.

It’s a shame credits aren’t available for some of my favourite cartoons, including the first three in production. Another is the second-season closer El Kabong, Jr., where Daws digs up his Jerry Lewis voice for the title character. El Kabong is at his most stylised here and there are a couple of neat little dance scenes.

The backgrounds vary; most have a flat brown, blue or pinkish colour, occasionally with clouds, but my favourites are probably by Art Lozzi. In Ali Baba Looey, he indulges in various shades of purples in the sky. I think that’s Lozzi again in The Mark of El Kabong, where the sky is green. And he does some nice work on the background that’s panned in the opening of Chopping Spree, with Bick adding his flip-up branch trees in layout.

If anyone has a line on the actual cartoons with the credits—no web databases or wikis, please—let me know where I can find them. For now, this will have to suffice.

Late note: Rick G. has gone through some of the records of his friend, the late Earl Kress, and thoughtfully sent credits for Masking For Trouble. Earl got his information from Hanna-Barbera and is unimpeachable.

First Season, 1959-60

LAMB CHOPPED Show M-001, Production J-11
Animation – Ken Muse; Layout – Ed Benedict; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

BAD GUY’S DISGUISE Show M-002, Production J-4
(No credits. Animation – Carlo Vinci; Voices – Daws Butler; Vance Colvig)

MASKING FOR TROUBLE Show M-003, Production J-10
Animation – Lew Marshall; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Fernando Montealegre; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick, Julie Bennett.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

BOW-WOW BANDIT Show M-004, Production J-30
(No credits. Animation – Ken Muse; Voices – Daws Butler, Doug Young)

SCAT, SCOUT, SCAT Show M-005, Production J-5
(No credits. Animation – Ken Muse; Voices – Daws Butler, Peter Leeds)

SCARY PRAIRIE Show M-006, Production J-1
(No credits. Animation – Carlo Vinci; Voices – Daws Butler, Elliot Field)

EL KABONG Show M-007, Production J-43
Animation – Lew Marshall; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

CHOO-CHOO CHUMPS Show M-008, Production J-9
Animation – Ken Muse; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Fernando Montealegre; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Doug Young.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

RIVERBOAT SHUFFLED Show M-009, Production J-20
(No credits. Animation – Carlo Vinci; Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick)

CATTLE BATTLE RATTLED Show M-010
(No credits. Animation – Dick Lundy; Voices – Daws Butler, Hal Smith)

DOUBLE BARREL DOUBLE Show M-011
Animation – Ken Muse; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Doug Young.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

SLICK CITY SLICKER Show M-012
Animation – Dick Lundy; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Hal Smith.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

EL KABONG STRIKES AGAIN Show M-013
Animation – Carlo Vinci; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Joe Montell; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick, Jean Vander Pyl.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

SIX-GUN SPOOK Show M-014
Animation – Gerard Baldwin; Layout – Bob Givens; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

SAGEBRUSH BRUSH Show M-015, Production J-25
(No credits. Animation – Lew Marshall; Voices – Daws Butler, Hal Smith)

GUN GONE GOONS Show M-016, Production J-49
(No credits. Animation – Dick Lundy; Voices – Daws Butler, Doug Young).

DIZZY DESPERADO Show M-017, Production J-21
Animation – Lew Marshall; Layout – Bob Givens; Backgrounds – Fernando Montelegre; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Doug Young.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

DOGGONE PRAIRIE DOG Show M-018, Production J-42
Animation – Gerard Baldwin; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Joe Montell; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

TREASURE OF EL KABONG Show M-019, Production J-55
(No credits. Animation – Carlo Vinci; Voices – Daws Butler, Hal Smith, Jean Vander Pyl)

BRONCO BUSTIN’ BOOBS Show M-020, Production J-60
Animation – Ken Muse; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick.
Copyright 1959 by Hanna-Barbara Productions.

LOCOMOTIVE LOCO Show M-021, Production J-56
(No credits. Animation – Carlo Vinci; Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick)

ELEPHANT BOY OH BOY! Show M-022, Production J-66
(No credits. Animation – Ken Muse; Voices – Daws Butler, Hal Smith).
See note in the comment section.

THE LYIN’ LION Show M-023, Production J-61
(No credits. Animation – George Nicholas; Voices – Daws Butler)

BULL-LEAVE ME Show M-024, Production J-71
(No credits. Animation – Dick Lundy; Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick, Doug Young)

KABONG KABONG’S KABONG Show M-025, Production J-72
Animation – George Nicholas; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick.
Copyright 1959 by Hanna-Barbara Productions.

CHOPPING SPREE Show M-026, Production J-65
Animation – Lew Marshall; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Art Lozzi; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Hal Smith, Jean Vander Pyl.
Copyright 1959 by Hanna-Barbara Productions.

Second Season, 1960-61

EL KABONG MEETS EL KAZING Show M-027, Production J-79
Animation – George Nicholas; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbara Productions.

BULLET PROOF GALOOT Show M-028, Production J-84
(No credits. Voices – Daws Butler, Doug Young)

TWO TOO MUCH Show M-029, Production J-85
(No credits. Animation – Ed Love; Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick, Doug Young)

TWIN TROUBLES Show M-030, Production J-91
(No credits. Animation – Ken Muse; Voices – Daws Butler, Doug Young)

ALI-BABA LOOEY Show M-031, Production J-89
Animation – Dick Lundy; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Art Lozzi; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbara Productions.

SHOOTING ROOM ONLY Show M-032, Production J-95
(No credits. Voices – Daws Butler, Doug Young; Julie Bennett)

YIPPEE COYOTE Show M-033, Production J-101
(No credits. Animation – Dick Lundy; Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick)

WHO IS EL KABONG? Show M-034, Production J-113
Animation – Hicks Lokey; Layout – Paul Sommer; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbara Productions.

EXTRA SPECIAL EXTRA Show M-035, Production J-99 (or J-112)
(No credits. Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick)

SCOOTER RABBIT Show M-036, Production J-106
Animation – Bob Bentley; Layout – Paul Sommer; Backgrounds – Art Lozzi; Written by Maltese; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Hal Smith.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbara Productions.

TALKY HAWKY Show M-037, Production J-116 (or J-109)
Animation – Ed De Mattia; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Art Lozzi; Written By – Mike Maltese; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Doug Young.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbara Productions.

GUN SHY GAL Show M-038, Production J-100
Animation – Paul Sommer; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Written by Mike Maltese; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Doug Young, Jean Vander Pyl.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbara Productions.

EL KABONG, JR. Show M-039, Production J-115
(No credits. Animation – Art Davis. Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick, Jean Vander Pyl)

Third Season, 1961-62

BABA BAIT Show M-040, Production J-123
(No credits. Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick; Music – Hoyt Curtin)

DYNAMITE FRIGHT Show M-041, Production J-110
Animation – Hicks Lokey; Layout – Paul Sommer; Backgrounds – Vera Hanson; Written by Mike Maltese; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Doug Young.
Music – Hoyt Curtin.
Copyright 1961 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

EL KABONG WAS WRONG Show M-042, Production J-119
Animation – Hicks Lokey; Layout – Paul Sommer; Backgrounds – Vera Hanson; Written by Mike Maltese; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick, Jean Vander Pyl.
Music – Hoyt Curtin.
Copyright 1961 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

MINE YOUR MANNERS Show M-043, Production J-130
Animation – Bob Bentley; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Art Lozzi; Written by Mike Maltese; Story Director – John Freeman; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick.
Music – Hoyt Curtin.
Copyright 1961 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

THE MARK OF EL KABONG Show M-044, Production J-136
(No credits. Voices – Daws Butler, Don Messick, Jean Vander Pyl; Music – Hoyt Curtin)

BIG TOWN EL KABONG Show M-045, Production J-126
(No credits. Voices – Daws Butler,– Don Messick, Jean Vander Pyl; Music – Hoyt Curtin)

If anyone has a line on the actual cartoons with the credits—no databases or wikis, please—let me know where I can find them. For now, this will have to suffice.

This brings to an end our little series of cartoons credits. There are some first- and second-season Yogis (from the Huck show without credits, but the Italian TV copies I’ve found have taken copies of American TV versions—not the originals—and substituted the language track, so they don’t have missing credits, either. Perhaps some day all these cartoons will be fully and completely restored for fans to enjoy, and to appreciate the artists who worked on them, knowing who they are.

Yogi Bear — Space Bear

Produced and Directed by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.
Credits: Animation – Don Patterson; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Warren Foster; Story Director – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence (Art) Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voice Cast: Yogi, Motorist, Man with Gun – Daws Butler; Boo Boo, Alien Leader, Alien, Ranger Smith – Don Messick.
Music: Bill Loose/John Seely, Jack Shaindlin, Geordie Hormel, Spence Moore, Phil Green, Raoul Kraushaar.
First Aired: week of February 22, 1960 (rerun, week of August 1, 1960).
Production: Huckleberry Hound Show No. K-39.
Plot: An alien disguises himself as Yogi and terrorises Jellystone with a disintegration gun.

Title card courtesy of Greg Duffell.

Any Hanna-Barbera fan watching this can’t help but think of ‘The Ten Little Flintstones’ (1964). That’s where a flying saucer lands, takes a picture of Fred, ten small-pupiled, staring duplicates of Fred are made, and a quavery-voiced leader played by Don Messick dispatches them to “mingle with the natives” of Earth before an invasion. Fred eventually chases them back into the saucer and saves the planet.

It was written by Tony Benedict, who wasn’t at Hanna-Barbera when this cartoon was written by Warren Foster. Still, the basic opening is the same. A saucer lands at Jellystone Park. Yogi, who’s not very bright for someone who is supposedly crafty, thinks it’s a car with newly-arrived tourists and decides to hit them up for food. A camera emerges, takes pictures of Yogi, then the saucer zooms into space and lands on a ringed planet. A quavery-voiced leader played by Don Messick—yes, using the same voice—talks of invasion plans. The photos of Yogi are used as a guide to make a costume of a “typical Earth inhabitant” worn by an alien who is told to go back to Earth and “mix in with the population.” And at the end of the cartoon, Yogi kicks butt (literally) and presumably saves Earth.

Comes to think of it, in Hanna-Barbera’s very first series, didn’t the two-faced Big Thinker of Muni-Mula want to make Ruff and Reddy look-a-likes to invade the Earth?

Ah, well. Despite the similarities, there’s a still lot to like in this cartoon. The aliens look like something from a ‘50s print ad instead of a ‘50s sci-fi movie. Messick’s alien voice is cool. He even changes pitch and puts it in another alien (he used it on The Herculoids and a number of other times during his career). Don Patterson gets some great expressions at the end of the cartoon out of a streamlined Ranger Smith. The timing of the realisation Yogi hasn’t left is perfect, too. And Yogi’s spit-take is as good as any Catskills comic’s.

An ingenious animation-saving bit is used, similar to when Jinks is zapped by a light socket in ‘Mark of the Mouse.’ When the camera takes a picture of Yogi, no animation is used. Instead, alternating black-and-white drawings are flashed on the screen.



Just to vary the visuals, there’s a cut to a shot of Boo Boo as the flash goes off. I like the brushwork here (or is it pencilwork?). The one thing I don’t understand is how the aliens can build a futuristic space ship but they’re using what looks like an old Bell and Howell home movie camera from the 1950s.

Here are a couple of shots of Saucer X-12 as it weaves to a landing on the unnamed planet. Nice brush-stroke space clouds and varying shades of grey on the planet. The landing tower is kind of art deco.




The aliens have ears that curl up from the bottom. Either the model sheet was inconsistent or Don Patterson didn’t pay attention to it. In the scene where the alien leader is showing the photos of Yogi on the big screen, he has only one triangle on his full-length tunic. Later, when he’s giving instructions to the alien disguised as Yogi, he has interlacing triangles and stylised epaulettes. Patterson must have had fun following the dialogue track because he gives the alien mouth movements that waver at the appropriate time.



The spaceship and its disguised occupant return to Jellystone and stop in the middle of a road. The fake Yogi gets out and toddles along with a disintegrating ray gun in hand. There’s honking off-camera. “Get out of the road you mangy bear! Come on, beat it!” yells the passenger in a car. Apparently, the presence of a large flying saucer in the road has escaped him. He just notices the bear. You can tell which one he is because he’s not in a brown shadow. The alien aims his ray gun and poof!



This development, logically, results in a phone call to the Ranger Station. The station looks like something a five-year-old would draw. There are spots in the cartoon where parts of the backgrounds look fairly crude (the letters of “Jellystone” over the park entrance almost look traced) but this is just a bit much. The zig-zag lines indicating fir branches work for me, though.

Inside, the Ranger listens to the phone call concludes “They forget where they park their cars and blame it on the bears.” Meanwhile, Yogi decides to find some tourist-type goodies and jauntily walks past the alien Yogi. “Shee. What a screwy-looking bear,” he remarks. When he goes over to talk to the “bear,” it zaps him. After the flash, we see a headless Yogi. But we all know Hanna-Barbera anatomy. It means the head is really under the collar and pops back up. I’m still not quite sure where the head actually goes.

The fake Yogi is on his way to the Ranger Station, where more calls are pouring in. First the alien zaps the ranger’s desk, then his back wall. The ranger’s okay. He’s only biting his bottom lip because Don Patterson’s animating.



“Attention, all sections of the park!” Ranger Smith blares on a radio. “This is an emergency. A bear has gone berserk. He is armed and dangerous. If you see him, call the ranger station at once. Repeat. A berserk bear is on the loose. He is armed and dangerous. His name is Yogi Bear.” At that point, the thermos-drinking bear does a shock take then a spit take. Patterson stretches out the scene with cycles, too. There’s a picnicking family with a dad chewing and the daughter blinking (the mother does nothing).





Yogi and Boo Boo hightail it into their cave. Boo Boo notices the disguised alien who Yogi kicks out of the cave. The alien aims the disintegrating ray gun at Yogi but it’s out of whatever. But the Ranger has a regular (presumably loaded) gun he points at the fake Yogi who runs away. “Hey, Yogi, come back,” says the ranger. “I promise you a fair trial.” Just then is a clank and a shot of the space ship taking off. Ranger Smith thinks he’s rid of Yogi. Here’s his exuberance in five drawings; Patterson has him change direction.



“I’m free! I’m free, I tell ya!” shouts the ranger as Yogi walks up to him in that dip walk Patterson used to avoid animating legs. “You certainly are, sir. It’s a free country.” Here’s when the Ranger realises something.

“That voice!” says the ranger as he slowly turns up to see who he’s hugging. The head turns in seven drawings (with a blink tossed in) and returns to the sixth drawing.



“Oh, no! It’s Yogi,” moans Ranger Smith, who then looks at the audience through half-closed eyes and drops down further on Yogi’s body and starts crying. “How about that? I didn’t know he cared,” says Yogi, with an eye roll before the iris closes.

The theme of someone who was something else was a good crutch for Foster in the 1959-60 season. He wrote 12 Yogi cartoons (Mike Maltese wrote one) and based eight around the concept:
● A jewel thief pretending to be a bear in ‘Bare Face Bear.’
● Yogi and Boo Boo pretending to be father and son in ‘Papa Yogi.’
● Wee Willie being mistaken for a ranger in ‘Stranger Ranger.’
● Yogi mistaking human football players for real bears, then being mistaken for a mascot from the front office in ‘Rah Rah Bear.’
● Boo Boo being made to think he was a bird in ‘Nowhere Bear,’
● Boo Boo, then, Yogi, pretending to be a toy in ‘Wound-Up Bear.’
● Boo Boo pretending to be Little Red Riding Hood in ‘Hoodwinked Bear.’
● And this cartoon where an alien pretends to be Yogi.

The sound cutter pulls out a bit of spacey music, not as much as you hear in the Muni-Mula stories on Ruff and Reddy as only part of this is set in space. One of the Loose-Seely “Ghost” cues (actually written by David Rose) makes an appearance and there’s one of Phil Green’s eerie flute and bassoon underscores when the alien shows the snaps of Yogi. It was used in at least one other cartoon. A short cue from Geordie Hormel in the Hi-Q “D” series is heard when the space ship lands; the only time I’ve heard it on the Huck series. And we get the creepy mysterioso muted trumpet bed from the Omar library distributed by Capitol. It sounds edited together.

0:00 - Yogi Bear Sub Main Title Theme (Curtin-Hanna-Barbera)
0:25 - L-75 COMEDY UNDERSCORE (Moore) – Space ship lands in Jellystone.
0:42 - ZR-51 LIGHT MOVEMENT (Hormel) – Yogi talks to Boo Boo, camera takes pictures of Yogi, space ship takes off.
1:48 - TC-22 SUBLIME GHOST (Loose-Seely) - “What a cheapskate”, space ship lands.
2:10 - EM-136I EERIE (Green) – Alien shows film of Yogi.
2:50 - TC-22 SUBLIME GHOST (Loose-Seely) – “One of us...” Leader gives orders.
3:28 - ZR-21E SUSPENSE (Hormel) – Alien salutes, lands space ship in Jellystone, car honking sound.
3:42 - 7-MR-183 creepy wah-wah muted trumpet (Kraushaar) – Guy in car yells at alien, car disintegrated, ranger station scene.
4:15 - C-3 DOMESTIC CHILDREN (Loose-Seely) – Yogi “liberates” goodies, has head zapped by alien.
4:51 - LAF 27-6 UNTITLED TUNE (Shaindlin) – Ranger’s office scene, alien zaps hole in office, walks away.
5:26 - L-80 COMEDY UNDERSCORE (Moore) – Ranger on radio, Yogi spit take,
6:00 - TC-301 ZANY WALTZ (Loose-Seely) – Yogi and Boo Boo zip away, alien/bear in cave, runs away, Ranger with gun.
6:35 - TC-432 HOLLY DAY (Loose-Seely) – Space ship lifts off, Ranger joyous, hugs Yogi.
6:53 - LAF-1-2 ’FIREMAN’ (Shaindlin) – “It’s a free country,” Ranger sobs.
7:10 - Yogi Bear Sub End Title Theme (Curtin).

Your Handy Guide to those Miserable Meeces

A little while ago, there was a post of full credits for all but one the Huckleberry Hound cartoons not available on DVD. The three seasons were restored but never released, but they have surfaced on Italian TV.

Reader Adel Khan alerted me to the fact almost all of the last three seasons of Pixie and Dixie from the same Italian TV channel are on line. And just about all of them contain full credits. So I’m going to post them here as a handy—and more importantly, accurate—guide. There are a couple of surprises.

A pleasant discovery is that Manny Perez worked on Hi-Fido, the first meece cartoon of the second season of the Huck show. The bulk of Manny’s career was spent dealing with the grouchy Friz Freleng, first at Warners and later at DePatie-Freleng. Hi-Fido has a really unusual opening running cycle for Mr. Jinks which doesn’t look like the work of the regular animators at Hanna-Barbera and had left me wondering who it was that had animated it. Now we all know. There are some nice expressions on Jinks in it, too.

Something else the credits reveal is that Paul Sommer arrived in time to do layout work on the last two cartoons that aired in the 1959-60 season, though his name is misspelled as “Sommers.” Individual episode production numbers are unavailable, so it’s impossible to say when he arrived at the studio or if he replaced Bob Givens, who was hired at the start of the season but seems to have left early. Sommer was originally an East Coast artist in the 1930s who came west and co-directed at Columbia during the war years. He had an extremely long career at Hanna-Barbera. It was long enough to enable him to work on the pointless (and this may be the only time you read these words on this blog) Yo Yogi!, along with fellow 1940s MGM artists Carl Urbano, Ray Patterson and Ed Love. As Doggie Daddy would say: “How humiliatin’!” Sommer was an art director for T.V. Spots in 1957 so perhaps that’s where he was before arriving at H-B.

Once again, part way through the second season, Dan Gordon loses his credit and Alex Lovy replaces him, though I gather at the end of the half-hour shows, both were credited.

Somewhere during the second season, the copyright on the title cards change from “H-B Enterprises, Inc.” to “Hanna-Barbera Productions.” For you obsesso credit geeks, you’ll notice at the same time, there’s mention of the AFL-CIO below the IATSE logo.

After the third season, there’s a bit of confusion. As far as I know, I’ve listed the remaining nine cartoons in running order. But some have 1961 copyright dates, others have 1962. By contrast, the final Huck cartoons only have 1961 dates. Unfortunately, the U.S Copyright Office only has what appears to be the running order, and not the productions wherein they were first broadcast.

Don Messick and Daws Butler appeared on all cartoons. There were very few additional voice artists, but I’ve listed the ones I can remember.

Stock music was used in the first three seasons. The remaining ones used the Hoyt Curtin tracking library. Thus you’ll hear Flintstones (minor key version of the theme when Jinks looks at his mansion in Fresh Heir) and Top Cat cues (like in Meece Missiles when the meece are floating over city and the cop’s on the phone).

The production numbers are for the half-hour Huck show, not for the actual cartoon. It means the cartoons likely aren’t in order of production.

Yowp note: Three years after this post was made, credits surfaced for “Strong Mouse” from a South American TV source. They’ve been included.

Second Season 1959-60
HI-FIDO Production No. K-27
Animation – Manny Perez; Layout – Ed Benedict; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Warren Foster; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson. Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

RAPID ROBOT Production No. K-28
Animation – Carlo Vinci; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Joe Montell; Story – Warren Foster; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

SOUR PUSS Production No. K-29
Animation – Ed Love; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Warren Foster; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

KING-SIZE POODLE Production No. K-30
Animation – Carlo Vinci; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Warren Foster; Story Sketches – Dan Gordon; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Additional Voice: Hal Smith.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

MIGHTY MITE Production No. K-31
Animation – Lew Marshall; Layout – Ed Benedict; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

BIRD-BRAINED CAT Production No. K-32
Animation – Don Patterson; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

BATTY BAT Production No. K-33
Animation – Don Williams; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

LEND-LEASE MEECE Production No. K-34
Animation – George Nicholas; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Art Lozzi; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1959 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

A GOOD GOOD FAIRY Production No. K-35
Animation – Lew Marshall; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Additional Voice: Jean Vander Pyl.
Copyright 1959 by H-B Enterprises, Inc.

HEAVENS TO JINKSY Production No. K-36
Animation – Ken Muse; Layout – Ed Benedict; Backgrounds – Joe Montell; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1959 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

GOLDFISH FEVER Production No. K-37
Animation – Dick Lundy; Layout – Dick Bickenbach; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1959 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

PUSHY CAT Production No. K-38
Animation – Carlo Vinci; Layout – Paul Sommer; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson. Copyright 1959 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

PUSS IN BOATS Production No. K-39
Animation – Dick Lundy; Layout – Paul Sommer; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1959 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

Third Season 1960-61
PIED PIPER PIPE Production No. K-40
Animation – Don Patterson; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

PRICE FOR MICE Production No. K-41
Animation – Ken Muse; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Fernando Montealegre; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

PLUTOCRAT CAT Production No. K-42
Animation – Lew Marshall; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

HIGH JINKS Production No. K-43
Animation – Dick Lundy; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Art Lozzi; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

PARTY PEEPER JINKS Production No. K-44
Animation – Dick Lundy; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

WOO FOR TWO Production No. K-45, Episode E-119.
Animation – Bob Carr; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Additional Voice: Julie Bennett.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

A WISE QUACK Production No. K-46
Animation – Bob Carr; Layout – Paul Sommer; Background – Vera Hanson; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Additional Voice: Red Coffey.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

KIND TO MEECES WEEK Production No. K-47
Animation – Hicks Lokey; Layout – Paul Sommer; Background – Vera Hanson; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

MISSILE BOUND CAT Production No. K-48
Animation – Lew Marshall; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Story – Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

CREW CAT Production No. K-49
Animation – Brad Case; Layout – Paul Sommer; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

JINXED JINKS Production No. K-50
Animation – Art Davis; Layout – Paul Sommer; Background – Bob Gentle; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

LIGHT-HEADED CAT Production No. K-51
Animation – Lew Marshall; Layout – Paul Sommer; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

MOUSE FOR RENT Production No. K-52
Animation – Bob Carr; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Copyright 1960 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

Fourth Season 1961-62
JINKS JINX
Animation – Emil Carle; Layout – Jack Huber; Backgrounds – Art Lozzi; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – Paul Sommer; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Copyright 1961 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

FRESH HEIR
Animation – La Verne Harding; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – Paul Sommer; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Copyright 1961 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

HOME FLEA (copyrighted as MIGHTY MITE)
Animation – John Boersma; Layout – James Carmichael; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – John Freeman; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Copyright 1962 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

BOMBAY MOUSE
Animation – John Boersma; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – Lew Marshall; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Copyright 1961 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

STRONG MOUSE (copyrighted as HERCULES)
Animation – Hicks Lokey; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – Art Davis; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Additional Voices: Doug Young.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Copyright 1961 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

MOUSE TRAPPED
Animation – Ken O’Brien; Layout – Lance Nolley; Backgrounds – Art Lozzi; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – John Freeman; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Copyright 1961 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

MAGICIAN JINKS
Animation – Ed Parks; Layout – Jerry Eisenberg; Backgrounds – Art Lozzi; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – John Freeman; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Copyright 1962 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

MEECE MISSILES
Animation – Carlo Vinci; Layout – Tony Rivera; Backgrounds – Dick Thomas; Written by Warren Foster; Story Direction – Paul Sommer; Titles – Lawrence Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Music: Hoyt Curtin.
Copyright 1962 by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

HOMELESS JINKS
No credits (Music: Hoyt Curtin)

We hope the full run of Quick Draw McGraw cartoons in Italian (known for some reason as “Ernesto Sparalesto”) with credits surfaces to end a few more mysteries.

Snooper and Blabber — Impossible Imposters

Produced and Directed by Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna.
Credits: Animation – Ken Muse; Layout – Walt Clinton; Backgrounds – Bob Gentle; Story – Mike Maltese; Story Direction – Alex Lovy; Titles – Art Goble; Production Supervision – Howard Hanson.
Voice Cast: Snooper, Blabber, Doorman, Cop – Daws Butler; Orville Rich, Mad Scientist – Hal Smith.
Music: Phil Green, Jack Shaindlin.
Production: Quick Draw McGraw Show M-16, Production J-46.
First aired: week of January 25, 1960 (rerun, week of July 25, 1960).
Plot: Snooper meets a robot double when trying to find the stolen Million Dollar Gem.

(Apologies for the TV cable channel bug on the screen grabs. I can’t eliminate it)

The Snooper Detective Agency was pretty malleable, as far as plots were concerned. Sometimes, it was flat broke, like in Gem Jams, wherein Snoop’s car had been repossessed. And sometimes, like in this cartoon, Snoop has more business than he knows what to do with.

The cartoon starts and ends with Snoop amidst the ringing phones in his office. Mike Maltese unfolds the plot slowly, but then the climax comes abruptly without a lot of funny dialogue or gags along the way. Since Hanna-Barbera was more interested in comedy instead of a stylistic parody of film noir detectives (either visually or musically, and the latter would have been easy), that didn’t leave a lot. Still there are some cute lines, including one of my favourite turnarounds when Snoop says “The thick plottens.” I can only image how stuff like that didn’t work in foreign language versions.

Hanna-Barbera found lots of ways to save money but one thing it never did was use the same establishing background drawing for Snooper cartoons. Many of them open with a shot of a window with an eyeball or a door with a glass window with an eyeball. And they all seem to be different. The one Walt Clinton laid out in this cartoon features a stairwell.

Poor Maltese gets undermined by the budgetary realties of TV animation in his first gag. A desk full of phones keeps ringing. Finally, in frustration, Snooper says “Eee, good zounds, QUIET!” and the phones stop ringing. In a theatrical, someone like Scott Bradley or Carl Stalling would have accented this by having the music build to a crescendo and then suddenly stop with the phones, with a pause in the sound for it to register. The director would have zoned in on some dramatically-angled close-ups, cutting quicker and quicker before the big moment. We don’t get that here. The Phil Green stock cue ‘Popcorn’ doodles away in the background and de facto director Alex Lovy cuts to one close-up of Snooper to vary the visuals a bit. About the best he can do is get Snoop to answer the phone faster (in the same shot) to try to create a sense of increasing pace.

The scene is interrupted by Blab reading the Daily Chronicle and there’s dialogue to set up the plot. The paper says Orville Rich has hired Snoop to guard the Million Dollar Ruby but the accompanying photo shows it’s some handsome, good-looking guy imposterin’ Snoop (“You forget ‘devil-may-care,’” Blab advises, so the “photo-genetic” Snoop adds it to the description). Off they go to the Rich mansion to get to the bottom of this. At the door, Maltese throws in a non sequitur and a reference to ‘Sing of Song of Six Pence.’

Snoop: Wipe your feet, Blab. This is a ritzy place.
Blab (to audience): Snoop is very neat. And gaudy, too.
(Doorman opens door)
Doorman: Yehhhhhhs?
Snoop: I’m sure Mr. Rich is home because who would want to leave this gorgeous abode.
Doorman: Mr. Rich is in his gorgeous parlour.
Blab: Gosh, Snoop, what’s he doin’ in the parlour?
Snoop: Eatin’ bread and honey, what else?

Snooper runs into a closet when the ruby-less Rich starts firing at him. Inside the closet is the “handsome imposter-er.” Snoop thinks it’s a mirror until it doesn’t match his actions, then fires a gun in his face. The fake Snoop mechanically comes out with the ruby—yes, he’s the thief—and shoots Blab in the face as well. Snoops declares “Folley him and clear me name of all this skull-drudgery” and they tail him to a Mad Scientist Hideout. It’s conveniently marked on the outside; a shame it doesn’t have a flashing sign that also reads “Boo”, like in the Maltese-written Bugs Bunny cartoon Water, Water Every Hare (1952).




Ken Muse gets ten seconds of time off as the camera focuses solely on background drawings. Then, Snooper and Blabber look through an open window.

Snoop: Jumpin’ jellybean! I don’t believe it.
Blab: Can I look, Snoop? I don’t want to believe it either.

Inside is a marching line of robotic Snoops each carrying stolen stuff to the Mad Scientist, who gives them their theft orders for tomorrow. Snoop tells Blab he’s going inside and to call police if he’s not out in 30 minutes. He figures he can disguise himself as one of his mechanical imitations and walk in, but trips the alarm. “Ah!” cries the scientist, “There’s an imposter among you imposter-ers.” Snoop gets past the ‘remote-control-faker-finder’ (a large mallet to the head) but has a little more difficulty when the scientist throws a switch, a robot’s head twirls into the air like an unravelled Slinky and Snoop has to imitate it. Conveniently, the switch only appears in the scene where it’s needed. You can see in the background drawing below left where it should be on the floor but isn’t because it’s on a separate cel.



At that point, Blab knocks on the door. There’s a very polite exchange.

Scientist: Come in.
Blab: Thank you.
Scientist: Who could that be? I have no friends.

Blab isn’t bright but he can easily pick out the real Snooper (“He’s not as handsome as the others,” Blab reveals to the scientist). It turns out Blab thought Snooper said “30 seconds” instead of “30 minutes” and has brought the police. Suddenly, it’s all over.

Cop: Congratulations, Snooper. You get the reward for recovering all the loot.
Snoop: Reward?! I merely wanted to recover me good name. I ain’t interested in no reward! And where do I collect it?

The cartoon ends where it started, except the deafening ring of phones is greeted by the identical Snooper robots at identical desks (with identically filled wastebaskets) accepting every case that comes in. Snoop is relaxing.



Snoop: You know, Blab, I never figured there would ever be enough of me to go around.

Walt Clinton’s penchant for angular layouts is evident in the designs he has for the buildings in this cartoon. It’s a shame the umpteenth-generation, low-resolution, TV-bug versions I have don’t do them justice. You’ll notice the first shot to the left has Snooper and Blabber animated in silhouette. The background below it seems to have vultures in silhouette on the tree branch. There’s a full moon and Bob Gentle has a number of shades of a bluish twilight in the sky. And if you look at the backgrounds above, you’ll notice an angle of different coloured green on the wall to show where the light from the fixture above.




I mentioned the music earlier. It’s a real shame the sound cutter didn’t use more tension or mystery music found in the libraries at Hanna-Barbera’s disposal. Perhaps it was a matter of cost. Regardless, a great selection was a piece with suspenseful strings, augmented by plucked violins. It sets the mood very nicely. The studio doesn’t appear to have used GR-57 a lot. There’s an appearance by ‘Excitement Under Dialogue,’ a perfect detective show underscore. An absolutely abysmal choice is ‘Custard Pie Capers’ (known in Hi-Q as ‘PG-206 Comedy Circus’) as Snoop is being shot at by Orville Rich. Nothing funny or ironic has led to the scene or is happening in it.

0:00 - Snooper and Blabber Main Title theme (Curtin).
0:25 - GR-74 POPCORN (Green) – Snooper and Blab in office.
1:37 - GR-453 THE ARTFUL DODGER (Green) – Snoop and Blab walk to mansion, talk to doorman, Rich holds shotgun.
2:19 - GR-77 CUSTARD PIE CAPERS (Green) – Rich aims shotgun, Snoop runs into closet, “I think I’ll tidy up a bit.”
2:44 - GR-96 BY JIMINY! IT’S JUMBO (Green) – Snoop straightens hat, gets shot.
3:00 - fast show biz music (Shaindlin) – “It’s me handsome imposter-er!”, Blab gets shot, Snooper scoots into scene.
3:30 - GR-453 THE ARTFUL DODGER (Green) – “Gosh, Snoop,” Snoop and Blab follow robot, “The thick plottens.”
4:16 - GR-57 THE SHADOW OF A MAN (Green) – “Let’s see what plots...”, robot Snoopers and mad scientist, Snoop trips alarm, runs next to line of robot Snoops.
5:23 - EXCITEMENT UNDER DIALOGUE (Shaindlin) – Faker finder activated, Snoop twists neck, Blab knocks, “Pardon me, Mr. Mad Scientist.”
6:08 - GR-90 THE CHEEKY CHAPPIE (Green) – “May I have a word...” Cop arrests scientist, Snoop doesn’t want reward.
6:42 - GR-77 CUSTARD PIE CAPERS (Green) – Scene in office with Snoop, Blab and robots.
7:10 - Snooper and Blabber End Title theme (Curtin).