The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound

The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound is an animated television film starring Huckleberry Hound in the Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10 series.

Summary[]

During the California gold rush of 1849, Huckleberry Hound — referred to throughout the picture as a “mysterious, steely-eyed, and silent-type stranger” — rides west on his “faithful horsie” to start a small pig-and-goat farm. His journey takes him to the small western town of Two-Bit, California, where Hokey Wolf is the mayor; Snagglepuss plays the piano and entertains the customers in Rusty Nails’ Saloon; Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey run the bank; and Yogi Bear and Boo Boo, who have run away from Jellystone Park, live on handouts.

Two-Bit is being terrorized by the outlaw Dalton Brothers. Their leader, Stinky Dalton, has been caught and imprisoned, but the three remaining brothers — Dinky, Finky, and Pinky — are robbing and bullying everyone they come across. Indeed, as Huck approaches the town limits, the Daltons race past him and swipe his horse, saddle, guitar, and even his western outfit. Entering the saloon, Huck tries to buy a drink with a large gold nugget that the Daltons somehow overlooked; seeing this, the brothers coerce Huck into a poker game, hoping to win the nugget from him. After Huck accuses them of cheating (due to the fact that each Dalton has four or more aces in his hand), they challenge him to a fight in a boxing ring; Huck wins in the 705th round, with the aid of an anvil concealed in his glove.

Having won back his horse and possessions, Huck goes to deposit his nugget in the local bank, where he’s presented with a choice of prizes for being their first person to open an account with them in ten years. The prizes are fabulous, such as a sea cruise to Tahiti (of which Peter Potamus is the captain), but Huck selects the cheapest prize, a fountain pen, because he is partial to its bright blue ink. Moments later, however, the Daltons rob the bank, stealing Huck’s nugget and pen.

Meanwhile, in the nearby town meeting, Hokey and the citizens are being informed that Stinky has broken out of jail and will be coming to Two-Bit. They quickly decide to appoint a new sheriff (their last one was killed by the Daltons) to handle the threat. Just as they are wondering where they’ll find someone dumb enough to take the job, Huckleberry walks in to complain about the bank robbery and is unanimously appointed sheriff on the spot.

Sheriff Huck goes after the three Dalton Brothers and, after a number of confrontations, successfully jails them by using a crane to drop the jailhouse over them, thus "bringing the jail to them Daltons". However, Stinky is aboard the noon train, and a scene cuts to him boasting he has a bullet with the sheriff's name on it (holding up a bullet engraved with the word "Huckleberry Hound"). The people of Two-Bit throw a party to celebrate Huck’s victory, but when Huck asks for deputies to help him thwart Stinky, everybody chickens out. Hokey, Yogi, Boo Boo, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw, and Baba board Peter Potamus' ship to head to Tahiti, figuring they will return to Two-Bit when everything has calmed down.

Stinky arrives on schedule and looks forward to gunning down the sheriff, but Huck disarms him by using a giant magnet to pull the revolvers out of Stinky’s holsters. Stinky then tries and fails to destroy Huck with explosive "gifts," but succeeds in breaking his brothers out of jail behind Huck's back after Stinky disguises as "Grandma Dalton" and brings a cake for the other three (only for Huck to get distracted with the cake and gobble it up). The four Dalton Brothers are pursued by Sheriff Huck, in a classic cartoon chase in which they can’t escape him no matter where they go, but once they realize that they have him outnumbered, they turn on him. The Daltons tie Huck to a homemade rocketship and launch it towards the moon.

Hokey and company return from Tahiti to discover that the Daltons have completely taken over Two-Bit, which the brothers have renamed Daltonville. Run out of town on a freight train, the former residents of Two-Bit realize that they have only themselves to blame for what’s happened to their town and to Huckleberry.

Huck, however, is still alive; the rocket ship crashed down near a tribe of Native American hounds who bear striking resemblance to him, except for their yellow fur. Desert Flower, the daughter of the chief, looks after the recuperating Huck (who has amnesia as a result of his injuries), and the two of them quickly fall in love. Huck proposes to Desert Flower with a song, but her father disapproves of her marrying outside the tribe. To gain the chief's approval, Huck agrees to undergo a two-part initiation test to join the tribe, even though failure to pass either part would doom him to “a long walk off a short cliff.”

The first part is a test of intelligence, in the form of a quiz show. Chuckling Chipmunk, a rival suitor of Desert Flower's, tries to make Huck fail this by secretly ringing his buzzer every time the host posts a question. By sheer luck, Huck answers all the questions correctly. The second part, however, is a test of strength consisting of wrestling against the tribe's strongest man. This happens to be Chuckling Chipmunk, who soundly defeats Huck and gloats that he is to marry Desert Flower. But before Huck is forced to pay the "penalty," Desert Flower falls in the river and is swept toward a waterfall, and Huck jumps in and rescues her. The chief says Huck has failed the test but has proven his respect for the tribe and love for his daughter by his rescue and gives his blessing for Desert Flower and Huckleberry Hound to marry.

The wedding ceremony is interrupted by Huck's horse, who’s finally found his master. The horse — who’s able to talk but had no reason to until now — restores Huck's memory by telling him his name, and Huck realizes that he has to go back and take care of "unfinished business" with the Daltons. Promising to return and marry Desert Flower, Huck rides off on his faithful horsie (who we now know is named Bob) to find the Two-Bit residents who'd abandoned him before.

Hokey and the others are trying to support themselves by operating a wild west circus, which is doing miserably. Huck offers them the chance to redeem themselves and take back their town, and this time they stand with him. Huck also enlists two human members of the circus to aid in this plan: a showgirl and a projectionist. Hokey and the others make a movie about the "midnight express", a ghost train that will come to Two-Bit with Huck's ghost. The showgirl serenades Stinky Dalton in the saloon, and she gets him to take her to the movies. The projectionist shows the Daltons the film about Huck returning, which scares them.

Using a ghostly disguise and a train rigged with special effects, Huck and his allies trick the Daltons into believing that Huck's ghost has come back to haunt them. The terrified brothers quickly return Huck’s gold nugget, but when the "ghost" orders them to go to jail, they refuse. The former residents of Two-Bit, however, chase after them, and the Daltons run into what they think is their secret hideout... but is actually the state prison in disguise. Later, the governor of California congratulates Huck on capturing the Daltons, and Huck says he couldn’t have done it without the help of his friends. A boy asks for Huck's autograph, and Huck takes his pen back from the Daltons in order to sign it.

In the epilogue, the heroes of Two-Bit have all moved on to other things: Snagglepuss became an actor on Broadway, Quick Draw and Baba became the new sheriff and deputy of Two-Bit, Hokey opened the first used-wagon dealership in the west, and Yogi and Boo Boo have moved back to Jellystone. Huckleberry, meanwhile, had returned to marry Desert Flower, and the two of them settled down on a little farm to raise goats and pigs, and a family.

Cameos[]

In addition to the characters mentioned above, the following H-B characters appear in the telecast movie:

Peter Potamus, captain of the ship that takes the Two-Bit residents to Tahiti.
Super Snooper, Muttley, and Doggie Daddy, who are in the "audience" when Huck is trying to decide which prize to accept from the bank.
Magilla Gorilla and Mr. Peebles, who appear as a reporter at the site of Stinky Dalton's breakout and the jailer bound and gagged by Stinky being interviewed, respectively.

Voice Cast[]

Charlie Adler as Pinky Dalton, a pig and the TV announcer from Bit-2 News
Michael Bell as Stinky Dalton, the bailiff, the laughing donkey, the longhorn steer and the station announcer
Daws Butler as Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Baba Looey, Snagglepuss, Hokey Wolf and Peter Potamus
Pat Buttram as Red Eye the bartender
Pat Fraley as Finky Dalton, the autograph boy and a rooster
Allan Melvin as Dinky Dalton, Magilla Gorilla, the game show announcer and the spooky movie narrator
Don Messick as Boo Boo and the narrator
Howard Morris as Mr. Peebles, the chuckling chipmunk, the gold miner, the dentist and the governor
B. J. Ward as Desert Flower, Rusty Nails and other female characters
Frank Welker as Huck's horse, the chief, Judge Tumbleweed Flopner, Mission Control, Bob and the race track announcer

Credits[]

Hanna-Barbera Presents
"The Good, The Bad, and Huckleberry Hound"
Executive Producers: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
Producer: Charles Grosvenor
Written by: John Ludin/Tom Ruegger
Supervising Director: Ray Patterson
Executive in Charge of Production: Jayne Barbera
Character Voices: Charlie Adler, Michael Bell, Daws Butler, Pat Buttram, Pat Fraley, Allan Melvin, Don Messick, Howard Morris, B.J. Ward, Frank Welker
Creative Design: Iwao Takamoto
Directors: John Kimball, Charles A. Nichols, Bob Goe, Jay Sarbry
Recording Director: Gordon Hunt
Animation Casting Director: Andrea Romano
Talent Coordinator: Kris Zimmerman
Director of Music Supervision: Joanne Miller
Music Composed & Conducted by: Sven Libaek
Story Direction: Charles Grosvenor
Main Title Direction: Arthur Leonardi
Musical Sequence Direction: Bill Perez, Bob Taylor
Model Supervision: Jack White
Character Design Supervisor: Alfred Gimeno
Character Design: Lee Evans, Chris Otsuki, Salene Weatherwax, Julie Zakowski
Animation Directors: Jay Sarbry, Oliver Callahan, Bob Goe, Rick Leon, Joan Drake, Joanna Romersa, Tim Walker, Frank Andrina
Key Background Supervisor: Al Gmuer
Key Backgrounds: Gloria Wood, Patti Palmer, Jonathon Goley
Key Background Layouts: Lorraine Marue, Bill Proctor
Checking and Scene Planning: Paul B. Strickland
Graphics & Titles: Iraj Paran, Tom Wogatzke
Character Color Key Supervisor: Alison Leopold
Xerography: Star Wirth
Production Associate: Pawel Araszkewicz
Production Assistants: Scott Wolf, Hilary Rushnell, Sandy Benenati, Vicki Casper, Erika Grossbart, Debby Lathrop-Robbins, Ginger Robertson, Robin Strickland
Program Administrator: Barbara Simon Dierks
"Stinky Dalton" · Music & Lyrics by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, John Ludin, Tom Ruegger
"Rusty Nails Saloon" · Music & Lyrics by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
"Gold, Gold, Gold" · Music & Lyrics by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
"Boogie Woogie" · Music & Lyrics by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, John Ludin, Tom Ruegger
Supervising Film Editor: Larry C. Cowan
Dubbing Supervisor: Pat Foley
Sound Direction: Alvy Dorman, Stan Wetzel
Show Editor: Gil Iverson
Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer
Post Production Supervisor: Joed Eaton
Music Editors: Joe Sandusky, Daniels McLean, S.M.E., Terry Moore
Sound Editors: Michael Bradley, Catherine MacKenzie, Jerry Winicki, Tim Iverson, Carol Lewis, Michele Iverson, David M. Cowan
1/4" Editors: Kelly Foley, Paul Douglas
Track Readers: Yvonne Palmer, James Hearn, Kay Douglas, Kerry Iverson, Lee-Tsu Aries
Produced in Association with: Wang Film Production Co., Ltd., Cuckoo's Nest Studio
Supervising Director: Bill Perkins
Technical Advisor: Lynn Hoag
Production Supervisor: Bob Marples
Additional Animation Production: Hung Long Animation Company
This picture was made under the jurisdiction of I.A.T.S.E., affiliated with AFL-CIO

Trivia[]

This is Daws Butler's final voice performance as Huckleberry and other various characters, as he passed away sometime after the film premiered.
This is the only animated telefilm that features Huck as the central protagonist, as well as the only animated Western film produced by Hanna-Barbera.
- It also spoofs various well-known Western films such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, High Noon, and High Plains Drifter (in a manner akin to Mel Brook's Blazing Saddles).