From Paper to Plastic with Yogi and Huck

 Showing off old collectibles is one of my favorite things to do on this blog, and today I've got just that and more. Here's some concept art for Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound salt and pepper shakers commissioned in the 1960s.

And here's what the final product looked like. As you can see, the colors are pretty stripped down, especially in Yogi's case. The unique bases featured in the art are also gone, now replaced by a generic orange stand. That being said, they do remain mostly faithful to what is pictured in the concept art. They even managed to keep Huck's hat! It's pretty neat to see how the completed pieces stack up when compared to their initial designs, and I love when I get the chance to do that here. 

That's all I've got today, and for this month as well. I've managed to get this blog on a semi-regular shcedule this month, and I don't intend on slowing down anytime soon. Come back tomorrow, and I'll look back on the blog so far for its third anniversary. Who knows, I may even have a few hints of what the future could bring?

Yogi Bear's Shopko Sweepstakes

 Ever wanted a trip to Yellowstone Park? How about a fold-down camper? Back in 1995, you had the chance to win these prizes, and many more in this sweepstakes brought to us by Yogi Bear and Shopko.

During the summer of '95, the now-defunct retailer Shopko featured Yogi Bear in promotions for these sweepstakes. Every week, a new set of prizes was available. The vacation and camper, however, were featured every week and were the first and second prizes, respectively. Below is an ad for the promotion from May, complete with some interesting stock art that I don't recall ever seeing before.

Here's another one from the middle of June. If you ask me, these prizes are way weaker than those seen in the previous ad. A case of Pepsi, really? The atlas isn't a great prize either, but at least it's not Pepsi.

Video of the Week: A Joe Barbera Birthday Bash

 Joe Barbera's birthday was this Tuesday, so let us celebrate the occasion with a fantastic birthday tribute dedicated to the man himself! Special thanks to Kamden Spies for showing me this a couple of months ago.

This was put together in 2005 by Scott Jeralds, a longtime animator who has worked on many Hanna-Barbera and Scooby-Doo projects. It was screened for Joe's 94th birthday party, and features quite the cast. Janet Waldo voices Judy Jetson, Henry Corden portrays Fred Flintstone, and Greg Burson has dual roles with Yogi Bear and Snagglepuss. As far as I'm aware, it was the final time any of these actors portrayed these characters in an official capacity. You've also got some welcome appearances from Tom Kenny as Tom Cat, Casey Kasem as Shaggy, and Frank Welker as Scooby-Doo. What more could you ask for from a birthday present?

Ted Nichols Chimes In

Earlier this month, it was reported that Ted Nichols, the musical mastermind behind shows like Scooby-Doo and more, had passed away in January. I put out a post last week discussing his career, and now, we'll read some words from the man himself. The article below appeared in the April 1st, 1978 edition of The Oregonian. It's a good walkthrough of Nichols' career up to that point, including discussion of his early life, his Hanna-Barbera days, and his opera work.

Opera Plays Portland

By Velma Clyde

    If your name were Theodore Nicholas Sflotsos, and you were a musician who wanted to become known as a composer, what would you do?
    Probably what he did, change his name to Ted Nichols. Then, after a stint in the Air Force, where he was commanding officer of the band school maintained at Sampson Air Force Base in New York, he moved to Hollywood.
    "Anyone who wants to become known as a composer must have a base in either New York or Hollywood," he said in an interview. "I chose Hollywood."
    Nichols' "Pilgrim's Progress," which he calls a chancel opera, was first presented in 1976 in Helsinki, Finland. It has been shown on the West Coast and will be presented in Portland at 8 p.m. Saturday night in the civic Auditorium, sponsored by the Christian Supply Centers.
    Nichols grew up in Spokane, Wash., and spent 20 years writing and composing in Hollywood before moving to Portalnd, where he is director of music and creative arts at Western Conservative Baptist Seminary. 

    "I want to teach and I want to write and that is exactly what I am doing," he said.
    Nichols said he was about 18 years old when he decided he would like to work in religious film making or composing. After receiving his bachelor's degree from Baylor University in Texas, he did graduate work at several universities before heading for Hollywood.
    "To make it in film scoring you have to be in New York or Hollywood ant it was in 1968 that I started to write some religious films for such organizations as Campus Crusade for Christ, World Vision International and two Billy Graham films," he said.
    It was while serving as music minister for the huge Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles that he hooked up with Hanna-Barbera Television Productions.
    "One of the cartoon animators, who worked for Hanna, started to sing in the choir adn he introduced be to Bill Hanna," said Nichols. "At that time they were doing a show called Jonny Quest for CBS. Hanna asked me to write some music for this show and they liked it and I kept writing."
    "Then they asked me to do the Flintstones Christmas special," he said. "The Flintstones was the first adult cartoon television show and it caught on like nothing has ever caught on before or since. People still love the series because of the adult humor." Nichols did the music on that series and about 50 television shows.
    Before he composed "Pilgrim's Progress," from the bookg written by John Bunyan in 1678, he visited Bedford, England, where Bunyan had spent 12 years in jail for criticizing the Church of England. The custodian of the place Bunyan was jailed showed Nichols many details of the Englishman's life.
    "Bunyan was a real renagade before he was converted," said Nichols. "In composing the production, which I call a chancel opera, since I wrote it specifically to be done by the church choirs, I had to pick key points in Bunyan's book. I tried to use his philosophy and to bring it out in the opera."
    Nichols says he finds life in Portland much less hectic than he did in Hollywood. He said he usually does his composing in his living room.
    "At one time my wife, Doris, played cello, but she decided one musician in the family was enough. I think she was right," he said before noting that his eldest of two sons has a music group in Southern california and his daughter is a music major at George Fox College.
    He said his energy peaks at night at it is not uncommon to see him jogging around the streets around midnight. "I have to keep fit and late at night is the best time for me to run," he said.
    "Some people like to golf, some like to play tennis, others fish or swim or play basketball," he said. "My recreation and enjoyment comes from composing. I love to conduct programs and I love to write music."

If you'd like to know more about the work of Ted Nichols, Greg Ehrbar put out an article on his Hanna-Barbera compositions for Cartoon Research. The Hollywood Reporter also put out a report on his passing on Monday. Both are great reads that I definitely recommend giving a look.

Quick Draw Gets Restored

It's one of the great questions asked by many a Hanna-Barbera fan: will Quick Draw McGraw ever come to DVD or Blu-Ray?

For the uninitiated, The Quick Draw McGraw Show has had a rocky history in the world of home video releases. Plans to release the show on DVD go back to 2006, but the plug was pulled for a variety of reasons, the main being the music rights. Like other early HB shows, Quick Draw used cues from a stock library that have since reverted to their original composers. These composers (or their estates, more specifically) vetoed the use of the music, and the release fell apart. For more information, Yowp had a great post about it two years back. He explained the ordeal way better than I ever could!

Recently, however, things have started to change. Huckleberry Hound was released in its entirety on Blu-Ray last year, complete with music from those aforementioned libraries. Last month, Tubi announced that a swarm of Hanna-Barbera series would be coming to the platform throughout the year, and Quick Draw was one of those titles. Many, myself included, were curious if this was an indication that the show had undergone a restoration process, and now, we have an answer.

Last week, Jerry Beck appeared on Stu's Show (which I highly recommend checking out if you haven't already), and confirmed that, yes, Quick Draw McGraw is being cleaned up for both MeTV Toons and a Blu-Ray release. Beck didn't go into any further details so don't expect it in the immediate future, but it is in the works. Rest easy knowing there will come a day when the world can enjoy Snuffles in crystal clear HD!

Unproduced Jetsons Playset from Marx

 Marx sure made a buttload of Hanna-Barbera toys and games, but one of the more unique pieces in their catalog had to be their playsets. These contained figurines of various characters, plenty of props and buildings, and, in the case of this Flintstones one, a playmat. 

Unfortunately, only two were made: The Flintstones and Yogi Bear. However, there were plans for another set. This third playset would have been for The Jetsons, and you can take a look at it below.

These are sculptures of the Jetsons family and various props intended for a playset that was never put into production. Why it wasn't made is unclear, but if I had to guess, perhaps the other playsets weren't selling as well as Marx had hoped. Even in these proto forms, though, these are honestly pretty good representations of the Jetsons, and I love that the Foodarackacycle was included. It's a shame these weren't made, but at least we have archived auction listings to show us what could've been.

Video of the Week: Bloopers of the Cartoon Stars

 While characters like Scooby-Doo, Droopy, and The Flintstones may be stars, even the biggest of stars make mistakes. So says this commercial that aired on Cartoon Network back in 1997, titled "Bloopers of the Cartoon Stars." 

As one would expect, the promo focuses on a collection of cartoon characters slipping up and making mistakes. It's a pretty charming clip, and it's items like this that made the channel really feel like a celebration of all things cartoons back in its heyday.

Yogi Bear Kellogg's Print Ads

Here's a lovely trio of Yogi Bear-centric Kellogg's print advertisements I discovered recently. All of them are from the early 1960s and depict Yogi Bear advertising Kellogg's cereal with a healthy amount of rhyming. Just take a look at this first image to see what I mean. It promotes not just Kellogg's products, but also the cost of food at that time, stating proudly that "food today takes less of your pay."

This second ad is a bit of a mouthful, and I mean that in the literal sense. Yogi's eating his own words, while the blurb at the bottom mentions that breakfast is a key part of a healthy day.

This final ad proves the previous entry true, as we see Yogi rollerskating after a hearty breakfast. And you've gotta love the "You'll go to town when breakfast is down" rhyme, contrived as it may be.

Penny Singleton Speaks

To cartoon fans and baby boomers, she was Jane Jetson, matriarch of the Jetson family. But to their parents and classic film fans, she was Blondie. Based on the comic strip, the Blondie series ran from 1938 to 1950, encompassing a whopping 28 films. Penny Singleton appeared in each entry and also portrayed the character in a radio series that ran in parallel with the movies. Even after her death in 2003, most outlets mentioned her role as Blondie before anything else. And, as this article in The Victoria Advocate from May 1978 declares, is still Blondie.

I haven't gotten to discuss Penny Singleton's career that much on this blog, mostly because interviews and articles discussing her relationship with The Jetsons are sparse. This piece doesn't mention the series at all, but it's a great look at her career at that point, and I felt a lot of you would enjoy reading it.

She's Still Blondie

By Joseph P. Mastrangelo

    The voice on the telephone sounded young and excitable with a slight hint of the familiar notes the way you remembered "Blondie" calling "Dagwood."  
    Penny Singleton, known to millions of moviegoers as the wide-eyed heroine of comic-strip artist Chic Young's slapstick family "The Bumsteads," has done a lot to reverse the "dumb blonde" image.
    "I am," she said, "still the executive president of the American Guild of Variety Actors ever since my 'write-in' election in 1958."
    "I am the only woman administrator and the only performer to hold the position."
    Singleton puts in a long day starting at 6:30 a.m. and sometimes lasting until midnight. She travels constantly, sitting across bargaining tables with theater and nightclub owners to win better contracts for performers. And usually, she wins.
    Her latest crusade is to merge the various performers' unions into a single one. "I hold four union memberships," she noted.

    "AGVA, of course, as well as SAG (Screen Actors' Guild), AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), and Actors' Equity Association. We need a one-card union. It would help the welfare fund, the pension funds, and it would make more room for young performers."
    Born Dorothy McNulty in Philadelphia in 1912, she waited until she was 8 years old before making her debut in a vaudeville act.
    She wasn't much of a singer, and she danced in her very own manner, but she had a charm that generally won any audience. 
    Her real stage training began in Broadway Musicals "Good News" and "Hey Nonny Nonny!", where she met such greats as Al Jolson, Jack Benny, and Eddie Leonard.
    Her first Hollywood role was as a "gun moll" in a William Powell film called "After the Thin Man".
    In 1937, she married Dr. Lawrence Singleton. The marriage ended in divorce two years later, but she retained the name and added the "Penny".
    She later married movie producer Robert Sparks, a marriage that lasted 22 years until his death.
    Sparks suggested the "Blondie" series in 1939. The first one cost $95,000 to make and grossed $9 million. It was followed by many more until she said, "I began to feel like Blondie."
    A widow since 1963, she has two daughters and three granddaughters.
    Her only movie role since "Blondie" was in a supporting role in Henry Fonda's "The Best Man."
    In the fall of '71, she was back on Broadway in the revival of "No, No, Nanette," and did the role again in Milwaukee later, co-starring with Arthur "Dagwood" Lake.
    She speaks regretfully today of the paucity of parts for young people in the theater. "So many talented young performers. I see them everywhere I go, but there aren't that many jobs for them."
    "Show business is a luxury business, and performers are the first to feel the economic crunch," she said, and said she has no plans to retire. "There is just too much to do right now, too many people who need help."

A Great Day for the Great Gazoo

 It's Saint Patrick's Day yet again, and just as I did last year, I felt I should dedicate today's post to everyone's favorite Zetoxian, the Great Gazoo! This year, I'm sharing two commercials from Cartoon Network in the early 2000s featuring Gazoo, beginning with one from the year 2000 promoting a block entitled "My Favorite Fred". Gazoo gives us the lowdown on what the block is, and it even ends with a plug for the Viva Rock Vegas film, which saw the live-action debut of the Great Gazoo. Thankfully, they spare us from seeing any clips of that particular version of the character. 

The second ad aired in 2003 as part of Cartoon Network's "NBA All-Star Slam", which saw various NBA players sit down and chat with their favorite cartoon characters. In this particular promo, Latrell Sprewell talks with Gazoo, who, despite Gazoo's insistence, is not his favorite character. For more of these clips and Sprewell's actual favorite, check out this post from 2023. I'm also not entirely sure who voices Gazoo in these ads. I believe it's Jeff Bergman, but it may be somebody different.

Ted Nichols: 1928-2026

 Hoyt Curtin may have been the first composer for Hanna-Barbera's cartoons, but he wasn't the last. After Curtin left the studio in 1965 due to frustrations over residuals, another musician by the name of Ted Nichols took his place. From '65 to '72, Nichols composed the music for shows like Scooby-Doo, Josie and the Pussycats, Space Ghost, and many more. Though the quality of the shows is debatable, Nichols' arrangements proved to be every bit as catchy as his predecessor. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't know the Scooby-Doo theme song. 

It is with deep sadness that I inform you that Ted Nichols has passed away. He died on the ninth of January at age 97, though news of his death wasn't reported until this month. 

Born in Montana on October 2nd, 1928, Nichols' life took him many places, including time in both the Navy and Air Force. Above everything else, his passion for music was a constant in his career. He was a band director at numerous schools and also sang for Disneyland. Around 1963, he met an animator who worked for Hanna-Barbera, and after a phone call with Bill Hanna, he was writing cues for Jonny Quest. That kicked off an almost decade-long partnership between Hanna-Barbera and Nichols, seeing him compose music for virtually all Hanna-Barbera productions made in that time. 

In 1972, Nichols decided to leave Hanna-Barbera, and he moved towards working on religious projects and operas. Hoyt Curtin would return to take his place. Ted continued his musical career until around 2014, well into his eighties. The last project I found his name attached to was a Christmas choir performance in December of that year. The final opera he composed music for, titled Rendezvous with Destiny, premiered in 2012. To say he enjoyed composing and directing would be an understatement. 

Though Ted Nichols is no longer with us, his legacy will endure through the many compositions he brought to life, both for Hanna-Barbera and elsewhere. My thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time.