''Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!'' is a 1964 American animated

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

produced by

Hanna-Barbera Productions 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 ...

and released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

. The film stars the voices of

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 ...

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 ...

Julie Bennett Julie Bennett (January 24, 1932 – March 31, 2020) was an American actress. Early years Bennett was born in Manhattan, New York, on January 24, 1932. By the time she was 18, she had been living in Hollywood, Los Angeles for so long that she was ...

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

, and J. Pat O'Malley. Based upon Hanna-Barbera's syndicated animated television show ''

The Yogi Bear Show ''The Yogi Bear Show'' is an American comedy animated television series, and the first entry of the ''Yogi Bear'' franchise, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. A spin-off of '' The Huckleberry Hound Show'', the show centers on the adventu ...

'', ''Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!'' was the first theatrical feature produced by Hanna-Barbera, and the first feature-length theatrical animated film based on a television program. In keeping with the

limited animation Limited animation is a process in the overall technique of traditional animation that reuses frames of character animation. Early history The use of budget-cutting and time-saving animation measures in animation dates back to the earliest commerc ...

of the television series, the film was not fully animated, but did contain more detailed animation work than the show. The long-awaited epilogue series, ''

The New Yogi Bear Show ''The New Yogi Bear Show'' (also known as ''Hanna-Barbera's Yogi Bear Show'') is an American animated sitcom, and the sixth incarnation of the '' Yogi Bear'' franchise, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired in syndication from Septemb ...

'', premiered on September 12, 1988, and consists of 45 episodes.

Plot

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 ...

wakes up from winter hibernation, excited about the new Spring. Then

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- ...

wakes up, only interested in finding some food to eat.

Cindy Bear Cindy Bear is a cartoon character created by Hanna-Barbera. She is one of the primary supporting characters of the Yogi Bear franchise as well as a regular in the stable of frequently appearing Hanna-Barbera animated personalities. Cindy was orig ...

unsuccessfully tries to woo Yogi. After

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 ...

thwarts Yogi's latest attempts to grab some food, Yogi gets angry and convinces the Ranger to transfer him out of Jellystone National Park. Smith prepares Yogi to be sent over to the

San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park. It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its ...

along with an identification tag. Yogi first says goodbye to everything, but tricks another bear named Corn Pone into going to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

instead of him and Boo-Boo and Cindy remain unaware of this, thinking Yogi has departed for good. Soon, Yogi is stealing food from all over the park under the alter ego "The Brown Phantom". Smith believes "The Brown Phantom" is a mysterious bear-like

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

whom the Park Commissioner hired to replace Yogi, and scares away all of the Jellystone goers and gobbles their food up shortly after stealing it. He threatens whoever it is to be sent to the zoo and comes up with a clever plan to stop "The Brown Phantom" and save the park, not knowing it is actually Yogi. Cindy, wishing to be with Yogi at the zoo, angers Smith into mistakenly sending her away. However, she gets sent to the

St. Louis Zoo The Saint Louis Zoo, officially known as the Saint Louis Zoological Park, is a zoo in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri. It is recognized as a leading zoo in animal management, research, conservation, and education. The zoo is accredited by th ...

by train instead, as the San Diego Zoo does not need any more bears. When she realizes her true destination, she gets very sad, crying since she knows she would be far from Yogi now. Late that night, Cindy falls out of the train and becomes lost. A traveling circus, run by the Chizzling Brothers, is looking for a great act to raise their ratings, when suddenly, their dog Mugger runs off and scares Cindy into walking on the telephone wires, the perfect act to save their circus. Yogi has recently missed Boo-Boo and, above all, Cindy. On his way back to talk to Ranger Smith, Yogi finds that Cindy had gone missing on the way to the St. Louis zoo. Ranger Smith, wanting to send Yogi back to the San Diego zoo, is locked in a closet while Yogi and Boo-Boo escape from Jellystone to find Cindy. After an extensive travel, Yogi and Boo-Boo locate Cindy, who is being kept a prisoner, forced to perform her high-wire act for the Chizzling Brother's circus. As Yogi confronts the manager, Grifter Chizzing, he is tricked into joining Cindy in her cage, where Grifter tells him he's now in "show biz." Boo-Boo releases Yogi and Cindy and they make their exit. Meanwhile, Ranger Smith decides to let them find their way home to avoid trouble with the Park Commissioner. As Yogi, Cindy, and Boo-Boo make their way home, they crash a barnyard party, somehow escaping afloat a river with the barn's door. Then, while Cindy & Yogi dream about a honeymoon in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, they find themselves suddenly being chased and hunted by the police, as they somehow became fugitives, but make their escape. They hitch a ride in a moving van, but find themselves in the middle of a busy city (later revealed to be New York City) and make a run from the police to the top of a hotel and across to a high rise under construction. The next morning, Ranger Smith sees the three bears on television and decides to rescue them in a helicopter. With all the commotion having made great publicity for Jellystone, Ranger Smith gets promoted to Chief Ranger by the Park Commissioner in gratitude while bringing all three bears back to Jellystone, where they promise to be "good bears" from now on.

Cast

, Airplane Pilot, Ranger Tom **

James Darren James William Ercolani (June 8, 1936 – September 2, 2024), known by his stage name James Darren, was an American television and film actor, television director, and singer. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had notable starring and su ...

as Yogi Bear (singing "Ven-e, Ven-o, Ven-a") ** Bill Lee as Yogi Bear (singing "Ash Can Parade", "Whistle Your Way Back Home" and "Yogi Loves Cindy") *

, Ranger Jones, Mugger, Yogi's

conscience A conscience is a Cognition, cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual's ethics, moral philosophy or value system. Conscience is not an elicited emotion or thought produced by associations based on i ...

, the blonde-haired policemen, TV Reporter, Airport Manager **

Ernest Newton Ernest Newton (12 September 1856 – 25 January 1922) was an English architect, President of Royal Institute of British Architects and founding member of the Art Workers' Guild. Life Newton was the son of an estate manager of Bickley, Ken ...

as Boo-Boo Bear (singing) *

Jackie Ward Jackie Ward (born Jacqueline McDonnell, 1941), better known as Robin Ward, is an American singer, regarded as a "one-hit wonder" of 1963 million-selling song "Wonderful Summer". However, using her real name she was highly accomplished and s ...

as Cindy Bear (singing) *

as Grifter Chizzling, Southern Accented Bear in Train, Mugger The Dog (grumbling sounds) *

Jean Vander Pyl Jean Thurston Vander Pyl (October 11, 1919 – April 10, 1999) was an American voice actress. Although her career spanned many decades, she is best known as the voice of Wilma Flintstone for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon ''The Flintstones''. In ...

as the Barn Dance Woman * Hal Smith as Corn Pone, Moose * J. Pat O'Malley as Snively Chizzling

Uncredited

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 the Police Sergeant * Jonah and the Wailers as the singing voices of the zoo-bound bears performing "St. Louis" *

Thurl Ravenscroft Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft (; February 6, 1914May 22, 2005) was an American actor and bass singer. He was well known as one of the booming voices behind Kellogg's Frosted Flakes animated spokesman Tony the Tiger for more than five decades. He was ...

as the black-haired policemen

Production

The animated

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

was produced and directed by

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator, voice actor, and musician who is best known for co-creating ''Tom and Jerry'' and providing the vocal effects for the series' title characters. Alongside Joseph B ...

and

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator and cartoonist, best known as the co-founder of the animation studio Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian Americans, Italian immigrants in New York City, Bar ...

, with a story by Hanna, Barbera, and former

Warner Bros. Cartoons Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American animation studio, serving as the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, it was ...

storyman

Warren Foster Warren Foster (October 24, 1904 – December 13, 1971) was an American writer, cartoonist and composer. He was best known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons, contributing prominently (mostly stories) towards the Looney Tunes, ''Looney ...

. Another Warner Cartoons alumnus,

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (; August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

, served as story supervisor. When the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio closed in 1963, several of its animators, including

Gerry Chiniquy Germain Adolph Chiniquy (pronounced "chin-a-KEE"; June 23, 1912 – November 22, 1989) was an American animator known for his work with Friz Freleng at both Warner Bros. Cartoons and DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. Chiniquy joined Freleng's ani ...

and

Ken Harris Karyl Ross "Ken" Harris (July 31, 1898 – March 24, 1982) was an American animator best known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons under the supervision of director Chuck Jones. Life and career Ken Harris was born in Tulare County, Califor ...

, also joined

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 ...

to work on this film.

Release and reception

A review from the May 27, 1964, issue of ''Variety'' pointed out that the scarcity of theatrically released feature animated films made ''Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!'' highly marketable. The review called the film "artistically accomplished in all departments". The review commented that the script was a bit redundant, but that the songs were "pleasant, if not especially distinguished". After its 1964 release, the film was reissued on January 17, 1986, as part of

Atlantic Releasing Corporation Atlantic Entertainment Group (also known as Atlantic Releasing Corporation) was an independent film production and distribution company founded by Tom Coleman and Michael Rosenblatt in 1974. History Their initial releases were mostly geared ...

's short-lived Clubhouse Pictures label.

Home media

The film was released on VHS two times in the United States in the 1980s by

Paramount Home Video Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, originally Paramount Home Video, and operating as the namesake film studio since 2022) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures. The division oversees Para ...

and KVC Home Video.

GoodTimes Home Video GT Media, Inc. was an American home video company that originated in 1984 under the name of GoodTimes Home Video. Though it produced its own titles, the company was well known due to its distribution of media from third parties and classics. The ...

re-released it in 1992. These releases use the 1986 Clubhouse Pictures reissue version. On December 2, 2008,

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

released the film on DVD in North America. Unlike a concurrent DVD release of another Hanna-Barbera feature, ''

The Man Called Flintstone ''The Man Called Flintstone'' is a 1966 American animated musical comedy film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The second film by Hanna-Barbera following ''Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!'' (1964), it was di ...

'', it is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ...

(both films were animated in 1.33:1 and matted to 1.85:1 for theaters). A R2 DVD was released in the UK on January 31, 2011, and is also presented in 1.78:1. The film was released on Blu-ray under the

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 ...

on May 30, 2023. Unlike the previous releases however, the original Columbia Pictures opening logo is left intact.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Sony theatrical animated features 1960s adventure comedy films 1960s American animated films 1960s children's animated films 1960s comedy road movies 1960s English-language films 1964 animated films 1964 children's films 1964 films 1964 musical comedy films American adventure comedy films American children's animated adventure films American children's animated comedy films American children's animated musical films American musical comedy films American road movies Animated films about bears Animated films about trains Animated films based on animated series Animated films set in New York City Circus films Columbia Pictures animated films Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Joseph Barbera Films directed by William Hanna Films scored by Marty Paich Films with screenplays by Warren Foster Hanna-Barbera animated films Yogi Bear films English-language musical comedy films English-language adventure comedy films 1964 American animated films