Yogi Bear (character)


 * This article is about the character. For other uses, see Yogi Bear.

Yogi Bear is a talking anthropomorphic brown bear and the main title protagonist in the Yogi Bear animated franchise. His voice was originated by Daws Butler, using an impression of actor Art Carney as the basis.

Debuting in shorts of The Huckleberry Hound Show, he would later go on to have his own series with his spot on the previous series being taken by Hokey Wolf. He has since been the leading star of several spin-offs and movies produced by both Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros.

Character description
Yogi is a walking, talking brown bear with a tan snout (although, it is originally colored orange in his early appearances). His normal attire consists of a white collar, a green tie, and a green pork pie hat. Yogi's pupils are generally depicted as simple black dots, though in the 2011 live-action film, they are an amber brown in color.

Yogi lives in Jellystone National Park, where he resides inside a cave with his friend Boo Boo Bear. He is jolly and boisterous, but every day he tends to suffer from boredom, hunger, and sometimes hunters within the area. Being smarter than the average bear (as he proclaims), he tends to hatch from one scheme to the next. His plans vary depending on what he needs, but he is frequently seen stealing picnic baskets from Jellystone's unsuspecting guests. While they do seem to work at first, Yogi tends to be blissfully unaware of certain things, however, which causes him to overestimate himself and fail in his schemes.

Boo Boo often follows his lead, but cautiously tries to dissuade him on the risks he takes. Although the two have narrowly avoided most of the park's rules, none have held the candle quite as well as Ranger Smith, who is a constant thorn in Yogi's back. Both Smith and the bear share a rivalry with one another in a game of wits, but sometimes, the ranger does sympathize with him; albeit in several occasions.

Yogi also spurts out a large number of amusing catchphrases. These include his gleeful greeting ("Hey, hey, hey!"), his naming of picnic baskets as "pic-a-nic baskets", and his self-promotion, "I'm smarter than the av-er-age bear!" He also tends to speak in rhyme and would also use puns in his speech, in addition to his habit of pronouncing long words with a long vocal flourish.

TV series

 * Yogi Bear
 * Hokey Wolf
 * 1.13 "Too Much to Bear" (mentioned; picture)
 * 1.17 "The Glass Sneaker" (mentioned)
 * The Flintstones
 * 3.26 "Swedish Visitors"
 * Sinbad Jr. and his Magic Belt
 * 1.12B "Mad Mad Movies" (mentioned)
 * The Banana Splits Adventure Hour
 * 1.3 "Episode 3" (Bingo as Yogi)
 * Around the World in 79 Days
 * 1.9 "The Argentiney Meany" (mentioned)
 * The New Scooby-Doo Movies
 * 1.7 "Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde" (mentioned)
 * 1.15 "The Caped Crusader Caper" (balloon float)
 * Yogi's Gang
 * 1.1 "Dr. Bigot"
 * 1.2 "The Greedy Genie"
 * 1.3 "Mr. Prankster"
 * 1.4 "Mr. Fibber"
 * 1.5 "The Gossipy Witch"
 * 1.6 "Mr. Sloppy"
 * 1.7 "Mr. Cheater"
 * 1.8 "Mr. Waste"
 * 1.9 "Mr. Vandal"
 * 1.10 "The Sheik of Selfishness"
 * 1.11 "Mr. Smog"
 * 1.12 "Lotta Litter"
 * 1.13 "The Envy Brothers"
 * 1.14 "Captain Swipe"
 * 1.15 "Mr. Hothead"
 * 1.16 "Yogi's Ark Lark Part 1"
 * 1.17 "Yogi's Ark Lark Part 2"
 * To Tell the Truth
 * "Bill Hanna"
 * Yogi's Space Race
 * 1.1 "The Saturn 500"
 * 1.2 "The Neptune 9000"
 * 1.3 "The Pongo Tongo Classic"
 * 1.4 "Nebuloc-The Prehistoric Planet"
 * 1.5 "The Spartikan Spectacular"
 * 1.6 "The Mizar Marathon"
 * 1.7 "The Lost Planet of Atlantis"
 * 1.8 "Race Through Oz"
 * 1.9 "Race Through Wet Galoshes"
 * 1.10 "The Borealis Triangle"
 * 1.11 "Race to the Center of the Universe"
 * 1.12 "Race Through the Planet of the Monsters"
 * 1.13 "Franzia"
 * Galaxy Goof-Ups
 * 1.1 "The Purloined Princess"
 * 1.2 "Defective Protectives"
 * 1.3 "Whose Zoo?"
 * 1.4 "The Space Pirates"
 * 1.5 "The Clone Ranger"
 * 1.6 "The Dopey Defenders"
 * 1.7 "Tacky Cat Strikes Again"
 * 1.8 "Space Station USA"
 * 1.9 "Hail, King Yogi!"
 * 1.10 "Dyno-Mite"
 * 1.11 "Vampire of Space"
 * 1.12 "The Treasure of Congo-Bongo"
 * 1.13 "Captain Snerdley Goes Bananas"
 * Yogi's Treasure Hunt
 * 1.1 "Riddle in the Middle of the Earth"
 * 1.2 "Bungle in the Jungle"
 * 1.3 "Countdown Drac"
 * 1.4 "The Return of El Kabong"
 * 1.5 "Ole, the Red-Nosed Viking"
 * 1.6 "The Curse of the Tutti-Frutti"
 * 1.7 "Yogi and the Unicorn"
 * 1.8 "The Case of the Hopeless Diamond"
 * 1.9 "Merlin's Lost Book of Magic"
 * 1.10 "Beverly Hills Flop"
 * 2.1 "Follow the Yellow Brick Gold"
 * 2.2 "To Bee or Not to Bee"
 * 2.3 "Heavens to Planetoid"
 * 2.4 "Beswitched, Buddha'd and Bewildered"
 * 2.5 "There's No Place Like Nome"
 * 2.6 "The Great American Treasure"
 * 2.7 "Huckle Hero"
 * 2.8 "The Moaning Liza"
 * 3.1 "Snow White & the 7 Treasure Hunters"
 * 3.2 "Yogi's Heroes"
 * 3.3 "The Attack of Dr. Mars"
 * 3.4 "20,000 Leaks Under the Sea"
 * 3.5 "Goodbye, Mr. Chump"
 * 3.6 "Yogi Bear on the Air"
 * 3.7 "Yogi & the Beanstalk"
 * 3.8 "The Greed Monster"
 * 3.9 "Secret Agent Bear"
 * A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
 * 1.11 "The Story Stick"
 * Fender Bender 500
 * Yo, Yogi!
 * 1.1 "Yo, Yogi!"
 * 1.2A "Huck's Doggone Day"
 * 1.2B "Grindhog Day"
 * 1.3 "Jellystone Jam"
 * 1.4 "Mall Alone"
 * 1.5 "Tricky Dickie's Dirty Trickies"
 * 1.6 "Super Duper Snag"
 * 1.7A "Mellow Fellow"
 * 1.7B "Hats Off to Yogi"
 * 1.8 "Polly Want a Safecracker"
 * 1.9A "Mall or Nothing"
 * 1.9B "There's No Business Like Snow Business"
 * 1.10A "It's All Relative"
 * 1.10B "Bearly Working"
 * 1.11A "Yippee-Yo, Yogi"
 * 1.11B "Of Meeces and Men"
 * 1.12A "Fashion Smashin!"
 * 1.12B "To Tell the Truth, Forsooth"
 * 1.13 "The Big Snoop"
 * Super Secret Secret Squirrel
 * 1.9 "Scirocco Mole" (no lines)
 * Space Ghost Coast to Coast
 * 7.5 "Sweet for Brak" (Satan as Yogi)
 * Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
 * 1.4 "Death by Chocolate"
 * 2.11 "Guitar Control" (photo)
 * The Powerpuff Girls
 * 5.3B "Shotgun Wedding" (photo)
 * The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
 * 2.7B "Here Thar Be Dwarves!"
 * 4.2B "Irwin Gets a Clue" (no lines)
 * 5.2 "Keeper of the Reaper" (no lines)
 * Duck Dodgers
 * 2.3B "K9 Quarry" (stuffed trophy)
 * Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
 * 1.10 "Howl of the Fright Hound" (no lines)
 * Animaniacs
 * 1.2C "Suffragate City" (no lines)
 * Jellystone!

Movies

 * Hey There, It's Yogi Bear
 * Yogi's Ark Lark
 * The Gathering (doll)
 * Casper's First Christmas
 * Yogi's First Christmas
 * Yogi Bear's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper
 * Yogi's Great Escape
 * Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose
 * The Good, the Bad and Huckleberry Hound
 * Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears
 * Yogi Bear
 * Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery (mentioned)
 * Space Jam: A New Legacy

Specials

 * Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration
 * Yogi, the Easter Bear
 * The 1st 13th Annual Fancy Anvil Awards Show Program Special: Live in Stereo (no lines)

Shorts

 * Loopy De Loop
 * 1.35 "Not in Nottingham" (mentioned)
 * American Cancer Society commercial
 * D.A.R.E. Bear Yogi
 * American Melanoma Foundation commercial
 * Rocket Mortgage commercial
 * Geico commercial

Comics

 * Yogi Bear (Dell Comics)
 * Yogi Bear (Gold Key Comics)
 * Bear Facts for Bike Drivers
 * Yogi Bear (Charlton Comics)
 * Yogi Bear (Marvel Comics)
 * Laff-A-Lympics
 * Yogi Bear D.A.R.E.
 * Yogi Bear (Harvey Comics)
 * Cartoon Network Presents
 * #3A "The Twiddle Method"
 * #18A "The Murgatroid Asteroid"
 * #18B "Oil's Well That Ends Well"
 * #22B "Brain Food"
 * Scooby-Doo! Team-Up
 * #35 "Bear-ly Scared"
 * Deathstroke/Yogi Bear Special
 * #1A "Jellystone Dark"

Video games

 * Yogi's Great Escape
 * Hanna-Barbera's Turbo Toons
 * Yogi Bear: The Video Game

The Early Cameos
In the Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy episode "Pop's Nature Pup," Augie brings in a bear who can drive, which happens to be Yogi.

Yogi, again, made a cameo appearance, alongside Quick Draw and Baba Looey in an acting book in the Snagglepuss episode "Paws for Applause." He and Boo Boo also made their appearances in the episode "Remember the Daze."

In the Hokey Wolf episode "Too Much to Bear," Yogi was mentioned as the cousin of the Three Bears. He was later seen in a picture frame in the Three Bears' house.

In The Flintstones, Yogi and Boo Boo briefly popped up at Jellyrock Park (a Stone Age counterpart of Jellystone) in the episode "Swedish Visitors."

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo cameo
In the episode "The Story Stick," he conspicuously watched the kids from the background, as they entered the Indian reservation.

He later reappeared during a chase between the kids and the Totem Spirit, with the latter running into a cave, and then being chased back out by unwelcoming Yogi.

Everyone's Back in Jellystone!
In the HBO Max web series Jellystone!, he works as a doctor at Jellystone Hospital, where he often messes up on surgeries.

In "A Town Video: Welcome to Jellystone," Yogi botches Wally Gator's surgery so bad, he starts speaking French.

Yogi Sells Out
In The Powerpuff Girls episode "Shotgun Wedding", Professor Utonium looks over a poster featuring bears of the world, of which Yogi Bear in a quadrupedal stance is included.

In The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy episode "Here There Be Dwarfs," he is portrayed as an implied drug addict trying to steal a picnic basket from Billy. In "Irwin Gets a Clue," he's one of several Hanna-Barbera characters run over by Hoss Delgado's truck. In "Keeper of the Reaper", Billy sings a lyric stating that Grim is "the pic-a-nic in [his] bear!", while Yogi is stuffing himself from Grim as a basket.

In the Duck Dodgers episode "K9 Quarry," Yogi appears as a stuffed trophy on an alien hunter's ship.

Into the ServerVerse
In the Warner Bros. Serververse in Space Jam: A New Legacy, Yogi and Boo Boo arrive at the basketball game between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad in the Mystery Machine. Like all the other IPs, they have no particular preference and just react to whatever is happening.

Development
Yogi Bear's characterization was a spoof of Art Carney, who was mainly notable for his role as Ed Norton in the 1950s sitcom The Honeymooners. His personality largely came from similar traits to Carney's character, as the two share an identical hat, carefree attitude, and vocal inflection.

Before he was given officially christened "Yogi," he originally went by the working names of "Huckleberry," "Yucca," and "Yo-Yo." The name "Huckleberry" was later given to the character of Huckleberry Hound, after "Yogi" was decided.

Behind the scenes

 * According to a 1982 calendar, he was born on September 9th.
 * He goes into hibernation on December 22nd.
 * Yogi Bear's name share similarities, although unofficially, to that of Yankees baseball player Yogi Berra. Berra sued Hanna-Barbera for defamation over Yogi's name sounding too similar, but withdrew it when Hanna-Barbera stated that it was a coincidence. According to Joseph Barbera, he claimed that the name did not have a intended reference, but asserted that "the sound of the name was awash in our collective unconscious at a time when Yogi Berra was a very popular figure." Berra, however, addressed the similarities of the name in a 1963 interview, stating "Television is big enough for both me and Yogi Bear. I was going to sue the Yogi Bear program for using my name, until somebody reminded me Yogi isn’t my real name — it’s Lawrence."
 * As part of a tie-in storyline for the film Hey There, It's Yogi Bear, a Yogi Bear comic strip from August 16, 1964, made a reference to this connection, with a night club host nervously shaking hands with both Yogi Bear and the baseball legend.
 * Ironically when Berra died on September 22, 2015, his obituary by the press accidentally referred to him as Yogi Bear.
 * His least favorite foods are nuts and berries, which are part of the natural bear diet.

In popular culture

 * For an episode of the British sitcom Mind Your Language, called "No Flowers by Request," Mr. Brown mentioned (John) Logie Baird, the Scottish inventor of the television, but Ali thought he meant Yogi, who he watched the previous night, along with Yogi's friend Boo Boo.
 * In the film The Great Outdoors, when Chet gets two bears on top of his car, he says "Yogi and Boo Boo in the flesh. I wish the hell Ranger Smith would get out here and get us home."
 * In The Ren & Stimpy Show episode "The Big Shot!," Stimpy becomes the co-star of Muddy Mudskipper, where they reenact one of the many chase sequences between Yogi and Ranger Smith, respectively, with Stimpy wearing a collar and neck tie ala Yogi.
 * In the Moesha episode "(Grand)Poppa Don't Take No Mess," Myles has a print of Yogi on his t-shirt.
 * In the Animaniacs segment "Back in Style," the Warner siblings were loaned off to other cartoon studios, including one run by Phil and Schmoe (parodies of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera). One of the cartoon characters that the Warners met is a spoof of Yogi Bear, named Who Who Hooey, where they mock its superficial dialogue and flat backgrounds. The Warner siblings interfere in the lunchbox stealing escapades of Calhourn Capybara and his impressionable young sidekick, Lew Lew, parodies of Yogi and Boo Boo.
 * In the Gilmore Girls episode "Red Light on the Wedding Night," Lorelei mentions Yogi Berra to Snookie, but Snookie is so hungover she thinks Lorelei said Yogi Bear.
 * In the Mad episode "Ko-Bee Movie/Law and Ogre," during the "Law and Ogre Segment," a mysterious caller tells Shrek he prosecuted the wrong bear and they'll never find the real killer. The caller and killer turns out to be Yogi, who accidentally gave himself away when he says, "You'll never catch me, I'm smarter than the average bear."
 * In the film Snow Dogs, Ted runs into a bear, who he unsuccessfully tries to appeal to by saying he likes Yogi.
 * In The Fairly OddParents/Jimmy Neutron crossover TV movie The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour, Jimmy tells everyone that he's not Timmy, to which Sanjay mocks him by saying "I'm not Sanjay, I'm Yogi Bear, and I am smarter than the average bear."
 * In the Family Guy episode "Hell Comes to Quahog," Meg berates Peter for getting her tank confiscated, but he tells her it's not as worse as the time he did a park ranger (likely Ranger Smith) a favor by fatally stabbing Yogi with a hunter's knife and then suffocating him to get the job done faster, while Boo Boo watches helplessly. After Peter is done, he callously orders Boo Boo to tell the other bears what he just saw. Seth MacFarlane voices Yogi.
 * In the Futurama DTV movie The Beast of a Billion Backs (syndicated as part 2 of the TV series, when asked by Calculon if he's worthy of being in the League of Robots, Bender says in a Yogi-like voice, "Worthier than the average robot."
 * There is an episode of According to Jim called "The Yoga Bear."
 * In The Cleveland Show episode "Birth of a Salesman," Terry says he'll buy Tim the bear a whole steak if he shows him his "bear penis." Cleveland then mocks him by imitating Yogi's voice when he asks, "Is it bigger than the average bear's?"
 * In the British movie Adult Life Skills, the main character Anna says Yogi was a moral nihilist for stealing picnics.
 * In the Comic Book Men episode "Wurst Episode Ever," Walt asks the staff what their official animal watchdog would be for the Stash, with Ming replying it would be Yogi, which Walt thinks is a terrible idea because all he does is steal picnic baskets.
 * In the Transformers: Robots in Disguise episode "The Trouble with Fixit," after fighting a bear, Sideswipe tells Jetstorm and Slipstream they should get out of the woods before "Yogi" shows up again.
 * In the 31st Treehouse of Horror segment "Into the Homer-verse" of The Simpsons, one of the many Homers features a homer named Homer-Barbera, who changes into a parody of Yogi Bear and goes "Hey Boo Boo, let's go steal a pic a nic meal!"
 * In the Disney+ film Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Yogi has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
 * In The Jackbox Party Pack 8 game "Wheel of Enormous Proportions", a question you can get is "Pick all characters from Hanna-Barbera" where Yogi is listed as one of the options.

Saturday Night Live

 * "Robert Klein/Bonnie Raitt:" Klein imitates the general idea of a friendly cartoon bear in his monologue, and apparently chooses Yogi because he says, "Hi, Boo Boo."
 * In the Saturday Night Live episode "Rob Lowe/Eminem," in a skit about a fictional Crime TV program called Pros & Cons, the participants talk about the ethics of Mystery Inc. taking the law into their own hands (which includes Scooby and Shaggy themselves), with the next episode's topic planning to "examine the concept of victims' rights in the theft of pic-a-nic baskets."

The Simpsons

 * "The Day the Violence Died:" When Chester takes Robert Meyers, Jr. to court over plagiarism of his creation of Itchy, Meyers claims that this is part of the business because without Art Carney or even Yogi Berra, there wouldn't be Yogi Bear.
 * "When You Dish Upon a Star:" Homer dreams he's Yogi, with Bart as "Bart-Bart" and Ned Flanders as the park ranger.
 * "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington:" Homer looks at a kid's menu featuring an activity where the goal is to help Yogi Bear find Washington.
 * "Don't Fear the Roofer:" In the hospital, Homer jokes that he can see Yogi Bear.
 * "Treehouse of Horror XXXI:" During the Into The Homer-verse segment, Homer Barbera turns into Yogi and tells Boo Boo that they should steal a "pic-a-nic meal."
 * "Treehouse of Horror XXI": During Lisa and Edmund's date in the park, Yogi passes by them with Ranger Smith's head in a picnic basket.

Whose Line Is It Anyway? (American)

 * November 21, 2001: A game of "Press Conference" had Colin Mochrie as Yogi announcing he killed Boo Boo. The host, Drew Carrey, points out that the audience may not like Boo Boo, as they cheered at the fact he was killed.
 * January 31, 2002: A game of "Questionable Impersonations" had Brad Sherwood asking Boo Boo when Mr. Ed's wife was due, with Ryan Stiles as Mr. Ed believing that Yogi was the doctor.