''King Leonardo and His Short Subjects'' (also known as ''The King and Odie Show'') is a 1960–1963 American Saturday-morning

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, sponsored by

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...

. It was created by

Total Television Total Television was an American animation studio founded in 1959 by Buck Biggers, Chester "Chet" Stover,p.478 Erickson,Hal ''Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 through 2003'' McFarland & Co., 2005 Joe Harris, and Trea ...

(which would later rename itself Leonardo Productions after the main character) and is among the first Saturday-morning cartoon programs.

Plot

The show focuses on Leonardo the lion (voiced by

Jackson Beck Jackson Beck (July 23, 1912 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor best known as the announcer on radio's '' The Adventures of Superman''Dunning, John. (1998). ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. Oxford University Press. . Pp. 1 ...

), the well-meaning but often inept

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

of Bongo Congo, a fictional African nation notable for its bongos. King Leonardo is assisted in all things by a calm, competent skunk named Odie Cologne or "Odie O. Cologne" (voiced by

Allen Swift Ira Stadlen (January 16, 1924 – April 18, 2010), known professionally as Allen Swift, was an American voice actor, best known for voicing cartoon characters Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff on the ''Underdog'' cartoon show. He took his pr ...

impersonating

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Hollywood film career. He wa ...

). Odie, the one who really keeps the kingdom on an even keel, has been by the king's side since they were children. King Leonardo's main archenemy is the

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

-type character Biggie Rat (voiced by Jackson Beck impersonating

Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...

), who routinely attempts to overthrow Leonardo and take over Bongo Congo for himself, with Leonardo's dimwitted sibling Itchy Brother (voiced by Allen Swift) being his

puppet king A puppet monarch is a majority figurehead who is installed or patronized by an imperial power to provide the appearance of local authority but to allow political and economic control to remain among the dominating nation. A figurehead monarch ...

. Biggie is often also assisted by an evil German inventor named Professor Messer (voiced by Jackson Beck) or Odie's flirtatious sister Carlotta. Biggie and Itchy's schemes always end with them either landing in the dungeon or escaping. Episodes of ''The King and Odie'' that were exclusive to ''

Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales ''Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales'' is an animated television series that originally aired Saturday mornings on CBS from 1963 to 1966 as one of the earliest Saturday morning cartoons. It was produced by Total Television, the same company that prod ...

'' feature Biggie Rat and Itchy Brother employed by Mr. Mad (voiced by

Norman Rose Norman Rose (June 23, 1917 – November 12, 2004) was an American actor, film narrator and radio announcer whose velvety baritone was often called "the Voice of God" by colleagues. He was best known as the narrator's voice in the fictitious coffee ...

), a

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly amb ...

with a domineering personality. Mr. Mad has his own plans for Bongo Congo and indulges in his diabolical studies of behavior where he collected different types of people while lacking a King for his studies. Mr. Mad also threatened to throw Biggie and Itchy in "The Room" which contains unseen stuff that frightens both of them should they fail him. When his schemes fail, Mr. Mad disappears "as if by magic" before he can be apprehended.

Other segments

Each half-hour episode of ''King Leonardo'' consisted of five animated segments. Each half-hour included a two-part ''King and Odie'' episode, with other characters featured in between: * ''

Tooter Turtle ''Tooter Turtle'' is a cartoon about a turtle that first appeared on TV in 1960, as a segment of the ''King Leonardo and His Short Subjects'' program. "Tooter Turtle" debuted on NBC, on Saturday, October 15, 1960, and ran for 39 original episodes t ...

'': The adventures of a

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

(voiced by

) who has Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voiced by

Sandy Becker George Sanford Becker (February 19, 1922 – April 9, 1996), who was known professionally as Sandy Becker, was an American television announcer, actor, and comedian who hosted several popular children's programs in New York City. The best known ...

) transport him to various settings, only to realize he was better off at home after all. When Tooter was trapped in a situation he couldn't get out of, he would call to the wizard, who sent him home with this incantation: "Drizzle drazzle druzzle drome, time for this one to come home." * ''The Hunter'': A Southern-accented,

crime-fighting Crime control refers to methods taken to reduce crime in a society. Crime control standardizes police work. Crime prevention is also widely implemented in some countries, through government police and, in many cases, private policing methods such ...

bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ''l ...

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

(voiced by

Kenny Delmar Kenneth Howard Delmar (born Kenneth Frederick Fay Howard,
''

, reprising his

Senator Claghorn Senator Beauregard Claghorn was a popular fictional radio character on the " Allen's Alley" segment of ''The Fred Allen Show'', beginning in 1945. Succeeding the vaguely similar but much less popular Senator Bloat from the earliest "Allen's Alley ...

voice from ''

The Fred Allen Show ''The Fred Allen Show'' is a long-running American radio comedy program starring comedian Fred Allen and his wife Portland Hoffa. Over the course of the program's 17-year run, it was sponsored by Linit Bath Soaps, Hellmann's, Ipana, Sal Hepat ...

'') chases after a criminal fox named The Fox (voiced by Ben Stone). The Fox would often commit a scheme which always ends with him being apprehended in the end. Another segment of the original ''King Leonardo'' show was ''Twinkles'', an orange elephant who served as the mascot of Twinkles Cereal, a product of the show's chief sponsor,

. The 90-second ''Twinkles'' segments continued to air in syndication during the 1960s, and were presented in a 15-minute format under the title ''The King and Odie'' with

George S. Irving George S. Irving (born Irving Shelasky; November 1, 1922 – December 26, 2016) was an American actor known primarily for his character roles on Broadway theatre, Broadway and as the voice of Heat Miser in the American Christmas television spe ...

narrating each segment. It later phased out after a

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

character replaced the elephant as the cereal's mascot. The segments also appeared during some NBC network rebroadcasts of ''

Underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...

''. The ''Twinkles'' segments were not included when ''King Leonardo And His Short Subjects'' was syndicated in a half-hour format during the 1980s. Early in the series'

run, selected

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

theatrical cartoons were aired on the program, some featuring The Fox and the Crow and

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn ...

. These shorts were added to fill time when production of the early shows was delayed. The Columbia cartoons were featured during NBC showings of

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

's ''

Ruff and Reddy ''The Ruff and Reddy Show'' (also known as ''Ruff and Reddy'') is an American NBC Saturday morning animated television series, is one of the earliest Saturday morning cartoons, and the first series made by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series fo ...

'', but not included in subsequent syndicated versions of the series. The animation for the show's early segments was produced by

TV Spots A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

, with later episodes by Gamma Productions, the same Mexico-based studio that did much of the work for

Jay Ward Productions Jay Ward Productions, Inc. (sometimes shortened to Ward Productions) is an American animation studio based in Costa Mesa, California. It was founded in 1948 by American animator Jay Ward. The Jay Ward Productions library and rights were previousl ...

. For this reason, and due to shared sponsorship by General Mills, Gamma has often been associated with both Total Television Productions and

was primarily a producer of animated commercials, but also was contracted for some segments of ''

Rocky and His Friends ''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends'' (commonly referred to as simply ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'') is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the ABC and NBC tele ...

'' for Jay Ward Productions.

Later appearances

After ''King Leonardo and his Short Subjects'' ended, one season of new segments of "The King and Odie" and "The Hunter" continued to be produced and aired on Total TV's ''

'', which premiered in 1963. The following year, Total TV launched its most popular series, ''

''. When ''Underdog'' premiered in 1964, it featured repeats of ''The Hunter'', while ''The Hunter's'' former spot on the ''Tennessee Tuxedo'' program was filled by repeats of ''Tooter Turtle''. In reruns, Total Television shorts often have been packaged alongside Jay Ward cartoons. Despite similar limited-animation styles, they were two separate studios. The animation for both studios was done by a small startup company called Gamma Productions; hence, the similar "look." ''King Leonardo'', despite its earlier episodes repackaged for syndication as ''The King and Odie'' during the mid-1960s, never attained the popularity of Total Television's other series, ''Underdog'' and ''Tennessee Tuxedo'', and is rarely seen on television today. Beginning in 2006, the

Black Family Channel Black Family Channel (launched in 1999 as MBC Network) was an American cable television network which featured programming aimed at African-American audiences. The network's schedule included a variety of programs including religious programs, spo ...

aired this show on its ''BFC Kids TV'' programming block until the channel's demise a year later. The characters of this show were also featured in an eight-issue comic book produced by

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

and Gold Key.

Episodes

Cast

– King Leonardo, Biggie Rat, Professor Messer *

– Odie Cologne, Itchy Brother, Duke, Earl, Tooter Turtle, Narrator ("The King and Odie") *

– Mr. Wizard *

Kenny Delmar Kenneth Howard Delmar (born Kenneth Frederick Fay Howard,
''

– The Hunter, Narrator ("The Hunter") * Ben Stone – The Fox, Officer Flim Flanigan *

– Mr. Mad, Narrator (several 1962 episodes of "The King and Odie") * Delo States – various female and children's voices *

– Narrator ("Twinkles"), various voices

References

External links

''King Leonardo'' at Big Cartoon Database

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King Leonardo And His Short Subjects 1960s American animated television series 1960 American television series debuts 1963 American television series endings English-language television shows General Mills NBC original programming Total Television Animated characters American children's animated comedy television series Animated television series about lions