Peter Potamus
Peter Potamus | |
---|---|
Peter in "The Crossbow Incident." | |
Species | Hippopotamus |
Gender | Male |
Affiliation | So-So Yogi's Gang Peter Potamus Plant Palace in Yo, Yogi! Sebben & Sebben in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law |
Father | Not mentioned |
Mother | Not mentioned |
Marital status | Single |
First appearance | PP&SS: "Fe Fi Fo Fun" (1964) |
Played by | Daws Butler (1964-1988) Greg Burson (1991) Chris Edgerly (2001-2007, 2008, 2019) C.H. Greenblatt (2021) |
File:80s Potamus.png Yogi's Treasure Hunt | |
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law | |
Deathstroke/Yogi Bear Special | |
Jellystone! |
Peter Potamus is an anthropomorphic hippopotamus and the main title character in The Peter Potamus Show. His voice was originated by Daws Butler.
Character description
Peter is a hippopotamus with purple skin, a pinkish mouth, and an overweight physique. His attire consists of a yellow pith helmet and a white safari jacket tightened with a belt.
Accompanied by his sidekick So-So, he explores the world in a time traveling hot air balloon to encounter all sorts of fascinating adventures. When danger comes near, Peter uses his "Hippo Hurricane Holler", a powerful blast that came from his loud vocal chords. The hippo is hearty, helpful and very friendly to those around him.
In Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, he instead wears a tan, undersized suit with a red tie. The personality of this iteration is a sharp contrast from his original counterpart, in that he is a sleazy lawyer with a penchant of womanizing. Despite his highly amoral and inappropriate behavior, he is often described as one of the best attorneys from the Sebben & Sebben law firm. A highly recurring gag from Peter is that he will ask anyone if they "get that thing I sent ya?" What "that thing" is has not been revealed for the most part, but it is implied to be something that Peter takes personally or an absurdly spiritual level.
In Jellystone!, Peter is a "weeaboo," a pejorative English term referring to a person taking intrest in anime or Japanese culture in general. His home is contained to the brim with plastic models, costumes and body pillows. Due to his hobby, the majority of Jellystone's citizens sees Peter as an mild annoyance and leave him in a desperate need for companionship.
Appearances
- Peter Potamus and So-So
- Yogi's Gang
- Laff-A-Lympics
- 1.10 "India and Israel" (no lines)
- Yogi's Treasure Hunt
- 3.3 "The Attack of Dr. Mars"
- 3.7 "Yogi & the Beanstalk"
- Yo, Yogi!
- 1.7 "Yo, Yogi!"
- 1.10 "Tricky Dickie's Dirty Trickies"
- 1.13A "Mall or Nothing"
- Dexter's Laboratory
- 2.2A "Chubby Cheese" (animatronic robot)
- Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
- Jellystone!
Specials
Movies
Comics
- Laff-A-Lympics
- #10 "Now You See Them..." (no lines)
- The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera
Video games
Biography
Debut Series
Crossover Era
It's Yogi's Gang
Yogi's Ark Lark
Laff-A-Lympics
Funtastic Treasure Hunt
The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound
Celebrating another 50 years! 50 years of fun!
Yo, Yogi!
Dexter's Laboratory cameo
Peter Potamus, Attorney at Law
Peter is a recurring character in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, often asking Harvey if he got the "thing he sent him."
Everyone's Back in Jellystone!
Development
According to animator and layout artist Jerry Eisenberg on the Los Angeles Times, he explained that the inspiration Peter Potamus came from Eisenberg himself:
"Once I was thinking about a hippopotamus… Since I was overweight, I could relate to that. So I started making some drawings in the Hanna-Barbera style—the character standing on two legs. I put a safari coat on him and a pith helmet. Joe kind of liked it, so he got some writers together and we began to work on it. I don't know who came up with the name, but that was Peter Potamus."
- Jerry Eisneberg[1]
Prior to Peter Potamus, Daws Butler provided a similar vocalization for the character of Lippy the Lion, which was an impersonation of comedic actor Joe E. Brown.
Gallery
- Main article: Peter Potamus/Gallery
Behind the scenes
- Up until season 2 of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, the series' version of Peter initially had fingered hands like his previous incarnation. These were changed into hooves midway through the season's run, which were used to comedic effect through his inability to perform basic tasks such as opening a mustard packet.
References
- ^ King, Susan (August 29, 2009). "Those yabba-dabba-doo-ers." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on April 21, 2023.
- Pages with broken file links
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