The Hillbilly Bears
| The Hillbilly Bears | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voices of |
Henry Corden Jean Vander Pyl Don Messick Paul Frees |
| Theme music composer | Hoyt Curtin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Running time | 6 minutes (per short) |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Distributor |
Screen Gems Warner Bros. Television Distribution (current) |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | October 2, 1965 – September 7, 1967 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show |
The Hillbilly Bears is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions which aired as a segment on The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show from October 2, 1965 to September 7, 1967.
The Hillbilly Bears played on a social stereotype of the "hillbilly", with a gun toting, mumbling father Paw Rugg (voiced by Henry Corden) who was always "feudin" ("feudin" was usually a lethargic operation, in which the protagonists fired the same bullet back and forth from the comfort of their rocking chairs) with their neighbors, the Hoppers.
Paw Rugg's voice was a low mumble, splattered with a few understandable words. Particularly in the first episodes, Paw Rugg's voice was incomprehensible; his speech improved with the later segments. His wife Maw (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl) was a homemaker who appeared as the more level-headed parent. Their daughter Floral (voiced by Jean Vander Pyl) had lemon-colored fur (as opposed to the darker-colored fur of Maw, Paw and Shag); she was the southern belle and most sophisticated member of the family. Shag (the youngest and smallest of the clan, voiced by Don Messick) was a troublemaker who looked up to his father. The voices and personas of Floral and Shag were nearly identical to Elroy and Judy Jetson from The Jetsons.
The episode "Woodpecked" is available on the DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960's vol. 1. The episode "Picnic Panicked" is available on the DVD Saturday Morning Cartoons 1960's Vol. 2.
The Hillbilly Bears appeared in Yogi's Ark Lark and its spin-off series Yogi's Gang.
Paw and Maw Rugg appeared in Yogi's Treasure Hunt.
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