The Hillbilly Bears
| The Hillbilly Bears | |
|---|---|
 Title card of the first episode. | |
| Network | NBC |
| Production company | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
| Original release | October 2, 1965―October 15, 1966 |
| Starring | Henry Corden Jean Vander Pyl Don Messick |
| Producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Music composed by | Ted Nichols |
| Writer(s) | Tony Benedict Dalton Sandifer |
| Director(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
The Hillbilly Bears is a series of animated segments as part of The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for NBC's Saturday morning children's programming debuting. It ran from 1965 to 1966, airing 26 episodes that spanned two seasons.
The cartoon revolves around the misadventures of a stereotypically country family who live near the mountainside: consisting of the mumbling father Paw Rugg, his level-headed wife Maw, and their two kids Floral and Shag.
The entire series is available on DVD.
Production
Development
The inspiration behind The Hillbilly Bears came from the television trend of rural-themed sitcoms in 1960s, with the most notable examples being The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Green Acres.[1]
Music
The music was composed by Ted Nichols.
Episodes
| Episode | Original air date |
|---|---|
| 1x01 | October 2, 1965 |
| 1x02 | October 9, 1965 |
| 1x03 | October 16, 1965 |
| 1x04 | October 23, 1965 |
| 1x05 | October 30, 1965 |
| 1x06 | November 6, 1965 |
| 1x07 | November 13, 1965 |
| 1x08 | November 20, 1965 |
| 1x09 | November 27, 1965 |
| 1x10 | December 4, 1965 |
| 1x11 | December 11, 1965 |
| 1x12 | December 18, 1965 |
| 1x13 | December 25, 1965 |
| 1x14 | January 1, 1966 |
| 1x15 | January 8, 1966 |
| 1x16 | January 15, 1966 |
| 1x17 | January 22, 1966 |
| 1x18 | January 29, 1966 |
| 1x19 | February 5, 1966 |
| 1x20 | February 12, 1966 |
| 2x01 | September 10, 1966 |
| 2x02 | September 17, 1966 |
| 2x03 | September 24, 1966 |
| 2x04 | October 1, 1966 |
| 2x05 | October 8, 1966 |
| 2x06 | October 15, 1966 |
Release
Dates are in order of release:
- United States: October 2, 1965 on NBC
- United Kingdom and Ireland: October 4, 1965 at 5:25 pm on ITV
Cast
- Henry Corden as Paw Rugg
- Jean Vander Pyl as Maw Rugg and Floral Rugg
- Don Messick as Shag Rugg
Legacy
After its initial airing on The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show, episodes of the segment would appear in the second season of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.
More recently, the Ruggs appeared in the HBO Max series Jellystone!, where they own a family-run cafe in the titular town.
Merchandise
Home media
On October 6, 2015, the Warner Archive Collection put the entire series on DVD as Atom Ant: The Complete Series.
References
- ^ The Hillbilly Bears. The Cartoon Databank (The Cartoon Scrapbook). Retrieved February 21, 2023.
