''The Smokey Bear Show'' is an American-Japanese animated television series that aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's Saturday morning schedule, produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The show features

Smokey Bear Smokey Bear is an American campaign and advertising icon of the U.S. Forest Service. In the Wildfire Prevention Campaign, which is the longest-running public service announcement campaign in United States history, the Ad Council, the United St ...

, the icon of the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

, who was well known for his 1947 slogan, "Remember... only YOU can prevent forest fires". It aired for one season of 17 episodes starting on September 6, 1969, and then aired in reruns for the 1970–1971 season. ''The Smokey Bear Show'' was based on stories created for the

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" ...

''Smokey the Bear'' comic books, which were published as part of Dell's ''

Four Color ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', was an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...

'' anthology series from 1955 to 1961. The comic featured anthropomorphic animals acting out fables of carelessness and greed, including a story about two bears who are Communist spies, and another about two cynical weasels who want to feed a baby bird to a bobcat in order to sell pictures of the "tragedy" to a magazine. The series adapted the comic's tales for the show, but toned down some of the morbid content. It did not garner high ratings. American broadcaster and voice-over artist Jackson Weaver performed the voice for the adult Smokey; the cub Smokey was voiced by Canadian actress

Billie Mae Richards Billie Mae Richards (née Dinsmore, November 21, 1921 – September 10, 2010) was a Canadian voice actress, who also appeared onstage and on television. She was the voice of Rankin/Bass' version of the character Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer fr ...

. Other voices were provided by

Carl Banas Carl Banas (born January 23, 1929) is a Toronto-born retired radio personality and actor. He is best known for his voice roles in ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' (1964) and '' The Raccoons: Let’s Dance!'' (1985). As a television actor, he ...

and

Paul Soles Paul Robert Soles (August 11, 1930 – May 26, 2021) was a Canadian actor and television personality. He led the voice cast in such series as ''The Marvel Super Heroes'' (1966), voiced the title character in '' Spider-Man'' (1967), and portray ...

. The series' animation was outsourced to Japanese studio Toei Doga (now known as

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

), who were also responsible for their overseas animation work on ''

The King Kong Show , commonly referred to as ''The King Kong Show'', is an Anime-influenced animation, anime-influenced series produced by Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, Videocraft International and Toei Animation. American Broadcasting Company, ABC ran the ser ...

'' (its international co-production with Rankin/Bass) in 1966, ''

The Wacky World of Mother Goose ''The Wacky World of Mother Goose'' is a 1967 animated musical fantasy film made by Rankin/Bass, written by Romeo Muller and directed by Jules Bass based on Charles Perrault's stories and nursery rhymes. The movie is the first theatrical featu ...

'' in 1967, and the Thanksgiving special ''

The Mouse on the Mayflower ''The Mouse on the Mayflower'' is a 1968 animated Thanksgiving television special created by Rankin/Bass Productions and animated by Japanese studio Toei Animation. It was the first official special under the Rankin/Bass moniker after changing it ...

'' in 1968. Previously, Rankin/Bass produced a ''General Electric Fantasy Hour'' television special for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in 1966, '' The Ballad of Smokey the Bear'', which featured their trademark stop-motion animation called "Animagic". While the character is often referred to in popular culture as "Smokey the Bear" (including in the Dell Comics series), the correct name is "Smokey Bear", which is reflected in the cartoon's title and the spinoff

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...

series.

Opening

The theme song tells a brief summary of the bear's history: he was saved as a cub from a forest fire in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

by a ranger, who named him Smokey and brought him to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

There, he became a ranger, and we see him don a ranger hat and grab his trusty shovel as he grows to a full size, adult bear. Traveling through the city in a parade, he heads for the woods with an important job to do. This reflects the true story of a real bear cub who was rescued from the May 1950 Capitan Gap Fire in New Mexico. That cub was named Smokey after the already existing ad campaign, which began in 1944.

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) is a state-level government department within the New Mexico Governor's Cabinet that is responsible for maintaining wildlife and fish in the state. The NMDGF undertakes protection, conservation and ...

Ranger Ray Bell and his family adopted the cub, and nursed him back to health, with the help of a veterinarian. The story was picked up by the national news service, and upon regaining his health, the bear was taken to the National Zoo in Washington and designated the "living symbol" of Smokey Bear.

Description

Each episode contains three cartoons: two featuring Smokey as an adult bear, with the middle cartoon showing Smokey in his cub days titled "Smokey Bear's Album." Smokey lives in the forest with his neighbors: Floyd the fox, Benny the rabbit, Bessie the pig, Hiram the snake, Mayor Owl, Freddy Fume, the skunk, Smokey's cousin Griz, and Gabby the mountain lion. He often has to remind his friends about the principles of fire safety, and the show also stresses other conservation themes.

Comic books

As a tie-in for the cartoon,

published another ''Smokey Bear'' comic book series, this time a quarterly beginning with an issue dated February 1970. 13 issues were published, ending in March 1973. In these stories, Smokey was aided by a coyote deputy named Clem. His TV show friends Bessie Pig, Benny Bunny and Mayor Owl appeared in the comic, along with Mr. and Mrs. Grizzly, Luke and Seth Coyote, Floyd Fox, Mayor Owl's niece Olivia, Lionel Lion and Sammy Skunk.

Cast

The voice cast included: * Jackson Weaver as Smokey the Bear (adult) *

as Smokey the Bear (cub), Bessie the Pig *

as Hiram the Snake, Mayor Owl *

as Benny the Rabbit, Floyd the Fox

Crew

* Producers/Directors: Arthur Rankin, Jr., Jules Bass * Script Editor: William J. Keenan * Writers: Shamus Culhane, Frank Freda, Hal Hackady, Fred Halliday,

Romeo Muller Romeo Earl Muller, Jr. (August 7, 1928 – December 30, 1992) was an American screenwriter and actor most remembered for his screenplays for the Rankin/Bass holiday specials including ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy ...

, William J. Keenan * Music and Lyrics:

Maury Laws Maury Laws (December 6, 1923 – March 28, 2019) was an American television and film composer from Burlington, North Carolina. Biography In his teens, Laws performed in local country, jazz and dance bands as a singer and guitarist in his home st ...

, Jules Bass * Recording Supervisor:

Bernard Cowan Bernard Cowan (June 11, 1922 – July 17, 1990) was a Canadian actor, producer and writer. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was occasionally credited under his nickname, Bunny Cowan, such as on the production ''Willy McBean and His ...

* Character Designer: Rod Willis * Animation Supervisor: Steve Nakagawa * Editorial Supervision: Irwin Goldress * Sound Engineers: Stephen Frohock, Gene Coleman, Robert Brown

Episode list

* Founder's Day Folly * Old Club House * One Born Every Second * The Outlaws * Silliest Show on Earth * Mission Improbable * Running Wild * Spooksville * Saga of Gas Bag * Hare Versus Cougar * High Divin' * Spit 'N Polish * Mighty Minerva * Casanova Hare * Great Kite Contest * Bessie Paints the Town * Thar She Blows * Hobo Jackal * Sneaky Beaky * Heroes Are Born * Winter and Still Champ * Freddy's Big Date * Gone Fishin' * An Apple a Day Keeps * The Not So Merry Mailman * An Ill Wind * The Baby Sitters * The Fire Fighter's Convention * End of the World * Hizzoner the Admiral * Invention Is the Mother of Necessity * Ancient Caleb Coyote * Haunted Castle * The Honorable Freddy Fume * Gold Medal Grizzly * Treasure Hunt * Leave It to Grizzly * Citizen Fume * Invisible Benny * The Battle of Penny Echo River * Grizzly Rides Again * Build a Better Bridge * Feudin, Fightin' And Fussin' * Stick 'Em Up * Goal Line Grizzly * The Crabtrees Forever * Hare of a Thousand Faces * Whar Fer Art Thou * The Celebrity * Ice Frolics * The Hambone Heist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smokey Bear Show Rankin/Bass Productions television series 1960s American animated television series 1970s American animated television series 1969 American television series debuts 1971 American television series endings American children's animated adventure television series Animated television series about bears English-language television shows