Yakky Doodle

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Yakky Doodle
The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Quick Draw McGraw Show, The Yogi Bear Show character
First appearance"Slumber Party Smarty" (1958)
Created byWilliam Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Voiced byJimmy Weldon (1960-1985, Cartoon Network commercial)
Walker Edmiston (Yogi's Ark Lark)
Frank Welker (Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics)
Steven Blum (Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law)
Chris Edgerly (Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, 1 episode only)
Katie Grober (Jellystone!, 2021–present)
In-universe information
SpeciesDuck
GenderMale, Female (in Jellystone!)

Yakky Doodle is a cartoon duck created by Hanna-Barbera Productions for the 1961 series The Yogi Bear Show.[1] Yakky's name is a spoof of "Yankee Doodle".

History[edit]

Yakky Doodle (voiced by Jimmy Weldon using buccal speech technique) is an anthropomorphic yellow duckling with green wings who lives with his best friend and adoptive father Chopper the bulldog.[2] Yakky is always one to run into danger. This usually comes in the form of the show's main antagonist Fibber Fox or secondary villain Alfy Gator.[3] Chopper defends his "Little Buddy" fiercely, and is always ready to pound Fibber or any other enemy into oblivion if necessary. Yakky's tendency to put himself in great danger never draws a rebuke from Chopper, who presumably enjoys his protective role. One of Yakky's repeated lines is "Are you my mama?", and one of the songs Yakky loves to sing was "Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay".

The template for Yakky was Quacker, a similar duckling character voiced by Red Coffey who appeared in a number of classic Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoons, debuting in the 1950 short subject Little Quacker.[4] Weldon, a former children's television series host and ventriloquist, had based this character on his "partner" Webster Webfoot. The same design was also used for a duckling in The Huckleberry Hound Show's Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks segment "A Wise Quack" (Episode 48), as a blue duckling in Yogi Bear segment "Slumber Party Smarty" (Episode 2) and "Duck in Luck" (Episode 18) and as a purple duckling in the Loopy De Loop segment "This is my Ducky Day" (Episode 13).

Yakky debuted as Biddy Buddy in the "Slumber Party Smarty" and "Duck in Luck" episodes of the Yogi Bear segments of The Huckleberry Hound Show, and the "Gone to the Ducks", "Yuk Yuk Duck" and "Let's the Duck Out" episodes of the Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy segments of The Quick Draw McGraw Show. He later had his own segment on The Yogi Bear Show in 1961 and he also appeared in the episode "Live and Lion" of the animated series Snagglepuss.

Main characters[edit]

Besides Yakky, the main characters in his cartoons are:

  • Chopper (voiced by Vance Colvig impersonating Wallace Beery): A bulldog who always protects Yakky from harm and is also his adoptive father. If he thinks that the only way to do this is to send Yakky away, he's willing to pretend he is not the duckling's friend anymore; otherwise, he's the best friend Yakky has. Although he acts tough, in some ways he can be just as childlike as Yakky, such as when he wished he could fly like a bird. Chopper's repeated line is "Now, ain't that cute", as well as saying "Now close your eyes, Yakky. You shouldn't oughta see what I'm going to do to this fox/cat" before beating up Fibber or the cat. Another repeated quote is when Chopper feels guilty over having to turn Yakky away, and hopes that he didn't "hurt his feelings".
  • Fibber Fox (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Shelley Berman): A fox who first tried to use Yakky as a "bargaining chip" to get the chickens from a henhouse that Chopper was guarding; since then, he has been fixated on catching and eating Yakky, at one point saying that he now hates chicken and wants duck instead. He shows cunning in his plans, most of which are intended to get Chopper out of the way so he can have a clear run at Yakky. For all his predatory behavior, however, he may not be able to eat Yakky. In one episode, he finds that he just can't bring himself to cook or otherwise harm the little duckling, or even let another fox eat him.
  • The Cat (also voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Shelley Berman): An unnamed cat who is an indirect kin to Fibber Fox also had a similar objective to eat Yakky. However, he often gets punished by Chopper or by the mistress of the house.
  • Alfy Gator (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Alfred Hitchcock): A blue alligator who tries to capture Yakky because his gourmet guidebook recommends roast duck. He tends to be verbose while setting his traps, probably as an imitation of Hitchcock's introductions on the TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Also taken from that show is Hitchcock's silhouette & outline routine, which Alfy imitates in most of the cartoons he's in. One time he found himself competing with Fibber to catch Yakky, but the two predators eventually agreed to work together to capture the duck (the cartoon ended during the final chase, but presumably Yakky got away).

Episode list (The Yogi Bear Show)[edit]

Main article: List of The Yogi Bear Show episodes
  1. Out of Luck Duck
  2. Hop, Duck and Listen
  3. Dog Flight
  4. Easter Duck
  5. Foxy Duck
  6. Railroaded Duck
  7. Duck Hunting
  8. Whistle-Stop and Go
  9. Duck the Music
  10. School Fool
  11. Oh Duckter
  12. It's a Duck's Life
  13. Happy Birthdaze
  14. Horse Collared
  15. Ha-Choo to You!
  16. Foxy Proxy
  17. Count to Tenant
  18. Shrunken Headache
  19. The Most Ghost
  20. Stamp Scamp
  21. All's Well That Eats Well
  22. Foxy Friends
  23. Mad Mix Up
  24. Beach Brawl
  25. Duck Seasoning
  26. Hasty Tasty
  27. Nobody Home Duck
  28. Dog Pounded
  29. Witch Duck-ter
  30. Full Course Meal
  31. Baddie Buddies
  32. Judo Ex-Expert

Other appearances[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 717–719. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  2. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1991). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Cartoon Animals. Prentice Hall Press. p. 291. ISBN 0-13-275561-0. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  3. ^ Sennett, Ted (1989). The Art of Hanna-Barbera: Fifty Years of Creativity. Studio. p. 64. ISBN 978-0670829781. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  4. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 933. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  5. ^ "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman".
  6. ^ "HBO Max Sets New Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Robert Zemeckis Hybrid Series 'Tooned Out', More for Kids & Family Slate". 29 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Jellystone! I Official Trailer I HBO Max Family". YouTube. June 24, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved June 24, 2021.

External links[edit]

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