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Huckleberry Hound

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Huckleberry Hound
The Huckleberry Hound Show character
First appearanceHuckleberry Hound Meets Wee Willie (1958)
Created by
Voiced by
In-universe information
NicknameHuck
SpeciesDog (Bluetick Coonhound)
GenderMale
OccupationFolk ballad singer
OriginTennessee[8][9]
Musical instrument

Huckleberry "Huck" Hound is a fictional cartoon character, a blue anthropomorphic coonhound dog that speaks with a North Carolina Southern drawl. He first appeared in the series The Huckleberry Hound Show. The cartoon was one of six TV shows to win an Emmy Award in 1960[10] as an "Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming";[11] the first animated series to receive such an award.[12]

Most of his short films consist of Huck trying to perform jobs in different fields, ranging from policeman to dogcatcher, with results that backfire, yet usually coming out on top, either through slow persistence or sheer luck. Huck does not seem to exist in a specific time period as he has also been a Roman gladiator, a medieval knight, and a rocket scientist. He also appears in futuristic cartoons, as an intergalactic space policeman, alongside other Hanna-Barbera characters. His tone-deaf and inaccurate rendition of "Oh My Darling, Clementine" was often used as a running gag.[13]

Concept and creation

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In 1953, Tex Avery created a character known as the Southern Wolf (later Dixie Wolf in The Tom & Jerry Show) for his MGM cartoons The Three Little Pups and Billy Boy. Introduced as an antagonist to Droopy, the wolf had a southern drawl and laid-back mannerisms provided by Daws Butler. The most memorable trait of the character was that whenever something painful or unpleasant happened to him, the Wolf never lost his cool; instead, he calmly talked to the audience or kept whistling the song "Year of Jubilo". After Avery left MGM, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera produced two more shorts with the character. In two of his cartoons (Billy Boy and Blackboard Jumble) the wolf plays a role that was exactly like a usual Huckleberry Hound short, aside from his frequent use of slang, and the echo-like repetition of words he had only in Billy Boy. Sheep Wrecked was the wolf's final appearance.

Huck's name is a reference to the 1884 American novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain. Hanna and Barbera almost named Yogi Bear "Huckleberry Bear".[14]

He was voiced in the original cartoons in 1958 by Daws Butler, who had given a similar voice and characterization to the dog characters Reddy in The Ruff and Reddy Show and Smedley in Walter Lantz's Chilly Willy shorts. The voice for Huck was actually inspired by a neighbor of Butler's wife, Myrtis Martin, in her hometown Albemarle, North Carolina. Butler would visit Myrtis and her family and would talk to the neighbor who was a veterinarian. Butler found the man's voice amusing and remembered it when it came time to voice Huck.[15][13] The voice bore similarities to that of Andy Griffith, who likewise based his character accent on a rural North Carolina town (in Griffith's case, Mount Airy), and Hanna-Barbera was known for its characters' voices being parodies of known celebrities; Butler, who had been using the accent for about a decade before Griffith became famous, denied this rumor.[14]

Role in later productions

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Guest appearances

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In other media

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  • Huckleberry is the singing narrator of a parody recording of Lorne Greene's song, "Ringo", called "Bingo, Ringo" where the hound meets a man who appears to resemble The Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, punctuated with considerable percussion.[32]
  • Huckleberry Hound in Hollywood Capers is a 1993 computer game for MS-DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST, released only in Europe. It was adapted from an earlier game, Dino Jr. in Canyon Capers.[33]
  • Huck appeared as a closeted dog who is Snagglepuss's friend and Quick Draw McGraw's lover in the six-issue comic book miniseries Exit, Stage Left!: The Snagglepuss Chronicles.[34]
  • Huck starred in Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound Special #1, a crossover comic where he teams up with Green Lantern.[35]
  • Huck appears in The Freddy Funko Show as Freddy's co-host, voiced by Chris Finney.[36]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Quick Draw McGraw and Huckleberry Hound LP (1959)[1]
  2. ^ Movie Wheels Present Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear (1960)[2]
  3. ^ Howl Along with Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear (1960)[3]
  4. ^ Hokey Wolf and Ding-A-Ling/A Wolf's Work is Never Done (1961)[4]
  5. ^ Huckleberry Hound Tells Stories of Uncle Remus (1965)[5]
  6. ^ Wake Up, America! LP (1965)[6][7]

References

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  1. ^ Ehbar, Greg (July 18, 2017). "Golden Records First (and Last) Cartoon Music Compilation". CartoonResearch.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  2. ^ Ehbar, Greg (August 8, 2017). "Felix, Huck, Yogi & Jack Mercer on Movie Wheel Records". CartoonResearch.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  3. ^ Ehbar, Greg (November 8, 2016). "Huckleberry Hound, Sascha Burland & 1960's Politics". CartoonResearch.com. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  4. ^ Ehbar, Greg (April 1, 2014). "The Actual TV Voices? "April Fool!"". CartoonResearch.com. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  5. ^ "Huckleberry Hound – Tells Stories Of Uncle Remus (1965, Vinyl)". Discogs. 1965. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  6. ^ "Chuck McCann, Yogi Bear And His Friends – Wake Up, America! (1965, Vinyl)". Discogs. 1965. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  7. ^ Gardner, Charles (June 2, 2021). "Fitness vs. Fatness (Part 9): Ask What You Can Chew For Your Country". CartoonResearch.com. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e Korkis, Jim (February 15, 2022). "Whatever Happened to Huckleberry Hound?". Cartoon Research. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Yogi's Space Race: "Happy Birthday Huckleberry Hound!" or "Party Poptopia"". YouTube. December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  10. ^ "HB Screen Gems Emmys". Variety. Screen Gems: 38. June 1, 1960. Retrieved November 10, 2015. Outstanding program achievement in the field of children's programming
  11. ^ "Primetime Emmy Awards (1960)". IMDb. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  12. ^ "Hanna-Barbera Sculpture Unveiled Animation Legends Honored in Hall of Fame Plaza". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  13. ^ a b Fox, Courtney (2020). "Daws Butler: The Voice Behind Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw". Wide Open Country.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Viking Studio Books. ISBN 0-670-82978-1.
  15. ^ Beamon, Shannon (May 31, 2015). "Stanly Has Famous Ties Near and Far". The Stanly News and Press. p. 1A.
  16. ^ "Yogi Bear's Birthday Song". YouTube. January 28, 2019.
  17. ^ "King for a Day". Top Cat. March 14, 1962.
  18. ^ a b c d Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Studio. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-0670829781. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  19. ^ Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  20. ^ Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 465–467. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  21. ^ Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 464–465. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  22. ^ "The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound - By the Light of the Silvery Moon (HQ)". YouTube. June 2, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
  23. ^ "Voice of Huckleberry Hound in Hanna-Barbera Gala Celebrity Nite". BehindTheVoiceActors.com. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  24. ^ "Cartoon Network Shorties - "Sound Hound"". YouTube. April 12, 2008.
  25. ^ Hipes, Patrick (October 29, 2019). "HBO Max Sets New Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Robert Zemeckis Hybrid Series 'Tooned Out', More for Kids & Family Slate". Deadline Hollywood.
  26. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (June 24, 2021). "Trailer: Hanna-Barbera Favorites Return in HBO Max Original 'Jellystone!'". Animation Magazine.
  27. ^ Maxwell Atoms, Charlie Gavin, Meghan Lands, William Reiss, Ian Wasseluk (February 22, 2024). "Disco Fever". Jellystone!. Season 3. Episode 2.
  28. ^ "Voice of Huckleberry Hound in The Simpsons". BehindTheVoiceActors.com. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  29. ^ "Huckleberry Hound Behind the Laughter". YouTube. September 29, 2007.
  30. ^ "MetLife "Everyone" Commercial (2012)". YouTube. May 19, 2012.
  31. ^ "Animaniacs (2020) - Cartoon Rights Song". YouTube. April 18, 2021.
  32. ^ "Daws Butler – Bingo, Ringo!". Discogs. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
  33. ^ "Huckleberry Hound in Hollywood Capers for Amiga (1993)". MobyGames. Blue Flame Labs. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  34. ^ Manning, Shaun (June 10, 2018). "DC's Gay Snagglepuss Is Now Officially Hanna-Barbera Canon". CBR.
  35. ^ "Green Lantern/Huckleberry Hound Special #1". DC Comics.com. July 23, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  36. ^ "Harvey Voices on Twitter: "Jessica DiCicco (Freddy) and Chris Finney (Batman, Robin & Huckleberry Hound) star in episode one of The Freddy Funko Show!"". Twitter. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
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