This article is about the character. For the 2010 film of this name, see
Yogi Bear (film). For the original show and all other works featuring the character, see
Yogi Bear (disambiguation).
"Jellystone" redirects here. For the animated HBO Max series of the same name, see
Jellystone!
Yogi was one of the several Hanna-Barbera characters to have a
collar. This allowed animators to keep his body relatively static, redrawing only his head in each
frame when he spoke – one of the ways Hanna-Barbera cut costs, reducing the number of drawings needed for a seven-minute cartoon from around 14,000 to around 2,000.[33]
Personality
Like many Hanna-Barbera characters, Yogi's personality and mannerisms were based on a popular celebrity of the time.
Art Carney's
Ed Norton character on The Honeymooners was said to be Yogi's inspiration;[34][35] his voice mannerisms broadly mimic Carney as Norton.[36] Carney, in turn, received influence from the
Borscht Belt and comedians of
vaudeville.[35]
Yogi's name was similar to that of contemporary baseball star
Yogi Berra, who was known for his amusing quotes, such as "half the lies they tell about me aren't true." Berra sued Hanna-Barbera for defamation, but their management claimed the similarity was just coincidence. Berra withdrew his suit, but the defense was considered implausible.[37] At the time Yogi Bear first hit TV screens, Yogi Berra was a
household name.[38] Journalist
Walter Brasch once wrote that "whether coincidence or not, it is difficult to find anyone else in the [animation] industry who believes it."[38]
The plot of most of Yogi's cartoons centered on his antics in the fictional Jellystone Park, a variant of the real
Yellowstone National Park. Yogi, accompanied by his constant companion
Boo-Boo Bear, would often try to steal picnic baskets from campers in the park, much to the displeasure of Park
Ranger Smith.[39] Yogi's girlfriend,
Cindy Bear, sometimes appeared and usually disapproved of Yogi's antics.
Catchphrases
Besides often speaking in
rhyme, Yogi Bear had a number of
catchphrases, including his famous chant of excitement and greeting ("Hey, Hey, Hey"), his
pet name for
picnic baskets ("pic-a-nic baskets"), and his favorite self-promotion ("I'm smarter than the av-er-age bear!"),[40] although he often overestimates his own cleverness. Another characteristic of Yogi was his deep and silly voice. He often greets the ranger with a cordial, "Hello, Mr. Ranger, sir!" and "Hey there, Boo Boo!" as his preferred greeting to his
sidekick, Boo Boo. Yogi would also often use puns in his speech and had a habit of pronouncing large words with a long vocal flourish.
Voice actors
From the time of the character's debut until 1988, Yogi was voiced by voice actor
Daws Butler. Butler died in 1988; his last performance as Yogi was in the television film Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears.
In 1983, a Yogi Bear balloon made its first appearance in the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, becoming the final balloon that year. That same year, he appeared on a float named A Hanna-Barbera Christmas alongside many other Hanna-Barbera characters, as they cleaned up the streets of Broadway. The performance was bookended with animated segments featuring Yogi and Boo-Boo, voiced by
Mel Blanc and Butler, respectively.[20]
After Butler's death in 1988,
Greg Burson stepped in to perform the role; Butler had taught Burson personally how to voice Yogi as well as his other characters. Worsening alcoholism and a legal incident led to Burson's firing in 2004 and eventually his death in 2008.[41]
Yogi's current voice actor is
Jeff Bergman. Bergman and
Billy West also performed the character throughout the 1990s and early to mid-2000s for various
Cartoon Network and
Boomerang commercials and bumpers.
Family Guy (1999), a random spoofed version of Yogi and Boo-Boo's appearance is seen in
Season 5, Episode 3, but
Peter Griffin brutally kills him using a
hunting knife as a favor to the Park Ranger, before telling Boo-Boo to "Tell the other bears what you just saw".
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2003–2008), Yogi and Boo-Boo have a guest appearance in Season 2, Episode 7. And also, they made brief cameos in Season 4, Episode 3.
Appearing in the form of short cameos in Space Jam: A New Legacy, Yogi and Boo-Boo can be seen with other
Warner Bros. owned characters beside them watching the basketball game between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad.
Yogi appears with Boo-Boo in the Robot Chicken episode "Ban on the Fun", voiced by
Dan Milano. In a segment that parodies Laff-A-Lympics in the style of the
Munich massacre, the Really Rottens shoot the Yogi Yahooeys to death as retribution to losing to them so many times. Yogi later appeared in a movie trailer segment that parodies the
Rambo franchise from the episode "President Evil", voiced by Milano once again. He was later featured in the sketch "Power Forest Rangers" of the show's 100th episode "Fight Club Paradise", voiced by series creator
Seth Green.
On February 27, 2018, Yogi appeared in an ad for
Rocket Mortgage along with Boo Boo and Ranger Smith.
Yogi and Boo-Boo, along with other Hanna-Barbera and
Looney Tunes characters make cameo appearances in the "Suffragette City" song on the
Animaniacs revival. They were previously parodied in the
original show as "Calhoun Capybara and Lew-Lew" as the Warner siblings were loaned out to appear in their cartoon.
On May 10, 2021, Yogi and Boo-Boo appeared in a commercial advertisement for
GEICO raiding a family cookout in "bear country".
Teen Titans Go! (2013), Yogi appeared in the episode, "Warner Bros. 100th Anniversary" as a supporting character.
A live-action/
computer-animated film titled Yogi Bear was released by
Warner Bros. in December 2010. The movie featured
Dan Aykroyd as the voice of Yogi Bear. The film, adapting the television series, follows the adventures of Yogi Bear and his pal Boo-Boo in Jellystone Park, as they team up with Ranger Smith to save Jellystone Park from being shut down and logged.
In 2002, Spümcø created another Boo Boo cartoon, Boo Boo and the Man, which was made with
Macromedia Flash and released on Cartoon Network's website.
A music video (known as a "Cartoon Groovie") for Yogi Bear used to air on Cartoon Network and
Boomerang. It showcases clips of Yogi and Boo Boo stealing picnic baskets and annoying Ranger Smith.
Broadcasts
Yogi Bear aired on
Cartoon Network from 1992 to 2004 and its sister channel, Boomerang until 2014. Additionally,
Nickelodeon re-aired The Yogi Bear Show, Yogi's Gang, and Galaxy Goof-Ups under the umbrella title "Nickelodeon's Most Wanted: Yogi Bear" throughout the early 1990s.
In the UK it aired on
Cartoon Network from 1993 to 2001,
CN TOO from 2006 to 2010 and Boomerang from 2000 to 2002.
Over the years, several publishers have released Yogi Bear comic books.
Dell Comics first published Yogi Bear comics starting in 1959 as part of their
Four Color Comics line. The Four Color issue numbers were #1067 Yogi Bear (December 1, 1959), #1104 Yogi Bear Goes to College (June 1, 1960), #1162 Yogi Bear Joins the Marines (April 1, 1961), #1271 Yogi Bear's Birthday Party (November 1, 1961), #1310 Huck and Yogi Winter Sports (1962) (also featuring
Huckleberry Hound), and #1349 Yogi Bear Visits the U.N. (January 1, 1962).[45] In March 1961, Dell also published a 116-page
one-shot entitled Huck and Yogi Jamboree (also featuring Huckleberry Hound).[46] Starting in September 1961, Dell began publishing a regular comic under the title Yogi Bear which ran for six issues. The last Dell issue being July–September 1962.[47]
Gold Key Comics took over publishing the Yogi Bear title in October 1962, continuing the issue numbering from the last Dell issue. Gold Key published 33 issues from 1962 to 1970.[47]
Harvey Comics then did several titles for a total of ten issues in 1992–94.[47]
Archie Comics regularly featured Yogi Bear stories in the anthology comics Hanna-Barbera All-Stars and Hanna-Barbera Presents. After the cancellation of both titles, Archie Comics put out one issue of a Yogi Bear comic in 1997.[47]
The Yogi Bear comic strip began February 5, 1961.[48] Created by
Gene Hazelton and distributed by the
McNaught Syndicate, it ran from 1961 to 1988.
Hanna-Barbera has also produced giveaway instructional Yogi Bear comics on
first aid (Creative First Aid: Yogi's Bear Facts (1986)) and
earthquake preparedness (Yogi, the Be-Prepared Bear: Earthquake Preparedness for Children (1984) and Yogi's Bear Facts: Earthquake Preparedness (1988)). These were issued in connection with Yogi Bear being used as the mascot for Earthquake Preparedness Month in California, an annual campaign that ran each April for over ten years and also utilized Yogi in earthquake preparedness posters, advertisements, a cartoon, and other promotions including a special "Quakey Shakey Van" exhibit.[49][50]
Home media
On November 15, 2005,
Warner Home Video released the complete series on DVD.
DVD name
Ep #
Release date
Additional information
The Yogi Bear Show – The Complete Series
33
November 15, 2005
Collectible animation cel
Original episode with bridges and bumpers
Never-before-seen animation sketches come to life
Yogi gets global: One episode in a variety of languages
^
abAnthony Breznican. "
Yogi Bear gets a digital makeover". USA Today, August 24, 2010. "Yogi, as voiced by Daws Butler in the early 1960s, was a takeoff on Art Carney's Ed Norton from The Honeymooners – itself a character heavily influenced by the Borscht Belt and vaudeville comics."
^"1961 Timeline: February 5. Animation sensation Yogi Bear is the star of a new comic strip overseen by Gene Hazelton." American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-64 by John Wells, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2012, page 42.