''Yogi's Great Escape'' is a 1987

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

made-for-television film produced by

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

as part of the ''

Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 ''Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10'' is a series of 10 syndicated made-for-television animated films produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions as part of ''The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera'' programming block from September 20, 1987 to November 20 ...

'' series. The two-hour film aired in syndication.

Plot

One spring,

Yogi A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297–299, 331 ...

and

Boo-Boo Bear Boo-Boo Bear is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character on ''The Yogi Bear Show''. Boo-Boo is a shorter anthropomorphic bear who wears a blue bowtie. Boo-Boo is Yogi Bear's constant companion (not his son, as sometimes believed), and often acts as his ...

awake from hibernation to discover three orphaned bear cubs named Bopper, Buzzy, and Bitsy left at the front door of their cave. Despite their initial reservations, Yogi and Boo Boo take the bear cubs into their home and take care of them. Meanwhile, Jellystone Park has gone over budget and the park commissioner orders

Ranger Smith John Smith, more commonly referred to as Ranger Smith (and known as Mr. Ranger by Yogi and Boo-Boo), is a fictional park ranger first appearing in the 1958 '' Yogi Bear'' cartoon series. The character is Yogi's main antagonist, and appears in othe ...

to close it down. This means that Yogi, along with the other bears at the park, must be sent to a zoo. Because Yogi can't stand the thought of being cooped up in a zoo for the rest of his life, he hatches an elaborate escape plan. Salvaging car parts from a failed fishing expedition, he constructs a getaway "Supercar," complete with a picnic basket

rumble seat A rumble seat (American English), dicky (dickie/dickey) seat (British English), also called a mother-in-law seat, is an upholstered exterior front-facing seat which is folded into the rear of a coach, carriage, or early motorcar. Depending on it ...

for the three orphaned cubs. Together they make their escape from the park to find a new home. After Ranger Smith initially fails to capture Yogi, he hires a professional trapper named Trapper and his hound Yapper. However, it turns out that Trapper and Yapper are more of a hindrance to Ranger Smith's efforts rather than a help. Yogi and his friends go through several adventures along their journey. Their first stop is at a

watermelon The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...

patch. After eating their fill of watermelons, the bears retire to a seemingly abandoned

tree house A tree house, tree fort or treeshed, is a platform or building constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level. Tree houses can be used for recreation, work space, habitation, a ha ...

. It turns out to be the secret clubhouse of the Bike Brigade, three boys who ride bicycles and operate a

shortwave radio Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the High frequency, high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30& ...

. When the boys return, they believe the bears are alien invaders and attack them with their squirt guns. After Yogi surrenders, they recognize him and decide to help him in his escape. Using their radio, the boys call ahead to their cohorts in other clubs around the country to watch for Yogi and help him in his getaway. Next they find themselves in a western

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

. Apparently the only remaining resident is the sheriff,

Quick Draw McGraw Quick Draw McGraw is the protagonist and title character of '' The Quick Draw McGraw Show''. He is an anthropomorphic white horse wearing a red Stetson cowboy hat, a red holster belt, a light blue bandana, and occasionally spurs, he was origina ...

, who mistakes Yogi and Boo Boo for bank robbers Bandit Bear and Li'l Brother Bear and throws them in jail (since Quick Draw didn't know it was Yogi and Boo Boo after only identifying them by their appearances instead of their voices) along with the three cubs. The Lone Raiders, another club in league with the Bike Brigade, help spring Yogi from jail and capture the real robbers, who turn out to be close look-alikes to Yogi and Boo Boo. Yogi and his friends then find themselves on the

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

Wally Gator ''Wally Gator'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that originally aired as one of the three segments from the syndicated block '' The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series''. The other two segments that ...

, another zoo fugitive, inhabits a spooky

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

, complete with ghostly illusions intended to scare away zookeepers. He takes in Yogi and his friends and serves them a fabulous dinner. When Ranger Smith, Trapper, and Yapper show up, Wally and the bears attempt to scare them away. However, the sudden appearance of a real ghost makes everyone run for their lives. While the anonymous ghost pursues the hunters, Yogi and his friends are rescued by another club, the Swamp Foxes. The Supercar next stops at a carnival where the bears meet Yogi's old friend

Snagglepuss Snagglepuss is a fictional cartoon character who debuted in prototype form on ''The Quick Draw McGraw Show'' in 1959 and was established as a studio regular by 1961. A light pink anthropomorphic Puma (species), puma sporting an upturned collar, s ...

. Snagglepuss hides the bears from Ranger Smith by disguising them in his Little Egypt stage show. When Ranger Smith sees through the disguises, the bears escape in a

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...

. As the balloon floats across the country, Ranger Smith and his cohorts follow in hot pursuit. After the Trapper and Yapper attempt to grapple the balloon from the top of

Mount Rushmore The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a National Memorial (United States), national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dak ...

, they fall and are not seen again. The balloon finally snags on the antenna of the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

in a dense fog. Ranger Smith approaches the balloon in a helicopter and hands Yogi a telephone; the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

tells Yogi that he is not going to let Jellystone Park close after all, and that Yogi and his friends may return to their home.

Cast

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows, and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. He was created by Hanna- ...

Susan Blu Susan Blu, better known as Sue Blu, is an American voice-actress, voice-director, and casting-director in American and Canadian cinema and television. She most notably voiced Arcee in '' The Transformers: The Movie'' and Seasons 3 and 4 of '' Th ...

as Buzzy, Little Cowgirl, Swamp Fox Girl, Girl, Swamp Fox Kid #2 *

William Callaway William Callaway is an American retired voice actor. He is also known as Bill Callaway and Bill Calloway. He is known for playing Aquaman in ''Super Friends''. Filmography Animated roles * ''Aladdin'' - Zarasto * '' Bonkers'' - Vic "Stiff Lips" ...

as Dad, Trapper *

Hamilton Camp Hamilton Camp (born Robin S. Camp; 30 October 1934 – 2 October 2005) was a British-born actor and singer, who relocated to the United States with his family when he was a young child. He is known for his work as a folk singer during the 1960s ...

as Li'l Brother Bear *

Dustin Diamond Dustin Neil Diamond (January 7, 1977 – February 1, 2021) was an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is best known for portraying Samuel "Screech" Powers throughout the '' Saved by the Bell'' franchise. Early life and family Diamond was ...

as Chubby Kid *

Patrick Fraley Pat Fraley is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated television series and voiced Falcon in ...

as Cowboy Kid #1, Reporter, Swamp Fox Kid *

Edan Gross Edan Gross (born October 10, 1978) is an American businessman and former child actor. Career He appeared in many guest spots on television programs in the 1980s and 1990s including ''Cheers'', ''Murphy Brown'', ''The Golden Girls'', ''Empty Ne ...

as Bitsy *

Allan Melvin Allan John Melvin (February 18, 1923 – January 17, 2008) was an American actor and impressionist, who was cast in hundreds of television episodes from the 1950s to the early 1990s, often appearing in recurring roles on various series. Some of ...

as Bandit Bear *

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...

as Boy, Cowboy Kid #2, Mom, Swamp Fox Boy *

Scott Menville Scott David Menville (born February 12, 1971) is an American actor and musician who is known for his voice work in animated films, television series and video games. He voices Robin in Cartoon Network's ''Teen Titans'' (2003–2006) and ''Teen ...

as Leader Kid *

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered voice roles include Scooby-Doo; Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ''The Flintsto ...

* Josh Rodine as Skinny Kid *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

as Bopper, Real Ghost, Yapper

Computer game

A platform video game based on the movie was released in 1990. It consists of six levels where Yogi has to dodge dogs, hunters, and Ranger Smith. It was published by Hi-Tec Software.

Home media

''Yogi's Great Escape'' was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

by Worldvision Home Video on November 19, 1987. On December 7, 2010,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

released ''Yogi's Great Escape'' on DVD in NTSC picture format with all region encoding, via their

Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. The film was released on Blu-ray as part of a ''Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10'' boxset through Warner Archive on February 20, 2024. The film was remastered in HD.

References

External links

*
Reviewed on Rotten Tomatoes

On Answers.com

On StarPulse.com
*
Information about the video game
{{Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 1987 television films 1987 American animated films 1987 children's films 1987 films Hanna–Barbera Superstars 10 Hanna-Barbera animated films Yogi Bear films Films based on television series Animated films about orphans Animated films based on animated series First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Animated crossover films American children's animated comedy films Films directed by Ray Patterson (animator) 1980s children's animated films