Throughout their long run in television,
Bill Hanna and
Joe Barbera were never far
from jumping on the band wagon when basing new shows on the latest "fads", which was understandable since a majority of animation studios made half a living of parodying (then) famous celebrities and comedy shows from as far back as the Golden Age.
Yogi Bear was a take on "
The Honeymooners'"
Ed Norton,
Wally Gator was
Ed Wynn, and so on.
 |
| The cast for the full hour show! |
So in 1967, they presented the hour-long Saturday morning "
Atom Ant / Secret Squirrel Show": the titular characters respectively tied in with the sci-fi / secret agent phenomenon when
Mission: Impossible and
James Bond were in their
stride. Joining them in their usual cartoon themes were
Squiddly Diddly, the Hillbilly Bears, Winsome Witch and
Precious Pupp. When the show split into two half-hours, SS nabbed Winsome and Squiddly while AA received Precious and the Bears.
Despite repeated airings of
Secret Squirrel from Cartoon Network, CBBC and Boomerang UK over the years, I saw no trace of
Hillbilly Bear episodes anywhere until the wonder that was the internet - where at least there is still hope of nabbing a good handful until a DVD demand is met...
The Hillbilly Bears (
possibly a parody of
the Beverly Hillbillies, which I assume, since the original ran between 1962 - 71) consisted of the Rugg family - ever-grumblin'
Paw Rugg (voiced early on by
Alan "Fred Flintstone" Reed, but later
succeeded by
Henry Corden),
Maw,
Floral (both by
Jean Vandr Pyl) and
Shag (
Don Messick). In true hilbilly fashion, they were always a-feudin' with their neighbours
the Hoppers - or in Floral's case, dating their "handsome" son!
Of course, this wasn't the first time Hanna-Barbera had taken the Hillbilly route - they tried it early on with a
Tom and Jerry-carbon copy,
Punkin' Puss & Mushmouse, for
the Magilla Gorilla Show in 1963. But that's another story...
It's interesting to note, however, that according to their original model sheets, Floral and Shag Rugg were originally called
'Lil' Billy" and "
Hominy". Whatever reason there may have been for the name changes remains unknown.
So if you recall the series from old, feel free to watch the Playlist below - and don't forget to "
Do the Bear" while you're at it!
For further Hanna-Barbera stuff, be sure to check out the following LINKS OF INTEREST below:
