Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!

Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! is a 1963 animated feature film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and released by Columbia Pictures. The film stars the voices of Daws Butler, Don Messick, Julie Bennett and Mel Blanc. Based upon Hanna-Barbera's syndicated animated television show The Yogi Bear Show, 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. Several Sunday episodes of the Yogi Bear comic strip during the fall of 1963 had a story line tying into the film's release.

Summary

Boo Boo wakes up from hibernation, excited about the new spring. Then Yogi Bear wakes up, his only interest finding some food to eat. Cindy Bear unsuccessfully tries to woo Yogi. After Ranger Smith thwarts Yogi's latest attempts to grab some food, Yogi gets angry and convinces Ranger to transfer him out of Jellystone National park. Smith prepares Yogi to be sent over to the San Diego Zoo along with an identification tag. Yogi first says goodbye to everything, but tricks another bear named Cornbone into going to California instead of him, and Boo Boo and Cindy remain unaware of this, thinking Yogi departed for good.

Soon, Yogi is stealing food from all over the park under the alter ego "The Brown Phantom", but Smith believes it's another bear. He threatens whoever it is to be sent to the zoo. 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 instead, as the San Diego Zoo doesn't need any more bears. When she realizes her true destination, she gets very sad, crying since she knows she'd be far from Yogi now.

Late that night, Cindy falls out of the train and becomes lost. A travelling circus is looking for a great act to raise their ratings, when suddenly, their dog runs off and scares Cindy into walking on the telephone wires, the perfect opportunity for the circus.

Yogi has recently missed Boo Boo and, above all, Cindy. Yogi goes to Ranger Smith and hears about her disappearance. Soon, Yogi and Boo Boo escape from Jellystone to find Cindy. Meanwhile, Ranger Smith decides to let them find their way home to avoid trouble with the commissioner. After an extensive travel, Yogi and Boo Boo find Cindy, who is being kept a prisoner for the greedy manager's nest egg. As Yogi confronts the manager, he is made to join the circus, too. Boo Boo releases Yogi and Cindy, and they make their exit. As they make their way home, they crash a barnyard party, somehow escaping on a river with the barn's door as a raft. Then, while Cindy & Yogi dream about a honeymoon in Venice, they suddenly are chased and hunted by the police, but make their escape.

They hitch a ride, but find themselves in the middle of a busy city and make a run from the police to the top of a hotel and across to a high rise. The next morning, Ranger Smith sees the three bears on television and decides to pick them up in a helicopter. All the commotions have made a great publicity for Jellystone, and Ranger Smith gets promoted to Chief Ranger.

Cast

• Daws Butler as Yogi Bear, Airplane Pilot, Ranger Tom
• Don Messick as Boo Boo, Ranger Smith, Ranger Jones, Mugger, Yogi's conscience
• Julie Bennett as Cindy Bear
• Mel Blanc as Grifter Chizzling, Southern Accented Bear in train, Mugger, grumbling sounds
• J. Pat O'Malley as Snively
• Hal Smith as Corn Pone, Moose
• Jean Vander Pyl as the Barn Dance Woman
• Allan Melvin as Police Sergeant
• Bill Lee as Yogi Bear (singing, "Ash Can Parade" and "Whistle Your Way Back Home")
• James Darren as Yogi Bear (singing, "Ven-e, Ven-o, Ven-a")
• Ernest Newton as Boo-Boo (singing)
• Jackie Ward as Cindy Bear (singing)
• Jonah and the Wailers as the zoo-bound bears performing "St. Louis"

Credits

Opening Credits

• A Hanna-Barbera Production
• in association with United Productions of America (U.P.A.)
• "Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!"
• Starring Yogi Bear
• Screenplay: Joseph Barbera, Warren Foster, William Hanna
• Screen Story: Joseph Barbera, Warren Foster, William Hanna, Dorothy Jones, Chuck Jones, Abe Levitow
• Music: Marty Paich
• Arranged and Conducted by: Mort Lindsey
• Vocal Arrangement: Joseph J. Lilley
• Original Songs by: Ray Gilbert, Doug Goodwin
• Produced and Directed by: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera

Ending Credits

• Starring Daws Butler as the voice of Yogi Bear
• Also starring Don Messick as the voices of Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith
• "Ven-e, Ven-O, Vena" Sung by James Darren
• Featuring Julie Bennett as the voice of Cindy Bear
• And the voices of: Mel Blanc, Jean Vander Pyl, Hal Smith, J. Pat O'Malley
• Song - "Hey There, It's Yogi Bear" Composed by: David Gates
• Co-Director: Abe Levitow
• Additional Dialogue: Ralph Wright
• Animation Director: Charles A. Nichols
• Sequence Director: Steve Clark
• Story Director: Friz Freleng
• Storyboard Artist: Chuck Jones
• Story Sketch: Dan Gordon
• Production Designer: Ed Levitt
• Art Directors: Richard Bickenbach, Iwao Takamoto, William Perez, Jacques W. Rupp, Willie Ito, Tony Sgroi, Ernest Nordli, Jerry Eisenberg, Zigamond Jablecki, Bruce Bushman, Bob Singer, Victor Haboush, Ray Aragon, Corny Cole
• Ink & Paint Supervisor: Roberta Greutert
• Animators: Don Lusk, Irv Spence, George Kreisl, Ray Patterson, Jerry Hathcock, Grant Simmons, Fred Wolf, Gerry Chiniquy, Don Peterson, Ken Harris, George Goepper, Edwin Aardal, Ed Parks, Kenneth Muse, Harry Holt, Ben Washam, Phil Duncan, Hal Ambro, Hank Smith, Harvey Toombs, Volus Jones, Art Davis, Fred Madison
• Background Stylist: Bob Inman
• Background Design: F. Montealegre, Art Lozzi, Robert Gentle, Ron Dias, Richard H. Thomas, Dick Kelsey, Fernando Arce, Don Peters, Bob Abrams, Dick Ung, Tom O'Loughlin, Bob Gribbroek, Curtiss D. Perkins, Gloria Wood
• Continuity: Evelyn Sherwood
• Checking Supervisor: Grace McCurdy
• Editorial Supervisor: Ted Baker
• Film Editors: Greg Watson, Warner Leighton, Tony Milch, Donald A. Douglas, Larry Cowan, Ken Spears, Sam Horta, Earl Bennett, George Probert, Wayne Hughes
• Animation Photography: Frank Paiker, Norman Stainback, Roy Wade, Charles Flekal, Bill Kotler, Ted C. Bemiller, Frank Parrish, Roy Hutchcroft, Dan Miller, Jack Stevens, Duane Keegan
• Sound Recording: Bud Myers
• Title Design: Phill Norman
• Titles: John Hitesman
• Executive Producers: Henry Saperstein, Lee Orgel
• Associate Producer: Alex Lovy
• Production Supervisor: Howard Hanson
• Production Managers: Earl Jonas, Paul Carlson
• "Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!"
• A Hanna-Barbera Production
• in association with United Productions of America (U.P.A.)
• Eastman Color by: Pathé
• Titles and Opticals by: Pacific Title
• RCA Sound Recording
• Copyright © MCMLXIV Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and UPA Productions, Inc. - All Rights Reserved
• Approved Certificate No. 20696 MPAA
• This Picture was made under the jurisdiction of I.A.T.S.E., affiliated with A.F.L.-C.L.O.

Production

The animated musical film was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with a story by Hanna, Barbera, and former Warner Bros. Cartoons storyman Warren Foster. When the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio closed in May 1963, several of its animators, including Gerry Chiniquy, Friz Freleng and Ken Harris, joined Hanna-Barbera to work on this film.

Reception

A review from the 27 May 1963 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 mildly successful 1963 release, Hey There, It's Yogi Bear! found extended life as a popular summer matinée hit. The film was reissued 17 January 1986, as part of Atlantic Releasing's short-lived Clubhouse Pictures program.

List of Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (original 1964 release)
• Clubhouse Pictures (1986 re-release)
• Turner Pictures (1992 re-release)
• Paramount Home Video (1986 VHS release)
• KVC Home Video (1990 VHS release)
• Goodtimes Home Video (1992 VHS release)
• Warner Home Video (2008 DVD release)

DVD Release

On 2 December 2008, Warner Home Video released the film on DVD in Region 1 (The United States, Canada, and Japan). [1]

A Region 2 DVD was released in the United Kingdom 31 January 2011.