A friend of mine blurted out “Ach, hello there!” when I answered the phone, and now I’m going crazy trying to find out where it came from. He doesn’t know. I seem to remember the cartoon character that said that kept popping up during the cartoon. My first instinct is it was a Woody Woodpecker or Tom and Jerry cartoon.
Sound familiar to anybody?
Mr. Wizard from Tooter The Turtle had a German accent. ‘Drizzle, drazzle, druzzle, drome; time for zis one to come home’ and ‘Be just vhat you is, not vhat you is not. Folks vhat do zis are ze happiest lot.’ Maybe he’s the one who said it, when greeting Tooter?
Nope, not familiar with Tooter the Turtle.
I think this was a character that only appeared in one cartoon, and he kept making appearances and saying “Ach, hello there!”
Hm.
I have a vague memory of ‘Hello, dhere!’ (without the ‘Ach’.) I checked a couple of TTT vids on YouTube, and as you say, Mr. Wizard doesn’t say it. At least in the ones I watched.
Perhaps the Disney duck character Ludwig von Drake? When used in cartoons (which was rare), at the opening he’d typically be caught by surprise while doing something science-y (messing with beakers and test tubes perhaps) and would utter “Hello there!,” often preceded by something-- usually a word (“Vy, hello dere!”), but the “ach!” sounds plausible.
Yeah the Ach might be wrong. Somebody on “wikiquotes” said it was a bear in a Chilly Willy cartoon, and it was something like “Oh, hello dere.”
Perhaps the Swedish walrus in the Chilly Willy cartoons? “Yumpin’ Yiminy!”
“Hello Dere” was the catchphrase used by Marty Allen of Allen and Rossi. It may have found its way into a cartoon.
Actually, I tend to think you’re right about the Woody Woodpecker connection. I was addicted to that growing up, and it sounds very, VERY familiar. I can hear it in my head.
Must…do…research…
I’m currently of the opinion that the character being referenced is Wally Walrus, who was part of the Chilly Willy universe and was Swedish rather than German. I’m scouring You Tube at the moment trying to find proof and will report back.
Wasn’t that a catchphrase from an old radio show featuring Baron Munchhausen? Along with “Vas you dere, Charlie?”
Yes, that’s from Woody Woodpecker. “Ach, hello dere! I’m Professor Dingledong!” He looked vaguely Einsteinish, but with black hair and male pattern baldness. In one cartoon, he wanted to study Woody. I think there was a Chilly Willy as well: he wanted to capture an emperor penguin, which Willy was not, but he kept chasing him around anyway.
(Wally Walrus might have had a similar greeting, but his voice was slow and lugubrious, and this other guy had a more strident tone.)
Yes, it was Professor Dingledong. He also was in an episode where Woody gets captured (conned?) by a team of scientists and put on a rocket to the moon, where he encounters the Professor who’s been stranded there since the last rocket to the moon.
Another of his quotes is “Shmart-aleck Voodpecker!”
Ah, thanks guys! Yep, I remember Professor Dingledong trying to study Woody now. My initial memory was a tall Einstein-like character with white hair, this is a short Einstein-like character with dark hair. Here is “Private Eye Pooch”, one of the cartoons with the professor in it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AppPwbMkpoU But that’s not one that he says “Hello dere.” 
I think he might say it in “Woodpecker on the Moon”, but can’t find a video in English of that.
And here’s an interview with Dal McKennon, who did the Professor’s voice: http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/dalmckennon.html
Now I’m not saying that it wasn’t the professor saying this catch phrase, but I remember it a bit differently.
I distinctly remember an episode where there was a billy goat of some sort up in the mountains. This guy would pop up out of no where and say, “OH, hello dare!” And the billy goat would give him a horn-butt. The guy kept popping up, and the goat kept giving him the butt. By the end, it wasn’ just “OH, hello dare!” It was more extended, like, “OHHHHHHHHHHHH, hello dare!”
I’ve always visually remembered the guy as more of an Austrian mountain climber wearing liederhosen.
Does anyone else remember this?
Perhaps it’s like Mel Blank using the same sort of voice for 2 totally different characters?
It was a chilly willy cartoon – Swiss Miss Fit
