I’ve got a gorilla for sale…
If Mr. Peebles hated Magilla so much, why didn’t he just give him to Ogee? Would the pet store go bankrupt or something?
If you like old Hanna-Barbera cartoons you should check out Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law on Cartoon Network. It features a ton of old HB characters (most of whom I’ve never heard of) in the “modern world.”
Example episode: “The Jellystone Park bear Boo Boo is captured by federal agents, accused of being the “Unabooboo”, a revolutionary sending boobytrapped gift baskets & cookie bouquets to all the heads of corporate America. Harvey defends Boo Boo in court, while Myron Reducto is prosecution for the government.”
Tooter was always one of my favorites
I use the drizzle line all the time and just get the blank stares - luv it.
Sometimes when the mail is being delivered in the office, I’ll take mine and ask, “Fan mail from some flounder?”
No one knows what I’m talking about. Damn kids.
“Duhhh… gee, Tennessee; what was that toitle’s real name, anyway?”
“I’m not sure, Chumley; let’s ask Mr. Phineas J. Whoopee!”
“Well boys, as you can see here on the 3-D BB, Mr. Wizard was only ever able to find one past occupation that his turtle friend was truly happy and at ease in; that of a pennywhistle instructor in Renaissance England.”
“You mean…?”
“That’s right, Tennessee; that turtle was a Tudor tooter tutor.”
I’m 38 and it brings to mind lyrics from the song “Hold My Life” by The Replacements ;). Glad to know the reference, actually. I must have missed that one in my youth, though it’s hard to see how that was possible. I was a compulsive cartoon watcher.
Personally, in terms of Hanna-Barbera I was always partial to Topcat.
- Tamerlane
Yeaaaaaah…Top Cat…
How come they don’t re-run any of these anymore? I’d watch 'em every Saturday morning…with a bowl of cheerios.
Not as appealing to today’s tykes, I suppose. Plus no doubt there is plenty of new computer-animated cartoon dreck competing for valuable Saturday morning prime time space.
But, thanks to magic of modern technology…
Sadly, I can’t quite justify buying them. Not. Quite.
Close, though - I do own every volume of Invader Zim and Futurama.
- Tamerlane
You made my day
I can hear Chumley & Tennessee’s voices just like it was yesterday
Thanks!!!
Actually, they rerun loads of those on Cartoon Network’s sister outlet, Boomerang. Unfortunately, I don’t get that on my cable system except for a few selected toons through On Demand. It’s sure nostalgic watching Huck Hound, Top Cat and their friends though. Not to mention the Flintstones and Jetsons, too.
The French have a phrase for it: " nostalgie pour la boue" or “Nostalgia for mud.”
Hanna-Barbera’s TV output was really awful. Sure it’s fun to sing the theme songs and bring back memories, but they are just plain crappy cartoons: lousy jokes, stupid stories, derivative characters whose only trait was to repeat a catchphrase in every show (often several times). Snagglepuss, to name one, had “Exit stage ------- ,” but what else does anyone remember about him?
Tooter Turtle, BTW, was not done by HB and is marginally more tolerable; it was done by Leonardo Productions, which also did “Leonardo and His Short Subjects,” “Tennessee Tuxedo,” and “Underdog.”
The best HB ever did couldn’t touch Jay Ward on his worst day.
I’m 37 and I only watched TV after school every day and every Saturday morning. I don’t remember TopCat or Tooter Turtle. I do remember a bunch of really crappy HB Saturday morning fare, like the Animalympics (didn’t it get re-titled at least one more time?), the Super Friends and some other crap.
My son (6yo) just figured out how to work the On Demand on the cable box and he and I watched Hong Kong Phooey a while ago. All the fond memories of such “a super guy” were dashed by the awfulness of the program. My son thought it was great.
I remember being in college and watching an El Kabong episode oneafternoon when my dad came home for lunch. He merely looked at me noticed the program and shook his head. I was laughing my ass off. Such fond memories…
Did you tailor your current sig line to this post? Just curious.
Dude, Jay Ward totally ruled, but all the same let’s not get crazy. I would argue that Underdog compares quite favorably to the King Vitaman commercials.
And I will go out on a limb to defend Hanna-Barbera solely on the basis of “Jonny Quest.” Because whatever laugh-tracked abominations HB were later responsible for, let us not forget that for one brief shining moment they gave us implacable mummy curses, ray gun duels in the Sargasso Sea, eyeball spiders from space, semi-nude levitating Hindu boys, and mad scientists being eaten by giant lizards.
**HB ** couldn’t touch Jay Ward… HB couldn’t touch Jay Ward… gah. It’s late. I realized a second too late that you hadn’t accused Leonardo of not touching Jay Ward. I hate it when this happens. I really need to make a list of everyone who can touch Jay Ward.
I remeber that one. And how about the one where Fred flintstone thinks he’s a Mafia don, a la Tony Soprano (The Dabba Don)? And speaking of Queekstraw, there was a Harvey Birdman episode where Quickdraw was in his El-Kabong identity and arrested for brandishing a guitar. It became a debate about constitutional rights, complete with Quickdraw speaking in a Charlton Heston voice. (Quickdraw at a birthday party where Mentok the Mind-Taker was entertaining 5-year-olds: “Get your stinkin’ paws off me, you damn dirty kids!”)
This calls for a pic of Tooter & Mr Wizard
And While we’re at it
That’s not surprising since “Hong Kong Phooey” (and most of HB’s Saturday morning fare) was deliberately aimed at six year olds. The fact that you would find the show awful is beside the point since it wasn’t meant for people over the age of 10. The reason why most of HB’s work is inferior to Jay Ward’s is because Ward’s cartoons were written at a higher level. They weren’t afraid to slip in some jokes adults would get. (After all, how many five year olds watching “Superchicken” would know the name “Henry Cabot Henhouse III” was a reference to Henry Cabot Lodge–Richard Nixon’s running mate in 1960?)