A Spooky Thanksgiving with Scooby-Doo

 Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! To celebrate, I thought I'd share this video featuring some of the many appearances Scooby-Doo made during the Macy's Thanksgiving parade throughout both the 1980s and 2000s. I've discussed Hanna-Barbera's presence at this parade before (check those posts out here and here), but I've never shown any footage of these events. I think now's a perfect time to change that. Five different parades are shown in the video: 1983, 1984, 2005, 2006, and 2007. While Scooby is the focus, you'll also see floats and balloons based on other Hanna-Barbera characters. Give it a watch, and I hope you all enjoy the holiday!

Wally and Friends Make Their Way to Blu-Ray

 It looks like Christmas is coming earlier for Hanna-Barbera fans. Well, certain Hanna-Barbera fans, that is. On December 16th, both Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har and Wally Gator will come to Blu-Ray for the first time ever. Both releases will consist of two discs, derived from 4K restorations of the shows.

While I'm glad to see Warner Archive continue to pump out titles related to the Hanna-Barbera library, I must say I'm not the biggest fan of these toons. Wally Gator has its moments, and I very much enjoy the title character, but Lippy the Lion? My feelings on that show can best be summed up by a single "meh." It's also a little disappointing that neither release includes any bonus features, but given that the DVD releases didn't either, I cannot say I'm shocked. I don't even have a clue as to what they'd include.

Even though I'm not crazy about these shows, they clearly have their fans. If they didn't, WB wouldn't bother putting these out. I'm happy they're making them available to those who want them, and I hope they continue the solid work on these releases. 2025 saw plenty of great titles, including one none of us saw coming. I'm optimistic that 2026 will continue the trend.

Hanna-Barbera Heads to TCM

 Turner Classic Movies has got plenty in store for fans of Hanna-Barbera this December. On December 3rd and 10th, viewers will be treated to a trio of feature films from the animation studio. The films will be presented by TCM regular Jacqueline Stewart and animation historian Greg Ehrbar. You may also know Greg for his fantastic podcast and last year's excellent Hanna-Barbera, the Recorded History.

December 3rd will see the channel air Hey There, It's Yogi Bear, The Man Called Flintstone, and A Christmas Story. Then, a week later, viewers can check out Jack and the Beanstalk, Charlotte's Web, and The Gathering. All six films will be airing for the first time on the network.

Considering the HB library and TCM are under the same umbrella, it's a little crazy that something like this hasn't happened before. Regardless, I'm quite excited for this, and I'm sure a lot of you will be as well. I'm particularly interested in seeing what insight Stewart and Ehrbar will bring when discussing the movies. 

Video of the Week: Daws Butler in "Lapwing"

 During my first "Daws Butler week", I featured a short film Daws made in the fifties titled "Nice Try, Virgil." If you haven't seen it, it's an odd little flick, but it's got nothing on today's movie. 

This film, "Lapwing," was made in the mid-sixties. It's totally silent, and its background is largely unknown. Like Virgil, the only reason we even have it is because Mark Kausler found it in his closet. It's far more downbeat than the earlier film, and Daws' character, an alcoholic, is quite a departure from the likes of Yogi Bear and Quick Draw McGraw. If nothing else, it's a fascinating oddity in the career of Daws Butler.

Daws Butler's Honey Fried Chicken

Daws Butler voiced a great many cartoon characters, but only one can say he has his own chicken restaurant. That honor belongs to Yogi Bear and Yogi alone. And as the restaurant began to take shape, Daws was there to give it his blessing, alongside Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera. Take a look at this photo of the trio alongside the restaurant's founders, Gene Lewis and Jack Bailey, from when the latter journeyed to Hanna-Barbera's headquarters. Lewis is the fellow behind Butler, while Bailey stands between Daws and Joe. Interestingly, Warren Foster, who wrote many early Hanna-Barbera toons, was also on hand for the visit, but was not photographed.

Despite the backing of the men who gave Yogi life, the chain wasn't built to last. Only around twenty stores were ever opened, and today, just a single one still stands. While it wasn't the success its creators hoped for, the fact that even one remains after all this time is pretty impressive.

Daws Butler Writes In

Today's post is going to be quite an interesting one. I've posted several newspaper articles on Daws Butler here, but what about a time Butler wrote in? Today's focus is on a piece from Butler himself, sourced from the October 9th, 1977 edition of the Los Angeles Times. Before I show it, let me give a quick backstory.

This writing is in response to a piece that ran in the paper a month earlier by Charles Solomon. He's a well-known animation historian, but the focus of this particular story was the state of children's animation. Solomon didn't hold back in trashing much of that season's programming and pointed out Hanna-Barbera as the most notable offender. Daws has his disagreements, but I find his response to be a very intriguing look at how much the television animation industry had changed since the fifties. I'll let him take over now.

    "I've got to take issue with Charles Solomon. He writes very amusingly, and he cites many truths—but there's more to it. I want to talk about funny cartoons—or when cartoons were funny—the early Huckleberry Hounds, Yogi Bears, Snagglepusses, Hokey Wolfs, Mr. Jinks, voices that I did, as well as the humorous product from the Jay Ward studios.
    I've been an actor in the animation field (among others) for many years. I was the original "Reddy" mentioned at the top of Solomon's article as being the template of the whole limited animation syndrome. Don Messick, a gifted colleague, was "Ruff." Charlie Shows wrote all of the episodes, funny concepts with comedy rhythms which today seem to be supplanted by a humorless quest for "continuity" and the dry pithiness of a mundane "storyline." Unfortunately, it is usually the same story, told again and again, year after year, with a "new" character doing an imitation of an imitation. Let the writer create.

    There are funny writers around. I can hear them breathing. I can sense their presence—but they aren't allowed to write "funny"—to create provocative character complexities, which sensitive comic-actors can interpret. Let the writer write."

                                                                                                                    Daws Butler
                                                                                                                       Beverly Hills

Advertising with Daws Butler

 As yesterday's post mentioned, Daws Butler lent his voice to numerous commercials throughout the years. He was Cap'n Crunch, the Rice Krispies elves, and the Raisin Bran sun, and that's just off the top of my head. Considering this is a notable but often overlooked part of his career, I thought I'd use today's post to spotlight a few of his appearances in TV advertising.

The first one I'll show is this 1966 commercial for Quisp cereal. As you'll probably notice by the art style, this commercial was actually animated by Jay Ward Studios, who were no strangers when it came to working with Daws. Also featured here are Paul Frees and William Conrad. 

Next, here's a 1970 commercial for Raisin Bran depicting Butler as the sun, who appears to be in a battle for the role of narrator. If you've never seen these ads before, you'll find that Butler's voice isn't too far off from a certain boy genius. 

This final commercial was broadcast in 1981 and centers on Daws' most famous commercial character, Cap'n Crunch. The captain was one of Daws' most enduring characters, especially in the world of advertising. He voiced the character in his initial appearances from 1963 until his passing in 1988.

Daws' Dominion

 Yesterday was the birthday of the one and only Daws Butler. As I've done in years past, I'm devoting this week to nothing but Daws. Call it a barrage of Butler if you'd like! Starting us off is this article on Daws that appeared in the March 14th, 1975 edition of the Richmond Times Dispatch. It covers his visit to the recently opened Hanna-Barbera area at Kings Dominion, as well as how and why he creates his characters.

Yogi Inspects New Cage

By Lora Mackie

    

    Yogi Bear walked into his new yellow cave at Kings Dominion, inspected the stalagmites, and said in his deep Art Carney voice, "Hey, hey, hey, this isn't bad, but where's the carpeting?"
    Actually, the voice was that of Daws Butler, who has become almost synonymous with the animated Yogi. For more than 14 years, he has been the voice for several other Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters as well.
    Butler and Bill Hanna, one of Yogi's creators, were at the theme park yesterday to help promote a new Hanna-Barbera section.
    Hanna admitted that Butler's voice, the only and original Yogi, cannot be replaced. "No one has been able to imitate Yogi yet," he said, explaining that they have auditioned several people for emergency stand-in parts for the famous 5-foot-6-inch bear. 

    Hanna also said, "Daws can change his voice so easily." 
    With that, Huck Hound came into the picture, threatening, "I'm going to say something cerebral," in his Southern hound dog dialect.
    A minute later, Butler became Mr. Jinks, the cat, and said, "I hate those meeces to pieces," referring, of course, to Dixie and Pixie. "These guys are getting rather bold," Mr. Jinks continued, "These meece are gonna take over the world."
    Butler has done more than 30 famous character voices, which are not all Hanna-Barbera characters. Some of them include: The Sun, in the raisin cereal commercial, Augie Doggie, Baba Looey, Snagglepuss, Blabber Mouse, Quick Draw McGraw, Wally Gator, and Cap'n Crunch, one of his favorites.
    Butler, 58, began his career when he was 18. "I learned everything by observation and from other actors." He explained that he was an only child and was "shy and withdrawn" and hated giving oral reports at school."
    As a type of "self-therapy," he entered himself in an amateur contest, finding that, "once I was in front of an audience, I was at ease."
    "I guess I had more talent than I thought because the next thing I knew, we hired an agent in Chicago and I was on my way," into show business.
    Butler is one of the first to do animated voices. He has enjoyed doing Huck and Yogi and is responsible for developing their personalities. He treats each character with a different "mental image" because, "each one has his own personality."
    "I put so much love and thinking into each of my characters," he said. "I'm thinking like Yogi when I do him."
    Butler describes the famous brown bear with the green felt tie and matching hat as "a big man on campus type."
    He thinks Mr. Jinks is a lot of fun because "he has a lot of variations since he is always trying to trick those mice. He is crafty."
    Contrary to popular belief, Butler is not the voice of Boo Boo, Yogi's little sidekick, although he does have some of the same characteristics. 
    Butler attributes some of his creativity to his training as a writer. "It helps me color the words, and that's where the humor comes in."
    Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc., has a writing team that writes dialogue for the animated characters, but Butler does "quite a bit of adlibbing and interpolation. That's what gives their personalities a roundness, he said. Butler demonstrated how a handful of characters would say the same line. Quick Draw, the western horse, did it in a Western accent, but his Mexican friend, Baba Looey, gave the line a Spanish dialect.
    Butler gets "wrapped up" in his characters. He has found that when making the cartoons, "the energy you put in the character also helps inspire the animator." He said, "When you put energy in your voice, you and the animator become one." Sometimes he walks into the studio and lets out a loud "hey, hey, hey" in Yogi's voice and finds that the animator makes the bear raise his eyebrows a little higher or puts a little extra bounce in his gait. 
    For Butler, his work and hobby are the same, so in his spare time, he entertains at children's hospitals with Yogi and Huck puppets, and he teaches a workshop in his home in Los Angeles.
    He teaches about 15 persons, of varying ages, who want to profit from his experience in show business. They usually have had previous experience in commercials, on stage, or on television, and he coaches them in the areas of "cold reading" and polishing their acts.
    He is also working on a new character, Uncle Duncle, who he says, is similar to himself. Uncle Duncle is a slow-speaking, thoughtful man who gives advice to his nephew. Butler hopes the pair will soon be on radio.
    What has been the key to Butler's success in show business? "Basically," he said, "it's the heart and mind."