Hoppity Hooper
Encyclopedia
Hoppity Hooper is a 1964 animated
television series produced by Jay Ward
, originally broadcast on ABC
and co-sponsored by General Mills
and Topper Toys.
, voiced by Chris Allen, "Uncle" Waldo P. Wigglesworth, a fox
, voiced by Hans Conried
; Fillmore, a bear
wearing Civil War
clothes, voiced by Bill Scott; and the narrator, Paul Frees
. Fillmore, as in the picture at right, often blew on his bugle
, producing loud, sour notes.
The stories revolved around the three main characters, who lived in Foggy Bog, Wisconsin, seeking their fortune together, through different jobs or schemes, usually ending in misadventure.
Each story consisted of four short cartoons, one aired at the beginning and end of two series episodes. Interspersed were recycled second features from the earlier series Rocky and His Friends & The Bullwinkle Show and Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales
(the latter not produced by Ward but animated by the same company, Gamma Productions
), like Peabody's Improbable History
, Fractured Fairy Tales, Mr. Know-It-All, and The World of Commander McBragg
.
One of the best-remembered stories is "The Traffic Zone," a parody of The Twilight Zone
in which the characters were transformed into vegetables.
as Fillmore. The series wasn't picked up for broadcast until September 1964, and by that time Reed was unavailable, because of his commitment with another ABC animated TV series, The Flintstones
, as the voice of Fred Flintstone
. Therefore, Bill Scott was named to do the voice of Fillmore.
The series was broadcast by ABC
from September 12, 1964 to September 3, 1966. ABC continued to air reruns until September 2, 1967. The series was syndicated to local television stations through the 1970s and 1980s.
The series was later syndicated under the title Uncle Waldo's Cartoon Show.
In 2008, Mill Creek Entertainment
released episodes 1-6 and episodes 8-10 as part of their "Giant 600 Cartoon Collection". They also re-released these episodes as part of the "Super 300 Cartoon Collection" in 2009. Also in 2009, Mill Creek released the first 6 episodes under their 200 Classic Cartoons Collectors Edition label.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
television series produced by Jay Ward
Jay Ward
J Troplong "Jay" Ward was an American creator and producer of animated television cartoons. He produced animated series based on such characters as Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Peabody and Sherman, Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, and Super Chicken...
, originally broadcast on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and co-sponsored by General Mills
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...
and Topper Toys.
Series premise
The recurring characters were Hoppity Hooper, a frogFrog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
, voiced by Chris Allen, "Uncle" Waldo P. Wigglesworth, a fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
, voiced by Hans Conried
Hans Conried
Hans Georg Conried, Jr. was an American comedian, character actor and voice actor.-Early years:He was born on April 15, 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland to Hans Georg Conried, Sr. and Edith Beyr Gildersleeve. His mother was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna,...
; Fillmore, a bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
wearing Civil War
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
clothes, voiced by Bill Scott; and the narrator, Paul Frees
Paul Frees
Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
. Fillmore, as in the picture at right, often blew on his bugle
Bugle (instrument)
The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments, having no valves or other pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure, since the bugle has no other mechanism for controlling pitch. Consequently, the bugle is limited to notes within the harmonic series...
, producing loud, sour notes.
The stories revolved around the three main characters, who lived in Foggy Bog, Wisconsin, seeking their fortune together, through different jobs or schemes, usually ending in misadventure.
Each story consisted of four short cartoons, one aired at the beginning and end of two series episodes. Interspersed were recycled second features from the earlier series Rocky and His Friends & The Bullwinkle Show and Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales
Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales
Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales is a popular, semi-educational animated cartoon TV series that originally aired on CBS from 1963 to 1966. It was produced by Total Television, the same company that produced the earlier King Leonardo and the later Underdog, and primarily sponsored by General Mills...
(the latter not produced by Ward but animated by the same company, Gamma Productions
Gamma Productions
Producciones Animadas Gamma S.A. was a Mexican animation studio that served as an animation house for cartoons produced by Jay Ward and Total Television. Founded in 1959 as Val-Mar Studios, it was set up to do animation production for Rocky and His Friends...
), like Peabody's Improbable History
Mister Peabody
Mr. Peabody is a fictional dog who appeared in the late 1950s and early 1960s television animated series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show produced by Jay Ward, collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle...
, Fractured Fairy Tales, Mr. Know-It-All, and The World of Commander McBragg
Commander McBragg
Commander McBragg is a cartoon character who appeared in short segments produced by Total Television Productions and animated by Gamma Productions...
.
One of the best-remembered stories is "The Traffic Zone," a parody of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
in which the characters were transformed into vegetables.
Background
The first two episodes were produced in 1960 and featured Alan ReedAlan Reed
Alan Reed was an American actor and voice actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on The Flintstones and various spinoff series...
as Fillmore. The series wasn't picked up for broadcast until September 1964, and by that time Reed was unavailable, because of his commitment with another ABC animated TV series, The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
, as the voice of Fred Flintstone
Fred Flintstone
Frederick Joseph “Fred” Flintstone, also known as Fred W. Flintstone or Frederick J. Flintstone, is the protagonist of the animated sitcom The Flintstones, which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960-66. He is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles...
. Therefore, Bill Scott was named to do the voice of Fillmore.
The series was broadcast by ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
from September 12, 1964 to September 3, 1966. ABC continued to air reruns until September 2, 1967. The series was syndicated to local television stations through the 1970s and 1980s.
The series was later syndicated under the title Uncle Waldo's Cartoon Show.
Episodes
In the course of two seasons, 52 weekly episodes were broadcast. Each episode contained two Hoppity Hooper shorts. With two exceptions (as noted), each story line consisted of two episodes (or four shorts).1964-'65
| Episodes | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 & 2 | Ring a Ding Spring |
| 3 & 4 | Rock 'n' Roll Star |
| 5 & 6 | Diamond Mine |
| 7 & 8 | Costra Nostra |
| 9 & 10 | The Giant of Hoot 'n' Holler |
| 11 & 12 | Detective Agency |
| 13 & 14 | Olympic Star |
| 15 & 16 | Ghost |
| 17 & 18 | The Masked Martin |
| 19 & 20 | Jumping Frog Contest |
| 21 & 22 | The Traffic Zone |
| 23 & 24 | Wottabango Corn Elixir |
| 25 & 26 | Frog Prince of Monomania |
1965-'66
| Episodes | Title | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 & 2 | Colonel Clabber—Limburger Cheese Statue | -- |
| 3 & 4 | The Giant Cork | |
| 4 & 6 | Ferkle to Hawaii | |
| 7 & 8 | Hallowe'en | |
| 9 & 10 | Christmas | |
| 11 & 12 | Horse Race Follies | |
| 13 & 14 | Jack and the Beanstalk | |
| 15 & 16 | Granny's Gang | |
| 17 | Golf Tournament | (2 parts) |
| 18 | The Hopeless Diamond | (2 parts) |
| 19 & 20 | The Dragon of Eubetchia | |
| 21 & 22 | Rare Butterfly Hunt | |
| 23 & 24 | Oil's Well at Oasis Gardens | |
| 25 & 26 | Wonder Water | |
Production
- Producers: Jay Ward, Bill Scott
- Directors: Pete Burness, Bill Hurtz, Lew Keller (uncredited: Gerard Baldwin & Bill Hurtz, Part two of "Ring-A-Ding Spring" Pilot episode)
- Writers: Chris Jenkyns, Bill Scott
- Film Editor: Skip Craig
- Designers: Sam Clayberger, Roy Morita, Shirley Silvey
- Animation by Gamma Productions S.A. de C.V.
- Production Director: Harvey Siegel
- Associate Director: Jaime Torres V[asquez].
- Animation Supervisor: Sam S. Kai
- Layout Supervisor: Joe Montell
- Executive Producer: Ponsonby BrittPonsonby BrittPonsonby Britt was the credited—but fictional—executive producer of the television series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Fractured Flickers, Hoppity Hooper, and George of the Jungle....
, O.B.E. - A Jay Ward Production
- In Association with Producers Associates of Television, inc. (Peter Piech, executive producer)
Voice cast
- Chris Allen – Hoppity Hooper, Susan Swivelhips
- Hans ConriedHans ConriedHans Georg Conried, Jr. was an American comedian, character actor and voice actor.-Early years:He was born on April 15, 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland to Hans Georg Conried, Sr. and Edith Beyr Gildersleeve. His mother was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna,...
– Waldo Wigglesworth - Alan Reed (Episodes 1 & 2 of "Ring-A-Ding Spring") and Bill Scott – Fillmore Bear
- Paul FreesPaul FreesPaul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
(eps. 1-50) and William ConradWilliam ConradWilliam Conrad was an American actor, producer and director whose career spanned five decades in radio, film and television....
(eps. 51-52) – Narrator
Releases
Hoppity Hooper was released in two separate volumes on VHS in the early 90s. Volume One was released on DVD in 2001.In 2008, Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment is a home entertainment company that manufactures movie and television DVD compilation box sets at "value" prices. Nashville's Amity Entertainment is an affiliate to Mill Creek...
released episodes 1-6 and episodes 8-10 as part of their "Giant 600 Cartoon Collection". They also re-released these episodes as part of the "Super 300 Cartoon Collection" in 2009. Also in 2009, Mill Creek released the first 6 episodes under their 200 Classic Cartoons Collectors Edition label.